Blast from the Past

I honestly forgot all about my blog. It has been 7 years since my last post and so much has changed. Thinking of starting up again though.

Leaving Egypt to Walk to the Desert

We have finished up learning about Egypt and have started our journey into the desert!  The boys had fun learning about life on the Nile River.  Here are a couple pictures of them with a Nile River collage. They built pyramids and homes with their blocks.  We then added animals that live in/along the water.

A Map of Egypt 

Each week we "Draw and Caption" (this one is missing the caption) 1 of the main topics.  Here is JD's pyramids...apparently on one of the few rainy days? LOL

Gym Class has started up again!!  Boys are taking Hockey/Skating Lessons

Here they are making Challah bread to remind us that while walking the desert for 40 years God provided by dropping mana from the sky!  If you want to give it a try (because it was actually really good!) here is the recipe we used (cut it in half): 

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/best-challah-egg-bread/

So that's pretty much it.  We have covered Moses and the 10 Commandments and the Golden Calf and should be entering the Promised Land soon :)  I can't believe we have already covered 8 weeks! Next week is the last week of Unit 1 (we have 4 total).  OH!  Here are a couple books we have read that they really enjoyed!

A is for Adam by Ken Ham

Bill and Pete go Down the Nile by Tomie dePaola

Tutankhamen's Gift by Robert Sabuda

The Hardest Word by Jacqueline Jules

New Year = New Fun

About to finish up our 4th week of the new school year!  We have been having lots of fun along the way which I think is making up for all the non-fun we have encountered as well.  Has anyone ever been told "I DON'T LIKE SCHOOL!!" ??  Well I have...multiple times a day actually LOL  But that's just when I am forcing my child to learn his reading and writing and math.  :(  Poor boy!  But enough of the non-fun!!  Here are some pictures of the things we have been up to that don't bring on the stubbornness!!

Boys making Tower of Babel models:

Boys made Lentil Stew one night followed by camping in a tent so we could experiance the lifestyle of Abraham and other's of that time period:

 Ya...I know hard to see...but they didn't have flash on camera's back in Abe's day HAHA

 Moving on to Egypt and learning about mummies.  This is a current experiment to see what salt does to help preserve the bodies aka apples:

 Making Pyramid Cookies (didn't turn out to great, but they had fun making them):

 Science Class = Volcanos! 

Journey Complete!

 We have finished our body project!!  Just nearly anyway.  The only thing left is to add the skin but I don't know if we will.  They can take the pieces off and place them back on and if we put skin on top this would be harder to do.  All the organs are a tad big for their body cut outs so they are all kinda smushed together in there, but they get the idea :)  Plus when we learn about the body when they a bit older and taller we can reuse them and they will fit better lol.  I have to say though, sewing all those pieces by hand (TWICE!) was kind of a pain and we went weeks without learning about anything since I was behind but in the end I think it was worth it.

And yes, I am aware that one foot bone is upside down and the others are falling off haha.  Good thing they are not attached yet ;)

Letters To God

I watched a movie today called "Letters to God" which is about an 8yr old boy who has cancer.  Throughout his trials with battling the cancer he holds onto his faith in God and writes letters to Him everyday.  He writes them and then mails them.  These letters later have an impact on many people in different ways.

I LOVED the idea of writing letters to God.  What an awesome way to pray.  I used to write letters to Him in a journal.  Writing is such a great way to focus on your prayers.  When praying in your head so many distractions come up; other thoughts about the day, what you want to pray about next, sleep, etc..  But when you are writing to God you can focus and let it all flow out through the pen.  You don't have to worry about sounding silly or repeating yourself over and over again while you organize your thoughts because you just write.  Ya..there are pauses and moments to think, but that is ok.  Its a mix of writing a letter to a friend and journaling your deepest thoughts.  But that is how awesome God is :)  A friend and secret keeper of your most personal thoughts.

Yes, I have heard of prayer journals, but to me those are more of a list of prayers you prayed and ones that have been answered.  Not the same thing in my head.

So I have decided to add Letter Writing to our daily school time.  This will be a fantastic way to first teach the boys about prayer and get in the habit of praying every day.  Also, to teach writing skills, penmanship, spelling and grammar.  These skills will improve over time and will not be corrected in their journals, but more of a way to practice and make writing fun.  The most important thing is learning to talk to God and having fun doing so!