Late Winter Review

I know... It's spring, right?

This morning I awoke to an outside temperature of 19 degrees.... and as I fed the fire I watched the sunrise glisten off of the thinnest of ice that had formed over the pond I'm pretty sure that Ol' Man Winter is still lingering around.

Despite the cold, our homeschooling days have been so very fruitful. It seems like our days go by so very quickly. I fell like we have concentrated a lot of training time on correct responses... obeying right a way (with a smile)...understanding authority and trying to yield to it... not crying immediately when things begin to anger or frustrate... and what to do when your baby sister knocks down your stuff or tries to snatch away anything more interesting than what she already possesses. It has been a very strong season of homey togetherness - lots of time for indoor play, for sharing, and learning what to do when. And lots of fun chores! Little ones just love to help out! Here are a few pics of some of Gavin and Ivy's work!

Some folded clothes to wear again later...




A bed made by a four-year old! Not too shabby!

Ivy helping to clean the.... wait a minute - that's not helping!

Oh! Here she is helping to pick up one tiny piece of her creative mess!

BIBLE:

We've focused on the life and ministry of Jesus during our time in the Bible. I guess I followed this idea after the Christmas season - it seemed logical that since Christ came, we should read how the Baby Jesus grew and how He began His world-changing ministry.

Here we are practising how to care for one another!

Boy - does it feel great!

PHONICS/ MATH / SCIENCE

We have studied the later letters of the alphabet in phonics, their initial sounds at the beginning of words, their shape and qualities. We've done quite a bit of measuring, counting, sorting and predicting... lots of mathy and sciencey type activities. We are still logging the growth of our amaryllis plant as we patiently wait to see if the third leaf will do anything different than the first two.

And the big news... We have pets! We are so greatly enjoying our tadpoles and our snail! We call them "The Guys" and what fun it has been to watch legs slide out of little slits and grow into useful tools. Ivy especially lingers at the tank. She wants to feed them "tim tims" - their fishy flaky food all the time. I now give her an empty cumin container for her to pretend. And then she walks around inviting the family to smell from her treasured box of smokey wonder. (Just an aside - Ivy seems to be so interested in animals. She listens acutely whenever a neighborhood dog begins to bark, asks to visit Cooper and Ginger, our nearby canine companions, exclaims,"Guugle" every time she spies a squirrel on the bird feeder or bounding across the backyard. She is very aware of the animal world, wanting to hug, kiss, pet and love whomever might come her way.)

T is for tadpoles... and teeth (it was dental hygiene month!)

U is for up and umbrellas... V is for volcanoes and vegetables and so on...

I suppose as the warmer weather slowly approaches and we spend more time outside, we will forget all about the long snowy winter we have joyfully grown through. The Lord has blessed us with joys and struggles over the season and we are all the stronger for it. Mike has recently begun an amazing new job as the program director for an elder day service. It was a bit of a surprise move for him - but such a good one! We call him "The Big Boss" and although it's been mentally taxing, he is adjusting quite well. There is a lot to learn and many changes are on the horizon, but he is such a natural leader and will surely bring the Lord glory as he works to care for the elderly.

Whether it be snow, back troubles, extra doctor appointments, a new job, better nutritional choices and stronger meal planning, .... we will continue to be yielded to the Holy Spirit and seek wisdom for our family.

I should have posted this one long ago... we finished the alphabet in early June and we are having a marvelous summer. I don't get to post blogs like I thought I would. I would rather read a story or go play with my little ones. I am learning to be content with what remembering and recording I can do... and this is it.

The Greatest Teacher

what could it be??

some teacher in high school who really 'got you'?
a humbling failure?
a time of reflection???

no.

It was Jesus. You gotta figure the He used the most perfectly simple plans... chose visuals that could be smelled, touched or tasted. He connected right with whatever people knew... roots, weeds, trees, seeds, water, weather, wind. He knew the properties of His creation and used them to teach about His Kingdom. He spoke with authority, was clear and short. He didn't trouble himself with worksheets, and red pens. He stuck to what was important - truths that outlast the ever changing culture.

So here I am... a mother of two very small children wanting to learn from The Greatest Teacher. And as I reflect on my lesson plans - all the crafts, activities, songs, projects and sweet little somethings that we have accomplished... all the tiny connections and steps my little ones have made over the last six weeks... I am thinking about what of lasting importance have I presented. How have I led them to know the Savior in tangible ways??? Am I preparing the soil of their little hearts? Is the Word of God sinking down to where it needs to go?? Am I spending time watering their souls with Living Water and leading them to wash in the love and forgiveness of their Savior? Heavy - right.

I guess I figure this blog needs to say what I'm processing - or else why am I writing it. I want it to be a place where I can hold my thoughts and look back to see if I am meeting some of these goals.

And this brings me to a story...

My oldest sister and her two precious sons visited this weekend - and we spent Saturday at Old Sturbridge Village. I could go on and on - it is one of my most favorite places in the world. And as we toured the small one-room school house, Gavin couldn't pass up the opportunity to be the headmaster. Climbing the tall chair, his body could barely be seen from behind the tall wooden podium. Meanwhile, our family took their seats where pupils would have quietly memorized whatever text book their parents could have afforded them. Ivy wandered around up the inclined aisles of the damp, dark schoolroom holding a little dipper found in the communal drinking bucket. And I encouraged Gavin. "If you are going to be the authority, then teach us something we might not know." Just an aside - I was proud of my boy. Albeit a bit difficult at times, he wants to lead. He knew where the place of authority rested in that building, and he climbed right in. He met the eyes of his "students", spoke firmly, and didn't hesitate.

Just then a woman walked in. An older woman with graying hair accompanied by her granddaughter. The little girl, maybe 9 or so, saw us all and just watched and peeked around the dank room. And Gavin began. He pulled from his pocket a small souvenir he had made earlier in the day - an elongated penny he had cranked out of a machine - one now stretched and stamped with a little lamb on it. He held it in his little hand, looked at me in the eye and said, "This penny reminds me of something very important. This has a picture of a lamb - and it reminds me that Jesus is both the Lion and the Lamb."

As I sat there and witnessed my son's first public sermon, I noticed that my ears were not the only one's to have heard. The old woman looked at Gavin, and she could tell by my beaming who I was no doubt... and she smiled. A beautiful grandmotherly smile. Perhaps her ears were not deaf to the words - to the power of our God - to His Lion like strength and Lamb like gentleness. Perhaps she saw before her a child who was bold like a lion, yet his tender age and young stature showed meek childlike faith. What a blessed moment - one I will never forget.

I've been a bit sad that I haven't blogged. I thought this was going to be a place where my preschool activities would be logged and linked - easy to reflect and reminisce. I thought I was going to get pictures here - finally a place where I could journal a bit about the everyday. But everyday is too precious to be sitting here - in front of this keyboard. Everyday I don't want to write my own reflections - I want to write on the hearts of my kids. So while I still have soooo much to learn about The Greatest Teacher - I am encouraged each day to seek the wonderful guidance of The Holy Spirit. His faithfulness to His children is such a precious gift. I am not solely responsible for teaching my children the lessons required for life. Preschool is just our time to grow in our children the appetites for the best things in life... the simple things... like Jesus... and God's creation that points us toward His glory. What a blessing - I am so thankful each day that I get to be the one who shares these moments and truths with my children.

OK - a few pics because it's been a while.
These were all taken on St. Patrick's Day - in the still cold mud pile of our backyard. So fun!