We are trying something new . . .

I am giving the girls their assignments for the entire week on Monday and then they can complete their alone work in any order that they want. My oldest has had no problem working independently but my youngest is very dependent on me telling her what to do.

I am hoping that this helps her become less dependent on me telling her what to do. So far, it seems to be working well. I think that I was creating the problem. When she had to do the work herself, she did. When she knew that I was there for her, she always needed help--she would not even try to do the work by herself.




Next week, I am going to give a specific school hours. Say 10am to 3p (that would include an 30 minute to 1 hour lunch). If they choose to dawdle during those hours, then they loose their privileges (Wii, special tv or movie, dessert, etc) for that evening.

This week went pretty good. I think it was a lot less stressful for all of us.

How to Continental Knit.

Cavalcade of America: Old Time Radio Show

The Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, then later changing to NBC, the series pioneered the use of anthology drama for company audio advertising. The Cavalcade of America documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds. This was consistent with Du Pont's overall conservative philosophy and legacy as an American company dating back to 1802. The company's motto, "Maker of better things for better living through chemistry," was read at the beginning of each program, and the dramas emphasized humanitarian progress, particularly improvements in the lives of women, often through technological innovation.

Tonight at American Heritage Girls . . .

We had a great night with our Tenderhearts. We are still working on the joining award requirements. Tonight, we learned the Buddy System and the AHG Creed. We were supposed to learn how to fold the American Flag but ran out of time. We will do this next week.

There are only 8 girls in our Unit. It think this is a nice number to work with. AHG uses the buddy system whenever the girls go to the bathroom or run an errand. We assign the buddies for the night and then ask the girls to pray for their buddy for the rest of the week. Then change buddies next week.

We have an awesome set of leaders. We work so well together. I am blessed to have them on my team.

Are You . . . Almost Saved?

For All Those Ketchup Lovers Out There . . .

How was school this week?

It was a very short week. Angel had her cast removed on Monday so we did not have school. Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty good.

I use Homeschool Skedtrack for my scheduling. I love it because if you miss a subject on one day, it just moved to the next scheduled time.

You can print out the weekly schedule for your child. I tried that this week and the only instruction was "All this has to be done by Friday." We will see if this works.

Went to our public library for a field trip. Each one went with a different group. Curly learned about how they did genealogy and the different databases that the library has and how to use a citing tool for research papers. Angel also learned about how to use the library computer and the different databases that they have and then a couple of the ladies in the group share a story with the kids. When then had lunch with the group and got to visit for awhile.

All in all, I think our school is going pretty good.

Fly, Fly Butterflies

Butterfly Metamorphosis

 The Children's Butterfly Site

What did we do at AHG tonight.

Tonight was our first full night of American Heritage Girls FL2345. We had extremely bad weather so I do not know if that kept some of the girls home.

In Tenderhearts, we had 6 girls.

We are working on our Joining Award--which is the first badge a girl earns. Out of the 6 girls, we have 2 that need to earn their Joining Award--the others are getting a refresher.

Tonight we learned the AHG Sign and AHG Oath: I promise to love God, Cherish my family, Honor my country and Serve in my community. We also learned about flag etiquette and how and when to use the AHG Salute. Next week, we are going to learn the AHG Creed and what it means and also learn how to fold an American flag.

I really love our leaders and look forward to working with them this year.

Why I didn't post this weekend.

Enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Orlando with 7 great ladies from my church.

Did we stay on schedule?

It was a little hard this week. We are getting all our work completed but we are starting later than I want to -- between 11am and 12noon. It takes us a little over four hours to complete our daily lessons so we still get done at a decent time--I just wish we could get started a little sooner in the day.

Angel is working on the Book of Virtues study. We are making a section for each virtue. 

After the page with the mini books, we will have the story questions and the copywork.

We have completed the first virtue. Here are the pictures:

We read the story, answer questions, and complete a mini book for each lesson. Each character trait has 10 lessons. Because Angel broke her arm, we have eliminated the copywork section for the time being.

Learn Greek and Latin

Learn Greek and Latin!

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Our grammars, readers and keys are public domain textkbooks which Textkit has converted. Many of the very best public domain Greek and Latin grammars, such as D’Oogle’s Latin For Beginners, Smyth’s Greek Grammar and John Wiliams White’s First Greek Book were first posted to the Interent here at Textkit.

What Guys Think About Modesty

September 11, 2001 Lapbook

Curly and Angel's lapbook cover

We got these images off of the internet

The following lapbook is from Hands of a Child.

There are two flaps added inside the file folder. 
One is attached to the center bottom of the folder and the other is attached to the center top.

Carol's Flap 1 Outside:

Donna's Flap 1 Outside:

Flap 1 Inside:

Flap 2 Outside:

Flap 2 Inside:

I am not affiliated with HOAC nor do I get any compensation for promoting this product.

How did we do this week?

Can you guess where we went?

I have been very pleased with our homeschooling week. We worked a little ahead because we went on a little mini-vacation.

It was nice to come home and not feel like you are behind in everything (laundry, school, sleep, etc.)

It is still a trial to get back in the flow of things. Hopefully, we will be back at full swing tomorrow. Started school a little late in the day, so we focused on a special lapbook about September 11, 2001. Did not realize how many emotions this event would bring to the surface.

 

I pray that we as a country never forget what happened on that terrible day.

We need to remember those in the military who have paid the ultimate price in the service to our country and pray for those that are serving and for their families that support them.

Hopefully will be posting this lapbook within the next couple of days.

FYI:  Hands of a Child is offering a September 11, 2001 lapbook for $1 (offer good through 9/11/11).

I am not affiliated with HOAC nor do I get any compensation for promoting this offer.

Teaching Textbook Grading Logs

from Notebooking Nook

Teaching Textbook Grading Logs

One more week unitl . . .

Love vs. Lust

To Be Educated --by Carolyn Caines

I love this--I got this from a friend on Facebook (not sure where she got it):

If I learn my ABC's, can read 600 words per minute and can write with perfect penmanship but I have not been shown how to communicate with the designer of language . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I can deliver an eloquent speech and can persuade you with my stunning logic and have not been instructed in God's wisdom . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I have read Shakespeare and John Locke and can discuss their rise with keen insight but have not read the greatest of all books; The Bible and have no knowledge of it's personal importance . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I have memorized addition facts, multiplication tables and chemical formulas but have never been disciplined to hide God's Word in my heart . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I can explain the law of gravity and Einstein's theory of relativity but have never been instructed in the unchangeable laws of the One who orders the universe . . . 

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I can classify animals by their families, genus and species and write a lengthy scientific paper that wins an award but have not been introduced to the Maker's purpose for all creation . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I can recite the Gettysburg Address and the Preamble to the Constitution but have not been informed of the Hand of God in the history of our country . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I can play the piano, the violin and six other instruments and can write music that moves men to tears but have not been taught to listen to the director of the universe and worship Him . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I can run in cross country races, star in basketball and do 100 pushups without stopping but have never been shown how to bend my spirit to do God's will . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I can identify a Picasso, describe the style of a DaVinci or even paint a portrait that earns an A+ but have not learned that all harmony and beauty comes from a relationship with God . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I graduate with a perfect 4.0 and get accepted at the best university with a full scholarship but have not been guided into a career of God's choosing for me . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

If I become a good citizen, voting in each election and fighting for what is moral and right but have not been told of the sinfulness of man and his hopelessness without Christ . . .

. . . then I have not been educated.

However! If one day I see the world as God sees it and come to know Him- whom to know is life eternal and glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for me . . . 

. . . Then, I have been educated.

It Is Well With My Soul by Horatio Spafford

Daves Highway - It Is Well With My Soul - May 2011

You would think that the person who wrote this song, had a pretty great life. You would not be farther from the truth. Horatio G. Spafford and his wife Anna lived in Chicago with their five children. Horatio was a successful lawyer and friends with many influential people, including D. L Moody.He was also a Presbyterian church elder and a dedicated Christian.

In 1870, their four year old son, Horatio, Jr., died of scarlet fever. The Spaffords were devastated.
In October 1871 Spafford lost most of his wealth in the Great Chicago Fire.  250 people died in the Great Chicago Fire and 90,000 were left homeless but the Spafford's home and family were spared.

They used what resources they had left to help those who had been affected by the fire.

In 1873, the Spaffords planned a trip to Europe for a vacation but to assist Evangelist D. L. Moody in a revival they were conducting in England. The day they were to sail for Europe Spafford had a business emergency and could not leave. Not wanting to disappoint his wife Anna and their daughters he sent them on ahead and planned to follow on another ship in a few days.

On November 22, 1873 the steamer Ville du Havre was struck by a British iron sailing ship, the Lockhearn. Only 81 of the 307 passengers and crew members survived this tragic shipwreck, the four daughters were among the fatalities. Anna Spafford was picked up from floating debris by the crew of the Lockhearn. She was taken to Cardiff, Wales where she telegraphed her husband Horatio. Anna's cable was brief and heartbreaking, "Saved alone. What shall I do..."

As soon as he received Anna's telegram, Horatio left Chicago without delay to bring his wife home. Sailing across the Atlantic Ocean the captain of the ship called Horatio to the bridge. He informed Horatio that "A careful reckoning has been made and I believe we are now passing the place where the Ville du Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." That night, alone in his cabin Horatio G. Spafford penned the words to his famous hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul." Horatio's faith in God never faltered. He later wrote Anna's half-sister, "On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid-ocean, the waters three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs."

After Anna was rescued, Pastor Nathaniel Weiss, one of the ministers traveling with Anna and Horatio's group remembered hearing Anna say, "God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why." Anna was utterly devastated. In her grief and despair, Anna heard a soft voice speaking to her, "You were saved for a purpose!" It was then Anna remembered something a friend had once said, "It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."

God blessed Anna and Horatio with three children. They had a son in 1876 and a daughter in 1878. Tragically, their son did at the age of 4 just as his brother before him, he died from scarlet fever. They had another daughter in 1880. After the loss of little Horatio, the Spaffords decided to leave their home in America and settle in Jerusalem. In September of 1881 the Spaffords and a few of their friends left America for Israel. 

The group settled in the old part of Jerusalem and started a work which later became known as the "American Colony." There they served the needy, helped the poor, cared for the sick and took in homeless children. Their only cause was to show those living about them the love of Jesus.

Bertha Spafford Vester, wrote the following in her book "Our Jerusalem."

"In Chicago, Father searched his life for explanation. Until now, it had flowed gently as a river. Spiritual peace and worldly security had sustained his early years, his family life and his home . . . All around him people were asking the unvoiced question; 'What guilt had brought this sweeping tragedy to Anna and Horatio Spafford?' . . . Father became convinced that God was kind and that he would see his children again in heaven. This thought calmed his heart, but it was to bring Father into open conflict with what was then the Christian world . . .  To Father, this was a passing through the "valley of the shadow of death," but his faith came through triumphant and strong. On the high seas, near the place where his children perished, he wrote the hymn that was to give comfort to so many:"

It Is Well With My Soul 

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
(refrain)
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(refrain)

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(refrain)

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(refrain)

In 1876, P.P. Bliss put Horatio Spafford's words to music.

It is believed that Horatio took the words "It is well" from the words of the Shunammite woman who lost her only son but was later raised from the dead by Elisha. (II Kings 4:26 )

Horatio G. Spafford Born October 20, 1828 in Lansingburgh, New York Died of Malaria on October 16, 1888 in Jerusalem Anna Spafford  Born in Stavanger, Norway, in 1842, continued to work in the surrounding areas of Jerusalem until her death in 1923.  The Spaffords were laid to eternal rest in Jerusalem. It can be said that "It Is Well With Their Souls."

Bible Reading and Prayer

I heard a statistic that the average Christian prays only 5 minutes a day and, if they read their Bible, it might be for 15 minutes a day. This Bible says that we are to pray without ceasing. Do I live my life in an attitude of prayer? Do I get into the Word so that the Word gets into me?

I believe both actions are related. I just completed an Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God  by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King. (I would recommend this teaching for everyone.) It teaches that "God pursues a continual love relationship with you that is real and personal." How can I know God if I don't read His Word? I can't! How can I really talk to God if I don't know Him? How more intimate can my conversations be with God if I actually knew Him?

I will be honest, I have been struggling with reading my Bible. My prayer life has be superficial. Along with that, my relationship with God has suffered. How can I have a relationship with someone if I don't even communicate with? I am going to purposely read my Bible and let you know how it is going.

In our nightly devotions with the girls, we were challenged to read one chapter from Proverbs for each day in the month of September.

What verse in Proverbs 1 jumped off the page?

Verse 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Boy, this verse could not be more of an affirmation that I am doing what I am supposed to do.

My daughter is using History Revealed--I am reading what she is reading in the Old Testament. Today it is Genesis 1-5.

I helped my other daughter with her Sunday School lessons. We read about Rehoboam and Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12:1-12 and 2 Chronicles 12:1-9. The lesson was about following God and being careful who you choose as friends.

I am reading from the New Testament everyday. I am going to read at least one chapter from the Gospel of Matthew.

I am hoping that I can type some insight into things that I read, but for right now I am going to be faithful to God and fellowship with Him through Bible reading and prayer.

Homeschool Week 2 and I have just one thing to say . . .

 

I LOVE MY KIDS!!

Does that mean my week was always a bed of roses? Nope! We had our thorns but it was so worth it to smell the roses.

What were the roses this past week?

1. Sitting with my oldest and talking about what the Bible says about being a woman. 
2. Giving her hugs . . .  just because.
3. Writing what my youngest dictated because she broke her arm. Every time she dictated to me, she was like the cat who swallowed a canary. 
4. Seeing her sweet smiles, especially after a difficult lesson (usually math). 
5. Making lunch for my girls and being told that this was the best family recipe I ever made. It was  basically cut up potatoes and onions, cooked in a skillet.
6. Actually finishing all the stuff I had scheduled without any major drama.