We are about 12 weeks into our school year and loving every minute of it!School has been a complete success. We have had good days and not so good days, but all work has been completed, the girls are learning, and we have fun (most of the time). I am constantly in awe of all that God can accomplish when I am willing to follow His lead. The Littles have bonded and have become friends. Pooh now takes the initiative to help teach Tigger when she needs extra help.
We are learning about God's Creation. What a fun 2 weeks that was! Here are a couple of pictures of the end result:
Also, during our first week of school the girls made plaster casts of their handprints and painted them.
Week 1: We moved on to learning about seeds and the Sun and how Jesus is the Light of the world.
Week 2: Then we learned about the Moon and how We are the Light of the world. We studied the phases of the moon and discussed reflecting light.
Week 3: We found out that I Will Live and Grow in Jesus. We went outside and took a good look at a huge tree in our front yard and discussed how the leaves on the tree grow and stay healthy because they remain part of the tree. Then we picked a leaf off of the tree, brought it into the house to see how it would do apart from the tree. Over the next few days we watched that leaf whither and die. What a wonderful picture of what happens to us spiritually when we choose to be apart from Jesus.
Week 4: If I Stay in Jesus I will have much fruit. This was a difficult concept for them to understand. How do people produce fruit? What does it look like? What a wonderful opportunity for the girls to learn about the Fruit of the Spirit! God provided many opportunities for all of us to practice "Bearing fruit" too. Amen!
Week 5: God Takes Good Care of Me. We studied birds and their different types of nests. We tried to make our own nests, we spotted nests on a nature walk and drew pictures of nests.
Week 6: I don't quit I persevere. This was a big turning point for us. It seems that this week the girls and I got our rhythm going. What fun we had learning about turtles and reading the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. Since this week, the girls have both been able to remember all of the their memory verses and have done a much better job of applying them to every day life.
Week 7: God Made Us Wonderful! We spent this time reading stories about our 5 senses and friendship.
Week 8: Big and small God made us all. Dinosaurs! We went out and measured the length from the biggest dinosaur's head to it's tail out in the field by our house. Wow it sure was big! I had a hard time getting both girls in on the picture. It was also a lot of fun to read about dinosaurs from a biblical perspective.
Week 9: Even the Octopus praises the Lord. They were fascinated by the octopus and all the other ocean animals and how special each one is and how they praise the Lord merely by doing what he created them to do.
Week 10: Jesus Gives My Spirit Living Water to Drink. What a fun week! The girls have learned about the water cycle. They've learned a wonderful song that incorporates all the key components of the water cycle: Evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. We also discuss collection of water into rivers, lakes and oceans.
Our water week provided us with many different science experiments. We learned about surface tension, how water takes on the shape of the container it is in, and how to make a paper boat move across the water using dish soap. They are learning the difference between solids, liquids, and gases.
Along with all of these fun activities the girls are learning to read, write, add and subtract. They are learning the months or the year and days of the week in both English and Spanish. We have gone on many field trips including a tour of Trader Joe's, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and a trip to a gymnastics studio.
So, that is what we have been up to the past 12 weeks or so. I am so thankful for the opportunity we have to be together this year for school. I don't know how many years the Lord has planned for us to do this, so I am doing my best to enjoy and appreciate every moment of this time together.
