Here's something fun!
We met Paul and Pamela Butler through our blogs, and then last year I actually got to spend a day in Chicago with Pamela. It was a ball.
This morning, Paul called and asked to interview me about blogging and ministry. You can hear the interview here.
~Kendra
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When I recently wrote in response to a reader's lack of joy, I mentioned adding something into her day that would appeal to her. Something to look forward to in all the necessary doings of the day.
For me, it's cooking. More specifically, it's baking. I dream in bread, cakes, pies, and crème brûlée (who doesn't dream in crème brûlée?) Lucky for me, baking is a science and so I have planned a whole season's worth of science lessons that have me in the kitchen with my kids during our slotted science hour.
When it dawned on me that we could use our two science mornings as our cooking course, I began to see a world of possibilities open to me. I also began to get excited and look forward to our science days, about which I had tended to feel rather ho-hum in the past.
We began with a cooking lapbook because I wanted to train my kids from the ground up. A while ago, I had made cooking binders for them in anticipation of a summer cooking course I was going to teach. But babies came instead, one summer after the other, and our cooking course never happened.
So I organized my materials and set out to have a whole lot of fun. How neat is it that we also end up producing a meal or a snack in the process?
If a cooking/science/chemistry unit sounds good to you, too, I say go for it. These are some of the resources we're using:
Online:
America's Test Kitchen Videos Online
Our Favorite Cookbooks for Kids:
Paula Deen's My First Cookbook
My Favorite Cooking Blogs:
CupCake Blog (although she's no longer blogging, her archives are to die for!)
Kendra-
I have a question for you: Do you have any specific resources (books, plans, outlines, suggestions) for Family Worship? I know this is generally a "husband" area of expertise, but my dear (and very busy!) hubby is really wanting to lead family worship on a more regular basis (we do this on a fairly regular basis and have used the following books as guides: Jim Comarty's A Book for Family Worship, Our 24 Family Ways by Sally and Clay Clarkson, and The Family Worship Book + a few others) and has asked for my input. Where was the first place I thought to go (after the Lord, of course!)-YOU!
Though books are a GREAT tool and suggestion, the Word is Supreme! So, if there are any tips on format, structure, content/how to choose Scriptures to focus on, and of course, other books/guidelines, etc. (I'm just throwing spaghetti at the wall here to see if anything sticks!!LOL), I would be so grateful! I saw something recently in a Lifeway magazine that talked about Scripture Memory for the family and thought this could tie-in nicely too...
If others have already asked about this and I missed an archive blog somewhere on this subject-I'm sorry! Just point the way for me if you've already covered this?
Thanks again, and much love to you!
Happy Day~
Blessings,
Shannon
Hey Shannon-
Great question! There are so many options, I'll just throw out what has worked for us in the past and see if anything is a fit for your family.
If you want to stay mainly in Scripture, how about choosing one book to go through a chapter per night? We studied Acts this way last year and everyone from the teenagers down to the preschooler really enjoyed it. Scripture memory could tie in nicely, too.
Each person illustrated the chapter. The older ones wrote descriptions of their pictures, and then we all shared what we had gleaned from the chapter. At the end of the study, we watched a fantastic film version of Acts that is purely Scripture and stars Dean Jones. It was a hit here.
Easy planning done for you would be to use a Bible reading plan like those recommended by Desiring God. Just open your Bibles to the day's reading and there you go. Everyone can have a chance to read aloud if you divvy up the chapters, too.
My husband will typically camp on a topic we feel we're all in need of studying together. We've gone through books on loving one another, on leadership qualities, and biographies. But he's not really into devotional books, so I use them in our Circle Time instead.
We want our kids to love the Word. I think if we make our family worship relaxed and enjoyable, they will look forward to the time together rather than dreading it. Opening your Bible, reading it together and then casually talking about what stands out to each person can be a great way to enjoy the Word as a family. Dad's and Mom's insight and wisdom can carry the conversation far, and pulling out reference books as needed is one of the ways our kids can learn to delve into Scripture themselves.
We're studying Job right now and my husband asks questions of the kids on their level: "Sounds like Job is scared here. Can you remember ever being scared?"
My husband says, "Keep it simple, and don't compare yourself to other families. If the Joneses are singing hymns in four-part harmony, by all means let them. But don't think that has to be the standard for your family". Phew. Good thing. That would stress me out!
Hope that helps-
Kendra
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So.
I am the Preschoolers and Peace gal who loves routine. Schedules. Plans! But...
My wise friend Cheryl has often said to me, "Hold your plans loosely", and I am getting lots of practice doing just that these days.
For those of you who might think I've got the corner on organization, I give you
Tuesday, January 20th
8:00 5-year-old crawls into my bed to rub my back. The day has begun well!
8:10 Mother-in-Law calls from next door to tell us that the inauguration is coming on and do we want to come over and watch it? I *thought* it was going to be on at 11:30, but apparently that's real time, not California time.
8:30 Put strata (made yesterday by my friend who helps us on Mondays) into the oven.
8:35 9-year-old, 7-year-old, 5-year-old, 22-month-old, and I go next door to watch the inauguration. No sign of the teenagers- they prefer their warm beds in the morning.
9:30 Come back home to feed baby.
10:00 Eat breakfast, read devotional, send everyone on a hunt for my small Bible, clean kitchen, fold a load of laundry, listen to phone message from food co-op coordinator.
11:00 Put 22-month-old in the playpen in the family room with the intent of starting our history study in the schoolroom. 13-year-old reminds me that his guitar lesson will be in that room in 15 minutes. Move playpen upstairs to my room. Forgot Beatrix Potter DVD downstairs. Who needs a gym?
11:15 Start history. Can I tell you how thankful I am that Linda Hobar has recorded The Mystery of History??? I push "play" and sit down to check email. Diaper desperately in need of changing.
11:19 Crack open a can of Diet Coke. I'm off the wagon, but as my best friend says, "Its not Vodka".
11:30 Search Google for photos of Chinese foot binding.
11:35 Search Google for photos of acupuncture.
11:50 Discuss St. Simon and the Coptic Church. Discuss Eric the Red (we're going chronologically).
12:00 Clean up schoolroom. This after my little friendly but loud lecture about actually doing your job rather than claiming to have done your job.
12:03 Discuss inauguration on the phone with my husband. Put away Christmas books while talking. Conversation ends when he arrives at the pool for a noontime swim.
12:08 Continue to encourage the cleaning of the schoolroom. Collect library books for return.
12:20 Send children to do their morning chores. It's not morning. We're pretty darn majorly behind, and by the way- our two hour Circle Time has been reduced to 45 minutes, and we only studied history. "Hold your plans loosely"... Grab 22-month-old and 8-month-old to go put the littlest guy down for his nap.
12:25 Carry 5-year-old downstairs. She still can't walk until we see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow.
12:26 Read aloud in the living room. Tell 5-year-old to sit still and stop fussing because she didn't get as many pretzels as she wanted. Correct 22-month-old 11 times while he sits in his little booster seat and eats pretzels. Knit seven rows on a baby bootie.
12:45 Ask 13-year-old to start celery with peanut butter for lunch. He's the Tuesday breakfast guy but he was nowhere to be found when breakfast needed to be started.
1:00 Discuss the fact that it takes more calories to eat celery than is to be gained by it. Listen to the 15-year-old tell me about a movie he, his brothers, and cousin plan to make about facial exercise. Practice facial exercises. Crack ourselves up.
1:15 Talk to best friend on the phone. We will miss seeing each other as she passes through our town today :(
1:20 Hear 11-year-old frantically practicing the piano because his lesson is at 2:00. Watch the celery and peanut butter disappear. Watch the crackers and apples disappear. Watch the oatmeal cookies disappear.
1:35 Sneak upstairs to write this.
1:40 Tell piano players to get into the van. "Take your math!". Give 13-year-old instructions for feeding and playing with the baby. Try to find lip gloss. Make-up is a priority.
2:00 Drop two pianists off at piano. Drive to chiropractor with 15-year-old for adjustments.
2:30 Back at piano teacher/dear friend's house. Paint the remainder of her kitchen cabinets that I couldn't finish the night before.
4:00 Home. Have long conversation with best friend on the way, finishing as a load of laundry goes from washer to dryer. Approve two snack requests. Tell everyone downstairs to come upstairs for school help.
4:20 Spelling with 9-year-old. I spell "raving" wrong just to get a laugh out of her.
4:40 Realize I didn't pick up my food co-op order. Really, really, bummed at myself.
4:52 Check Facebook. Why? I don't know. Feel guilty that I'm not downstairs checking on the other schoolwork being done at the kitchen table. Getting up now...
I'll stop there, partly because I'm thinking you're bored about now and partly because I can't remember. Are you all feeling better about your days now?
Enjoy today, and hold your plans loosely!
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And little brothers can keep you company while you study...
Would you mind sharing how you teach writing to your children? Not grammar or handwriting but the process of writing.
-Brandi
Whenever someone asks me how we teach our children the process of writing (a term paper, an essay, fiction, etc.), I cringe. Writing is one of those things I don't teach.
There are lots of reasons for this, not the least of which is the fact that I learned to write well because my mother is a good writer, as are my brothers. One of them is twice published. In spite of the paltry education the government provided, I learned to write by having my family read my writing and offer suggestions and corrections. My mom also read aloud to us while we were growing up, so good literature was something with which we became familiar. My high school English teacher told me I was better read than he was, which says a little about me but a whole heaping lot about the public high school I attended, known for its "high academic standards". Hmmm. That's not entirely fair; I had two stand-out teachers who required much in the way of writing and offered copious correction, but these were teachers in the "gifted" program and it bothers me greatly to think of how many kids not labeled gifted didn't receive good writing instruction at all.
When it came time to delve into teaching my own children, I didn't bat an eyelash concerning the teaching of writing. It's natural. It just flows from who we are. Do you see why the question of how we teach writing makes me cringe? I have no concrete answer.
I will tell you what exercises our children have done to strengthen their writing ability, and I'll be happy to answer your questions. The easiest way for me to organize my thoughts on this subject is to go child by child, so I apologize in advance if this becomes tedious and boring.
10th Grade Boy- Strong natural writer. Worked his way through English for the Thoughtful Child and Rod and Staff English books from first to fourth grade and then I let him go (this won me many Brownie points). Has done upper level writing programs "for fun". Listens to Andrew Pudewa workshops I pick up on CD and enjoys them.
8th Grade Boy- Antithesis of the above. Started with English for the Thoughtful Child and Rod and Staff English. Cried. A lot. I ditched the grammar books and just required heaps upon heaps of copywork until this year when he is working through Rod and Staff English 8. Would cry if he knew he wouldn't look like a sissy. Not really, but he finds it utterly distasteful. However, he has a lot of required writing for Veritas Press Omnibus II, so we continue to plug away, refining and correcting and improving.
6th Grade Boy- Quite a good natural writer. Started with English for the Thoughtful Child but not Rod and Staff. I'm so confident in the 8th grade text that I am waiting to toss that his way next year or so. He has loved Matt Whitling's series of books called Imitation in Writing, and I have loved the results so much that these are now a permanent fixture on our curriculum scene. For fun, he's been working through How to Write a Story this year.
4th Grade Girl- English for the Thoughtful Child. Copywork, copywork, copywork. Dictation, too. When we write notebooking pages for history, she either copies several sentences I write on the white board or she composes her own. She's not a strong writer and finds spelling a challenge, but she's young yet and I think we'll start the Imitation in Writing series in the next year or two.
2nd Grade Girl- Same as above, except her spelling ability is excellent. She's super right-brained (creative, verbal) so I suspect we'll see some neat things flowing from her pen one of these days.
I wish I could give you "Ten Steps for Producing a Good Writer", but I can't. Keep your eye on each student and see where their weaknesses lie. There are so many excellent resources on the market these days that it shouldn't be too difficult to find ways to challenge your young writers.
If you're looking for a writing mentor for your students, Patrick Henry College has a program for you:
Patrick Henry College Writing Mentors
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