MFW Highlight Week 4 Creation to Greeks

Theme for our studies this week....

Farmers of the Nile Valley

Ancient Egypt was a long narrow country which stretched along the Nile Valley.  Villages grew along the Nile, because along both sides of the river the land was good for farming.  

Unification of Egypt

Upper and Lower Egypt fought a battle around 3100 B.C. and King Menes of Upper Egypt won.  He united both kingdoms and Egypt became one country.

The kids were given pictures of the two crowns that the Pharaohs wore.  I informed them that they would need to get creative and create their own making sure they could combine them.  I have to say I couldn't of done it.  I'm a mom that needs a pattern or instructions, but my kids pulled it off and did a great job!

Egypt Boats

Daddy, Hannah, Lauren and myself spent about an hour just making the above reed boat. This was messy and the reeds I bought were sticky.  I got about 4 cut wounds from this project. 

Rosh Hashanah

 We are a week behind on our feasts.  Last week I wasn't doing well so we only got around to the basics. 

In preparing for Rosh Hashanah we took some craft ideas from

Through the week we made our own apple and honey dish, Kiddush cup, and paper shofar.  All can be seen in the collage below.

The Hebrew word Rosh means "head" or "beginning."  Hashanah means "the year."  The name is only used once in the Old Testament.  Ezekiel 40:1 says, "....at the beginning of the year..."  The more common biblical name is "The Feast of Trumpets."  This celebration is intended to begin a new "spiritual" year.

We began the morning with me blowing the shofar and spoke:

"Awake, you that are sleepy, and ponder your deeds; remember your Creator and go to him for forgiveness.  Don't be like those who miss reality in their hunt after shadows, and waste your years in seeking after vain things which can neither profit nor deliver.  Look well to your souls and consider your deeds; let each one of you forsake his evil ways and thoughts, and return to the Lord, so that He may have mercy on you."

We will do this observing the ten day tradition of the High Holy Days along with each day reading one of the ten reasons for blowing the shofar.

The shofar is a symbolic signal to God's people that it is time for a spiritual awakening.  The bend in the showfar represent the human heart in true repentence bowing before the Lord.

The challah has a round shape symbolic of our desire for a full and round year.  Lauren made the challah dough and I braided it using the example from http://judaism.about.com/b/2011/09/21/how-to-braid-a-round-challah-for-rosh-hashanah.htm.  Ours didn't turn out quite as round, I couldn't quite figure it out. 

The honey cake was to celebrate the birthday of the world.  We thanked God for His creation. Hannah baked our honey cake.

The Hebrew word for carrots also means "to increase."  The carrots symbolize that God will increase our blessings as we walk with Him in the new year. 

Another tradition is to dip apples in honey.  This is symbolic of the hope that the year will be a sweet one.  Lauren made an apple plate for the apples and turned a red cup into a flower.  She then made a bumble bee out of foam and glued it to the flower.

Moments to Cherish....

• During family prayer Micah asked the Lord to provide food for the homeless and to send rain for mama and papa's farm.  Well God answered both those prayers that same day.  We happen to see one of our pastors place a request to help with a little of the prep work for a mission project the church is doing for the families who were affected by the fires in Bastrop.  They blessed us with the opportunity to serve with Jimmy, who was awesome with the kids, in labeling the food boxes.  The kids really enjoyed this and even asked if we could help every Thursday at the church.    We left so blessed!  Then later that day we saw Aunt Heather post on facebook that they were getting rain on the farm.  Praise God for answered prayers!
• Ok so this is kind of funny.  Every time Lexi has to go potty she pulls down her panties to her ankles, wherever she is, and wobbles to the potty.  I wonder if she knows it's easier to wait till you get to the potty before you pull your panties down. LOL 
• I woke up from a nap and found Hannah cooking in the kitchen.  She was working on her cooking class assignment.  She made homemade chocolate syrup.  It is not often Hannah wants to be in the kitchen, so I was thrilled to see her in there.

Another Day at the Farm

 We went down to Schulenburg this past weekend to build the
 deer stand for Tray and Hannah to go hunting this year.

 Our dinner!  The deer was standing only 12' from the stand.  This is a good sign.

 I'm thinking that cat was in a bit of discomfort.

 Just as sweet as can be.

 Papa and Lexi

Sharing a laugh.

Lord, please send some rain.

Treasure Others Above Yourself

The lesson for the 1st and 2nd graders at church was to treasure others above yourself.  One of the Bible verses they used was Matthew 6:21.  This is a topic that we have really been focusing on especially this past week in our house.  The wheels started turning as I listened to the lesson.  I thought this could become another great visual aid and hands on approach of dealing with selfishness in our house. So I came home and started putting it all together.

 

The kids could read the verse on the treasure box.  Then we could talk about what is happening in their heart.  Are they glorifying God or are their own desires causing them to be dragged away by sin. Allow the child to ponder it and tell you who his/her actions are glorifying.  When our first treasure is in Christ then our actions will reflect Christ and He will be glorified.  In Romans 12:10 it says to love and honor others above ourselves  (Romans 12:10).

Next, I will have the kids write on a small piece of paper what their want is (being 1st player, not wanting to share, who gets the first sandwich or the last bit of milk, 1st down the slide-you get the point) and then they are to PUT it on the shelf. 





Then, they are to write how they could put the other person above themselves and insert it into the treasure chest. http://www.reading-with-kids.com/images/pirate-treasure-chest.jpg. 

We will then PRAY and put into ACTION the idea they placed into the treasure chest .  

http://www.mediafire.com/?4eotvh8iuei0p30  treasure chest enlarged to put together

http://www.mediafire.com/?7eq1lf2zterbnjh    Put your wants on the shelf and ......

http://www.mediafire.com/?kyfon37k9dgxfy4  the heart with cross and children

http://www.mediafire.com/?k4p1lqx8d6xsdpx  the treasure chest with Bible verse

Instructions: 

• Print out the words, cut and laminate.
• Print out the heart, cut.
• Print out the treasure chest with scripture, cut.  Then along the bottom right corner of inside part of treasure chest cut an "L" shape.  Basically along the edges.  You are going to put the heart a little inside the slit, so it looks like the heart is actually inside the chest (make sure to glue it).  Then you can laminate.
• For the brown item that they will put their wants in, I just cut a rectangle out of construction paper, folded all 4 side up a little, then cut slits on the ends and folded one side inside another and glued.
• Be sure to print the treasure chest on card stock, cut and glue. 



MFW Highlights Wk3 Creation to Greeks

Theme for our studies this week....

After the Flood

Most of the history we will learn this year will have occurred in a small part of the world, sometimes called the Bible Lands. The kids drew a map of this region and used the following silly story to help remind them.

A man went fishing one day. This is the front of his boat. His fishing lines are hanging down from the boat and they got all tangled up. The man looked over his boat and fell into the water! These are his two fingers under the front of the boat. He sent up a distress signal to call for help-a balloon with a string, and a mitten tied on the end of it! In this corner is the head of a huge water bug, with two long feelers coming out of his head.

E.T. purrs in the red nile med

(Euphrates, Tigris, Persian Gulf, Red Nile, & Mediterranean Sea)

This saying was to help them remember what most of the areas they drew were called.

Noah’s Descendants

The kids mapped the migration of Noah's descendants.

Tower of Babel

Ok, so they don't compare to the Tower of Babel daddy built last year.  We had fun playing and constructing!

Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia

We learned that the Sumerians were the first to create a written language after the flood.  Do you know what Mesopotamia means?? Well we didn't and now we do.  It is the land between two rivers (The Tigris and the Euphrates).  Scholars believe that Sumer is one of the oldest known civilizations in the world and that Ham (Noah's son) was the grandfather to Nimrod who they believe founded Sumer. 

Greek for the week....

Photos - light

Kids re-enacting one who is photophobia.

For phototropic and photophilia we dug up a plant from

the back yard, hence, the reason why it doesn't look so great and 

watched it turn towards the light.

Science....

We have been discussing mammals in science.  For this weeks assignment they had to choose a mammal of their choice, read a book on that mammal, write a report and draw a picture. 

For Micah and Lauren they used the following notebook page http://www.mediafire.com/?pev8ah6hl4m6304.

Family Read Aloud....

We finished

Moments to cherish....

• Lexi is now pooping on the potty. Woo Hoo!!
• The last two weeks Lauren has put up our grocery cart along with all the other baskets that were left out in the parking lot. She is just like her daddy.  Two of his pet peaves is when people don't put their basket in the cart return or when people just lay things up on the grocery shelves instead of placing them back where they got them from.
• Watching daddy jumping on the trampoline with the kids.
• Hannah is not my child who is usually in the kitchen cooking with me, but she really enjoys making the Challah bread.  She asked to make it this week.  Lauren and Hannah measured, rolled, and braided the dough all by themselves.



Homemade Wheat Bread

The original recipe is from King Arthur's Website.

Add to your bread machine pan:

1/4 cup oil (I use coconut)

just under 2/3 cup warm milk

 1/2 cup warm water

2 cups whole wheat flour

 1 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbs. sugar

1-1/4 Tsp. salt

1 Tbs. Wheat Gluten

2 Tsp. of instant yeast

Put your bread machine on the dough cycle.  Mine takes 1 hr 40 mins.  Once done take the dough out and form into a log shape and insert into a buttered or oiled bread pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise.  While oven is preheating I put my bread pan on the back burner to give some warmth and it usually only takes my bread about 45 - 60 minutes to rise as you see in the picture.  I cook my bread for 35 minutes on 350. 

Hope you enjoy!

No Dairy Chocolate Pudding

I know my presentation doesn't look good, but this pudding is delicious. The recipe is from

Nutrition 101: Choose Life

Avocados are what give this pudding the creamy texture in place of mucus forming cream and milk found in traditional puddings.  Plus, it has a healthy brain power fat.

Ingredients:

2 small ripe avocados

1/2 to 3/4 cup Agave Nectar, raw honey or Grade B maple syrup (I have used honey and Agave and both were good)

1/4 cup carob powder (I have only used Hershey's Cocoa)

2 Tbs. coconut milk or rice milk (I have used with both)

1 Tbs. 100% pure vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

pinch of cinnamon

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  It says to chill, but my kids usually want to eat right away. 

Enjoy, we do!

G is for glower

                                           Lexi with a look of discontent. 

                              She wasn't getting her way on the playground.

                                              Join AB See Photo Meme

                                       http://www.flickr.com/groups/absee/

MFW Highlights Wk2 Creation to Greeks

Theme for our studies this week....

Genesis 2-8
A few of our assignments below

notebooking page can be found at http://www.notebookingpages.com/

the booklet can be found at http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/

Hannah's second assignment in IEW (Excellence in Writing) to write a poem on

The Great Flood.

Some additional books the kids enjoyed....

 

Greek for the Week....I printed this out for the kids notebook and also created a word document.  I printed the word document, cut out the dinosaurs with the information, laminated and put up on wall for the kids to see through the week.  You can download document http://www.mediafire.com/?2en330u843xnstc.   Lauren and Micah also did a few dot to dot dinosaur pages (on some of the above mentioned dinosaurs) that can be found at www.education.com/worksheets as well as put their minds to work on finding their way through some dinosaur mazes bought from http://www.amazon.com/.

Daddy and Lauren also worked together on building a paper 3D Tyrannosaurus from the Kumon Paper Craft book.  The book says for 7 and up, but I felt it was difficult for our kids to do alone.

Cooking class has begun....
A friend asked if I would be interested in teaching a cooking class and with excitement I agreed.  I am only teaching  it once a month at this time so I don't add to much to my plate.  A few gliches need to be worked out, but I thought the class went well.  All the girls were wonderful and I hope that this class will be informative and FUN!

We went over our notebooks then took a few minutes to watch

http://eater.com/archives/2011/06/06/watch-jamie-oliver-ruin-ice-cream-and-candy-forever.php

Then we made our own toppings for some natural ice creams and enjoyed.

Here are the handouts I created for the first class.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/96d34r4y6g6zqos/A%20Few%20Cooking20Utensils.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/c9vl5ekx19814z5/immune%20system.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/qbmbhtxl37stbwm/Kitchen%20Etiquette.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/6o2jhvqqdm2bohn/Picture%20of%20Me%20with%20Assignment%201.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rk30abyzid7nod7/Recipe%20for%20a%20firs1.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/69d5lua0e5518su/stewed%20fruit%20syrup.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mx9yj5dbdm5kanb/topping%20for%20fruit%20crisp.docxcx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/tu6lsex5u9pcycp/CHOCOLATE%20SYRUP.docx

Micah working on....
Copywork of our weekly Bible verse. 

"All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 

                                                                                                                               2 Timothy 3:16-17

Extra activity
We took a trip to the library Friday with some other homeschoolers. They went over how the library is set up and how to locate books, then sent the kids on a hunt. This was great because quite frankly we don't make it to the library that oftern, it is just too dificult with Lexi at her age plus trying to assist all the other kids. We usually put our request in through the internet and pick up our books. We are in and out.




A day with friends....

Family read aloud....
We are still reading Amy & Her Bothers.  The kids are really enjoying this book.  Lauren said she loved the book and asked if we could get more like this one.

Moments to cherish.....

• Lauren was folding laundry when she decided to put my clothes on, turn the music up loud and start dancing in the living room.
• The slide was wet at the park and Lexi wanted to slide down, so Lauren suggested to Micah to dry the slide of with his cape.  Micah slid down the slide scooting his bottom side to side to make sure he dried up all the water.
• Lexi loved listening to Vivaldi and when they played the opera piece she tried to sing along.
• We took family night over to grandpa's and he enjoyed some homemade pizza and The Walton's with us.



Roadrunner



First let me explain that every morning our kids chase daddy down the road on their bikes or on foot waving goodbye and shouting out their love for him.  How could you not have a good day when you have a beginning like that.

Well this morning we were heading out the door before daddy and as we were loading in the car we noticed daddy getting onto his bike.  Puzzled I didn't understand why he was getting on his bike when he needed to be getting into his car.

Then as I watched daddy with his childlike behavior zooming down the road rushing to be the first, he reminded me of Micah in the mornings.  As we met him at the intersection he waved goodbye to us with a gleeful smile.

It was just the sweetest and funniest start to our day!  Thank you daddy for always keeping us laughing.

MFW Highlights Wk1 Creation to Greeks

Week 1 MFW Creation to Greeks

Homeschool Wrap-Up

Theme for our studies this week.... Days of Creation 

 As we were studying creation I thought it only appropriate to include in the lesson that in Genesis 1:1 it is written, "In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  In English, it is God, but the Old Testament was written in the Hebrew language and in Hebrew his name in this verse is Elohim.  Elohim means strong, mighty, powerful creator.

For an experiment I cut several pieces of paper and labeled them 1 - 7.  We put the 7 pieces of paper in a small paper bag, Hannah blew up the bag and twisted the top.  She then proceeded to shake the bag and pop it.  We dumped out all the numbers.

and as you can see they did not fall into order in a straight line, nor were they all right side up, nor lined in order from 1 - 10.  How will the numbers get in order?  Only if someone puts them in order.  Order doesn't happen by itself.  Our world is that way, too.  Someone had to create the world and put it in order.  That someone is God, Elohim, Strong Creator.

Greek for Week….

Interesting facts we learned…

While we were playing animal charades Hannah and Lauren taught Micah and I about a new creature, the leaf fish. Of course, I didn't guess it and it wasn't because of their acting.  Hannah then began to  tell us that when a leaf fish is in danger, it stops swimming, turns on it's side and floats.  It looks like a dead leaf.  It even has a stump that looks like a leaf stalk.  After acting out the animals we had to say if they were vertebrates or invertebrates to go along with our studies in science this week.  This year we are wavering from our curriculum and went with our own choice of God's Design World of Animals.

pollsb.com   

and

The Sabbath symbols and their meanings:

The candles should be placed on a table in the room where the meal will be served,to spread light over the night. Idea taken from Genesis 1:3-4: "Then God said,  "Let there be light"; and there was light.  And God saw the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness."  One candle represents "creation" and the other one "redemption."

A goblet of wine is placed on the table.  A sanctification prayer is recited by the father over this symbolic cup.  The wine symbolizes life.  It also symbolizes Christ's shed blood. 

The bread called challah, a term used in the Old Testament for new dough, which was a requirement to be presented as a "gift to the Lord" (Num. 15:17-21)  For our Sabbath dinner we made our own challah.  As a tradition the mother prays for each member of the family as she stirs the mixture, kneading in her love.  I loved doing this part. 

The cloth covering is symbolic of the dew that was around the camp when the Israelites woke up in the desert and were reminded again that God does provide.  When the dew evaporated, behold, there lay on the ground manna, God's provision of bread. It is even more meaningful when we remember God's provision of His Son, who said,"I am the bread of life" (John 6:48).

We visited grandpa…. Street racing at its finest.

I loved seeing….The kids playing together during break time.

and

Lauren helping Micah with piano. Micah has been begging me to begin lessons the past month.  I was happy that the music teacher was able to fit him in right before Lauren's lessons.

Something new around the house...

The kids tend to argue over who gets to sit by daddy, so in order to resolve this matter I added to their daily chores (you can find the download on the right side bar) setting the table breakfast, lunch, dinner.  Each day I rotate who sets each one.  Lexi has a desire to help and does quite a good job!  Don't you think?

Place mats first.

Then the bowls (we were eating beans and cornbread).

Spoons to the right.  Learning how to set a table and

differentiating between her left and right.

A sweet moment....

Barb and Larry came by to visit and bring Lexi the rest of her birthday gifts.  Lexi pulled out the crayons and told Barb, "Barb color."

Our Family Read Aloud...


Favorite Hands on Project...

The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown every Friday.  Known as Shabbat (shah-BAHT) in Hebrew, the word means "rest."  Shabbat is one of the earliest of Jewish traditions.  By resting on the seventh day the Jews believe that they are honoring God.

We did not observe all of the Jewish Sabbath activities.  We only partook in the Friday Sabbath Meal. 

Earlier in the week we made our centerpiece the oil float.  We made a star for each family member.  When making this Lauren said we needed to make 7.  She reminded me that I said Keika would always be a part of our family. So in agreement we thought it was appropriate to have a candle for Keika. All of the flames, even though they are separate, share the same source, symbolic of the family depending on God for strength and life.

We started this afternoon making our challah (KHAH-lah), which turned out delicious.  The girls did a wonderful job helping to make this.  For dinner we prepared fish, carrots, and rice to go with the challah.  The kids also made candlestick salads. 

"And it was the Preparation Day and the Sabbath was about to begin." (Luke 23:54)

Friday Family Movie Night....
We watched the tv series The Waltons episode Separation.