M m Moon

"Starry Night" by Van Gogh

This turned out to be a soul-plumbing week.

The letter "M", the moon and the words: "I am the Light of the World" were our themes. I really want to raise children who delight in serving others and who are lights in the world.  We talked about how the Bible says we are to let our lights shine so that God will receive glory.  We talked about ways that we can do this and practiced some of them.

In dealing with this topic I was struck with the hypocrisy which exists in the juxtaposition of the desire I have to live out the Christian life of service and the very deep ugly that resides in me.

We started learning the Operational Definitions of Character Qualities.  This week I chose "Hospitality" which is: "Cheerfully sharing food, shelter and spiritual nourishment with those whom God brings into my life." and we learned the verse to go with it: Hebrews 13:2.  That saying, written in large print on our chalkboard kitchen wall, along with Bible verses and a week's worth of spiritual light reflecting activities, after a while seemed painfully sardonic.

After one particularly difficult morning in which I was inexcusably monstrous, I had to wipe off everyone's tears and then proceed to present a carefully constructed lesson plan about missionaries and showing love to our neighbors and what not.

Hey!!  How about you just work on not being a complete jerk toward your kids, Lauren?!

Parenting is hard.  Just being a decent human being is hard for me sometimes.

And here I am, making missionary cookies for the neighbors who don't yell at their child and who are more neighborly than Mark and I and they don't even claim to be Christians.

<sigh>

But this is what I learned in My Father's World kindergarten: I'm not meant to be a flashlight or a candle or anything else that you think of hiding under a bushel, no.  I'm meant to be a mirror.  Just like the moon doesn't give off it's own light but it reflects the sun's light, (did you know that?  I didn't know that), I am supposed to be a reflection of who God is. I don't even have my own light to shine which was painfully obvious this week.

So if we could all just sing "This little reflector vest of mine" in Sunday School, that would clear up a lot.

I know, the Bible explicitly says that we are to be lights.  And the moon is called a light in Genesis.  But when I look at the way God created the moon to function as a light even though it isn't actually a source of light itself, it helps me to understand the verse in Matthew better.  I'm still working out all of the implications but I think that changes the way I see my Christian duty.

And how many times have a I been a mirror but in the wrong way?  Particularly to my kids and my husband, when they interact with me and all I point out are their faults.  But if I were to reflect God's light, they would find a well of grace and hope and love that tells them they are lovely, not because of what they do or don't do, but because God loves them.

I'm so thankful to have Mark, who has been the greatest example of sacrificial and unconditional love to me.  It is always the times when I know I don't deserve it and he gives it anyway that profoundly change me.  I feel like if I do nothing else as a parent, as a person, receiving and reflecting grace is enough.

So here are the light reflecting things we did:

• We took a flashlight and mirror into a dark room to talk about this concept of Jesus being the source of light and we being a reflection of it
• We sang "This Little Light of Mine" afterward and used mirrors for our lights
• We learned the definition of "hospitality" and talked about how that is applied first to the people who live in our house
• Nora has a new job on Mondays- I taught her to take over my task each week of folding and stuffing the bulletins for the shut-in's from church.  There are only 4 so she can do it well.  We talked about how sending an encouraging note or making a phone call can be a way to reflect Jesus' love. 
• We talked about the missionary Lottie Moon and how she made cookies for the Chinese children to have an opportunity to tell them about Jesus
• We made Lottie Moon cookies for our neighbors

• We talked about what it means to be a missionary and how you can be a missionary anywhere.  We talked about our resident missionaries, Mimi & Poppi (My Dad and Linda), and how they always look for opportunities to tell people about Jesus.  This weekend they are taking 5 bus loads of people down to the Harvest Crusade to hear the gospel preached.  
• We got cozy and watched a Mister Rogers episode about a planetarium

• Nora spent her two hours alone with Mika (a practice they are doing weekly now.)  They had a tea party and pretended that a bunch of animals were going to dinner and the doctor's.  I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than play pretend so Nora relishes her time with Mika.  We talked about how Mika is a "mirror" and pretty much hospitality incarnate.
• Our friend Candace came over and we made tin can candles with old candle wax and crayons.  The insides of the can reflect the light from the flame and it's very pretty.  I'll try to refrain from giving everyone candles for Christmas.

• We went as a family to a work day at church.  This was the first time we attempted such a thing and it was fun to have the girls help with the cleaning.  We scrubbed 4 bathrooms - even Lucy pitched in before eating the wash rag and then being banned from helping.

Relaxing with Pastor Sparling after a hard morning's work

Here are some of the other things we did:

• Writing Mm - another hard letter - and the number 2 in playdough, with the wet-dry-try method from Handwriting Without Tears, and a bunch of other tactile ways.  It is hard, hard work for her.

• Math - we grouped m&m's from 0-10.  When they got it right, they ate them.
• We learned about the phases of the moon - a good excuse to eat oreos.  I think this information was actually retained.  They are much more aware of how to moon looks and Nora is able to name the phase that she sees.

• We did a picture study of Van Gogh's Starry Night  (Anyone know what that big brown thing is supposed to be?  Nora and I didn't have a clue.)
• We had a family movie night and we watched "The Red Balloon" since Lucy is all about balloons and balls now.  It's a neat little movie.  And since it was a French film, I felt all cultured.
• Books we really liked: "Faces of the Moon" by Bob Crelin and "So That's How the Moon Changes Shape" by Allan Fowler
• We spent time at the playground until we dropped

• We all went to Bounce U with Mika and Kirsten, Benny and Arwen 

Claire continues to amaze us with her acrobatic ability

Even Lucy was doing it

Another good, full week.

S s Sun

Van Gogh's "Enclosed Field with Rising Sun"

It's been a good, full week.  We started our "S" unit on Monday.  I think our exciting start last week was sort of a bait and switch for Nora who keeps asking when the "fun" activities are going to come.  Hmmmm.... 

My Father's World does have  a lot of worksheets.  I'm pretty skeptical of worksheets and I would prefer to use them much more infrequently than this program ends up doing.  BUT that's the great thing about homeschooling!  If something isn't working, we can change it.  So for the future I'm sure we won't use the majority of them, but right now, Nora is getting good practice with cutting and pasting and drawing and writing. Those things are all difficult for her because she has some fine motor issues.  

This program begins with "S" which is a terribly difficult letter to write.  We used the Handwriting Without Tears wooden pieces to make the letter and a tray of salt to draw with our fingers and we formed it out of playdough.    We did some math activities with identifying shapes and corners and sides and looking for the shapes of objects in the world around us.  We did a couple worksheets with cutting and pasting things that start with "S".   We sang the a-a-apple song (which I really like and which is exclusive to MFW) with flashcards.  We learned our words to remember for the unit: "Jesus is the Light of the world" and we talked briefly about that concept in relation to the sun.  

I crammed a lot into the first day which was good since we didn't do any school for the next two days.  We had all day appointments at Shriner's Hospital on Tuesday and on Wednesday we spent the day at Katie's house.  I haven't seen her since May so it was wonderful to catch up.  The girls played nicely by themselves and napped while we got to talk for 5 hours.  That's my kind of a day!  She sent me home with two new books to read, a recipe to try and a mind abuzz with all of the wonderful things in the world.  Who would have thought that a cultural history of rabies and the story behind HeLa cancer cells would prove to be so interesting?  Katie.  She just finds this stuff.  Her unpretentious love of reading and learning and exploring is simply contagious.  And beer bread....I can't believe I never tried it before - SO good!  Anyway, so that was a Mommy day. Furthering my own education, if you will.  

We celebrated Mark's birthday on Wednesday night along with his parents at "On the Border".  Eleanor made her famous ice cream cake.  I mean, what more could you really want on your birthday?

On Thursday, more worksheets.  Nora is disappointed.  Ok, weekend activities....

We did our first picture study - Charlotte Mason Style.  We used Van Gogh's "Enclosed Field with Rising Sun" (shown at the very top of this post).  I asked the girls to look at the picture for a little while and then to describe it from memory.  Nora did pretty well for the very first time.  She said she remembered seeing blue and green and yellow.  Then I asked Claire what she saw.  She said "I am two year old."  Ha!  Then we looked at the picture together and we all pointed out different things.  We hung it up at their eye level in the kitchen so they can see it whenever they like.  I love how Charlotte Mason does picture study - it really opens the eyes up to truly seeing - observing and later recalling all that there is to see.  We'll study Van Gogh's work for 6 weeks and then move on to Cassatt.  As we go, we'll save the prints of these great works of art in a photo album for her to keep always as familiar friends.  At least that's the plan...

We played with shadows - traced them with sidewalk chalk and watched a Mister Rogers video about them. 

 We also watched a great music video about the sun a few times and we tried to make suns and S's with cooked noodles. (Unfortunately I used left over angel hair pasta which is really too flimsy for noodle art.  Oh well.) 

Daddy came with us to a park for a picnic to enjoy the beautiful sunny day and meet up with my good friend, Rachel, and her 5 pack.  We love this family.  

Claire hitches a ride with her buddy

Nora riding her new birthday bike all by herself!  (Thanks, Grammy)

On Saturday we went to a church BBQ.  They had a fantastic swing set...

This kid has no fear

We've been working on establishing the habit of personal grooming.   With Nora's motor issues, this table top tray seems to be the only way we can manage independent hygiene.  Both Nora and Claire are doing a good job with it.   After breakfast they pour the water into the basin, wash hands & face, clean fingernails and brush their teeth and hair.  It's an idea I got from Montessori so it also incorporates learning the proper way to do each step in order and how to put everything back just so when they're done, not playing in between.  That alone is great practice for my wild Claire-Bear.  She does a pretty good job of doing each step carefully.  She still spits on the mirror almost every morning at the end, just to leave her mark.  Baby steps.

At Bounce-U for cousin Melanie's birthday party

Our First Week - The Creation of the World

We made it through our first home school week.   It was so much fun!   My Father's World suggests spending the first 10 days on a creation unit before jumping in with all of the language arts, math and science stuff.  It's a good idea just to get used to "doing school" and where better to start than with creation.  We shortened the unit to 7 days and crammed a bunch of activities in.  I actually had more planned that we just didn't get to.  Nora woke up every morning so excited to see what the activities would be for the day.  We got messy and had fun and I think they learned something.

I have to confess, I had only a vague notion of what was created on which days.  I'm not sure about the kids, but at least now I know them cold.

Every day we followed a similar format:

1. Godly Play - we followed the same script as this and this video except we stopped after each day was done, adding on so by day 7 the entire story was told. The kids were free to play with the materials whenever they liked.  I heart Godly Play.

2. We read the day's account directly from the Bible. 

3. We used this drawing lesson to fill in what was created on each day.   (This is really the reason I remember everything easily.  I can visualize it much better.)  It was good to have a baseline for Nora's drawing abilities. She still has some fine motor challenges which make it difficult to use writing materials and scissors with control.

Nora's rendition of creation

4. We did an activity related to each day's theme ...

For Day 1 we went into the bunk bed tent, turned off the lights and played with glow sticks and flashlights.

For Day 3 we planted basil seeds in our window planter.  They started to germinate and we can see all the growth through the clear plastic.

For Day 6 we went to pick up more chickens since you really can never have enough.  (We have 10 now!)  These four that we got at almost ready to start laying.  Nora and Claire named them: Mira Dira, Lilliana, Ho-tee and Chief Squincy.

5. We made a creation number

Nora working on her number, Claire working on her hand....typical

Claire lost interest by this point on most days, as you can see by her spotty row below...

Johnny Jump-Up acrobatics are way more fun

6. We made a diorama and added to it each day

7. We did a themed sensory activity...vanilla and chocolate pudding fingerpainting for day one, blue water, ice and shaving cream for day two, dirt for day three...  Grand messes were made and I survived, yay!

Here's a totally tame picture of Lucy with the pudding finger painting.   

 8.  We had a food based on the day's theme...

On Day 4 we made sun, moon and star cookies for dessert

9. We sewed creation bean bags together.  Nora worked on learning to sew with yarn and burlap and she really did a great job with her stitching.



10. We learned the creation song

So, we thought week one was a great success.  Nora had a blast.  I have more of a feel for the flow of things and I'm looking forward to jumping into the "real" meat of the curriculum tomorrow.  "S s Sun", here we come...

Story Time

We've been learning the sign language ABC's here and there this summer.  Claire has really picked up on it and she remembers how to do a lot of letters.  Some of the letters are hard to make.  Like "I".  She can't quite get her pinky finger all the way up.  She has found that the middle finger is much easier to manage.  So every time we sing the ABC's, Claire flips us off at "I".  I've tried to correct her through my giggling but she can't seem to see that letter any other way.

I suppose I shouldn't have been completely surprised by what happened at story time today...

Claire was cuddling a stuffed "Curious George" that belonged to the library.  Since he was a prop in the act, the story time leader asked her to please hold up George so all the kids could see him.  Without hesitation, Claire shot up her middle finger and dutifully held it there until I tackled her.  I am not even sure what happened after that.  I think I gasped something to the group about learning sign language and that's why she decided to do her sign for "I" when asked about George.  I'm positive it made no sense at all.  Then after a minute of mortification, I took in the hilariousness of the situation and fought back the urge to die laughing.

Full of surprises, that one.

A Beautiful Mess

We had a wonderful family vacation last week.  I planned to post a bunch of pictures and tell you what we did but I left my camera in another state.  Boo!  So I'll have to keep you in suspense until my camera is returned this weekend.


Today has been a good day.  It's the first day of our new schedule.  As of this moment I'm on track, I've gotten all that I meant to accomplished and I was able to spend the morning with friends.  Like I said, it's the first day.  I'm always energized on day one.  This year will be a study in diligence for me.  Failing to persevere though the mundane and do the dutiful stuff that doesn't excite me has been one of my main character flaws.  I want to work on that this year and with God's help and the necessity of surviving our first year of home educating, I expect to make good progress.  I could use your prayers right about Thursday when getting up at 5am to start my day with exercise and working away until the evening is just not fun anymore.

One way I combat the mundane is to plan things in the week to look forward to.  I am always attempting to find the balance between too much activity and too much down time to keep me going.  This week there are a lot of extras in addition to the normal days with the girls... a new schedule, MOPS meeting - my first year as a table leader which has a few responsibilities, delivering 2 meals for families in our church who recently had babies, taking over lessons for two of Mark's piano students, choir rehearsals which also means resuming some voice practice, tackling some house projects, getting ready for Nora's birthday party on Saturday and the general loss of Mark (and a car) on most days as he is back to his full time work responsibilities.

Looking forward to things can easily turn into being overwhelmed.

And we haven't even started homeschooling yet. (September 9th is D-Day)

Today at our MOPS prayer meeting, my friend Jess prayed for me.  She prayed for just the thing that has been a great struggle in my life.  She asked God to help me to do what He has planned for me to do - ONLY what he has planned for me to do.  She knows me.  She knows I get excited about things and take on too much and quit. I need to ask each day what it is that I need to be doing and then to be diligent to see it through.

The theme of our meetings this year is- "A Beautiful Mess" and the verse for the year is Ephesians 2:10-
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

My friend, Katie, emailed this great article today about the struggle to be everything as a Mom.  We look around and see the great things others are doing and we can't help but notice our shortcomings. Moms seems to be particularly prone to this.  I often walk a thin line between being inspired by the success of others and covetous or depressed because of it.  Blogs are big contributors to this problem.  (Please, please don't let this blog do that to you!)  I read blogs and my pintrest page gets loaded up with great ideas of all of the things I think I should be doing as a mom/wife/homemaker/christian. After a while of browsing, I start to get discouraged that I won't find the time to do those things that would suddenly make me an amazing person and then I am too down and overwhelmed to get to the responsibilities that DO belong to me.

The truth I need to remember is that Jesus has already made me all that I need to be.  At every stage from my creation to my resurrection, I am his work and he will guide me to those things that are mine to take on. He will continue to equip me in a unique way for the specific things he has called me to and the specific people and circumstances he has placed me with.  Remembering that excites me and keeps me going.