COOL COUNTRY REPORT

It's pretty cool that Elka got to write her Cool Country Report about China with her Chinese brother on her lap.

 

 

This is very Elka...and one of my favorite aspects of homeschooling.

 

It's also pretty cool that Beck trusts his sister enough to simply doze off while she worked on her poster.

 

 

Talk about bringing China to life! I'm so thankful for Brodie and Elka's experiences in China and for

the education of their hearts through their role in Bea and Beck's adoption process. It's been sweet.

 

"I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”

Isaiah 43:5-7

BLANK BOOKS

In my quest to buy masses of inexpensive blank books for writing projects today,

I stumbled upon a suggestion to sew them at home. Why didn't I think of that?!

 

Not wanting to waste any time (or money), I grabbed my sewing machine,

some blank paper, and plain card stock and got straight to work!

 

First we layered the writing paper, folding just the middle page as a seam guide.
The card stock piece stayed on the bottom to represent our front and back cover.

 

 

Next, we sewed the binding.

 

 

 

After trimming the extra threads, we folded the whole book evenly.

 

 

Lastly, I added faint pencil lines for those who prefer a template.

 

 

And, voila!

 

In a matter of minutes, we made ourselves blank books in bulk, (for free!) ready for the creating!

 

For their first book, I gave Nova, Olia, and Elka a prompt to write about Christmas, telling any tale they'd like to tell.

 

The memories rushed back as I scripted Nova's dictation, though for me, I remember standing

by my kindergarten teacher's desk at school. Nova will remember storytelling to Mommy in the kitchen.

 

 

Olia chose to write about Jesus' birthday.

 

 

She worked so diligently and carefully, emphasizing the "true meaning of Christmas" in her book.

 

 

Elka's book was titled, The Nativity.

 

 

Her heart and understanding for the meaning behind the birth of Christ shone through.

 

 

This was such a fun, quick, and easy project...I'm sure our bookshelves will be bursting with special new stories!

And, our new beautiful Christmas books will come down with our other decorations every year.

 

 

If you ask me, homemade anything is always of greater value than something bought in a store.

I love to see what kids create from scratch and the sky's the limit when you begin with blank books!

 

"He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work."

Exodus 35:35

THANKSGIVING TRADITION

 

We started it years ago, our dress up Thanksgiving tradition. The kids have always loved historical pretend play so every year at the local children's resale shop I buy what I can at the costume sale. Our costumes are well-loved and on high rotation,

always creating fun play days for the kids outside...and every year around our table to celebrate Thanksgiving.

 

 

Affectionately called our "back row", the little guys especially enjoy any chance they get to dress up (and paint their faces), learning all the while about the history of our country and the freedom we're able to enjoy living here.

 

 

We don't make all the extra fancy foods for this tradition, just the basics so our emphasis is really on the history lesson and all that we have to be thankful for. (We save the actual Thanksgiving Day for the extras...yum!) We spend the day cooking, enjoying each other's company, reading history books to the little ones, and watching a DVD on the pilgrims.

 

Traditions knit hearts to home and the holiday season brings out the best! We have much to be thankful for this year as we welcomed Beck home from the hospital, which made it an extra special celebration the day of our Thanksgiving tradition.

 

"I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,

and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High."

Psalm 7:17



EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

...according to Wikipedia is the process of making meaning from direct experience,

i.e., "learning from experience". [ 1] The experience can be staged or left open.

 

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them". -Aristotle

 

 (Elka and Brodie 2014)

 

I look at photos of Elka and Brodie on the Great Wall of China and I think back on the books we've read,

the talks we've had, even the photos and videos they've seen of Aida on the Great Wall years ago...

 

 (Aida 2011)
 

...and I think about how different it is to learn from experience, to smell the smells for themselves, to eat the foods, to be in China on the Great Wall learning even more about what they've studied! What a blessing to learn in such a way.

What a gift to have the time and freedom to study by living it.

 

 

The history they've witnessed,

 

 

the Buddhism they've seen in the temple,

 

 

the cultural experiences they've taken in,

 

 

 

not to mention the intensive heart work and spiritual growth that takes place when they cry with their grieving, newly adopted sibling, ache for her pains as if they are theirs, take in with all of their senses where it is she's come from...

 

 

This is experiential learning and there's no education of the mind or heart that I could

hope more for my children than what they're absorbing right now.

 

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts,

kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another."

Colossians 3:12



KEEPERS OF THE FAITH

      

Over the years, we have participated in Keepers of the Faith both in the context of

groups as well as independently just within our own home. It's a really sweet resource.

 

The idea is similar to Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts in that the children earn badges as they acquire
skills and memorize Scripture, and everything is approached from a biblical perspective.
For boys, they offer Contenders for the Faith and for girls, Keepers at Home.

 

In the past, when we have participated in groups, we have had t-shirts, sashes, and pins. But one group we were part of chose to simply have the meetings for fellowship and fun without even ordering all of the extras. Typically, we have met once a month, which feels about right for this type of involvement. We've forged friendships while learning new things (like knitting which we had always hoped to learn!). We've also enjoyed various outreach opportunities like singing for the folks of a local retirement home (outreach being something we're always looking to participate in as a family!).

 

At home, Aida in particular enjoys working through the handbook on her own.

She asks me to sign off on things she achieves and finds it very rewarding.

 

We're thankful for Keepers of the Faith as an extra curricular resource we've taken advantage of, both independently at home, as well as socially. There've been many memories made...and I'm sure there will be many more!

"Teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste,
keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."
Titus 2:4-5
 

"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary
to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."
Jude 1:3

TEEPEE

old sheets + twine loops + ceiling hook + Indian costumes = Native American history

 

Who wouldn't want to learn in a teepee??

(teepee memories...where has the time gone?)

"The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy."
Psalm 65:8


HEROES OF THE FAITH

I'm an observer.
I watch, listen, ask questions, take in, and formulate prayerful decisions in light of my observations.
(I'm hoping our children will do the same.)

At some point in history past I observed how often missionaries would say their lives had been
influenced, even from a young age, by exposure to the lives of heroes of the faith...I was paying attention.

 

For me, this wasn't the case growing up. My parents were a living example of committed service to the local church,
but international missionaries weren't among my common sphere of influence. As a young adult, however,
on my first mission trip to South America I caught the bug.

 

Now as adults raising children, taking into consideration all the missionaries who say they remember reading biographies of other missionaries in their maturing years, Brodie and I are intent to expose our kids to as many life-changers as we can.
We all love learning from the greats and just as Steve Saint encouraged our kids in his documentary recently, we
likewise tell them you don't have to be "super", "great", or even "grown up" to be a life-changer or missionary.
Even children can stand for Jesus on an ordinary day and we pray our children will!

 

Homeschooling allows us the advantage of tailoring our learning to our interests and inclinations. We spend much time learning about heroes of the faith and view it as eternal education. Here are just a few of our favorite resources, both for kids and adults alike...and here's to a new year of gleaning with eternal implications from the heroes of the faith!

. . . . . .

 

YWAM Biographies


 

(We collect more of these from YWAM Publishing every year and are building a large library of inspiring true stories. These biographies are well written and factual. They are excellent for both adults and kids, though some contain intensity which is to be expected in light of the lives these life-changers have lived.)

. . . . . .

 

The Torchlighters Heroes of the Faith DVDs


 

(These DVDs can be a bit intense and sometimes our little ones need to close their eyes for some parts, but considering they are non-fiction, we feel our children can benefit from understanding the real life persecution Christians endure around the world. Also, the documentaries in the Bonus Features are well worth the purchase in and of themselves. We have all been inspired repeatedly by The Torchlighters and add a few new ones to our collection each school year.)

. . . . . .
 

10 Boys/10 Girls Series


 

(As a resource, these are especially nice for younger readers or devotions because they are concise. We like to use them as an easy learning tool to read then write about one hero of the faith in a day due to their brevity.)

. . . . . .
 

Hero Tales (Volumes 1-4)


 

(These, like the 10 Boys/10 Girls, are more brief in their content and even have questions at the end

of each biography section. They are an excellent resource for devotions or daily independent study.)

. . . . . .
 

Trailblazer Series


 

(These biographies are slightly controversial in that they mix fact with fiction. The characters are real and their stories are real, though fictional characters or situations have been added. In our family, the children enjoy the action-packed stories, but we are careful to point out the parts that are not factual. We also point out that we don't think it's necessary to add to these already exciting life stories in order to gain the attention of children, though we wouldn't shun the series for doing so.)

. . . . . .
 

Trailblazers Series


 

(Not to be confused with the other Trailblazer books mentioned above, these are
completely factual and another excellent resource to learn about heroes of the faith.)

. . . . . .

It's my intention to add on to this list as time goes by and we add more great resources to our collection. We often buy our books and DVDs used on Amazon which is a great tip for budget friendly collecting. Among others, these are the resources on high rotation in our home as we learn from the inspiring lives of some of the great heroes of the faith!
 

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
For by it the people of old received their commendation."
Hebrews 11:1-2

"BACK TO SCHOOL"

We're "back to school" though we never really left.

 

(Our big {teeny} kindergartener this year, sweetest Nova!)

 

Each year we grow more relaxed and year round in our homeschooling approach and this year is no different. Add SEVERE nausea from blessed little surprise baby in my tummy and we have a recipe for homeschooling the most natural of ways.

 

(Big siblings are giddy about their new little brother or sister on the way!)

 

I'm sure I'll be back to my old self again in about a month...Just about the time our two

new precious ones will join us home from China. And the cycle will rinse and repeat.

 

 

Go with the flow...THIS is why we homeschool...

 

 

...To live and love and create and play and research and read and learn all the while...instinctively.

 

Oh yes, good to remember.

 

 

The point is to go at our own pace and absorb the countless learning opportunities that ebb and flow

throughout life at home together, well outside the spectrum of workbook/textbook learning.

 

(What would I do without my dinner helpers?!)

 

Truly, THIS is why we homeschool.

 

(India...one of our most helpful preschoolers.)

 

And so, indeed we're "back to school" (though we never really left) and we're learning and growing in beautiful ways each day.

 

(Thanks for your photography, Aida!)

 

I thank the Lord for these days...the ones where miniature people climb all over me and big siblings teach little ones ABC's,

where paints and crayons are on high rotation and the sky is the limit to what a day might hold.

 

 

THIS is why we homeschool and I can't imagine it any other way.

 

(Learning Mandarin Chinese with Mei Mei.)

 

 

So we say goodbye to summer's end.

 

 

It's been a ball as always...

 

 

 

 

...and we look forward to a bright new year full of laughter and LOVE!

 

 

September brings us new beginnings as fall finds it's way to our hearts. 

We welcome in the year ahead, acknowledging after all that it's nice to be "back to school". 

 

"For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven."

Ecclesiastes 3:1