It's not very often that I just get really selfish and decide everything is going to be about me. It's not really that easy to do when you have four kids anyway. Even when I do want to be selfish, my two year old is more! But today, it was ALL ABOUT ME!
For the last several MONTHS now, we have been going non-stop, run-run-run, go-go-go, and I have barely been able to catch my breath. Everything we have done has been LOADS of fun, and most of it has been with and for the kids and is in some way homeschool related. Also, I have been alternating between homeschooling and church duties at a rate of speed that would make your head swirl!
When I woke up this morning, I was immediately tired just thinking about the non-stop pace of the week ahead of me. Because we do children's church on Sunday mornings, and yesterday was Little Sister's birthday, we barely slowed down long enough to grab a bite to eat. So I never got my day of rest for the week. Which meant, this morning only brought about a tired mama who was dreading the days to come.
I made an executive decision (since I AM the chief executive officer of my homeschool!), and told the kids that we were skipping out on the last 4H meeting of the year. No one was really devastated, which really kind of shocked me. Britches was feeling a bit poorly due to all the lovely pollen we have this time of year in the Deep South, and she really didn't want to go. And Little Man said he didn't really care one way or the other. FABULOUS! So for at least today, the plan was to stay home and REST!
Well, it didn't turn out to be exactly a "rest" day, but it did turn out to be a "relaxing" day. We spent most of the morning outside enjoying the overcast day and the gusty breezes coming through the yard. I sat in my swing with my cup of hot tea in hand, which turned into a second cup of hot tea, and I watched the kids playing on their new hand-me-down trampoline. The weather was so nice.
That started my itch to get out into my garden. So I grabbed the nearest shovel, and I went to work. We stopped for lunch, and it was just in the nick of time, too. The bottom fell right out of the sky, and we had a great downpour. But I already had it in my mind that I was going to get my okra seeds in the ground! Who cares about a little thunderstorm anyway, right? I headed right back out the door as soon as I had finished lunch, prayed that God would hold back the rain for just five minutes, and started putting my seeds in the ground. God must have been looking down at me laughing, because He sent the rains even harder than before! But by golly, my okra is PLANTED!
After lunch, and after the rain had slowed down a bit, Little Sister decided she would like to go outside to try out her new umbrella that she got for her birthday yesterday. She found her pink and black water boots, grabbed her umbrella, and headed out. I figured, I was already wet, so I went out with her to keep working in my garden. All together today, I got all of my tomato seedlings planted, okra seeds and popcorn seeds in the ground, and my basil out of the greenhouse and transplanted into the garden. Also, as I was turning under some of my raised beds with my shovel, I noticed about twenty or so tomato seedlings that had sprouted on their own. I just LOVE it when God shows me up with gardening. He IS, after all, the Master Gardener! So I carefully dug them up and moved them to my tomato bed.
When I was too tired to do any more outside, I brought Little Sister in for a bath, and I headed to clean up as well. After a bit of housework (a VERY LITTLE bit!), I got antsy to go back out to my greenhouse and start some more seeds. A bug destroyed about half of my seedlings a few weeks ago, and I had needed to get out there and replant. So I had some quiet time in my greenhouse doing one of my favorite things - starting seeds.
And then, after supper, all the kids were watching PBS Kids and playing in the school room, so I decided to take advantage of the few moments to myself and jump on my treadmill. I walked and jogged only a mile, but that mile felt GREAT!
All of these things are things I have wanted to do for myself lately. I have longed to be out in my garden, to sneak away to my greenhouse, to sit back with several cups of hot tea, and to start walking on my treadmill again. But because of our terribly hectic schedule these days, I have just put my wants on the back-burner. But not today. Today was ALL ABOUT ME! I did some things that I enjoy doing, but haven't had time to do lately. I did some things that are relaxing to me! I just enjoyed my quiet day at home with my kids. Sometimes, you just really need to recharge, and today did that for me. It was bliss!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
My Favorite Homeschooling Help!
What is the one thing you would consider your most valuable asset when you are facing the challenge of homeschooling your children? Is there something you just don't think you could live without in your homeschool?
I often have people ask me similar questions. They want to know what it is that I have that makes my homeschool run so well. They want to know what I have, so they can go out and get it. My answer is very simple. Go get a library card.
When my oldest two were 1 and 2 years old, we started visiting our library. Every Thursday, we went to story time with Ms. Betty B., and each week they learned how to sit, listen, and learn from a book. Ms. Betty B. made it so fun for them, and they just couldn't wait to go again the next week. This WAS their school when they were young. She read a story, dressed up and played pretend with them, did a flannel graph story, taught them their numbers and letters, and just had some FUN with them! She is one of the most energetic and fun people I know! We kept that story time schedule until they were 5 and 6 years old. And I can honestly say, some of the best memories I have with my kids include story time with Ms. Betty.
But when they got to the age that I was ready to start doing some schooling with them, and about the time Little Sister was born, we had a shift in our routine. We weren't able to go to story time anymore like we used to. But that didn't mean we didn't regularly visit the library. We headed up there about once every other week to pick up the books we needed for our unit study that we were presently working on, and each time, we'd be sure to spend some time visiting Ms. Betty. And she was always there with a smile and ready to help me find anything I needed!
What I have learned is this. If you are a homeschooler, there is no more valuable thing to you than a great librarian! Ms. Betty has been there to teach my kids in story time (the younger two go now), and when they were too old for that, Ms. Betty has been there to help me find any resources I needed to help us in our homeschooling. This lady is always smiling and cheerful, and she makes you feel like you are the most important person in the world at that moment. All of my children adore her. And each of them know that, if you have trouble finding anything, you can go straight to Ms. Betty and she will find whatever you need. She has even helped me to find books from out-of-town libraries and has had them sent in for me just for one special lesson we were doing. Little Sister, my 5 year old, used to head straight in and start playing with the puzzles, and she always wanted Ms. Betty to put them together with her. And Ms. Betty always did.
I cannot imagine being able to homeschool the way I do if I did not have the support and the help of a great librarian. And what is more, we have spent so much time at the library with Ms. Betty that she is no longer just our librarian, but she is our dear friend. We all love her very much! In fact, when Little Man and I ran The Race for the Cure last September, he was thrilled to know she would be there, because he wanted to give her a hug and show her his new running shoes! My kids wish she lived next door to us, because they would just love to see her every day. She is now part of our family.
So if you want to know my advice on how to make your homeschool work well, here it is. Get a library card, and make friends with your librarian. I have no idea where we would be today without the help of our wonderful friend and librarian, Ms. Betty!
I often have people ask me similar questions. They want to know what it is that I have that makes my homeschool run so well. They want to know what I have, so they can go out and get it. My answer is very simple. Go get a library card.
When my oldest two were 1 and 2 years old, we started visiting our library. Every Thursday, we went to story time with Ms. Betty B., and each week they learned how to sit, listen, and learn from a book. Ms. Betty B. made it so fun for them, and they just couldn't wait to go again the next week. This WAS their school when they were young. She read a story, dressed up and played pretend with them, did a flannel graph story, taught them their numbers and letters, and just had some FUN with them! She is one of the most energetic and fun people I know! We kept that story time schedule until they were 5 and 6 years old. And I can honestly say, some of the best memories I have with my kids include story time with Ms. Betty.
But when they got to the age that I was ready to start doing some schooling with them, and about the time Little Sister was born, we had a shift in our routine. We weren't able to go to story time anymore like we used to. But that didn't mean we didn't regularly visit the library. We headed up there about once every other week to pick up the books we needed for our unit study that we were presently working on, and each time, we'd be sure to spend some time visiting Ms. Betty. And she was always there with a smile and ready to help me find anything I needed!
What I have learned is this. If you are a homeschooler, there is no more valuable thing to you than a great librarian! Ms. Betty has been there to teach my kids in story time (the younger two go now), and when they were too old for that, Ms. Betty has been there to help me find any resources I needed to help us in our homeschooling. This lady is always smiling and cheerful, and she makes you feel like you are the most important person in the world at that moment. All of my children adore her. And each of them know that, if you have trouble finding anything, you can go straight to Ms. Betty and she will find whatever you need. She has even helped me to find books from out-of-town libraries and has had them sent in for me just for one special lesson we were doing. Little Sister, my 5 year old, used to head straight in and start playing with the puzzles, and she always wanted Ms. Betty to put them together with her. And Ms. Betty always did.
I cannot imagine being able to homeschool the way I do if I did not have the support and the help of a great librarian. And what is more, we have spent so much time at the library with Ms. Betty that she is no longer just our librarian, but she is our dear friend. We all love her very much! In fact, when Little Man and I ran The Race for the Cure last September, he was thrilled to know she would be there, because he wanted to give her a hug and show her his new running shoes! My kids wish she lived next door to us, because they would just love to see her every day. She is now part of our family.
So if you want to know my advice on how to make your homeschool work well, here it is. Get a library card, and make friends with your librarian. I have no idea where we would be today without the help of our wonderful friend and librarian, Ms. Betty!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Back to the Drawing Board
As most of you know, my son is a Type 1 diabetic. We found out three years ago, and we have made it a part of life and are dealing with it. This is a completely manageable disease, and I am thankful that none of my kids have anything worse. All I need is some good counting skills, a little sense in what we eat, and a good doctor to write the prescriptions I need for Little Man. Sounds easy enough, right? You would think!
All of those things have been fairly easy to come by, except the part about the doctor. When Little Man was first diagnosed, we were referred to a doctor who practices about two hours away from us. "Ummm, can't we get anything closer?" I asked our pediatrician. "Nope. He's it." WHAT?? What do you mean, "He's it."? That made no sense to me. There are doctors on every street of our town - OK, practically every street. Why did I have to drive two hours to see this guy.
Apparently, pediatric endocrinologists are hard to come by. They are few and far between in my state. The doctor we saw was the nearest one to us. So we began making the drive, and we did so every three months for two years. BUT, yay hooray, a new lady doctor came to a town that was a little closer to us, so we switched to her to save a little time in driving and money in eating out.
We LOVED this new doctor, because, not only was she about thirty minutes closer, she had nice office staff and her practice was in a small building with the parking lot right in front of the door. Yeah, I know, that doesn't really sound too thrilling to all of you. But, with our last doctor who had his office inside of a hospital, we had to park several blocks away and make the trek inside through rain, shine, heat, cold, and traffic to see him. So a parking lot right in front of the small building was certainly on my list of things I liked about this new doctor.
We have seen her for a year now, and we really like her. She has been very helpful, and she is always very nice. But go figure, she's moving! When I found out last week that she would be moving to another state, I was very disappointed. Her reason for going? You can't make a profit in pediatric endocrinology in this state. Figures.
So now, I am looking to make the drive back to our old doctor again who is two hours away, if he hasn't got so many patients now that he can't take us. If that is the case, We're looking at a minimum of two and a half hours for a drive every three months to go see a completely new doctor. Now, I know most of you are probably thinking, "So just make a day of it. It's only every three months." But if you have never made that drive over and over and over and over again, and if you have never paid for the gas to go four times a year, and if you've never accounted for the meal that you will be eating out every trip (because an appointment that far away always means you will be there around a meal time), and if you've not thought about the full day that it takes you away from a job or, in my case, my other kids and homeschooling, you really can't understand what a burden this is. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal. We'd just make a day of it and make it fun. But after you have made that trip so many times, and you realize there is no end anywhere in sight (because an adult doctor won't take him until he's at least 13), it becomes a great burden. I was not looking forward to jumping back in that boat again.
What really gets me is this. Why is it that, in every other field of medicine, there seem to be so many doctors that you can take your pick from the ones available? Why is it that colleges are filled to the brim with upcoming doctors and nurses of every kind ready to tackle heart disease, cancer, brain tumors, back pain, general practices, and everything else in between? Why is it that I can find a doctor for any other problem I or my kids or husband may have, including pediatric issues, except when it comes to a pediatric endocrinologist? Why is everyone lined up to be every other kind of doctor except a pediatric endocrinologist?
I know my son is not the only Type 1 diabetic around. And the endocrine system is made up of WAY more than just the pancreas, the problems of which cause diabetes. I just do not understand what it is about this field of medicine that makes upcoming doctors steer clear of this field. I cannot understand why, in my state, we have only a hand full of these doctors, and most are more than five hours from me.
So now, I am back to the drawing board. I will be calling tomorrow to try to get an appointment with our previous doctor, and I am just praying that he will take us back again.
So the lesson to learn here is this: If any of your kids are interested in going into medicine, you should really encourage them to become a pediatric endocrinologist. They would be guaranteed to have a full patient load immediately. There is a great, great need for more of these doctors.
All of those things have been fairly easy to come by, except the part about the doctor. When Little Man was first diagnosed, we were referred to a doctor who practices about two hours away from us. "Ummm, can't we get anything closer?" I asked our pediatrician. "Nope. He's it." WHAT?? What do you mean, "He's it."? That made no sense to me. There are doctors on every street of our town - OK, practically every street. Why did I have to drive two hours to see this guy.
Apparently, pediatric endocrinologists are hard to come by. They are few and far between in my state. The doctor we saw was the nearest one to us. So we began making the drive, and we did so every three months for two years. BUT, yay hooray, a new lady doctor came to a town that was a little closer to us, so we switched to her to save a little time in driving and money in eating out.
We LOVED this new doctor, because, not only was she about thirty minutes closer, she had nice office staff and her practice was in a small building with the parking lot right in front of the door. Yeah, I know, that doesn't really sound too thrilling to all of you. But, with our last doctor who had his office inside of a hospital, we had to park several blocks away and make the trek inside through rain, shine, heat, cold, and traffic to see him. So a parking lot right in front of the small building was certainly on my list of things I liked about this new doctor.
We have seen her for a year now, and we really like her. She has been very helpful, and she is always very nice. But go figure, she's moving! When I found out last week that she would be moving to another state, I was very disappointed. Her reason for going? You can't make a profit in pediatric endocrinology in this state. Figures.
So now, I am looking to make the drive back to our old doctor again who is two hours away, if he hasn't got so many patients now that he can't take us. If that is the case, We're looking at a minimum of two and a half hours for a drive every three months to go see a completely new doctor. Now, I know most of you are probably thinking, "So just make a day of it. It's only every three months." But if you have never made that drive over and over and over and over again, and if you have never paid for the gas to go four times a year, and if you've never accounted for the meal that you will be eating out every trip (because an appointment that far away always means you will be there around a meal time), and if you've not thought about the full day that it takes you away from a job or, in my case, my other kids and homeschooling, you really can't understand what a burden this is. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal. We'd just make a day of it and make it fun. But after you have made that trip so many times, and you realize there is no end anywhere in sight (because an adult doctor won't take him until he's at least 13), it becomes a great burden. I was not looking forward to jumping back in that boat again.
What really gets me is this. Why is it that, in every other field of medicine, there seem to be so many doctors that you can take your pick from the ones available? Why is it that colleges are filled to the brim with upcoming doctors and nurses of every kind ready to tackle heart disease, cancer, brain tumors, back pain, general practices, and everything else in between? Why is it that I can find a doctor for any other problem I or my kids or husband may have, including pediatric issues, except when it comes to a pediatric endocrinologist? Why is everyone lined up to be every other kind of doctor except a pediatric endocrinologist?
I know my son is not the only Type 1 diabetic around. And the endocrine system is made up of WAY more than just the pancreas, the problems of which cause diabetes. I just do not understand what it is about this field of medicine that makes upcoming doctors steer clear of this field. I cannot understand why, in my state, we have only a hand full of these doctors, and most are more than five hours from me.
So now, I am back to the drawing board. I will be calling tomorrow to try to get an appointment with our previous doctor, and I am just praying that he will take us back again.
So the lesson to learn here is this: If any of your kids are interested in going into medicine, you should really encourage them to become a pediatric endocrinologist. They would be guaranteed to have a full patient load immediately. There is a great, great need for more of these doctors.
Made to Worship
For the past ten weeks, I have been engrossed in a Beth Moore Bible study, Believing God. It has been amazing. I cannot even begin to tell you all the things God has shown me through this study. I wish I had kept a journal from the very beginning to remember all the lessons I learned, the miracles He has done and shown me, the blessings He has poured out - everything.
In one of the lessons, she talked about how, even though God has forgiven us of the sins in our past, we still wear our shame so that everyone can see. Sometimes we even cover it up, but we are still wearing the shame. In order for us not to still feel the weight of that past sin, we must allow God to circumcise our hearts. In doing that, He will cut away the guilt and shame, and He will leave the mark of His cutting. It will hurt, but it will be a remembrance of what He has done for us and we can walk out in faith knowing that we are whole and we are His. Very thought provoking.
She made a comment about how, often times, we sing our worship songs in church or wherever, and they are slow and drawn out, and they tend to make us feel as though we are "swaying back and forth wallowing in our own self loathing." When she said that, I got a very vivid picture of most Christian's today. We sing all these slow songs that seem so depressing, and, even though we are thanking God for salvation, we seem to still be worshiping in a "poor, terrible me" attitude.
In my opinion, if we are bearing the mark of the circumcision of the heart, we should be jumping up and down praising God for delivering us from the pit that we were in! We should be rejoicing publicly over all He has saved us from. And we should be excited about where He will bring us next! The time for "woe is me" songs has passed! I am a child of the Living God, forgiven, bearing the marks of the circumcision of the heart, and expectantly waiting to see where my God will use me next. I have great reason to REJOICE!
When I think of the worship I want to offer my Savior, I think of something more like this.
In one of the lessons, she talked about how, even though God has forgiven us of the sins in our past, we still wear our shame so that everyone can see. Sometimes we even cover it up, but we are still wearing the shame. In order for us not to still feel the weight of that past sin, we must allow God to circumcise our hearts. In doing that, He will cut away the guilt and shame, and He will leave the mark of His cutting. It will hurt, but it will be a remembrance of what He has done for us and we can walk out in faith knowing that we are whole and we are His. Very thought provoking.
She made a comment about how, often times, we sing our worship songs in church or wherever, and they are slow and drawn out, and they tend to make us feel as though we are "swaying back and forth wallowing in our own self loathing." When she said that, I got a very vivid picture of most Christian's today. We sing all these slow songs that seem so depressing, and, even though we are thanking God for salvation, we seem to still be worshiping in a "poor, terrible me" attitude.
In my opinion, if we are bearing the mark of the circumcision of the heart, we should be jumping up and down praising God for delivering us from the pit that we were in! We should be rejoicing publicly over all He has saved us from. And we should be excited about where He will bring us next! The time for "woe is me" songs has passed! I am a child of the Living God, forgiven, bearing the marks of the circumcision of the heart, and expectantly waiting to see where my God will use me next. I have great reason to REJOICE!
When I think of the worship I want to offer my Savior, I think of something more like this.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Expedition Israel
One of the many, many reasons I homeschool is because I want the freedom to openly and actively teach my kids God's Word whenever and however I may choose. But often I find that I get so focused on whatever it is we are studying, I tend to forget to incorporate our most important school book - The Bible. I have a friend who has told me that she seems to focus mainly on the Bible, and she feels she is probably not devoting enough time to other key subjects. Well, I am the complete opposite! I have gotten much better lately with including Bible in each of our units, especially since we have started using Download N Go pre-made units. Each of these units, written by Amanda Bennett (Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett), is packed FULL of scriptures, God truths, and so much more. I LOVE that about these units!!
But, I wanted to do a little more in depth Bible study with my kids by way of our schooling. Seems that if I want to get anything done with them, I'd better do it under the cover of "school work", because once we put the lapbooks away, the learning part of their brains checks out! So I really thought that the best way to learn the Bible was simply to do a unit study about the Bible.
About that time, Download N Go had just released one of their new unit studies called Expedition Israel. PERFECT! And what great timing, too!! I downloaded the unit to my computer, printed out only the pages we were going to use, and we were set. It was that easy!
Expedition Israel takes you on a virtual tour of the Holy Lands. Oh my! I have always wondered about the Promised Land and what made it so special. When we started on our journey, we began making our way through the different cities and places where my Savior lived and walked and taught.
We visited places like the Jordan River, the place where Naaman was healed of leprosy and where John the Baptist baptized Jesus and many others. We took a close look at the Dead Sea and learned that, even though nothing can live in it, it is still useful. And we visited many of the major cities of Israel, learning the history of each place.
We saw animals in that country that I never realized were there. The unit had, already included, videos that we could watch to see the types of monkeys that Solomon received as a gift every 3 years, the type of bear and lion that David fought with his bare hands, and many others!
The kids and I took a close look at the terrain in that land, and we decided that, when Mary and Joseph made their way to Bethlehem to register, they crossed some hard land. It was not the nice, happy little donkey ride that most children's books portray. It was hard. It was rugged. It was LONG! And we learned, too, that they made this trip EVERY YEAR after that to celebrate the Passover in Jeruselam. I imagine that was an even longer trip with kids! ("Are we there yet?")
Here are some of the pages you can look for in this unit, but there are so many, many more!
Each day has a particular focus. They are:
Day 1: Where on Earth Is Israel?
Day 2: Some of the Special Places in Israel
Day 3: A Bit of History
Day 4: Cool Things to Know About Israel
Day 5: Fun and Games in Israel
To be perfectly honest, this unit is so packed full of information, videos, experiments, and other activities, we aren't completely finished yet. I wanted to take our time and fully experience this land, so we are not rushing through any of it. This lesson could easily turn into a 3-4 week project!
The thing I have enjoyed most about this unit is the fact that my kids are getting excited about looking up stories in their OWN BIBLES!
**Let me just interject a little something here. Parents, if your kids do not have a Bible, GET THEM ONE! Your child needs their OWN Bible, and in a translation that is easily understood. I don't care if you think the King James Version is the only good version out there. If your child can't read it and UNDERSTAND IT, it is useless to them. OK, I'm off my soap box now.
Back to the Bibles. I didn't just read or tell my kids each of the stories in our lessons. I asked them to go get their Bibles and look it up for themselves. I don't want them to ever take my word for it that it's in the Bible. They need to know how to go look it up for themselves, and then let God speak to them through His Word. So I really, really enjoyed watching them find the verses and then read the stories out loud for all of us to hear.
One of my other favorite things, and this is pretty much with all our units that we do, is when we had our Jewish meal night! One afternoon, we all sat around the computer trying to decide which recipes we wanted to try. After we made out our grocery list, we went to pick up what we needed. We found our food ideas all on this one great web site! It's always so much fun to bring a different culture's foods into our home and on our table. I LOVE showing the kids how differently people of other countries eat! And I love the excitement that comes along with trying out those recipes. Most of these foods we had never even heard of, but it was so much fun trying them out and tasting what the people of Israel enjoy regularly. When you do your lessons with your kids, be sure not to miss this really exciting part. Don't skip out on "food night" just because you don't want to take the time or because you're afraid of trying something new. Besides, this is a great way to get prepared for different foods should God ever call you or your kids to a foreign mission field!
And I also loved the experiments we did to get an idea of the saltiness of the Dead Sea.
We learned that the egg and apple take less salt to make them float due to their shape. But it took MUCH more salt to float the marble and rock. We talked all about how the sun evaporates the water from the Dead Sea leaving behind so much salt. And we decided that, if it took THAT much salt for a marble and a rock, the Dead Sea must have a TON of salt to hold up a person!
This lesson has been fantastic so far, and we still have several more days that we will be enjoying this study! I don't want to rush through the Promised Land, but I want to go slowly and savor all the stories of old, the places in which Jesus walked, and everything else that this land has to offer.
If you have ever thought to take your kids on a trip through God's Word, I would highly recommend starting with Expedition Israel! It is a GREAT place to start growing in your kids a love of God's people, His Promised Land, His Word, and so much more. And let me tell you, for the price of $7.95, that sure beats the price of a plane ticket! I always love taking my kids all over the world through books and Internet resources. I would have neither time nor money to physically go to all these places, but with a book or my laptop, the world is just waiting to be explored!
Be sure to hop on over to some of the other great blogs and read all about what other homeschoolers think of Expedition Israel. And then, hop on over to Amanda Bennett's website and pick up a copy for yourself. Then pack your virtual bags and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime!
~I was given a copy of Expedition Israel in exchange for my honest review of this product. I received no other compensation.
But, I wanted to do a little more in depth Bible study with my kids by way of our schooling. Seems that if I want to get anything done with them, I'd better do it under the cover of "school work", because once we put the lapbooks away, the learning part of their brains checks out! So I really thought that the best way to learn the Bible was simply to do a unit study about the Bible.
About that time, Download N Go had just released one of their new unit studies called Expedition Israel. PERFECT! And what great timing, too!! I downloaded the unit to my computer, printed out only the pages we were going to use, and we were set. It was that easy!
Expedition Israel takes you on a virtual tour of the Holy Lands. Oh my! I have always wondered about the Promised Land and what made it so special. When we started on our journey, we began making our way through the different cities and places where my Savior lived and walked and taught.
We visited places like the Jordan River, the place where Naaman was healed of leprosy and where John the Baptist baptized Jesus and many others. We took a close look at the Dead Sea and learned that, even though nothing can live in it, it is still useful. And we visited many of the major cities of Israel, learning the history of each place.
We saw animals in that country that I never realized were there. The unit had, already included, videos that we could watch to see the types of monkeys that Solomon received as a gift every 3 years, the type of bear and lion that David fought with his bare hands, and many others!
The kids and I took a close look at the terrain in that land, and we decided that, when Mary and Joseph made their way to Bethlehem to register, they crossed some hard land. It was not the nice, happy little donkey ride that most children's books portray. It was hard. It was rugged. It was LONG! And we learned, too, that they made this trip EVERY YEAR after that to celebrate the Passover in Jeruselam. I imagine that was an even longer trip with kids! ("Are we there yet?")
Here are some of the pages you can look for in this unit, but there are so many, many more!
Each day has a particular focus. They are:
Day 1: Where on Earth Is Israel?
Day 2: Some of the Special Places in Israel
Day 3: A Bit of History
Day 4: Cool Things to Know About Israel
Day 5: Fun and Games in Israel
To be perfectly honest, this unit is so packed full of information, videos, experiments, and other activities, we aren't completely finished yet. I wanted to take our time and fully experience this land, so we are not rushing through any of it. This lesson could easily turn into a 3-4 week project!
The thing I have enjoyed most about this unit is the fact that my kids are getting excited about looking up stories in their OWN BIBLES!
**Let me just interject a little something here. Parents, if your kids do not have a Bible, GET THEM ONE! Your child needs their OWN Bible, and in a translation that is easily understood. I don't care if you think the King James Version is the only good version out there. If your child can't read it and UNDERSTAND IT, it is useless to them. OK, I'm off my soap box now.
Back to the Bibles. I didn't just read or tell my kids each of the stories in our lessons. I asked them to go get their Bibles and look it up for themselves. I don't want them to ever take my word for it that it's in the Bible. They need to know how to go look it up for themselves, and then let God speak to them through His Word. So I really, really enjoyed watching them find the verses and then read the stories out loud for all of us to hear.
One of my other favorite things, and this is pretty much with all our units that we do, is when we had our Jewish meal night! One afternoon, we all sat around the computer trying to decide which recipes we wanted to try. After we made out our grocery list, we went to pick up what we needed. We found our food ideas all on this one great web site! It's always so much fun to bring a different culture's foods into our home and on our table. I LOVE showing the kids how differently people of other countries eat! And I love the excitement that comes along with trying out those recipes. Most of these foods we had never even heard of, but it was so much fun trying them out and tasting what the people of Israel enjoy regularly. When you do your lessons with your kids, be sure not to miss this really exciting part. Don't skip out on "food night" just because you don't want to take the time or because you're afraid of trying something new. Besides, this is a great way to get prepared for different foods should God ever call you or your kids to a foreign mission field!
And I also loved the experiments we did to get an idea of the saltiness of the Dead Sea.
We learned that the egg and apple take less salt to make them float due to their shape. But it took MUCH more salt to float the marble and rock. We talked all about how the sun evaporates the water from the Dead Sea leaving behind so much salt. And we decided that, if it took THAT much salt for a marble and a rock, the Dead Sea must have a TON of salt to hold up a person!
This lesson has been fantastic so far, and we still have several more days that we will be enjoying this study! I don't want to rush through the Promised Land, but I want to go slowly and savor all the stories of old, the places in which Jesus walked, and everything else that this land has to offer.
If you have ever thought to take your kids on a trip through God's Word, I would highly recommend starting with Expedition Israel! It is a GREAT place to start growing in your kids a love of God's people, His Promised Land, His Word, and so much more. And let me tell you, for the price of $7.95, that sure beats the price of a plane ticket! I always love taking my kids all over the world through books and Internet resources. I would have neither time nor money to physically go to all these places, but with a book or my laptop, the world is just waiting to be explored!
Be sure to hop on over to some of the other great blogs and read all about what other homeschoolers think of Expedition Israel. And then, hop on over to Amanda Bennett's website and pick up a copy for yourself. Then pack your virtual bags and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime!
~I was given a copy of Expedition Israel in exchange for my honest review of this product. I received no other compensation.
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