Sorry for the "whopper" pictures! It seems I can only do very little pictures or very big pictures!
Little Hands to Heaven
My littlest two dd's just love this curriculum! They are so eager to begin it each day and just love the Bible stories from the New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes and of course, the song time, too. It's just perfect for them. My older of the two will start kindergarten next fall with LHFHG, and I know she'll be ready for it, because of the good foundation in skills she's learning this year! My littlest dd will be doing LHTH again next year with the other devotional. I may go half speed with her to stretch it out, but I'm not sure yet. She's having so much fun and learning a lot, but I think next year will be a bigger learning year for her to really cement the look and sounds of each letter.
Beyond-Week 20
This week in Beyond we finished our beloved Stories of the Pilgrims. It was somewhat sad, because the kids have both loved this book so much. Even my 10 yr. old said AAAAW, when I mentioned that it was the last day for that book! He's been listening in to the history stories and has also loved this book!!!
Then we learned more about Puritan children and what their lives were like in Boys and Girls of Colonial Days. Both of the kids really enjoyed making a beautifully colored ribbon as their "Good Conduct Ribbon". This week's Bible verse and study was centered around idleness/laziness and being a diligent worker. This couldn't have come at a better time! We've been working on teaching them in our family devotions more about what God says about work and being diligent in it!
They really took home a lot of great things from this weeks lessons!
I'm not sure what others are doing in the way of the poetry lessons for day two of each unit. Each day we do the copywork, but on day 2 the guide suggests cutting apart a photocopy of the poem, and having them put it in order. The kids have been loving this exercise and have become quite good at it. They always laugh so hard when I come along and mix up all their pieces and say, "Oh no, look what happened, your pieces are all mixed up! Sorry!" It's funny to them because I do the same thing each week and they know it's coming, and it cracks them up every time! Goofy kids!
Anyway, they have to go back and forth between their pieces and the poem in the guide to match everything up and get them in the right order. I'm really pleased to see how much easier it is for them now.
I originally bought 1" binders for both my kiddos in Beyond. It has become necessary to get some bigger ones, as their work isn't fitting in these very well. So I purchased the 1 1/2" binders and maybe I should have gotten the 2" because they are quite full!!
I think they will work for the rest of the year, though. The kids all get such great satisfaction from looking back at all the great projects they've done so far this year. I know this will be a wonderful keepsake for years to come!
Preparing-Week 20
My son continues to love Preparing Hearts each week. This week he conducted an experiment where he poked the shape of a constellation into tin foil and then used a flashlight (sun) to shine on a little man taped to the globe. He got a kick out of taping a little toy man to the globe! He has such fun with these experiments and learns so much while he does them.
He also finished Little Miriam this week and gave such a great oral narration on it. He just loves the books he's reading this year and they are really becoming so much more than stories to read for school. This year he is connecting on such a deeper level with what he's reading, than he's ever done in years past. Grandpa's Box continues to be a book that both he and I look forward to reading each day. It's sad because we'll be ending this book soon, too!
We learned all about Saul and the kind of man he was before the Lord took hold of his life and he became the Paul we know and love. It was just amazing as he put himself into the time frame and tried to imagine what it was like for the apostles right after Christ's resurrection. Ds10 and I also had some great conversations about this in relation to what we've both been reading in Acts. We didn't know it, but we've both been doing our own Bible time reading each morning in the book of Acts, so this weeks lessons really fit so perfectly to what we've been reading on our own!
Fountain of Life is fast becoming our favorite read aloud so far this year. What a great book! We are learning so much about Jewish customs and culture and all about the feasts that they had and how it all fits in to what we're reading in the Bible. This book has us hooked!
Ds10 also made an ichthys symbol this week out of applesauce and a lot of cinnamon. He was really sceptical about how this one would work out, and he really did great with it. He's learning to trust the guide and follow through with the instructions and see what great projects come from it. Now his whole binder smells so good. . . .like apple pie!
I wish I had more pictures, but we were so busy enjoying it all, I didn't take time to get the camera! I'll try better next week!
Have a great week to come!
Looks fun!
Yep, I knew it had been a while! 
