Math games for early elementary

Check out my compilation (slowly growing) of early elementary math games. I've made it a page instead of a blog post so that I can always find it when I need it. If you've got games or links that I can add, let me know by leaving a comment here. Thanks!

Composer Study

Wanted to note some new resources (at least new to me!) that I came across today for Composer/Music studies:

• Classics for Kids: Radio show with monthly lesson plans for grades 1-3
• Ambleside Online Composer Schedule: Charlotte Mason style composer study
• Tchaikovsky Study: Fun ideas for studying Tchaikovsky
• Squidoo Classical Music Unit Study: Lots of various resources for music study
• Classical Kids: Part radio drama, part music appreciation - heard good things about series!

I'll add to this list as I come across websites, blogs and other such material!

Firm Foundations 10:1 - Continuing down the Romans Road

I haven't posted our catechism lessons lately! Sorry about that - the holidays sort of threw my schedule for a loop. Anyway, if you're interested, here's the next lesson for my Firm Foundations series:

Theme: Sin is disobedience to God
"But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness." (Romans 1:18, NLT)

Scripture Memory: The next stop on the Romans Road is Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." There are quite a few options for singing, if you want to learn this verse by song! Check out these Romans 6:23 melodies from Amazon's MP3 store.
We're going to memorize just the first half of Romans 6:23 today. Here are the actions I'm using:

• For the wages (Pretend to be handing out money)
• Of sin is death (Bow head)

Catechism Q&A: For clarity's sake, I've again changed (and condensed) some of the Catechism question and answers. If you'd prefer to use the real wording, this week of lessons is based off The Catechism for Young Children, questions 28-30 & 37.

Q. What is sin? A. Sin is disobedience to God's commands.
Q. What does every sin deserve? A. The anger and curse of God.

Missing the Mark: If your children have grown up regularly attending church and Sunday School, they probably have a general idea of what the word "sin" means. Nevertheless, I felt like it was important to define it clearly for this week of lessons. One of my goals is to help my children see sin as a personal issue - that they'll know THEY are sinners too and not just those "bad guys" out there somewhere!

Play "Simon Says". Increase the speed of the game until your children finally mess up. Explain to them that they lost the game because they didn't obey you perfectly. You told them to do"this" and they did "that".
Sit down with the Bible and read the following commands God gives us. For each command, discuss what "this" God tells us to do and point out what "that" we often do instead. Try to think of recent examples to illustrate how easy it is to disobey God's rules.

• Colossians 3:9 - "Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds."
• Ephesians 6:1-2: "Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.  'Honor your father and mother.' This is the first commandment with a promise."
• Matthew 5:21-22a: “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.'  But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!"
• 1 Thess. 5:18: "...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
• 1 Thess 5:15: "Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else."

Notebook: I didn't prepare any notebooking pages or ideas this week. If you've got something, let me know and I'll link to it here!

Valentines Day Resources

Valentine Unit from Musings of Me

 Next year, I'm definitely planning more for a Valentine's Day unit study. This post is for myself (and anyone else that's interested) of some useful planning resources:

• From one of my favorite mommy bloggers, the What's In the Mailbox Today? unit study is on my "must-do" list 
• Link-ups are always a good resource, and this Valentine's Day compilation of crafts from around the web is no exception.
• A unit study for the younger preschool set that incorporates the imagery of the holiday into a collection of learning resources. A great resource!
• Finally, FaveCrafts has a free ebook download, 21 Valentine Craft Ideas for Kids. Check it out!

Valentine's Day Party Ideas

I just love Valentine's Day with my kiddos. They take such great delight in the making, giving and receiving of Valentines that it has become a holiday we just HAVE to celebrate. In order to maximize the fun this year, we're throwing a party on Valentine's Day for several of the girls' friends. Just in case you're interested in putting together your own party but searching for ideas, here's the list of what we're going to be doing. (I'll update with pics after Monday.)

1. Everyone arrives. Play Doggy Doggy, get your Heart (my own take on the "Get Your Bone" version)
2. Hide sparkly beads all around the house. Go on a treasure hunt to locate. After the beads are found, pool all of them, then divide them up for bracelet making.
3. Create Valentine’s Mailboxes
4. Play “Heart or Cookie”. This is another game I made up my own version of based of the Family Fun "Taco or Bridges" activity.
5. Get in a circle and pass out valentines
6. Cake Walk for dessert then snack time!: I'm planning to make these Sweetheart Brownies,as well as provide bags of candy hearts
7. If more time, make valentine magnets with shrinky dinks!

Do you have any great Valentine party ideas? You can check out this Valentines' Party post over at the Homeschool Village for more ideas.

Book Review: Voices of the Faithful, Vol. 2

I was recently given the opportunity to review Voices of the Faithful: Book 2, a devotional by Kim Davis and Beth Moore. (And in case you're wondering, Thomas Nelson sent me the book to review but no other compensation changed hands!)

First Impressions:
The subtitle of this book is Inspiring Stories of Christians Serving Around the World. I absolutely love "inspiring stories" of any kind, so I was quite psyched to begin this book. Somehow I was imagining nail-biting stories of courage in the face of danger and breathtaking accounts of miraculous interventions. So when I started reading the first few entries, I was taken aback. The anecdotes were so, well, normal. The people I was reading about didn't seem that much different than me, other than that they were living in another cultural context. I started to be disappointed. And then I read more.

Second Impressions:
As I worked my way through account after account of prayers being answered, of hindrances turned to blessings and of wrong heart attitudes made right, I slowly began to realize that these stories WERE inspiring, but for different reasons than I expected. Instead of presenting out of the ordinary experiences, the authors focused on showing how God works in our day to day lives. And that very normality affected me deeply. I too could pray for my  neighbors and watch expectantly for God's work in their lives. I too could see that next trial as a vehicle for growth instead of an annoyance to be survived. I too could serve outside of my comfort zone and accept the "culture shock" that would inevitably follow as part of identifying with Christ.

Once my visions of grand stories was adjusted, I found this book to be encouraging and uplifting. A majority of the entries were thought-provoking and challenged me in small but important ways. I'm looking forward to sharing this book with my children as they get older. I think it will make a great family devotional and will help us to see that life as a missionary is really not so different from ours if we choose to learn to be all that God desires for us.

Geography Co-op: Europe!

Just completed our 3rd Geography co-op meeting today and it was fun. And crazy. And hopefully, somewhat educational. We learned about the pre-Renaissance artist Giotto by reading A Boy Named Giotto. We then attempted to paint frescos (and you can find the directions for that at Art Lessons for Kids), though not quite with the same technique as our featured artist.

We learned some facts about the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and then attempted to build our own architectural masterpieces with a varied assortment of blocks. Unfortunately for the tower designers, little siblings delighted in knocking down the resulting structures.

Finally, we learned about the Netherlands by reading The Hole in the Dike and then being taught some Dutch words by one of our talented Dutch speaking moms! (Oh, and I can't forget to mention the great treats she brought: Gouda cheese and some Dutch cookies whose name I can't remember.)

If you decide to try the fresco painting, e-mail me first. I can give you some good advice as to how NOT to do it! Also, if you want to get a look at what other moms have been doing with their Preschoolers, then head over to the Preschool Corner to see this week's lineup!