Tuesday 24 February 2009

Shrove Tuesday



From Wikipedia

Shrove Tuesday is a term used in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia for the day preceding the first day of the Christian holiday season of Lent.
The word shrove is the past tense of the English verb shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by way of Confession and doing penance. Thus Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving that English Christians were expected to do prior to receiving absolution immediately before Lent begins


Today my girls Easter dresses arrived. I snapped some quick pictures of them opening their parcels.





The top Picture is our nature table: Complete with our crown of thorns, to remind us of our Lord's suffering on the cross, our branch ready to be used as our Jesse Tree which tells the story of God's plan of salvation throughout the Bible. A simple Easter book & our Snowdrop fairy. (The snowdrops are still out in force in our garden)

Have a blessed day...

Monday 23 February 2009

Lent



For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16


Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday...& so we prepare for a time of great reflection.

We will begin our day with our favourite Pancakes.

Our nature table has been cleared, ready to home our Jesse Tree & crown of thorns. (Photo's tomorrow)

This site aims to help parents pray from the heart with their children on the five Sundays of Lent.

Here is a list of ideas to inspire worship this Lenten time. I hope to keep my family's time simple & focused.

"Lent is then not a season of punishment so much as one of healing." ~ Thomas Merton

A New Hat



The hat knit up really quickley...It was finished on Sunday evening, all ready for Miss R when she awoke this morning.
Here she is modeling the hat :)



I was pleased with how it turned out, although it was larger than anticipated, as I became engrossed in this podcast & kept on increasing every other row, when I should have been just kntting!

Not to miss out on the excitement, here is the lovely Miss E sporting her shawl as a a head scarf:









Happy knitting!

Sunday 22 February 2009

Continental Knitting



I am currently working on a beautiful, but simple hat for R. So I thought I would take this opportunity to try to master Continental Knitting.
Here is a YouTube video I am finding extremely helpful.

Sunday Lunch



Butter & homemade jelly on white buns, cheese, ham & kiwi, washed down with apple tea.
Perfect.

Shortly after this scene of peaceful domesticity was photographed, a row broke out as to whether ducks have teeth....

Monday 16 February 2009

Plan for the week...


Circle Time
Prayer
Recite our memory verse:
Philippians 4:4-8:
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Devotional reading:Everything a Child Should Know about God
Hymn:Joyful Joyful
French: Counting to 5 plus practiing our greetings.
Math Facts: Bean bag games
Read one poem from A Child's Garden of Verses

Faith
Memory Verse:
Philippians 4:4-8:
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Continue reading through Mark
Daily prayer times
Hymn: Joyful Joyful
Devotional reading:Everything a Child Should Know about God

Habbits & Service
Good manners

Language Arts
Daily Reading-Peter & Jane 3a
Copywork-memory verse & writing that occurs naturally.
Narration

Numbers
Read:Anno's Counting Book
PlayBean bag games
Continue with this workbook

People & Places
Our Island Story

Nature Study
Continue mapping our garden
Begin a garden notebook
'Dissect' our hyacinth bulb
Look though Amateur Naturalist together.
Continue to read Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book

Read Alouds
Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book
Our Island Story
Paddle to Sea
A Child's Garden of Verses

Creativity
Journaling
Knitting
Wax resist underwater scene

Project Work
Orca's (killer whales)

Sunday 15 February 2009

Virtual Aquarium Tour



I have just discovered the Sydney Aquarium Virtual tour.
We havent looked at it yet, but it appears to have lots to look at & web cams too.
I think we will be spending time looking here, this week :)

Friday 13 February 2009

Fish Dissection



*PLEASE NOTE, THE PHOTO'S IN THIS POST MAY NOT BE FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!*

Our fish dissection went well :) I found a couple of great links to help us.

E did some observational sketching whist dissecting. The whole process was fascinating.

We discovered the heart, liver, Pyloric caecae, swim bladder, gut, spent ages wondering over the gills, the eyes & even the brain!






Miss R was not terribly impressed with what we were doing. She chose to make a robot instead:

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Project work-Killer Whales

E's current project is Killer Whales.
Today we set out to answer one of E's questions:- "Why are Killer Whales black & white?"
We found our answer in a great book that we bought at a library sale:Animal Camouflage and Defence
The book talks about countershading, explaining thus:
"Countershading reverses the natural way in which objects are lit from above & darker underneath. Most fish have countershading so that their upper parts are darker & their bellies are pale, which makes them hard to spot from above or below. Many land animals have countershading too."

The more I study nature with my girls, the more I see the beauty of god's creation around us.

Romans 1:20
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.


One of the rabbit trails this set us off upon, involved looking at fish.
Today E drew a diagram of the 'Inside of a fish':



Here she is with a fish she bought from the supermarket.



Here is R with the same fish!



Hopefully tomorrow we will be dissecting the fish to see if we can compare the inside parts to our diagram.

Butterfly Awards...

Over December & January & neglected my blog, somewhat. However I have been nominated for three Butterfly Awards! I am really touched.



I have been nominated by Lindafay of Higher Up and Further In by Jeanne of Oh Peaceful Day & by Michelle of Wimsy Way, house of learning & of play.

Thank you so very much, ladies, I am truly thankful.

I would like to share the love by nominating Lori at Camp Creek & In Heywoods Meadow - Two very amazing blogs from which I gain so much inspiration & encouragement for this journey we call 'Homeschool'

Sunday 8 February 2009

A Pleasant Afternoon....


Spent watching the girls draw & play whilst I knitted & listened to this online Bible audio

More on planning...


I am very comfortable with our current school routine...it fits & is working nicely for us.
Here is a look at our plans for this coming week:

Circle Time
Prayer
Recite our memory verse:Psalm 119:30:
I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me
Devotional reading:Everything a Child Should Know about God
Hymn:Joyful Joyful
French: Counting to 5 plus practiing our greetings.
Math Facts: Bean bag games
Read one poem from A Child's Garden of Verses

Faith
Memory Verse: Psalm 119:30:
I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me
Continue reading through Luke
Daily prayer times
Hymn:
Joyful Joyful
Devotional reading:Everything a Child Should Know about God

Habbits & Service
Good manners

Language Arts

Daily Reading-Peter & Jane
Copywork-memory verse & writing that occurs naturally.
Narration

Numbers
Read:Anno's Counting Book
PlayBean bag games
Continue with this workbook

People & Places
Our Island Story

Nature Study
Continue mapping our garden
Begin a garden notebook
Draw & label a diagram of the internal organs of a fish
Dissect a fish
Continue to read Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book

Read Alouds
Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book
Our Island Story
Paddle to Sea
A Child's Garden of Verses

Creativity
Journaling
Knitting
Completing E's clay model of an Orca
Wax resist underwater scene

Project Work
Orca's (killer whales)

Friday 6 February 2009

The Shawl Part 3





Super quick & easy to make, I really enjoyed knitting this...
Here is the shawl's new owner, who is really enjoying wearing it :)

Wednesday 4 February 2009

More on the shawl...


I began to knit a shawl for E on Sunday. The shawl is now finished & lying on the floor in our tiny 'book room' being blocked.
Pictures to follow.....

Tuesday 3 February 2009

Bean Bag Maths



Each morning, we have a mini 'Circle Time' - toward the end of circle time we focus on counting & number games.
A while ago, I made beanbags with some pretty gingham fabric, lentils & some dried lavender & chamomile harvested from our garden.

we use these beanbags while we count, tossing the bags to each other & saying the required number as we throw.

We count 1-100
Skip count to 100 by 10's
Count 10-1



The girls love this activity. It is great for getting rid of the wiggles & is just plain fun!

Here is a link I found with other ideas for playing with beanbags.

Sunday 1 February 2009

Our Sunday Box


Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:8


In my previous post I mentioned our 'Sunday Box' & I hope to explain it a little further here.


In Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series Vol 3 pg 144 Charlotte discusses The Habit of Sunday-keeping

The habit of Sunday observances, not rigid, not dull, and yet peculiar to the day, is especially important. Sunday stories, Sunday hymns, Sunday walks, Sunday talks, Sunday painting, Sunday knitting even, Sunday card-games, should all be special to the day,––quiet, glad, serene. The people who clamour for a Sunday that shall be as other days little know how healing to the jaded brain is the change of thought and occupation the seventh day brings with it. There is hardly a more precious inheritance to be handed on than that of the traditional English Sunday, stripped of its austerities, we hope, but keeping its character of quiet gladness and communion with Nature as well as with God. But I cannot pursue the subject further. The field of the habits of the religious life should afford many valuable matters for reflection and teaching; as, for example, the habitual thought of God in a family; the habit of reverence in thought, attitude, act, and speech; the habit of prayer as regards time, place, manner, matter; the habit of praise and thanksgiving; the habits of attention and devotion during a service (or part of a service); aids to devout habits; the habit of devotional reading.

Our Sunday Box is a medium sized plastic tub that comes out only on Sundays. It contains special toys & activities to help the girls to think on The Lords day as they play & have fun.
It contains;
A Noah's Ark (ours is the bottom one)
Our Busy Bible
A couple of Felt Bible Story Books
Our Story Bible
Beeswax for model making
Some sticker books
Various story books about Jesus & Christian Themes.
A special journal that anyone who wishes may draw & write in.

Our Sunday Box really hepls to define Sunday as Our Lord's day, separate from the rest of the week & helps to make our Sunday relaxing & faith filled.
I am planning to start a Prayer Journal to be kept in our Sunday box - each week we can record our prayers & read back over previous weeks.
I found this to be an inspiring post by Tiany

Happy Sundays :)

An 'Off' Day

Today I had an 'Off' Day...
it began last night. I finished knitting a pair of socks for R & cast on a hat for my hubby. I did some reading & stayed up w-a-y too late. As i wearily climbed the stairs to bed, my head was aching, but not enough for me to miss the messy state of my home. Ugh!
I awoke this morning, head still aching, body aching & still feeling icky. My lovely hubby went to get the girls & took them downstairs for breakfast. They watched a movie together & went out to the woods for a long walk, all wrapped up on this bitterly cold morning. I stayed in bed. I did not sleep, but mulled over in my head some stuff that has been bothering me. This is not the place to share, but suffice to say, everyone has concerns & worries, I know.
I prayed, I read my Bible. I read my Knitting book, which contained the wonderful quote:
Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

It made me think..how my Heavenly Father does not expect perfection, just relationship. How He perseus us with unrelenting, endless love.
1 John 4:18:
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

I read some more & felt cosy & warm in my snuggly nest, watching throught the window as the dark, menacing skies gave way to bright light blue, with mere wisps of cloud.
This spurred me on & I felt the urge to tidy! I tidied, dusted & vacuumed all the bedrooms, showered & changed into fresh flannel pyjama's. By now, everyone had returned home from the woods. Here is a (not very good!) shot of R helping with the dusting



the girls did some sketching in their nature journals..a branch from a Horse Chestnut that we have on our nature table that has begun to grow new leaves..foiled into thinking it is spring come early due to the warmth of our home. And their hyacinths planted before Christmas, now beginning to flower.

We had lunch; roast chicken pilled high on buns, then the girls & I all got on my bed & snuggled. We listened to Paddington Bear & The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe while the girls played with the contents of their Sunday box



I cast on a shawl for E. she had finally decided what she wanted me to knit for her with this gorgeous yarn. And so was spent a lovely afternoon...knitting, playing, listening to lovely stories & watching snowflakes drift past the bedroom window. Bliss. I even had an afternoon nap :)



I made dinner, an easy, cosy meal of sausages & mash, made with potatoes, turnip, leeks, butter & cream. Followed by some swiftly made Shortbread & a Pineapple Upside-down cake that was baked yesterday.

So, for a day that began as an 'Off' Day, this day turned out pretty well. I must have more of these 'Off' Days :)

Finally, I must share a pic of Miss R in her new socks: