Adventures At Home

SOME HOMESCHOOLING TIDBITS...

Well everyone...I know it has been a while since I have made a post. Things have been pretty busy around here. Everyone knows that when the seasons change it creates more work...especially for larger families. I am definitely not complaining. I know I don't have it as hard as some people. Anyway, It has been on my heart to post some of what we have been up to with our homeschooling. This spring we have had many opportunities to study The Almighty's creation up close and personal. We have had several bees already venture into our house. Most of you would be pretty proud of me that I have managed to suppress my fear of insects long enough to catch this big guy. He was buzzing by our side door looking for a way out when I...Me...the one who is afraid of all insects....managed to capture this one in a jar for the sake of the children. I guess motherly instinct really kicks into gear in moments like these. The children had a blast watching the bee buzz around in the glass. They all had compassion on him and insisted that we let him go. I was just fine with that as long as they put him outside.

Our wonderful house guest.

This is David. Named by the children, he is about 3 inches long at most. He fit in the palm of my hand. We found...I mean... the dog found a nest of 6 bunnies under our rose bush in the backyard. When we discovered what happened, two were injured and the rest were separated out of their nest. I collected them and put them back in their nest with hopes the momma would still care for them. I watched them for a few days, while keeping Rosebud (that rascal) on a leash so we wouldn't find pieces of bunny around the yard like we did last year. Well they seemed to be doing well. Then one day, we found two of them dead. When I checked the nest, this little guy was the only one left. So, we took him into the house. I fed him baby rabbit formula ( basically powder goat's milk ). He lasted about 3 days, then we found him dead one morning. The children loved him so much. When we found him dead, the reactions of the children were interesting. Leah was fascinated. She asked, "Is he dead? Can I hold him?" Then Joshua and Samuel were saying..."Look, he is just sleeping with his eyes open." But Paul was the funniest. He was angry at me when I told him the bunny was dead. He insisted,"He's not dead!! He's sleeping."

Leah enjoying a moment with David.

He was so fun to hold. He would sit still for the most part...lol.

I think Leah would dress up David in a dress if I left her alone

with him for any amount of time :)


We had to keep the bunny away from the dog. Rosebud would sit on the edge of the couch with her sniffer up in the air and watch our bunny friend hopping around in his box.

What was really neat is that in Science the children have been studying animal classification. So we were able to classify animals up close :)


He was named David because the children said, "Rosebud is like Goliath!"


The children got a science kit for Christmas from Grandpa and we finally broke it out to start experiments. Samuel has been begging me...so we finally got a project started.

Samuel is stirring a powder in some warm water.

He is dissolving some crystal powder.

Paul wanted to wear the cool goggles that came with the kit!

It took a long time to stir the mixture to dissolve the packet. Finally, we gave up. It wasn't totally dissolved and Samuel had stirred for about a half hour. Everyone took a little turn, but Samuel really wanted this experiment to work and he kept at it.

Leah posed with her stuffed walrus:)

I have been trying to keep up with the bulletin board. I have been using it to keep our Bible verses up for the children to look at. We have been learning about Elijah and Elisha. And applying the biblical principal of purity.

What does it mean to be pure? We used the concept of a glass of water that is crystal clear verses one that is all mucky and has things floating in it. The muck is sin...and the clear water represents the purity that our Father in heaven is and wants us to be.

The next question is...How do we have pure actions? Well...we have to know what they are. We know that by reading God's Word, The Scriptures. It is our guide.

This is the verse that they worked on.

Then we focused on motives. What are pure motives? And so on!

We discovered that all things pure come from God's Word and we have to be in the Word to know it. The more time we spend with our Father in Heaven, the more in tune we can be with His Word. The Holy Spirit teaches us all truth from His Word.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Man is "completely equipped" for "every good work" with God's Word. Isn't that a blessing? There is no guess work. Everything has been given to us. We just need to be able to tap into His power. And that is not something mystical, my friends. It is there, available to us through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. We just need to recognize our need for Him. We need to realize how sinful we really are and cry out for forgiveness. And when He forgives us...We are forgiven of all our sins. Then we can claim His promise that "...He who began a good work in you, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

Well... that's it for now. More to come soon...I hope. Lord willing.

Growing in Christ,

Tina