Road Trip

This year for homeschool I decided to do something different.  I decided to take the kids on a road trip through the different states.  We will pretend to visit each state and learn fun information.  I was so excited to start preparing for this wonderful journey. 

Getting Started:
I looked up the department of tourism for each state and found a phone number or email to contact them.  I asked them if they had any information they could send us, because we were learning about their state this year for school.  I wanted the kids to learn about their state's flag, crest, bird, tree, etc., as well as where to visit when traveling to there state.
The people I contacted could not have been any nicer.  Most of them were excited to send me stuff.  I also looked up information on each states website.  Now let me tell you, each state has two websites, one is for tourism and the another is a government site.  Both sights are useful.  One of these sights will have interesting facts about the state and some are even kid friendly with printable pages and activities.  You have to check both sites to see which ones will have this information, but I found it is mostly on the gov. website.  I kept a log of each state I called.  I also wrote down the website address and where to find the state information.  This will save you time during the school year.
The second shelf is loaded with packets I have received so far from each state.  It has been fun getting all this stuff in the mail. 

 

When we decided to visit a state, I allow the kids to go through the packet of information and see what they can find.  They are excited to do this. 

 

Next Step: 

I wanted my kids to color each states flag and fill in information concerning each state.  I also wanted activities sheets for each state.  My first find was this book called Nifty 50 States by Jerry Aten.  This is a Good Apple product for Social Studies, grades 4-8.  I found this book at a teacher store in the consignment part for only (drum roll please) $2.  That's right, $2.  Even though our children are not in these grades yet, there was still some material we could use from this book.

 

 This book has 3 pages front and back dedicated to each state.  I only needed the first page.  The front side gave an outline of the state, while the second side gave information and asked state questions.  This is exactly what I was looking for and needed.



 I made copies of each page, so I could reuse them later.  I then printed activity pages for the kids from the state's website or from google.  Here are some of the activity sheets.

 

Once we have the information we need for each state, then we get move'n. 

 

Starting Our Journey

We set up our chairs to pretend we are in a car and invite the little ones to join us in the fun.  We face the United States map and decide what directions to take as we pretend to drive toward that state (north, south, east, west).  

 

 Pretending to drive in a car can be lots of exercise and excitement as you; drive over many railroads tracks, speed up and slow down, turn corners, stop to get gas, pretend to stop at a hotel over night, etc.  Once our drive is over, we then  pull out the packet of information that was sent to us by the state.  I let the kids dig through it and see what treasures we can find.  For example: In the magazine about Illinois, there is an article that tells about the unofficial, official town of Superman - Metropolis.  This city is in the lower part of Illinois and has great things to offer Superman fans!  (Which we are, BTW)  We also found out that this was the home state of Lincoln. 

This allows us to learn about each of the things we find.  We can now take the opportunity, if we wish, to learn a brief overview about Abraham Lincoln. 

 

Underway

Our journey is now underway.  We have hung up the state map and put a star by the capital.  We listen to the state song and we look up information on the website to fill in our worksheets that will go into our binders.   

We color the state flag on the state and write the abbreviation of the state in the united states.  Here is some examples.

 



By the end of the year we should have a binder for each child filled with 50 states.

 

Goal

My goal is for our children to learn each state, their abbreviation, and the capital.  I also would like for them to learn something about the state that they will remember or a place they would like to visit in the state.   So far we have enjoyed our road trip through different states.

 

 

The opposite of Love isn't what you think.

Growing up I was always told you shouldn't hate someone, you should love everyone. I bet most of you were told the same thing. We all believe that hate is the opposite of Love, but I beg to differ. Before we can know the opposite of love, we need to know what it is.

So what is love? Some say it is a feeling, an emotion that comes and goes. The reason is because our feeling and emotions change all the time.
As believers in Christ, most of us are taught that love isn't just a feeling, but an action. DC Talk said in one of their songs that Love is a Verb. We know from the bible that God is Love. The bible says in John 3:16 that "For God so LOVED the world that He SENT His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  That means God's love was an action. We see that when we read the word sent in this verse. He did something to show His love.

We went to the movies to see Fireproof. Great movie, by the way. In it the father tells his son (Kirk Cameron) that he can't love his wife until He knows what love is. In the scene, Kirk Cameron is looking at a cross.

The greatest act of love is laying your life down for someone, just as Christ laid down His life for us. You see He took the penalty for our sins upon Himself. The penalty for sin was a blood sacrifice. Jesus was our blood sacrifice.

Ok, so now we know what love is by the biblical standards. It is an action, a choice. Recently, a series of events lead me to really think about love and what it means. I was told by someone I've known for a long time that they didn't like me. It was a sock to hear from this person that they didn't think our personalities went together. When questioned about it, they said that they loved me because I was a Sister in Christ and that we had a good relationship because we have never had a cross word. That is how they gauged a good relationship, by never having a cross word. So what had this person done to love me as a sister in Christ, even though they didn't like me? The answer, I don't know. I can't remember a thing that this person did to show love to me. This got me to thinking about a book I had read called Sacred Love. One of the statements in the book stuck out to me and I have never forgotten it. "The opposite of Love isn't hate, it's apathy." Apathy means doing nothing.

If love is a verb, which we have established it is, than apathy (doing nothing), is the opposite.
Matthew 25:40 “The King (Jesus) will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:45 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Hearing someone doesn't like you is never an easy thing to hear, but God is using it to remind me that He didn't just say He loved me. He demonstrated it. This is the example I should follow. Loving someone is more than just saying so, it is an action.



  
Let us remember that what we do speaks louder than what we say. So what have you done to show love for others?

Teaching Scripture - The Fruit of The Spirit

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
 2 Timothy 3:16
Teaching scripture to our children is a great thing.  Teaching them how scripture applies to their lives is priceless.  It is easier to learn something if you know how it applies to life and why you need to know it. 
We were learning the Fruit of the Spirit and I got a bright idea.  How can I make the scripture verse about The Fruit of the Spirit come alive and help them apply it.

                               Light bulb

Let's make a fruit tree, but not just any fruit tree.  So we made a Fruit of the Spirit tree.  We used old oatmeal boxes for the base, because they are a cylinder shaped.  We cut a circle out of the top and shoved a paper towel roll down in it.  This was the trunk of our tree.   For branches we used throw away forks and for leaves we cut them out of green paper.  This was the start of our tree.  Now to add the Fruit of the Spirit. 

Here are some examples of what we did:
One of the fruit is Gentleness.  So we printed little pictures of the kids faces when they were babies and cut them out into circles.  We then glued them on purple paper and cut the paper to look like a cluster of grapes.   Then we hung it from the branches (forks).  Our kids were able to relate gentleness to a baby. 
You also do not have to just put fruit on your tree.  Take for example The Fruit of the Spirit, self control.  At the time we did this, our oldest was having problems keeping his hands to himself.  So we let him trace his hand and wrote on it Self Control.  We hung it from another branch.  He learned that Self Control meant he needed to control his hands and use them for good and not bad.   

With each Fruit of the Spirit we added to our tree, we told why it is important, how it applies to them, and what each meant.  Each thing we added to the tree represented a way our kids could apply this to their life or it was a way to show them the meaning/example of the Fruit of the Spirit.  Here are some pictures below.  We had so much fun doing the tree, that we invited our homeschool friends over for a craft day on learning the Fruit of the Spirit.  The kids and mothers had a great time being creative and working together. 
If you have any idea's on how to teach scripture or you have taught a verse in a unique way, I would love to hear about it.

Thinking Outside The Box

When our oldest was 3 years old, we bought him the Big Kindergarten Book at Walmart or Target.  We were very excited to get started.  One day we were doing the worksheet "What goes together."  The worksheet had three pictures and the child is suppose to circle the two that go together.  So here are the pictures.

 

                    

                                                OK, so what goes together? 

The answer according to our son was the watch and the money.  Instead of telling him he was wrong, I decided to ask him why he circled those two things.  Here is his answer:
                              
 "When you get ready to go, you have to put your watch on and put your money in your pocket.  You can't leave home without them"

I learned that day that not everyone thinks the same.  You know, our son wasn't wrong, he was just thinking for himself.  He was thinking outside the box. 

       

Making a Creation Book with a Preschooler

When our oldest was three, I wanted to tell him the story of creation and make a craft to go along with it.  However, all the crafts I found for him were not crafts he could do and I ended up doing all the work.  I wanted something he could do with just a little help.  That's when we came up with our Creation Book.  We needed something sturdy for the pages of our book, so we used cardboard.  I cut out the front and backs of our cereal boxes.  After I had 7 of them, I put them together and cut them all the same size.  We used construction paper and glue to cover the cardboard.  We needed 7 pieces of cardboard, because we wanted to have a cover page.  Since he was only three and could not write yet, I bought peel and stick letters.  We used these on the cover page to put a title and our son's name.  We used tissue paper, buttons, macaroni, animal crackers, stickers and other household items to complete the book.  Then after all the pages dried, we punched holes in them and connected them with pipe cleaners.  Our son had a blast doing this project and I enjoyed spending time with him.  I posted pictures of the book we did together.     

First Day

Second Day 

Third Day

Fourth Day

Fifth Day

Sixth Day

Teaching Character Traits to Children in a Positive Way

How does a parent teach a child to tell the truth before the child lies?  How does a parent teach a child how to be kind before he takes away his siblings toy?  These are character traits we want our children to learn, but how do you teach it to them in a positive way?  I read a book that gave a list of character traits with the meaning and scripture that goes along with it.  After reading this book, I got an idea.  I went to the local school supply shop and bought a tree with no leaves.  I laminated it and put it on our wall in the kitchen.  Then I bought cut out leafs.  On the front of the leaf I wrote the character trait and on the back I wrote the meaning and the verse.  I also laminated these.  When my kids did that trait during the day, they were able to put the leaf on the tree. 
At the beginning of the day we would go over a couple of the character traits, tell what they mean, and then the bible verse.  We would add a new traits every few days. 

It really worked. My 5 year would take initiative and then ask to put that leaf on the tree.  When my kids were honest with me before they got caught or in trouble, I would let them put up the honestly leaf. 

Homeschooling - A Calling or a Choice

No not me!!  That was my answer when it came to homeschooling.  I wanted to be the mother who prepaired cute snacks for the kids to enjoy after a long day of school while I sat by listening to all the adventures of their day.

 I wanted to be Martha Stewart.  The mom with the perfectly clean house, creative fruits and vegetables my kids would love to eat, and of course have the title "Cool Mom."  Well, this was my idea of life with children, but God had a different plan.  He started working on my heart  the summer before our oldest son started 3K.

That year, our oldest had attended Mommy's Day Out 3 days a week.  I noticed after the year was over, that he had picked up some bad habits and forgot some of the things I had taught him.
For instance: I taught him to say "Yes and no ma'am, yes and no sir."  However, his teacher did not reinforce this during school hours.  She acceped Yep and Nope from her students.  Rather than maintaining our plan for him, our son began using what his teacher allowed in school.  This was the first of many eye opening events that took place.

During this same time period, I ran across a book called The Socialization Trap.


 I love to read and consider books a great resource.  This book is written by a Christian conservative father of 14 children.  They made the decision to homeschool, when homeschool was a new thing.  They are pioneers of homeschooling.  This book helped me realized that the reasons I wanted to send our kids to school were the same reasons I disliked school when I was young.  What I learned from other kids my age (socialization) was bad habits, bad language, disrespect for my parents, sexual content, and the "Me" or "I" syndrome.  I learned the way of others rather than the way of my parents.  What more can a parent expect, however, when they leave the largest waking hours of their childs day in the care of someone that may or may not hold the same values.  This book helped me reevaluate what our goals should be for our children and how to achieve those goals.  Homeschooling was the way for us to achieve what we wanted for our family.  This was God's calling on my life.

Let me take a minute to state that God calls people in different ways to do different things.  We are all not alike nor does God want us to be.  So it is ok if God has called you to send your children to school.  This was just my experience and the way God was able to use it to show me His will for my life and the life of our children. 
  
 If this book interest you or you would like more info, I have provided the link to this family's website.  They are a great resource to our family.  The father and mother write books and also sell products that have worked for them.  They have 14 children, 7 of which have graduated already. 
 www.thelearningparent.com