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“The Cat In The Hat” Marathon!

Posted by on February 29, 2012 Leave a Comment

Sometimes I think that if we were only allowed one television station, I would choose PBS: great kids shows, Downton Abbey, documentaries, and news. This week PBS provides another great reason to love them — you’ll want to mark your calendars!

In honor of Dr. Seuss’ 108th birthday this Friday, March 2, The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That! will be played back-to-back in a two hour marathon, including 2 new episodes designed to reinforce core science concepts with the imaginative flair signature to Seuss.

The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That! has consistently ranked in the top ten of programs for 2-5 year olds, and we can see why. Our family was privileged to have been able to pre-screen the new shows, “Seasons–Spring and Summer/Fall and Winter” and “When I Grow Up/Doing It Differently,” and our kids were predictably entranced.

In addition to the TV marathon, children will have the special opportunity to connect with the Cat and with friends online through games and videos; parents, meanwhile will be able to pilot the new Birthday Party Builder Tool on the PBS KIDS Shop website. Video clips will also be available for free download at PBSkids.org.

Tune in or set up your DVR to record the March 2 marathon, and take advantage of the wonderful tools available online for parents and kids. Science will be an adventure!

For more information, click HERE.

Filed Under: Teaching Science/Biology | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

Bible Verse Scavenger Hunts + 1

Posted by on February 28, 2012 2 Comments

Studies show* that kids love a great scavenger hunt.

A year ago I shared how we’ve used them in our family for special nights together (i.e. Valentine’s Day with kids) and to unveil a gift or fun activity (i.e. We’re going to Disney World!).

This year we combined those two components and unveiled a surprise on Valentine’s evening; little did I know that it would be me receiving the gift!

Thanks to the bargain-loving folks at TravelZoo, my husband and I splurged on a small ski getaway near our home. To make the reveal fun and to incorporate themes of love on Valentine’s while using the Bible, we made a scavenger hunt to tell our secret.

Here’s How:

  1. I wanted the kids to find the words “We’re going to Crystal Mountain” in the riddles, so I did keyword searches for each word on Bible Gateway and found verses for each one.
  2. These verses were copy/pasted separately on 5 different sheets of paper along with a discussion question following each.
  3. Additionally, I printed out separate copies of each verse and bold printed the key word that would help them figure out the riddle. The printouts went into numbered envelopes that were hidden in the house for step #5.
  4. As we sat together on the living room floor, we had our kids look up each verse, read it aloud, and then do brief activity for each (FREE DOWNLOAD AT BOTTOM).

  5. After each verse was read, the kids had to hunt for the corresponding numbered envelope and not open it. Once the envelope was found, I gave them the next handout (Amazing Race style).
  6. After all verses were completed and all envelopes found, the kids opened 5 envelopes and pulled out the verses with key words in bold. It only took them moments to unscramble the bold printed words and figure out: ”We’re going to Crystal Mountain” !

Insert cheers and craziness!

As fun as it was to surprise them, the Lord gave me a gift in the process of discussing these verses. For example, one of the verse activities asked the kids how they could better love their brother and sister. Can you believe that each of their answers revealed a personal weakness they saw in themselves? We didn’t have to coach them or help them understand how to better love one another. They got it!

In another activity, we read about how everything belongs to God — from the mountain peaks to the depths of the earth. Our discussion centered around how this truth can give us comfort. Here’s what I heard:

  • “God can control everyone and everything, so we don’t need to be scared.”
  • “God owns everything, even us, so He knows what’s right for us.”
  • “Nobody can defeat God — He’s in control of everything!”
I stared at the little faces I love so utterly, and was amazed at God’s goodness.

I realized that little by little, through discussions and reading and stories and games, our little ones–and yours– have hearts that are increasingly soft; hearts that long to worship God.

That’s the encouragement for today, and that’s the reason for everything we do as moms and dads. May we all be given the precious gift of seeing our children embrace this faith as their own, and may we see this work as a joy and a privilege.

For you: a printable of the verses and discussion questions we used! Click on the image to print!

 *unscientific research done in our living room   :)
Filed Under: Bible Application, Creativitiy, Family Night, Games, Teaching Scripture | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , ,

Using Movies to Teach Truth

Posted by on February 23, 2012 Leave a Comment

click photo for credit

 

Several weeks ago our family rented Kung Fu Panda 2 for a cozy movie night at home. In the midst of backflips and kickboxing, incendiary buildings and talking animals, there were two scenes that captured me with their depth and veiled allusions to God. Both made me consider how I  would answer the questions posed…

…Read the rest of this post over at Girl Meets Paper HERE… and then consider the following activities to do as a family:

  • How might you use these same questions to prompt a discussion with your children?
  • Has your family ever facee persecution, teasing, loss of friends, difficult family relationships because of your faith? Ask your kids the same.
  • Read the article links about India, Egypt and Israel (embedded in blog post) and find those places on the map together. Talk about what life would be like under those scary conditions (sensor details where appropriate).
  • For ideas on how you and your family can get involved in supporting and praying for the persecuted church, check out the Voice of the Martyrs website for kids.
  • Request a prayer calendar from Voice of the Martyrs so that you and your family can pray daily for specific people, pastors, and areas being persecuted.
Filed Under: Character Training, Discussion Ideas, Encouraging Selflessness and other-thinking, Family Night, Persecuted Church, Praying for others, Social Justice Issues, Spiritual Formation | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

Dropping Everything

Posted by on February 21, 2012 3 Comments

I’ll admit it: I don’t particularly like being interrupted when I’m working on something I want to check off my list.

Perhaps I’m just not a very good multi-tasker…or perhaps I’m short on patience when it means sacrificing my own goals or agenda.

Whichever the reason, I felt God pushing into my heart, urging me to let go not long ago on one of those bizarrely summer-ish days when the sun tore through winter clouds and spilled over the brown earth. It was roughly 5:30 and I was in the middle of making dinner.

My daughter, who had been obediently tidying up her bedroom, came downstairs and joined me in the kitchen, looking at me like she just wanted my attention. Actually, she wanted…me. Not me distracted by vegetables that needed chopping.

I hastily tossed our (gourmet) dinner into the oven, adjusted the heat on the stove top, wiped my hands on a clean waffle-knit towel, and bent over the countertop.

“Do you want to go for a bike ride?” I asked. “Just once around the block before dinner?“

She couldn’t believe it.

I could hardly believe I was doing it either. I mean, there were beans and garlic bread to think of.

Yet when our tires rolled along snow-free pavement and we felt the chill of February stroking our cheeks, it was marvelous.

I looked at my daughter as we kept pace side-by-side. “So, sweetie…how was school today?”

Guess what: she chattered the whole way around the block. I got to hear about kids I didn’t even know were in her class. She told me about her friendships and the concerns she had about school. She bloomed.

It’s hard to drop everything in the middle of dinner prep when it seems so critical to be manning the stove and properly seasoning your proteins. It’s hard to divert your attention from something that the entire family’s counting on.

Yet that bike ride meant the world to my daughter that day, and it probably lasted all of 8 minutes.

8 minutes out of the 1,440 God gave me that day.

I think I have to be willing to let go more often and let the pieces fall where they may. I have to be willing to drop everything…but in the meantime, to gain more than I’ll ever be able to hold.

What memories have you made when you’ve dropped everything?

 

Filed Under: Enjoying Nature, For Fun, Time with your Daughter, Treasuring Your Kids | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

“Baseball” Homework

Posted by on February 15, 2012 2 Comments

One of my dear friends shared this idea with me as a way to engage the whole body while practicing something cognitive. She plays catch with her kids and with each toss practices states and capitals, but this morning we just stuck with the states…as in, “Can you name one?”

Sounds simple enough, but after this Superbowl my 6 year old thought that “New England” was a state.

I guess I can’t blame him.

We balled up a clean sock and headed to the living room where we started playing catch. With each toss the person throwing the sock had to name a state.

NOTE: Africa is not a state, either.

The point is, getting your child to work on the very basic concept of states vs. regions vs. continents can be fun and can be done in PJ’s before lunch.

Other ideas for catch:

  • MATH: with each toss, say a number and an operation, taking turns solving the problem. (6 + 3 = 9…toss each time you say each of those parts)
  • GEOGRAPHY: take a page out of my friend’s book and say a state, toss, then have your child catch and say the capital.
  • HISTORY: if you’re into the Presidents of the US, toss the ball each time you say a name, reciting all 44 in order.
  • SPELLING: say a word and with each toss, provide a letter to spell the word. OR, for older kids, say a letter without announcing the word, and have them add on until you’ve made a word together. See what you come up with!
  • SCIENCE: practice the components of the table of elements, geological time periods in order, examples of animals going up and down the food chain.
  • RANDOM: mom states a topic and tosses the ball. Each child who catches has to provide a fact about that topic.
  • BIBLE VERSES: mom or dad recite a verse, toss the ball, and the child who catches it provides the book/chapter/verse. OR, in reverse, mom says the book/chapter/verse, and the child recites the passage.
  • FOR VERY SMALL CHILDREN: say the alphabet with each toss. Mix it up and start somewhere in the middle to see if they can adjust. OR, do the same with counting: numbers, by 2′s, by 5′s, by 10′s.

The possibilities are endless! How can you see yourself using catch to make practice more fun at your house? I’d love your comment!

Filed Under: Checking for Understanding, Creativitiy, For Fun, Games, Having fun with your kids, Homework Helps, Teaching Geography, Teaching History, Teaching Letters & Numbers, Teaching Math, Teaching Science/Biology, Teaching Scripture, Teaching Spelling | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

Valentine’s Day + 1

Posted by on February 13, 2012 1 Comment

click photo for credit

I had the best intentions, friends…thee best. I had planned to create some printables and a grand scheme for Valentine’s Day, but alas, a busy life with unexpected sickness sent my plans to the backburner.

Instead, I want to share a fun idea that we do each year on Valentine’s Day, and then offer a special devotional for you to do with your family (taken from this month’s Unofficial Homeschooler Monthly Newsletter).

For the past several years, my husband and I have postponed our own date and celebrated the 14th with our kids, doing our best to model love within a family as being the most important kind of human love they can know. Our prayer is that this kind of love will become a weighty anchor as we inch closer to the teen years and our children begin to explore “the other kind” of love.

Borrowing an idea from our pastor, we serve a very special meal for our kids much like we do on New Year’s Eve. We unearth our wedding china and present a love feast at our dining room table (rather than huddling stools around our kitchen island as we often do!). We dress up and make it special—like we’re on a date together. 

In a few years we’ll all be begging our kids to date us!!

During this meal we write Valentines to each other and express our love specifically on paper. We offer examples of the small moments that have made for big memories, and then we read them aloud at the table.

After dinner we plan scavenger hunts or make cookies for the neighbors or read a new book together– we mix it up. This year, one of the things we’ll be doing is this devotional; why not try it at your house?

There’s no better time than Valentine’s Day to bring your attention back to the source of all love: Our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture Focus: 1 John 4:7-21
The Bible is full of all kinds of words that describe our great God. This Valentine’s Day:

  • read the scripture focus with your kids
  • have your family write down all the words or key phrases that describe God while you’re reading
  • when you finish with the passage, discuss all the things you wrote down.
  • talk about the themes that you hear emerging. Are there repetitions? Are there strong patterns?
  • try to find a “theme” for each member in your family (for example: we live in God, and He in us; God loved us first, etc.)
  • have each member of your family draw something that represents his/her theme (don’t write the theme on the paper yet!)
  • when finished, trade drawings and try to guess each other’s “God themes.”
  • once all pictures have been discussed, write the theme somewhere on the paper and display them all to remind your family of God’s love this Valentine’s Day.

 

Filed Under: Dinner Activities, Family Night, For Fun, Holidays | Tagged: Tagged With: ,

PBS Writing Contest

Posted by on February 9, 2012 Leave a Comment

Not long ago I told you about a PBS-sponsored game-creating contest that had the potential to win you BIG BUCKS! Adding to the fun, I just received another email notification that another contest is underway, and this time it’s aimed at the world’s upcoming writers! Believe me, if I fit the age criteria I’d enter myself!

Here’s what you need to know:

“Do you have a young Charles Dickens in your home? A child who loves to read and write?   PBS KIDS is launching a contest perfect for the young creative minds – it’s the annual PBS KIDS GO! Writer’s Contest, a national initiative designed to promote the advancement of children’s reading skills through hands-on, active learning.

The contest encourages children grades K-3 in communities across the country to celebrate the power of creating stories and illustrations by submitting their own original work.

Children will be encouraged to write and illustrate stories and submit them to their local stations, which will select winners and award prizes.  These winners will then be entered into the national level of the Contest where a panel of judges will select the winners.  National winners will be announced and prizes, including tablets, e-readers and MP3 players will be awarded during summer 2012. 

It’s easy to submit, and can be done right on your computer. And every participant who uploads digitally will receive a free animated digital book of their story that they can share with others, including parents who can purchase bound copies of the entry as a keepsake for years to come.

As in years past, winning entries in each of the Contest categories will be featured on the site, PBSKIDS.org/writerscontest, and visitors to the Contest site will continue to have the opportunity to create “Story Mashups” with winning stories.

More information on participating local stations, general entry rules and contest resources can be found on www.PBSKIDS.org/writerscontest.”

 

 

Filed Under: Contest, Creativitiy, Imagination, Teaching Literary/English Terms, Teaching Reading | Tagged: Tagged With: , ,

Hearts Over Home

Posted by on February 2, 2012 Leave a Comment

Tonight I stood in our kitchen eyeing it with fresh perspective. I tried to pretend to be a guest, taking it all in. I tried to scope out details that have become so benign and mundane that I don’t even notice them anymore.

I stood looking at our memory chords thinking that they really don’t look very cute. They’re visible from the front door and just look so…dangly… . Since taking this photo my daughter has also added several inches of her own embellishments, and I’m growing wearing of the whole thing.

And that’s when it dawned on me: we have way too much clutter. 

Way. 

It seems that in every available space — on every possible surface — there’s a piece of paper or a picture drawn by little hands. There are photographs and Bible verses, lotion and a random bowl of stuff: keys, chap stick, dental floss, quarters.

(Now you think we’re Hoarders, don’t you..)

I want to throw it all away and have a house that’s welcoming and cozy, but could also be featured at whim on any page of the Carrera Marble catalog. In short, I’d trade these people straight up:

Ahhhh, I’m breathing so deeply it nearly hurts my lungs…

But as much I would love the clean and shiny, the Lord reminded me of why we have the memory chords. He reminded me why I have photos up and a prayer list on the fridge. 

It’s because the kitchen is the epicenter of our home, and while our home still has little ones with spongey minds and teachable spirits, I want them to soak it all up.

I want them to look in any direction and find a verse to hide in their hearts.

I want them to see the faces of our sponsored kids and read their names.

I want them to know that we don’t hold up a standard of perfection.

Our countertops may hold too much stuff and our cupboards may be crammed and unorganized, but right now — within reason — I’m doing my best to value their hearts over my home.

~~~

Do you struggle to display your treasures if it means not having the Pottery Barn home we’d all love?

 

Filed Under: Character Training, Kids in the Kitchen, Motherhood, Praying for others, Thoughts for Moms | Tagged: Tagged With: , ,

Unscrambled!!

Posted by on January 31, 2012 Leave a Comment

With our kids only just hitting mid-elemenary school, there haven’t been an abundance of opportunities to help them with homework as of yet. But last night our moment arrived: my son asked me to help him unscramble some sentences.

Sounds like fun, I thought. And it was!…until we got stuck on nearly every a few of them.

After verbally trying to work through the confusion together, we decided we needed another way. We needed to see the words and physically move them around so they made sense.

Here’s what we came up with (excuse the poor photos–the battery on our regular camera died!):

1. Write each word on a separate post-it note

2. Work together to physically move the words around until they make sense.

3. Write down your sentence!

Even if your child doesn’t come home with this homework assignment, it’s a great activity for your young readers and writers to order sentences. Why not think of a few of your own to try? OR, download my FREE practice page!

FREE DOWNLOAD!

For PDF of unscrambled activity:

 

Filed Under: Comprehension Strategies, Homework Helps, Sight Words, Teaching Responsibility, Teaching Writing, Uncategorized | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Quiet Weekend Moment

Posted by on January 28, 2012 Leave a Comment

If you need to exhale, and in turn, to breathe a little more deeply, please meet me over on Girl Meets Paper for a “Quiet Weekend Moment.”

~ ~ ~

PS: Last weekend I heard my link wasn’t working…please let me know if you encounter a problem!

Filed Under: Uncategorized, Weekend Devotions | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,
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