Tonight we got home late again after a long day, so we just let Arianna light all four candles on our Advent wreath while we read Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-Jones and introduced the kids to “O Come, All ye Faithful.”
Books:
The Christmas Star by Marcus Pfister (for Arianna)
The Animals’ Christmas Carol illustrated by Helen Ward (for Elijah)
For the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge we read Micah’s prophecy about Bethlehem, and then the boys built stables. Elijah had trouble settling on his design (I saw a few different versions), and by the time we’d finished reading Jotham’s Journey, he was back to only having a frame. Oh well. It’s the process, not the product, right?
I’ve started hearing protests every time I say we’re going to sing something other than “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” so tonight I decided just to go with it. They’re going to know this song really well, and if they just learn multiple verses of one traditional carol every year, they’ll still know a great deal by the time they’re grown.
The Animals’ Christmas Carol illustrated by Helen Ward (for Elijah-except he never opened it, so he’ll be getting it tomorrow instead)
We got home a little late but decided to to Bible time anyway. For the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge we talked about the story of Daniel, and then Ian made a den for the lions. (Elijah got such a slow start, we’d finished reading in Jotham’s Journey by the time he was ready.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about heaven lately, longing for that time when wolves and lambs will lie down together (as we talked about a couple nights ago), when there will be no more tears or sorrow. What a beautiful prayer we sang tonight: fill the world with heaven’s peace. Amen.
Books:
Josie’s Gift by Kathleen Long Bostrom
Elijah didn’t feel like building tonight while we read Jotham’s Journey, but Ian continues Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge with gusto. Tonight he built a ship, Jonah “inside” the whale, and a scene in the city of Nineveh.
Books:
Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson (for Elijah yesterday)
Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt (for Elijah today)
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston (for Ian)
I missed seeing the boys’ creations for the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge last night, but they took pictures of their roses and prophets for me.
Tonight the built wolves and lambs, which proved to be rather challenging!
We had to replace our first Advent candle today, since Jotham’s Journey is taking us a little longer to read than our devotions last year. We closed our evening with “Joy to the World.”
We finished going through Walk With Me to the Nativity: A Journey to Bethlehem by Karen Harper and read from the books the kids opened for Advent each morning.
I am actually amazed that Ian finished up lessons 86-90 in Mathematics Enhancement Programme (Year 2). At one point it looked like this year might just be too hard for him, but he’s really risen to the challenge.
The only bit of school work I plan to do over the next few weeks is continuing to practice his addition facts. I’ve tried so many fun ways to do this, but this week I resorted to good old-fashioned flash cards. Ian actually really likes them, and I’m writing down how many he gets right each day so he’s enjoying trying to beat his score.
For poetry this week we read Voices of Christmas by Nikki Grimes. I was so moved by these poems, each from the perspective of a different person from the Christmas story. They are beautiful by themselves, but then you add the gorgeous illustrations by Eric Velasquez, and I think I’ve found my new favorite Christmas book.
This year I’ve been trying to include as many of the Ambleside Online, Year 1 books as possible, on top of all the other things I have scheduled. Gradually I’ve been dropping some of the selections that repeating subjects we’re doing separately, and this week I finally came to the decision to only do the literature selections for now, dropping the AO history books. (We’d already cut the science and nature study books.) Perhaps we’ll get back into some of them when they fit into our history cycle.
I decided to hold off on history until after our Christmas break, since we just finished up Alexander the great and are getting ready to move onto the Roman Empire.
In The Human Body (part of God’s Design for Life) we covered lessons 19-23 on the digestive system and nutrition, as well as covering the corresponding pages in The Usborne Human Body Sticker Book. Ian was glad to get back to the My Body unit from Teacher Created Resources, coloring and placing the stomach and intestines on his giant body outline.
And that’s it for school in 2014!
Penny’s Christmas Jar Miracle by Jason F. Wright (for Ian)
Tonight’s Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge was really tough. The boys were supposed to build a crown and a scepter, but it’s hard to make circles with LEGO bricks. Elijah was finished in about 30 seconds with a very simple crown and scepter. Ian took a little longer and (as usual) created a more elaborate scene, with a crown resting on a pillow next to the scepter.
Who is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate (for Arianna)
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado (for Elijah)
We skipped last night’s Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge, but we let Arianna hang the ornament for David’s anointing on the tree tonight when Ian hung the one about Elijah. The story of Elijah and the showdown on Mt. Carmel is one of my favorite parts of the Old Testament, so I enjoyed telling this one to the kids again. Ian built an elaborate altar with a trench full of water as I read through both nights’ readings in Jotham’s Journey.
Books:
The 12 Days of Christmas illustrated by Laurel Long (for Elijah)
Mary’s First Christmas is one of Ian’s favorites, but it’s pretty long, so it will take us a couple days to get through.
We attended a beautiful carol service tonight and got home late, so we didn’t do our Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge or read from Jotham’s Journey. I guess we’ll just double up tomorrow.
We Three Kings traditional carol illustrated by Gennady Spirin (for Arianna)
The Last Straw by Paula Palangi McDonald (for Ian)
After reading the story of Ruth, the boys built baskets of wheat for the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge.
We closed with “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” but it’s not the kids’ favorite. They keep begging for “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” I think they like having a repeating refrain to sing over and over again