Flag Page - Know your kids

I love both my girls just the way they are.  It is very fun to see just how different God has made them as these differences are showing themselves more clearly the past few months.  We tried a "game" of get to know your children with a tool "Flag Page".  It showed Adeline excels with perfectionism and peace.  We are noticing this more and are not as surprised when the condensation from her cup makes a mess and she is bothered by it.  She likes to keep things at peace.  Essie is in the worlds of Fun and Peace but with some of the Control world.  So far we have noticed after reading and watching her she likes to make sure we have fun with being a bit silly.   We have made an effort to appreciate this fun she brings.  God is great because now as a family we should have some order and have fun doing it  -- sound like a great combo to me :)

The game has four worlds: Control, Peace, Perfection, Fun.  You go through cards with them describing situation (brief) with a photo and they decide if it is always like them, sometimes or never.  I was very surprised how Essie at 3.5 was able to correctly decide on the cards.  It took a couple sessions with her.  Then follow the directions with points, etc and then there you go.  You are to repeat this every year as kids do change :)  There is an adult version online, but it has $$.  So I haven't tried to figure myself out just yet!

Is your first response to Pray?

I found this today from an email I subcribe to that sent me to awana.org. I am thinking about trying to make this into a bookmark.  It follows:

Sometimes I find it helpful to pray specifically for my two girls. Several years ago, I came across this list of 31 biblical virtues to pray for my kids. Perhaps it will encourage you to pray each day for your kids’ spiritual development.

1. Pray for a spirit of humility.

The willingness to submit—James 4:10

2. Pray for a spirit of reverence.

The fear of the Lord—Proverbs 9:10

3. Pray for a spirit of purity.

A desire to be clean—Matthew 5:8

4. Pray for a spirit of purpose.

A wisdom to set goals—Proverbs 4:25

5. Pray for a spirit of simplicity.

A lifestyle uncluttered—Romans 12:8

6. Pray for a spirit of commitment.

A dedication to the “cause”—Joshua 24:15

7. Pray for a spirit of diligence.

A willingness to work hard—2 Peter 1:5

8. Pray for a spirit of servanthood.

The ministry of helps—Galatians 6:9-10

9. Pray for a spirit of consistency.

The quality of faithfulness—James 1:8

10. Pray for a spirit of assurance.

A depth of faith—Hebrews 10:22

11. Pray for a spirit of availability.

A willingness to go—Isaiah 6:8

12. Pray for a spirit of loyalty.

A zeal for fidelity—Ruth 1:16

13. Pray for a spirit of sensitivity.

Openness of heart—Luke 10:30-37

14. Pray for a spirit of compassion.

Love in action—Mark 8:1-2

15. Pray for a spirit of tenderness.

A willingness to weep—2 Kings 22:19

16. Pray for a spirit of maturity.

The capacity to grow—Hebrews 5:12-14

17. Pray for a spirit of holiness.

Christ-like behavior—1 Peter 1:16

18. Pray for a spirit of reliability.

A depth of dependability—1 Corinthians 4:2

19. Pray for a spirit of revelation.

Learning to listen—Ephesians 1:15-18

20. Pray for a spirit of denial.

A sacrifice to surrender—Luke 9:23

21. Pray for a spirit of confidence.

A baptism of boldness—Philippians 4:13

22. Pray for a spirit of integrity.

The quality of truthfulness—Romans 12:17

23. Pray for a spirit of repentance.

A willingness to change—Luke 3:8

24. Pray for a spirit of trust.

A fearless reliance—Psalm 125:1

25. Pray for a spirit of submission.

Choosing to yield—Ephesians 5:21

26. Pray for a spirit of teachability.

A quality of meekness—Titus 3:2

27. Pray for a spirit of prayer.

A longing to wait—Isaiah 40:31

28. Pray for a spirit of unity.

A respect for others—1 Corinthians 1:10

29. Pray for a spirit of restoration.

A ministry of healing—Isaiah 61:1-2

30. Pray for a spirit of authority.

A capacity to command—Matthew 16:19

31. Pray for a spirit of generosity.

The desire to give—Matthew 10:8

How do you pray for your children? I would love to hear your comments!!!

Preschool/Kindergarten Resources

I found this blog post today on a site that normally shares info to save money.  Now I find out she is a mom who homeschools with a Classical Style education/Charlotte Mason approach, Moneysavingmom:(click to go to the post and visit her site).  Below are only 5 of the 15, the rest of her pics are to be published… check in with her next Monday. And really… anyone can use great resources, even if  not homeschooling!  We love Wee Sing.  Love love love them. I can hardly wait for her next 10.

15 Favorite Preschool and Kindergarten Resources – Part 1

by Crystal on July 19, 2010

I’ve briefly mentioned our homeschooling adventures over the past year and many of you have written in with questions on recommended resources for teaching young children. I’m nowhere near an expert on the subject considering I only have one year of “official” homeschooling under my belt. However, I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite preschool and kindergarten resources from the past year for those of you who are interested.

So, I condensed my list to 15 resources and books and the next three Mondays, I’ll be sharing a post with five of our favorite resources. Here’s Part 1:

1. My Father’s World: Kindergarten

We absolutely loved this Kindergarten curriculum! It is very simple, fun, hands-on and easy-to-use. There are 26 units and each unit covers one letter of the alphabet and corresponding Bible, Character Development, Art, Math, Creative Thinking, Reading, Phonics and Science lessons.

We didn’t do every thing in every unit, but more used it as a springboard for our weekly curriculum. I thought it made an excellent framework and the girls thoroughly enjoyed it. We usually spent 20-45 minutes 3-4 days per week on the lessons and supplemented with a variety of other great resources (mainly the other 14 resources I’ll be mentioning in this series!).

After doing this curriculum for a year, I’d highly recommend it if you are looking for a Bible-based curriculum with a mix of Classical Education and Charlotte Mason approach.

2. StarFall

This is an entirely free website has lots of fun interactive educational games and teaching tools for preschoolers and kindergartners. We don’t allow a lot of computer time for the girls at our house, but Starfall is a special treat which our girls get to enjoy on occasion. There are a few minor things on the website which aren’t in line with our Christian worldview, but overall, we’ve been very impressed with Starfall.

3. Letter of the Week Curriculum

One of my very favorite homeschooling blogs, Confessions of a Homeschooler, has a fantastic Letter of the Week Curriculum which has tons of printable worksheets which we used to supplement the letter we were studying each week in My Father’s World. The curriculum is only $10 and an exceptional buy for all the amazing downloads and helpful resources which come with it.

If you can’t afford to buy the curriculum or would like to check out some of the printables before purchasing, there is a huge list of incredible free printables available here.

4. Wee Sing Bible Songs

The girls love listening to this CD before they go to bed or while playing together. And they’ve learned so many great children’s songs as a result!

5. Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art With Children

These are the best books I’ve found so far for teaching art appreciation to young children. Each book in the series introduces children to twelve works of art and engages the imaginations and interest of young children by asking thought-provoking questions about the picture.

Foundation for parenting = good marriage

Sometimes God catches you off guard.  I know a good marriage keeps me happy and that divorce can tear families apart and leave children scarred for life.  I don’t think I thought about it in the reverse for any significant amount of time.  Working on a good marriage gives kids a great model for love and a strong foundation.  So maybe instead of reading all these parenting books I should at least through in one or two on preserving my marriage.  It ends up God has brought Bryan to read the  The Love Dare and me to participate in a Bible study which the name escapes me, but helps you see how (and maybe some why) God created men (different than women) and was pretty good (by a woman and based off of surveys too). 

The speaker was Rick Marks and I think he is coming back in the Fall for a marriage conference.

He also talked about how children being “created” by 2 people in a loving way rather than out of selfish desires is like there being so much love it just couldn’t be contained.  I don’t think I can describe it how he did and do it much justice.  It was neat to think about how much love you do have and how it grows even when right now I don’t think I can love Bryan anymore than I do, but in 5 yrs I will think I love him more then than I did now.

Mother’s day

So I am still following Tim Tebow.  Go Broncos!

In doing the above I read this about Pam Tebow and now the bloggers insights to his on situation don’t really apply  I liked the quotes from her.  Which happens to be the summary of Raising a Modern Day Joseph by Larry Fowler and a book I mentioned/summarized in an earlier post.

Pam’s quote: We have to be intentional about the way we mother and parent. We have to have a plan and a target, a goal for them, an idea in mind of how you want them to end up.

There are some good quotes from Tebow and his mom too.  So here is the link to the entire post at TIMTEBLOG.com by Dan Shanoff called Mother’s Day Salute: Pam Tebow.

Awana tools

Just a FYI of some pretty cool tools I found on the Awana site.  First you have to Log in on the ART (Awana Resources and tools) that is on the right side of the awana.org home page.  Note when log in you have to have your church’s ID number, just click on the link of where to find it and it is right there or it emails it to you very quickly.  Then once you are in you will see cool thing # one on the right side called Parent Pause.  This is for the 2-4yr olds.  It is a news letter of sorts that has a monthly idea.  For April it talked about the Sedar and for March it talked about sibling relationships and both had a craft and a few other interesting things.  Tips on scripture memory (I seem to be stuck here). 

The other really interesting thing I  noticed was under the tab of Leadership Resources, then cubbies and was called “Extra Credit” that has some neat “books” you could look at/print. Alphabet scripture, etc. 

All of that is now in what is called the ART portal that you have to log into.  It is on the right side of the awana.org home page.  If you have trouble getting in, contact Deidra of our staff at 630-540-4561 or Deidrap@awana.org .

Scripture Memory

So I love love love Awana.  But it is not enough.  Or I should say I am not as committed to it.  So I have been looking for more and need to be committed to it.  We have posted the verses Adeline is working on memorizing on the wall outside her bedroom.  Anytime when going to be she wants to slow things down we recite them.  Fine with me… she stays up 5 min more, but I hope to get a life of God’s word etched on her heart.  Better than buying her with candy right?!  Please don’t think that is beneath me though.  I was listening to a John Piper sermon the other day that talked about not making scripture memory a “trick” to perform.  It has to be authentic or else it won’t be a habit that sticks. 

So I found a blog that mentions the Simply Charlotte Mason Method.  It is a bit expensive in that it uses a box and index cards. ha! Sonya also supplies important verse lists.   I haven’t looked at this much, but want to do something soon.

I found also this blog, Graham Family Ministry(school4Jesus), that mentions the above and also created her own verses to print out on cards.  The cards are available to print right on your printer with a few clicks.