My Daughter, Writer and Illustrator!

My daughter is a lot like her daddy and her mommy in many ways.  First she has the love of drawing that is definitely like her daddy.  My husband is an amazing artist and writer as well and he loves to share his love of drawing, painting and creating with her all the time.  It seems my Muppin can't do anything without drawing or doodling to help her get done with a project. Oh, and don't forget the singing, wiggling, fidgeting, and dancing!

I love to write and so does my husband, so she was destined to love writing too.  Just like drawing and painting, writing is a creative process and she does such a great job.  She has now written at least 10 books and she has illustrated them as well.  Her newest one is called "Best friends forever."  It is about her and of course her best friend.  She loves her best friend like crazy and when she thought of making her a book nothing was going to stop her!

She captures in each picture all the things they love to do together and it is amazing to see the things she notices about herself and about her friend that are the same and different, and it is a blessing to see how she celebrates both those things. 

As far as homeschooling goes there couldn't be a better project for her to work on.  I guess it is kind of like notebooking, a method of teaching that gets the children thinking about what they have learned and putting it on paper, instead of having them just answer questions to see what they have forgotten.  She is thinking out the parts of the story she wants to tell, working out how many pages she will need, then drawing the pictures.  Once that is done she writes her story on a notebook page and I go behind her and correct her spelling and punctuation and she has to rewrite it correctly.  Once it is all correct and it says everything she wants it to say then she has to write it on the pages of her book.

What a fun way to learn about grammar, spelling, writing, penmanship and story telling.  Someday she wants to have her books published and I believe she will.  We may even do a study on how that happens one of these days too!  

Does your child love the artsy side of life?  What is their favorite way to express their artistic side?

 

Homeschool Mother's Journal 12

IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK...

This week we have been home a lot, which is nice.  We have been catching up on school work and I have been catching up on much needed blogging, doing a book review, creating a Proverbs study and getting organized in more than one area of my life!

I was able to go to a brunch yesterday with some ladies from my Bible study group and what a blessing that was.  God is so good when He puts Godly women in our lives to share your dreams, excitements and worries with.   God is good, all the time!

IN MY HOMESCHOOL THIS WEEK...

We are running around trying to get things done.  We have about another month of school left before we are done and that is if we work hard!  My Muppin wants to be done so she is doing a great job helping out and still getting great grades.  I was never a straight A student, but she sure is.  I do have to work on her perfectionism though, it can be a bit unhealthy, especially if she gets something wrong.  I am constantly telling her that no one can get everything right and she is doing a great job.  Then she quickly reminds me, "No one can get everything right except Jesus, right mom?!"  That's my girl!  Find a way to bring it to Jesus and be right at the same time. LOL

HELPFUL HOMESCHOOL TIPS OR ADVICE...

NEVER do school work at 3:00 in the afternoon!  Just DON'T DO IT!!!  ;)

I AM INSPIRED BY...

I am inspired by our Pastors, Jon & Fawn Cobler.  He is an amazing man of God with a vision for himself and our church that is out of this world and I truly believe he is changing our church from one of some doers and many sleepers into many doers and just a few sleepers.  And watch out sleepers because we are coming to bring you on board with us so you experience the joy of the Lord in a way that you never have before.  Pastor Jon is not only an amazing Pastor, but also an amazing example of a husband and a dad.  We are blessed to have him!

His wife Fawn is a pure blessing for all the women at Living Water.  She is soft spoken, but not in the least bit meek.  She has power behind her words and wisdom to match.  She is beautiful on the outside but that pales in the comparison to who she is in Christ.  She has a real love for the women of our church and our community and it is an honor to have her lead us.  She is an incredible wife and mother and her fruit shows in her children.  They are a family after God's heart and that alone is a true blessing.

PLACES WE ARE GOING AND PEOPLE WE ARE SEEING...

We are going to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium today! We are super excited.  They have baby Clouded Leopard cubs (Chận sung and Suksn) and we are hoping to see them while there.

We are also excited to watch "Captain Adventure vs. Dr. Do-Nothing: The Quest to Get Outside!" in the Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater.  It should be a blast.

QUESTIONS / THOUGHTS I HAVE...

Have any of you done Notebooking?  I have just started researching this and it seams like a great thing.  If you do it, how extensive are you with it?  Do you just do it with some subjects, or all?  I would love some feedback!

THINGS I AM WORKING ON...

I am working on my writing.  Learning, reading and writing.  Making the time to do what I love!

I AM PRAYING FOR...

I am praying God shows up in our finance and everyday life in a supernatural way!  I know he can!

A PHOTO / VIDEO / LINK / QUOTE TO SHARE...

When we got to go to Northwest Trek last week, we were able to make friends up close and personal with a couple racoons.  Here is one of them.  Isn't he a cutie!

Book Review "Keeping His Way Pure" by Tammy Wollner

Keeping our kid's way pure is difficult at best.  We are in a spiritual battle.  "Many of us live each day as if we are in natural circumstances, when in reality - the trying circumstance that appears in the natural is a war being waged in the supernatural."(Tammy Wollner)  The fight for us and our children and our purity is supernatural. 

I loved reading this book and Tammy makes it clear that, "We as Christians need to wake up each morning, put on the armor of God mentally and spiritually, and be ready to do battle with Satan at any point in our day. Most of all, we need to train our children to practice this." (Tammy Wollner) I could not agree more.  We have a difficult enough time doing the right thing without a war raging around us.  Add to our own weaknesses and disillusioned desires, plus the desires of the enemy, and we can never go without our armor.  His Word needs to be buried deep within our hearts so we have the ammunition needed to fight the sworn enemy of our soul.

Keeping His Way Pure addresses how this can be done with a great four step plan.  Psalm 119:9 says, "How can a young person stay on the path of purity?  By living according to your word."  That is where Tammy's four steps come in.  The steps are easily laid out and give great pictures through experiences of what each step would look like.  I also like that these things are not just her thoughts on what needs to be done, but that scripture is pulled in many times to show that it is God's word not hers that shows us how to live a pure life.

Along with the four steps Tammy offers sections for when the steps are not working and spiritual warfare.   We all know that even if we do all the things that are right by God's standards, things can still go wrong.  Our kids have a mind of their own and a will of their own.  And this book doesn't forget about that and leave you hanging if the four steps don't work.

What I like most is that while this is written specifically for son's, it can be used for our daughters and for our own lives.  Everyone is called to live a pure life and all of the things taught in this book are excellent things to do for ourselves as well as our daughters and sons.

This book was a great blessing and wonderful surprise.  I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to make sure their children grow in the Lord and live a life of purity in all things.

I was asked to do this review and though I was given this book I was not paid anything for my review.  This review is truthful and honest and given freely.  Thank you so much for the opportunity grow and learn while reading this book.  It was a pure blessing, God Bless.

Proverbs Study

I am part of a homeschool group in my area and sometimes those ladies have some of the greatest ideas!  One of the ideas on the site was about a Proverbs study one of the families did.  I fell in love immediately and decided that it was something that we were going to do.  I thought I would share about it here.  I have added some of my ideas to the study that I didn't see in hers and hopefully you will have some to add to mine.  If you do, please share! I am always looking for more fun ways to learn.

First I looked up the book of Proverbs online in the version I wanted to use.   I chose New King James but you can do any version.  When you find it the hardest part is next, copying it and pasting it to a Word document and then formatting it to look how you want it to look.  This can be a little time consuming but well worth it when it is done.  I chose to separate each Proverb with a page break.  So Proverbs 1 is on two pages, Proverbs 2 on 1 page, but no two proverbs are on the same page.  I made sure it was an easy to read font for my daughter who is 7, then I printed it out.  It was about 60 pages so it was a lot of printing.  I recommend that if you have more than one student to print the first one and then get the rest copied or your ink will dry up fast.  It is ideal for each child to have their own.

Then I put the pages into a 3 ring binder with some lined pages behind each Proverb.  I made a cover page for the front of the book and then we were set and ready to start learning.  The only other things I made sure to have was my Bible and my Muppin's Bible, so my Muppin could see it was truly from the Bible, dictionary, drawing paper, pencils, crayons, markers, construction paper, glue and scissors.  We are going to get creative!

Now comes the fun part!

We are reading 1 proverb a week meaning that everyday we start out by reading the proverb that we are focusing on for the week.  This is great for them to practice their reading skills and gives them a chance to get better at the reading.  I then pick out a verse for us to memorize that week from that proverb (as she gets older, or if she gets excited about one in particular she will pick it out). We just started our study yesterday so our Bible verse is Proverbs 1:8-9.

As we read we are picking out words she doesn't know the meaning of and looking them up in the dictionary for the definition.  We are then choosing a couple words a day that she will learn to spell, they will often be the same as the word she is looking up in the dictionary.  Then we are writing out the same proverb we are memorizing for penmanship practice

One of the most fun things we are doing is picking out a part of the proverb to create a picture, a visual story board, or some other form of art about.  It can just be drawings or it can be something that is cut out and created, such as a shadow box, or other type of art.  The idea is to let creativity run here and to help them get the real meaning down in the heart in a way that kids really get it.  It is so much fun too.   Below is a picture my Muppin did about Proverbs 1:8-9.  She has the dad telling her to be kind, the mom telling her to be loving and because she is obeying she has a crown (or ornament) on her head and necklaces (or chains) about her neck.  She will be coloring it later, she was tired :)

Lastly, depending on the proverb, we are adding some history about the times and how they relate to now in an effort to make it more applicable to today for her.  We have The Archaeological Bible and that is a great resource.  Crosswalk.com has some great ones too with their Bible Study Tools.  I highly recommend them and they are totally free!

All in all, it is so much fun.  After our Proverbs study is done, we are doing the book of Ester, my daughters favorite.  What other ideas do you have that could be added to round out this study?

 

This Week's Journey

IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK...

Last weekend we had a lot of family visiting so our school took a little back seat for a few days.  It was great having my mother and father-in-love visiting.  They are such a blessing to us and especially to our little Muppin.  I can't imagine a world without them.  On Mother's Day we got to go to Northwest Trek again.  It is quickly becoming one of our favorite places and we are starting to feel as if we are getting to know the animals.

IN MY HOMESCHOOL THIS WEEK...

This week we just hunkered down on Wednesday to make up for a couple days for the schooling we missed earlier in the week.  Muppin was awesome and did a great job.  She amazes me how well she does when she wants to.  Of course the important word there is "she."  But isn't that true of us all!

I AM INSPIRED BY...

I am truly inspired by my mother-in-love Shirley.  She is an amazing woman.  She has had many things she has had to struggle through in her life yet she still perseveres and pushes through and is determined to have the best life possible no matter what happens.  She is a dear and truly lovely woman and I am so honored to be married to her son.  God is good!

MY FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK WAS...

Getting things prepared for Muppin's first dance recital coming up in a couple weeks was the highlight of my week.  She has been working so hard for this and to see how happy she was to get her dress and learn how to do her hair and makeup was fun. Of course we need to reassure her because the perfectionist in her wants to be perfect.  She is 7, she is perfect enough just the way she is regardless of how well she does.  But seeing the glow in her eyes, priceless!

I AM GRATEFUL FOR...

Homeschool... I would not have the chance to spend so much time with my Muppin if it weren't for homeschooling.  She is a pure gift from God and a pure joy.  I am blessed beyond measure.

A PHOTO / VIDEO / LINK / QUOTE TO SHARE...

Over Mother's Day my husband's parents were able to visit us and while here they were able to go to Northwest Trek with us on Mother's Day and this is a cute picture of them and my little Muppin!  I love that trio!