I had been on a quest to find a devotional to use with Rebekah to have a more "formal" way of teaching her about God. So, I looked around a bit, and read some online reviews etc .Anyway, I had been hearing about "Leading Little Ones to God" on the home school circuit for quite a few years and had been waiting for Rebekah to grow up a bit to use it. I kind of thought it was for the 6 - 8 year old age group.Well, it's not cheap here in Australia so didn't want to rush into it. Anyway, one day out of the blue a few weeks ago, I decided to search ebay and guess what, to my surprise there was one on sale for $2.50 and the postage was going to be $5.50. It had been on sale for quite a while would you believe with no takers. The "buy it now" option also had "make an offer" beneath it, so I gave it a shot and offered $1.50 (which was accepted) bringing the grand total to $7.00!! What a bargain! This way I thought if it's a dud atleast I haven't spent $30 to $40 getting it through Koorong.
Well, you can imagine my surprise when I opened up the book and started to read the first chapter! I was amazed at the gentle, non-condescending, sweet yet intelligent way the author Marion Schoolland has written the book, presenting God to our little ones.......honestly I browsed through some of the more "modern" ones and nothing comes close to this! I cannot speak more highly of this "older" devotional.
She starts of with a secion on "Looking for God" and slowly progresses through the different stages of finding God to then what happens when we become children of God and how we need to live etc.
At the end of each chapter there is a scripture reference and a hymn to be sung (we just read the hymn out aloud and Rebekah thinks it's a poem:)). Also the prayer at the end is in old English which you don't really need to use as you can make up your own or edit it on the go. By the way the book itself is not written in older English, it's just the prayer for some reason - hmm things have changed in how we pray these days hasn't it!
Beautiful book! If you are looking for one for your kids I highly recommend it. By the way, I would say you could use it from the age of 4 upto 7 or 8 years old.
Just thought I'd post this in case my huge list of followers were looking for something like this, yeah right!
BTW, I am so excited about this book I found another reasonably priced second hand copy recently and am going to give it to one of my friends from church to use with her son. I am going to see her today and can't wait to give it to her, can you tell how much I love this book???
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
We have twins!!!
baby guinea pig twins that is! gotcha!
For the past couple of years, Rebekah has been asking for a dog. She absolutely loves and adores all dogs and has done so since she was very young. Well, she's still young, just 5, but you get the drift...here she is at around 18 months with a family member's dog......
Anyway, we had been telling her that she would get one after we have another baby. Well, it's been a long wait and I was kind of thinking that maybe when she's six we'd get her one for her birthday whether or not she had a little sibling by then.
Well, last month we visited a friend who just recently got her son some guinea pigs. Rebekah just took to them and fell in love with them. She was then to get one of them "on loan" for six days from her friend but at the last moment he backed down. She was very disappointed to say the least. Anyway, in the same week, we heard of some baby guineas for sale from one of the mums in our home school group. Well, they couldn't have come at a better time - it didn't take Ron and I very long at all to decide to get them for Rebekah. She was over the moon! So, we picked last Saturday. She is absolutely besotted with them!
I didn't realise pets could have this effect, it's been a loooong time since I've had one. But really, it's like having a new baby (or in our case babies). I've seen a new side to Ron - I knew he was a softie but to see him just love these little creatures is amazing. Also, I have to be honest here, I was not too keen on cuddling them at first but it didn't take me long either and I must say we've all fallen in love with them! They are the cutest little things. Rebekah has named them "Claire" and "Annalise" :)
Here they are:
They make a great first pet we were told, and so far this has definitely been the case. Easy and low maintenance!
Doesn't she look over the moon! She is truly learning what it means to "look after and care for" something / some one else. In her case being an only child (at the moment) I think it's been great for her to learn this:) She is learning responsibility, gentleness, care etc.....now how good is that!
For the past couple of years, Rebekah has been asking for a dog. She absolutely loves and adores all dogs and has done so since she was very young. Well, she's still young, just 5, but you get the drift...here she is at around 18 months with a family member's dog......
Anyway, we had been telling her that she would get one after we have another baby. Well, it's been a long wait and I was kind of thinking that maybe when she's six we'd get her one for her birthday whether or not she had a little sibling by then.
Well, last month we visited a friend who just recently got her son some guinea pigs. Rebekah just took to them and fell in love with them. She was then to get one of them "on loan" for six days from her friend but at the last moment he backed down. She was very disappointed to say the least. Anyway, in the same week, we heard of some baby guineas for sale from one of the mums in our home school group. Well, they couldn't have come at a better time - it didn't take Ron and I very long at all to decide to get them for Rebekah. She was over the moon! So, we picked last Saturday. She is absolutely besotted with them!
I didn't realise pets could have this effect, it's been a loooong time since I've had one. But really, it's like having a new baby (or in our case babies). I've seen a new side to Ron - I knew he was a softie but to see him just love these little creatures is amazing. Also, I have to be honest here, I was not too keen on cuddling them at first but it didn't take me long either and I must say we've all fallen in love with them! They are the cutest little things. Rebekah has named them "Claire" and "Annalise" :)
Here they are:
They make a great first pet we were told, and so far this has definitely been the case. Easy and low maintenance!
Doesn't she look over the moon! She is truly learning what it means to "look after and care for" something / some one else. In her case being an only child (at the moment) I think it's been great for her to learn this:) She is learning responsibility, gentleness, care etc.....now how good is that!
Friday, June 19, 2009
A great day in our homeschooling life!
Today the sun was out and it wasn't too cold - about 18 degrees I would say. The perfect day to get out and enjoy nature after the rain of the past few days.
So, Rebekah and I went off to visit a reserve not far from our place. (Pictures following were taken at the same spot a few months ago)
We fed the ducks, strolled along the international gardens, picked up some fallen leaves of various beautiful autumn colours, stood up at the top of the waterfall (man made one but beautiful albeit) and enjoyed the scenic view down over the lakes and gardens. Rebekah even brought along a cursive writing book as she said she wants to play "going to university" and I could be the teacher seeing I would make a good one:) Thanks Rebekah!!!:) She even brought along her maginary friends - she had some new ones today (who's names I cannot remember!) oh actually, some of them were - Elessa, Ellen, oh, I can't remember the rest now, drats!
Anyway, you get the picture, they all came along on our "field trip" as she put it today. And yes, after she fed the ducks and played and we had our lunch, she did actually get her book out and start "writing" some words - she was copying the cursive writing into upper case letters - no she is not that advanced, we are still at upper case letters:)
Anyway, Charlotte Mason would have been so proud of me I reckon.
This is what she says "How much time daily in the open air should the children have? And how is it possible to secure this for them? In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mothers first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it spent for the most part out in the fresh air. And this, not for the gain in bodily health alone––body and soul, heart and mind, are nourished with food convenient for them when the children are let alone, let to live without friction and without stimulus amongst happy influences which incline them to be good."
She is so right about this. Every day I struggle to follow her wisdom - to let Rebekah just be - to get her outdoors as much as possible, to enoy nature etc etc. So much screams out at me that I need to be teaching her this or that! But as I've learnt to relax and not "force" academics on her, she has of her own volition wanted to learn things, like the scenario of taking her book out today. I certainly have not encouraged this! Wow, bring it on - a lifelong love of learning is what I am after for my daughter not academics just to pass a test!
So, Rebekah and I went off to visit a reserve not far from our place. (Pictures following were taken at the same spot a few months ago)
We fed the ducks, strolled along the international gardens, picked up some fallen leaves of various beautiful autumn colours, stood up at the top of the waterfall (man made one but beautiful albeit) and enjoyed the scenic view down over the lakes and gardens. Rebekah even brought along a cursive writing book as she said she wants to play "going to university" and I could be the teacher seeing I would make a good one:) Thanks Rebekah!!!:) She even brought along her maginary friends - she had some new ones today (who's names I cannot remember!) oh actually, some of them were - Elessa, Ellen, oh, I can't remember the rest now, drats!
Anyway, you get the picture, they all came along on our "field trip" as she put it today. And yes, after she fed the ducks and played and we had our lunch, she did actually get her book out and start "writing" some words - she was copying the cursive writing into upper case letters - no she is not that advanced, we are still at upper case letters:)
Anyway, Charlotte Mason would have been so proud of me I reckon.
This is what she says "How much time daily in the open air should the children have? And how is it possible to secure this for them? In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mothers first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it spent for the most part out in the fresh air. And this, not for the gain in bodily health alone––body and soul, heart and mind, are nourished with food convenient for them when the children are let alone, let to live without friction and without stimulus amongst happy influences which incline them to be good."
She is so right about this. Every day I struggle to follow her wisdom - to let Rebekah just be - to get her outdoors as much as possible, to enoy nature etc etc. So much screams out at me that I need to be teaching her this or that! But as I've learnt to relax and not "force" academics on her, she has of her own volition wanted to learn things, like the scenario of taking her book out today. I certainly have not encouraged this! Wow, bring it on - a lifelong love of learning is what I am after for my daughter not academics just to pass a test!
Friday, May 29, 2009
It's about time I posted again!
My wonderful friend and pastor - Amy - tagged me with this award:
and so, I better pass it on....so I'm told. Anway, I'm kind of new to this whole thing and I guess she must have wanted to "gently encourage" me (as she is known to do) to get on with it!!!
So, here goes ten facts about me that you may or may not have wanted to know:)
1. Amy says she's nerdy, wait till you hear this: I have an incredible ability to remember people's phone numbers, car number plates etc etc, basically anything with numbers, including scripture references!
2. So, all you people thought I knew my Bible so well, it's just that I can remember these things easily! Whoa! was that a secret I should not have let out!
3. I am not copying Amy but seriously I would be a nervous wreck when I had to do any public speaking growing up. These days I get a bit nervous but I enjoy it as well. It's one of those things you cannot explain unless you understood the scripture that says "His strength is made perfect in my weakness". I'll omit the scripture reference for this one, though I know it:)
4. I got 100% for maths in my HSC , all by the grace of God. In fact, I was always pretty good at maths but before my exams I felt God tell me not to trust in my own ability but in Him and little did I know why - even though I was pretty good, I never ever would have got 100% without His help! See number 1, it's all related I guess?
5. My parents separated (and later divorced) when I was eight and it was a pretty sad time for me. I longed for them to get back together and live happily but it never happened.
6. God has now given me such a wonderful husband and we decided (with good counsel) to never ever mention the "D" word, and even today, I refuse to do it even in jest. Mind you, we've never ever had reason to even think of the 'd' word. God has been so good to us. I am the most blessed wife in the world!
7. Growing up, I was always the "peace maker" among my siblings, friends etc.
8. I was an extremely shy child and still am but not as painfully shy as I was until about the age of 21 when things started to change. (Some of you are quite puzzled by this I'm sure), trust me, I am still shy!
9. I have an incredible ability to "forget" movie stories not long after I've seen them. My dear husband who is a movie lover cannot for the life of him work this out though I can remember other things easily!
10. Related to above, I love the old black and white movies!
Well, I could go on but won't bore you....
Now for my seven, I don't actually know seven bloggers (well, not well enough to pass this on) so, I may have to break this chain blogging thing! Sorry Amy! Hope that's ok?
and so, I better pass it on....so I'm told. Anway, I'm kind of new to this whole thing and I guess she must have wanted to "gently encourage" me (as she is known to do) to get on with it!!!So, here goes ten facts about me that you may or may not have wanted to know:)
1. Amy says she's nerdy, wait till you hear this: I have an incredible ability to remember people's phone numbers, car number plates etc etc, basically anything with numbers, including scripture references!
2. So, all you people thought I knew my Bible so well, it's just that I can remember these things easily! Whoa! was that a secret I should not have let out!
3. I am not copying Amy but seriously I would be a nervous wreck when I had to do any public speaking growing up. These days I get a bit nervous but I enjoy it as well. It's one of those things you cannot explain unless you understood the scripture that says "His strength is made perfect in my weakness". I'll omit the scripture reference for this one, though I know it:)
4. I got 100% for maths in my HSC , all by the grace of God. In fact, I was always pretty good at maths but before my exams I felt God tell me not to trust in my own ability but in Him and little did I know why - even though I was pretty good, I never ever would have got 100% without His help! See number 1, it's all related I guess?
5. My parents separated (and later divorced) when I was eight and it was a pretty sad time for me. I longed for them to get back together and live happily but it never happened.
6. God has now given me such a wonderful husband and we decided (with good counsel) to never ever mention the "D" word, and even today, I refuse to do it even in jest. Mind you, we've never ever had reason to even think of the 'd' word. God has been so good to us. I am the most blessed wife in the world!
7. Growing up, I was always the "peace maker" among my siblings, friends etc.
8. I was an extremely shy child and still am but not as painfully shy as I was until about the age of 21 when things started to change. (Some of you are quite puzzled by this I'm sure), trust me, I am still shy!
9. I have an incredible ability to "forget" movie stories not long after I've seen them. My dear husband who is a movie lover cannot for the life of him work this out though I can remember other things easily!
10. Related to above, I love the old black and white movies!
Well, I could go on but won't bore you....
Now for my seven, I don't actually know seven bloggers (well, not well enough to pass this on) so, I may have to break this chain blogging thing! Sorry Amy! Hope that's ok?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Never too young to learn to save
A few months ago, we started giving Rebekah pocket money of $2 per week:)
We started this mainly to stop the "Can I please have this?" questions when we were out shopping and also to try to instill a respect for money in her.
So, each week she got her $2 and blissfully spent it on whatever little thing that took her fancy. However, a couple of months ago, she saw a book called "The princess handbook" at Borders and fell in love with it. She is getting into "princesses" now:) It cost $14.95, hmm hmm, a bit more than $2 so we saw it as the perfect opportunity to teach her a new and valuable lesson - the power of saving!
So, we explained how it worked to her and she slowly put her money away in her little piggy bank (which previously was just a toy) each week.
In the back of my mind, I was thinking that surely she would get impatient and frustrated at how long it was going to take to save up for it. So Ron and I discussed it and decided that if that happened, towards the end, we would tell her that seeing that she had saved so hard we would chip in and pay for the difference. However, I must say that she was determined and never ever gave up. We would re-visit Borders several times in those weeks (our local one has a great GJ's by the way so it was easy to re-visit:)) and I think that kept the vision alive in her. Well, here she is in the picture, the proud owner of something she saved for, for almost eight weeks! What a proud moment it was for her when "daddy" took her in with all her coins to pay for the book. Well, Ron said she got a little shy actually and hid behind him while he paid for it:)
I was so impressed with my little daughter and what a powerful lesson to learn at such a young age! Now that she has learnt this, she has saved up and bought a $7 Barbie (which actually ended up being on sale for $4 when we went to pay for it) and she is truly learning the value of money and things!
A lesson for us grown ups too!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Homeschooling Books I have read and enjoyed (so far)
"So you're thinking about homeschooling" Lisa Whelchel (This was the first book I read, bought it at Koorong and would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of homeschooling. It gives you a glimpse into some of the composite families lives that the author has met and put together. Shows you the wide range of homeschooling family situations, options and methods)
"For the children's sake" Susan Schaeffer Macaulay - A great introduction to Charlotte Mason's philosophy of homeschooling.
"A Charlotte Mason Education" Catherine Levinson - A great "how to" book for implementing the CM methods.
"A Charlotte Mason Companion" Karen Andreola - Another great "how to" book for implementing CM methods with more details on each topic. A highly enjoyable book to read!
"The 3 R's" by Ruth Beechick - A "how to" book, on teaching the three R's from K-3
"For the children's sake" Susan Schaeffer Macaulay - A great introduction to Charlotte Mason's philosophy of homeschooling.
"A Charlotte Mason Education" Catherine Levinson - A great "how to" book for implementing the CM methods.
"A Charlotte Mason Companion" Karen Andreola - Another great "how to" book for implementing CM methods with more details on each topic. A highly enjoyable book to read!
"The 3 R's" by Ruth Beechick - A "how to" book, on teaching the three R's from K-3
Books for three to five year olds
These are some of the many books that we have read to Rebekah and which she has requested to be read to her many times over:)
They are all the original and unabridged versions. We steer clear of the abridged, watered down versions.
"The 20th Century Children's Book treasury" selected by Janet Schulman
(jjust some of her favourite stories: Harry the dirty dog, Amelia Bedelia, Millions of Cats, Frog and Toad are friends)
"Caps for Sale" Esphyr Slobodkina
"Because I love you" Max Lucado
"You are special" Max Lucado
"The cat in the hat" Dr Seuss
"The complete tales and poems of Winnie the Pooh" A A Milne
Almost all of the Beatrix Potter books - some of them are:
The tale of Peter Rabbit, The tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher, The tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, The tale of Samuel Whiskers or the Roly Poly Pudding, etc
"The story of Babar" Jean de Brunhoff
Some others are:
"A Child's book of Art" by Lucy Micklethwait (great introduction to art) (Rebekah refers to this book as her most favourite book!)
"A picnic with Monet" Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober ( a beautiful board book with poetry to Monet's art)
Golden books : "My little golden book about God", "The poky little puppy" and "The saggy baggy elephant" are some of her faves.
They are all the original and unabridged versions. We steer clear of the abridged, watered down versions.
"The 20th Century Children's Book treasury" selected by Janet Schulman
(jjust some of her favourite stories: Harry the dirty dog, Amelia Bedelia, Millions of Cats, Frog and Toad are friends)
"Caps for Sale" Esphyr Slobodkina
"Because I love you" Max Lucado
"You are special" Max Lucado
"The cat in the hat" Dr Seuss
"The complete tales and poems of Winnie the Pooh" A A Milne
Almost all of the Beatrix Potter books - some of them are:
The tale of Peter Rabbit, The tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher, The tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, The tale of Samuel Whiskers or the Roly Poly Pudding, etc
"The story of Babar" Jean de Brunhoff
Some others are:
"A Child's book of Art" by Lucy Micklethwait (great introduction to art) (Rebekah refers to this book as her most favourite book!)
"A picnic with Monet" Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober ( a beautiful board book with poetry to Monet's art)
Golden books : "My little golden book about God", "The poky little puppy" and "The saggy baggy elephant" are some of her faves.
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