Posted by Cindy on August 25, 2009
We took a mini-trip to Cumberland Falls in Southern KY not too long ago. It was such a beautiful afternoon! The waterfall is majestic, the rock samples are outstanding, the hikes are not too difficult, and the scenery is gorgeous!
You’re able to walk right up to the water a short distance before the waterfall.
There are several vantage points to see the waterfall in its powerful beauty.
There’s even a very fun beach area below the falls where you can play in the sand or water.
Small caves were all over the place, too.
Here’s just a sampling of the varied rocks we were able to see – amazing!
Posted by Cindy on August 19, 2009
This month’s nature study is focusing on wildflowers. Our farm is just abundant with wildflowers this time of year! During last week’s study, we placed a blanket among a field full of wildflowers to read books and praise the Lord for His magnificent beauty.
Afterward, I sent the kids off on a scavenger hunt. They had a ball running around the field trying to check off each and every item.
Mahayla on the wildflower scavenger hunt.
Caleb checking off his scavenger hunt list.
Eli scavenging wildflowers to hit with a stick.
After the scavenger hunt, each of the big kids had to go in search of one flower that was new to them to bring back to the blanket. They had to identify it and write down various characteristics and information on a notebooking page.
Filling out a notebooking page for the flower of their choice.
Caleb's flower = Heal-All
Mahayla's flower = Evening Primrose
As usual, we had such a lovely time basking in God’s creation! You can find the notebooking pages we used (and more), plus TONS of wildflower activity ideas in the NaturExplorers unit Wonderful Wildflowers.
Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2009
Below are some pictures from my Dad’s retirement parties. He worked at a hospital for 30 years – in the laboratory for about half those years and in the technology department for the other half. It was quite obvious that those he worked with loved him very much and I was so glad they asked us to be part of his celebrations.
His department gave him a lovely catered dinner the evening before he retired. It was a complete surprise to him which made it even more fun. The day he retired, the hospital held a reception with cake, punch, a powerpoint presentation of his 30 years and two lovely Paul Sawyer prints. It was so neat to see how special he was to his coworkers, employees and friends!
So what’s next? Well, he and my mom are preparing to go on their dream vacation of a cruise to Alaska and they’ve just purchased a small camper for traveling. I’ve already informed him that he gets to teach biology (especially dissection) next year. And the way Algrebra 1/2 is going, he may get to teach it this year! I’m excited about his new chapter of life and I’m pretty sure he is, too!
Posted by Cindy on August 11, 2009
On Sunday nights at church, I teach a Kidz Group class for children in 1-5th grades. Right now, I have only little boys in the class. What better way to catch their attention than to talk about dinosaurs! Dinosaurs and church?? Of course! Dinosaurs are a great topic for teaching the authority of the Bible as compared to evolutionary teaching. And for children, dinosaurs are one of the biggest “hooks” public schools use to disprove Biblical authority.
Just how do you educate yourself on the truth of the Bible vs. what the evolutionary world believes? It’s really as simple as children’s books! There are so many wonderful children’s books available now that teach Creation vs. evolution. And not only do they educate your children, they educate you as well! I’ll include just a few dinosaur themed books here and if you’re interested in me posting more wonderful creation-based children’s books, just let me know.
Some of these are more in-depth than others. If you’re hoping for a simpler book, I would suggest What Ever Happened To Dinosaurs or D is for Dinosaurs. The others are more detailed and best suited for upper elementary and above.
Posted by Cindy on August 7, 2009
Last week before school started, we took a trip to Kentucky Kingdom with the big kids. We could’ve called it an “end of summer” trip, but I prefer to call it a “kick-off the new school year” trip. Why focus on the end of something when a wonderful new beginning is right around the corner?!
Our favorite water ride – The Tornado.
The kids spent a ton of time in this water playground. We rode dry rides, too, but had way more fun splashing our day away.
