Posted by Cindy on November 13, 2008
This was another of the projects we did during our Colonial Life unit. It was super-easy and I loved how the notebooks turned out!
To begin, we found compostition notebooks (the kind where all the pages are sewn together with string and the covers are hard.) I picked out several scrapbooking papers that complimented each other then the kids cut the papers into various square and rectangle shapes. We used Mod Podge to decoupage the scrapbooking paper to the notebook covers.
Just in case you don’t know how….To decoupage, you apply Mod Podge (or any liquid glue, really) to the surface you plan to cover. Place your papers on the glued surface then apply more Mod Podge over top of the papers. Easy!
We turned our notebooks into new Bible Journals. As the Bible is read each morning, the kids are taking notes or drawing pictures about the reading to keep their minds more focused.
Posted by Cindy on May 16, 2008
Our children have been part of a Bible Bowl team this year. As skeptical as I am about children competing over God’s Word, they really have learned inside and out the material that was covered this year. Since the group has decided to take a break next year, I wanted to be sure to grab some pictures from their last meet.
Comments:
Filed Under: Bible
Posted by Cindy on January 8, 2008
A peace place. A place for my children (or myself) to go when we are not being peaceful. A time-out of sorts, but focused on God and His desires for us. A quiet and comfortable place for us to reflect on why we haven’t been peaceful and to ask forgiveness. A place to rid ourselves of frustration, focus on the Word and work through forgiveness towards the person or people who have offended us.
In this place, you’ll find a Bible, a peace notebook, paper, pens and a servant jar. The peace notebook includes everything included on Holy Experience’s post about making a peace place (above). As the kids read through the pages in the notebook, my prayer is that their hearts begin to soften. That they grow closer to the Lord and learn to walk in His ways more readily. That they learn how to better handle the frustrations of life (especially life with brothers and sisters.)
The servant jar. When one of my children gets angry and offends someone else in the house with ugly words or ugly actions, not only do they get to spend a little time in the Peace Place, but they get to choose a slip of paper from the servant jar. On the little slips are jobs that person can do to serve the person they’ve offended. What better way to ask forgiveness of someone than to serve them.
We’ve only just begun our Peace Place, but I’m praying that God will reveal Himself to us when we visit. I’m praying that our walk will grow closer to His as we learn better to ask forgiveness and to forgive others. I’m praying that, eventually, we won’t need the Peace Place anymore because our hearts will have turned towards Him in such a way that our actions and reactions are generally peaceful. Ah, peace.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9
(The original idea for our peace place and servant jar came from a mixture of posts on the same topic from A Holy Experience and Preschoolers and Peace. Love those ladies!)
Posted by Cindy on November 24, 2007
After perusing Christmas websites, going through my Christmas file folder and searching my computer files for Christmas ideas, I’ve put aside some things that I hope to use this December.
You may be surprised to find this out about me, but when I plan a unit, I very rarely make detailed plans. Yes, I know, this coming from an organizing junkie! 
I usually go through all my resources and jot down things I think would be good activities. Sometimes I’ll organize the activities, sometimes not. For instance - for the astronomy unit we’re working on, I did organize the topics (in the same order they were covered in Exploring Creation Through Astronomy.) But, the extra activities I considered adding to each topic were simply written down under the topic on a piece of paper. When we got to the topic, I would look over my list of activity ideas and we would do the ones that suited our fancy that day.
So, for December, I’ve put together my Christmas basket. I’ve included the books, worksheets, craft ideas, and such that I hope to use at some point during the month. I’ve decided to do a lapbook on the Symbols of Christmas as my main curriculum each day, so all the copies I need are already in the basket, along with a “master list” of the topics the unit covers. Beside each topic, I’ve jotted down the other worksheets, crafts, projects or books that might go along. Each day, I’ll decide which Christmas symbol we’re going to cover and which of the potential activities or projects we’ll also do.
(Learn more about my favorite Christmas books on this post and this post.)
I may or may not get to all the things that are waiting in the basket. In fact, I can honestly say we probably won’t get through everything! But, by the time Christmas break rolls around, we’ll have great memories of Christmas fun with Jesus having been in the center of all the festivities!
One other thing I recently found…..A free inductive Advent Bible study. I spent some time today copying the pages and putting them together in a little notebook. We’ll start the study this coming Monday in order to be finished in plenty of time before Christmas.
