“Jesus is the Light” Homeschool Advent Activity

Photo by Rio Calle

In our homeschool we had another successful Advent calendar activity today, and I just have to share it with you. I think that your children will enjoy this one just as much as mine did!

Supplies

Bible
Flashlights (one for each child)
Dark room
Lyrics to “Silent Night”

Bible Verse

“I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46

Kids’ Activity

~Sing Silent Night.
~Talk about how you cannot see anything in the dark and that you can use a flashlight, nightlight, lamp, or a candle to see in the dark. Discuss how Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world. If we need help, He can light the way. He is just like the other things we use to light up the darkness. Jesus can show you what you what to do if you ask Him for help.
~In a dark room give each child a flashlight. Play flashlight tag. Walk around with the flashlights reciting the verse as you go. Have one child light a path for everyone else to walk. (The kids love doing this. Enjoy their laughter!)

Family Activity

~Put lights on the Christmas tree. Discuss how the lights represent Jesus. He is our light in the dark.

An Advent Calendar Activity Lesson Plan

We have started our Advent calendar activities in our homeschool! I have searched the blogosphere and seen a few different ideas for calendar activities. This is an example of a lesson plan for one of my Advent calendar activities.

Supplies:

Lyrics to “O Christmas Tree” (We only sang the first verse.) Or try these two sets of translations of the lyrics
Green paper cut into a triangle
Scissors
Glue sticks & white glue
Paper circles
Tissue paper
Pictures of Christmas trees
Yarn
Index card
Bible

Objective:

~To understand that God is ever-present & everlasting.
~To understand that we use an evergreen as our Christmas tree because it reminds us that God is always with us and will always be with us.

I wrote the following information on half an index card and put it into the Advent calendar.

Bible Verse:

~”Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.” Psalm 41:13

Kids’ Activity:

~Sing “O Christmas Tree”. Discuss the meaning of the lyrics - the Christmas tree is always green and known as an evergreen. God is also ever-present. He will always be with us ans always love us. Use the following motions when you sing the song:

• Arms in a triangle over your head for “O Christmas Tree”.
• Stretch arms out for “How lovely are your branches.”
• Keep arms stretched and sway to the rhythm of the song for the rest of the lyrics.

~Make a Christmas tree. Look at pictures of Christmas trees and explain that the shape of the tree is a triangle. Use circles for the ornaments. Use yarn for the garland. Glue the Christmas tree onto another piece of paper: white for a snow scene, black for a night scene, or blue for a day time scene.

Family Activity:

~Choose a Christmas tree together.

A Few of My Favorite Homeschooling Things

There are lots of homeschooling blog posts about how to homeschool on a budget, but I haven’t seen any about the supplies that make things run smoothly. Here are a few of my favorite things to keep on hand for our homeschool.

1. Index cards - for making flash cards, for making games, for writing memory verses on, for making a changeable schedule with (to be placed in a pocket chart), to make into letter tiles for word building, and the ideas are limitless.
2. File folders - to make lapbooks (We need lots for these.), to make an easy-to-store board game such as “Roll to 100″, to make a sorting game with, to make a phonics game on, to amke small sentence strips with, and the list goes on!
3. Construction paper/Copy paper/Notebooks - to make cards, to make collages, to make anything crafty, to make homemade books, for the kids to keep a journal in, for you to take notes on your children’s progress, to write just about anything.
4. Glue sticks & White glue - We glue something almost every day!
5. Plastic zipper storage bags of all sizes - for storing homemade games & puzzles, for keeping hand wipes in (They are great for cleaning up after a messy project.), for storing journals used outside, to store play dough in, for crushing ingredients when you cook, for storing wet paintbrushes, to organize like items for counting & sorting, and a million other uses.
6. Scissors & Paper cutter - I have a variety: adult scissors, blunt scissors, & a nylon pair that only cuts paper.
7. Pocket Folders - I keep everything from printed worksheets to the work related to a unit study in these. I like to use different colors and different patterns to make them easily distinguishable.
8. Packing tape - to fix torn pages in a book, to reinforce game pieces, to adhere lapbooks together, to reinforce the binding on books, for taping large boxes for pretend play. Packing tape fixes it all!
9. Post-it Notes - for reminders for you & the kids, for bookmarks, for games, for cloze procedure exercises, to write a note about something in a book to discuss, and many other things.
10. Paper plates of all sizes - to use as a palette for painting, to make masks, for putting glue on, for cutting into fractions, for sorting objects on, to make a variety of crafts with, to make a clock, to make a spinner, and many for more projects.

Do you have any favorite supplies that you just have to have for your homeschool?

Painting Jesus

Are you teaching your children the names of Jesus in your homeschool? This video is a great way to expand on that lesson. (HT: Rose)

This video is powerful! I think that many teens would like it and be touched. I know that I was!

Advent Memory Verses for Your Homeschool

Photo by carulmare

I am looking for more memory verses to use in our homeschool as I prepare for Advent. We will study the Christmas story as found in Luke. I want to emphasize how miraculous Jesus’ birth really is and how God keeps His promises. I found two verses that are perfect.

Mary was told that she would give birth to Jesus even though she was still a virgin. Mary did not think that would be possible, but the angel, Gabriel, reassured her. He reminded her that it seemed impossible for Elizabeth to have a baby, but she was.

For nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)

I want my children to have this reassurance. God is big enough to do anything. He is in control of everything. He creates each of us out of nothing. He is amazing!

After Jesus was born, Mary was visited by the shepherds. This must have been another truly awesome experience for Mary. God kept His promise and Mary gave birth to a child, Jesus. God also told everyday people about Jesus’ birth in a fantastic way - through the angels. After meeting baby Jesus, the shepherds had to share the good news, but Mary had a lot to consider now.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19)

This verse is a good reminder to ponder Jesus’ birth on our own. Think about the miracle of Jesus. Think about the way that God used everyday people in this story. What does that mean to each of us?

Christmas Memory Verses

This Christmas I want C4 to memorize Scripture about Jesus’ birth. I think the experience will add to our homeschool devotion time and help her understand the Christmas story a little better. I also hope she holds the memory verses she learns close to her heart. One verse that I am considering is Luke 2:11.

11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

The scene with the angels visiting the shepherds is a beautiful picture. You can find in Luke 2:8-15. I am considering a few ways of presenting this piece of the Christmas story.

• I will present a puppet show of the scene using our Little People ™ or dolls.
• Act out the scene. I’ll have C4 assume the different roles each time we act it out. We’ll make our props, too.
• Make a diorama of the scene. I think this project will open up a conversation about each of the elements of the scene - the shepherd and their attire, where the angels are and what they look like, etc.
• Draw/paint a picture of the scene. This might make a beautiful piece of art work worthy of a frame.
• Listen to the Hallelujah chorus. We might also watch a video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the Hallelujah chorus.
• Read Christ is Born by Layne Haacke. This book includes illustrations for the Christmas story found in Luke.

Thematic Study Ideas: Bear Snores On

Photo by memekode

Winter is fast approaching and there are many books and activities that you can enjoy to enhance your homeschool curriculum. One of my favorite books is Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. Bear is in a cave hibernating when all sorts of animals discover the cave as a place to warm up. Here are a few ways that you can use this book.

• Learn about hibernation.
• Learn about nocturnal animals.
• Learn about mice, hares, badgers, gophers, wrens, ravens, & moles. They are all included in the story.
• Work on rhyming words ending in the “air” sound (bear, lair, share, hare).
• This book includes repetition as a poetic device. Have your child write poetry using this device.
• Cook the foods featured in the book. Make stew, white popcorn, black tea, and honey nuts.
• Build a model bear’s den.

Have fun with this great book! Do you have any other ideas for this particular book?

My Christmas Tradition: Reading the Christmas Story

Photo by krisdecurtis

This is the first in a series of posts about Christmas traditions.This is one tradition that my family has started.

My husband and I, for the most part, are the only Christians in our family. We are trying to be salt and light to our families, especially around Christmas. It is important to us that our children understand that the reason for Christmas is Christ’s birth and not Santa Claus coming to our house.

On our third Christmas together as a family I decided that I wanted a very real way to express the reason for Christmas.

I actually got the idea for how to bring Christ into our Christmas from a powerful Christmas celebration put together by the church we were attending at the time. During this celebration, the entire Christmas story was read from the Bible as the orchestra played and the choir sang Christmas songs. There were even dancers behind a screen using creative movement to express the meaning. After seeing that, I decided that we were going to read the Christmas story in its entirety from the Bible. Unfortunately, I cannot provide the same kind of presentation that our church had, but at least my family can marvel at Christ’s birth every year.

I used Bible Gateway to locate all of the Scriptures. Then I printed them out and made booklets for each person in the family. I also added a nativity scene on the front cover. We took turns reading a few verses at a time. It was the first time my extended family had heard the real Christmas story. They always felt like they knew it, but after reading the actual story from the Bible, they realized that they were missing pieces. I felt like it was a huge success!

This will be the fourth Christmas that we read the whole story together. As the children get older, I hope that they grow to love hearing this story and anticipate it every year.

Homeschool Visual & Kinesthetic Checklist

Photo by Tony Crider

Are there parts of your homeschool routine that are frustrating you and your children? In a previous post I mentioned creating a visual agenda or checklist to help with difficult times of the day. I have been working with C4 to create a few checklists for a few challenging times during the day. So far C4 has found the checklist for getting ready to leave the house helpful and it has made that process less trying for us. She really likes having something to help her focus.

I wanted to share the process of making the checklists and show you pictures of ours.

• One afternoon we discussed the problems we were having with getting ready to leave the house, and I suggested that having a checklist would help. C4 agreed that it sounded like a good idea.
• We wrote a list of what she needs to do in order to be ready to leave. (shoes, coat, hat, mittens, backpack, & sit)
• We used catalogs and parenting magazines to find pictures of these items to cut out. These tend to be the most appropriate magazines to use with young children.
• I drew a line around the picture that we wanted, and C4 cut along that line.
• C4 glued each picture onto an index card.
• I had intended on putting the cards into a pocket chart, but C4 wants to manipulate the cards. So we keep them in a hanging folder on the door. She pulls them out and files through them as she gets ready to go.
• We repeated the process for the morning routine. We looked for the following pictures: the potty, brushing teeth, brushing hair, getting dressed, & eating.

Shoes

Mittens and Hat

Jacket

Backpack

Sitting

Halloween Biology

This Halloween you can opt out of the ghosts and goblins, but still use the gory spirit of the season to your advantage in your home school. You can learn about the human body. Create a lapbook or a small book reporting on the different systems or just on a particular system.

• Study the skeletal system. Construct your own skeletons and name the major bones in the body. Dissect a whole fish from the grocery story and investigate its skeleton. Learn about x-rays. Research calcium and how it is absorbed.
• Study the heart. In your book you can name the parts of the heart, include a mini report on Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (the first heart surgeon), include data from heart rate experiments, etc.
• Study hematology. Blood is quite gory! Learn about red and white blood cells and about how blood coagulates. Investigate blood typing. Contact the Red Cross to find out more about blood donation.

The ideas are endless, but hopefully this will get you thinking outside of the box. Have fun!