Texas Bible Bowl

It's that time of the year when Texas Bible Bowl goes into full swing.  Next weekend we'll begin studying Joshua, Judges and Ruth.  I have all of my student materials prepared; Bibles, homework, and chapter heading cards.

I started working on the upcoming 2016 Bible Bowl in April and I'm at a really great place to begin with the kids.  So far I have 24 kiddos signed up, many are in the 3rd-6th grade age bracket.  I'm thrilled to see the younger kids getting excited about Bible Bowl.  

Teaching Bible Bowl is a double edged sword, the down side is there is no written curriculum, simply the Bible.  The up side is each teacher can put together their own material to match her teaching style.  Bible Bowl covers only what is in the text being covered.  At an older level the kids can work on interpretation, but for now it is mastering the information covered in this year's text.   

I've worked out lessons, practice tests, workbooks, games, flash cards, etc.  I try to have a variety of study materials because children learn different ways. M;y hope when it is all said an done that the kids want to continue with Bible Bowl each year, building on their knowledge.  I can't wait to get started with Joshua, Judges and Ruth! 

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

CHANT Softball

Tonight was another double header for the CHANT Chargers.  CHANT is the home schooled high school team in the North Dallas area.  Most of the girls play for other select leagues, but then come together and play in the spring against area private schools. 

In the fall they play in a recreation league in Richardson simply for fun and to camaraderie.  The team is 9th through 12th grade girls  

Abigail was thrilled to be able to play in both games tonight.  The team is really good, and our coach didn't want to run the score up on the teams we were playing; he let Abigail play 2nd base and she got a couple of at bats.  She is looking forward to being out of her brace and actually getting to catch again, but that will come.  As a 9th grader she's one of the smaller girls on the team, so she could be putting in her time out in right field for a while.  But as long as she is out on the ball field, it's all good! 

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 
For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when
he falls and has not another to lift him up!  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Avengers Care Package

The girls are at it again!  They don't want that boy to get hungry while he's away.  And if you know anything about Caleb you know he loves his snacks!  This time we put together an Avengers themed package.  We found everything from Cheez-Its, granola bars, Nesquick, fruit chewies, Band-Aids and salted peanuts in Avenger packaging.  

The girls also included cards to brighten his day!  I love reading their sweet messages to him, you can tell how much they love him and how excited they are for his time at LCU. 

The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,

    and their inheritance will endure forever.

Psalm 37:18

Library Software Classes

As long as her hand is still in the brace she is out of participating in Saturday softball practice.  Since I don't want idle time on her hands, we've been taking advantage of the computer classes offered by the Plano Library.  

Her last class was an introduction to Excel, today we followed up with a Formulas and Functions Excel class.  With the reports I maintain for Metro Relief, Abigail has shown an interest in the process.  The class had well thought out examples of setting up reports, and generating statistical information.  

Next I think we will move to some formatting Word documents.  Who knows maybe after that we can take on a Photoshop class! 

My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you,

turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding

Proverbs 2:1-2

Constitutional Literacy

From Abigail's Instagram account this afternoon, "You know you're homeschooled when: You could be going to the homecoming football game or even going to see the latest book to movie adaptation with friends but your 'teacher' registered you for a SIX HOUR Constitutional Literacy Symposium!"

Yes, it’s Friday night and homecoming night at that but HSLDA’s Mike Farris is in Dallas discussing Constitutional Literacy. Mike is a Baptist minister, with a law degree, a political science degree, an LLM in International Law whose argued before the Supreme Court, President of Patrick Henry College, and Co-Founder of the Convention of States Project.

He discussed ten of the worst Supreme Court decisions, some of the case the court came to the right conclusion but for the wrong reason.  The job of the Supreme Court is to upload the law, not make policy and some of the decisions sited were based on member’s opinions rather than their validity by the Constitution.  Because they sited their decisions as based on opinion it opened the door for abuse.

It really was a fascinating discussion and I encourage my friends to check out the Convention of States Project.  It outlines the sad shape our country is in, BUT offers solutions to the current economic and moral decay of our country.

The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just.” When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem  2 Chronicles 12:6-7

Classical Book Club

Our PEACH book club is a classical book club.  At the request of the boys the book Ender's Game was added to this year's reading list.  This is unique because it is not a classic and it's a bit risky because it was not written by a Christian author.  Now, not all of the books we read are specifically Christian authors, but many of them are because the 'C' in PEACH stands for Christian. There are many homeschool groups to choose from in the area, but ours caters to Christian families.  

With that understanding this was a risky selection.  The author had a Mormon background so part of the discussion of the book centered around Mormonism belief and how those were reflected in the writings of the author.  It was fascinating to see what the kids picked up on. They are maturing into discerning readers. 

Like any great teen event there was pizza, snacks and games!  What more incentive could a kiddo want?  Next month is Hamlet, we would love to have you join in the conversation! 

The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,

    but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

Proverbs 14:6

Public Speaker's Club

Our Public Speaker's Club has started back up for the school year.  Abigail's first assignment was a demonstration speech.  She had originally written it as a demonstration of cords on her keyboard, however the hard brace prohibited doing much with her left hand.  She rewrote the speech to be a demonstration on the physics behind softball pitches.  

You can tell she's speaking about something she really enjoys because it seems to come natural to her!  I love that the kids have the opportunity to do this through our PEACH homeschool support group, because this is something that still makes me crazy nervous!  

After each youth present their speech they are then given criticism and encouragement by their peers. Generally Ms. Kathy guides them to offer more positives than negatives so no one becomes discouraged.  I love the comradery it brings between the participants! Here you go grandmothers and brother, ENJOY! 

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 8:3-4 

A Day of Beauty

Years ago I knew nothing about home schooling, it certainly wasn’t in any educational plan I had for our children. However, fifteen years later I absolutely love being able to go to places like the DMA to research art; or places like the Sixth Floor Museum to learn about Kennedy’s presidency. Of course it does mean we were up at 6:30am to knock out Algebra II, English, Chemistry, etc.; but it’s totally worth it.

We were able to venture to the Dallas Museum of Art for a home school art class.  But our primary goal was to research a few art pieces for Abigail's American History class. The DMA has a large American history collection, including purple slag pieces like my grandmother collected. 

The museum houses a library that's opened to the public during museum hours. It is sandwiched in between the first and third floor exhibit halls and overlooks the cafe.  They also have educational packets covering the current museum exhibits incorporating English, History and Social Studies.  The packets are available for Elementary, Jr. High and Sr. High students.  Best of all, vast majority of the museum is free! Don't miss out on this wonderful resource if you are in the area! 

They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19 The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings—all that were made of pure gold or silver.
Jeremiah 52:18-19

Grisham Farms Visit

With school in full swing so are the field trips and the wonderful hands on learning experiences.  Today we headed out to Grisham Farms in McKinney. The family is a small family owned farm that rescues animals.  The owner Ms. Stephanie is a certified special education teacher with 24 years teaching experience.  The farm was originally opened 9 years ago for the purpose of giving kids with special needs access to the animals. She takes the kids on a tour of the farm, giving them details about the animals and quizzing the kids as they go.  

The farm has a lot of animals the kids can pet and feed including: alpaca, Ball Python snake, Bearded dragon, bunnies, chickens, cows, donkeys, ducks, emu, geese, giant tortoises, goats, guinea pigs, hedgehog, llamas, miniature horses, ostriches, pigs, and sheep.  My favorite was the alpaca because of his sweet face and buck teeth as he ate out of my hand.  Abigail of course, had a special bond with the pigs, particularly the potbelly pig named Petunia. 

Click HERE to see the pictures from our 2011 visit. 

The righteous care for the needs of their animals

Proverbs 12:10

Still in a Cast

This is the day for the girl to get her cast removed.  We received wonderful news that the ligament in her thumb is healing as expected.  The doctor cut her cast off and gave her exercises to strengthen the thumb. 

At physical therapy they fitted her for a brace that she will wear for the next three weeks. The brace is removable for bathing and exercises only. She was not a happy camper, at all!  She was really hoping to resume normal activity as soon as possible.  

Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart,

    and good news gives health to the bones.

Proverbs 15:30