Biblical copywork

*spelling error alert*

I only realised after i posted this! Goes to show how bad my spelling is. :P

I am sticking to copywork.

Not so much for creative writing but more for honing sonshine's penmanship. What better 'phrases' to copy than the bible verses? I am hoping that as he copies, the verses stick to his mind and someday, he can readily recall the verses when in need.

First passage i am going to have him copy is Psalms 23. Today, he copied part of the first verse.

On another note, if there is only one thing i want my children to know about the Christian walk, it would be this; that it isn't about who they will become in future, it isn't about their 100% attendance in Sunday services, it isn't about how many hours of prayers they can clock, it isn't about how many souls they can save for Christ and certaintly not about how much money they can give.

It is not about how much they can love and sacrifice for Christ.

But it is about how Christ love and sacrificed for them.

There is nothing they can do to earn that love.

There is nothing they can do to make Christ love them less.

Because the love of God is free, it is unconditional. No, it is not cheap. It came with a price, with Jesus's blood. That is the grace of our God. That despite our evil selves, He still loves us & took our punishment on the cross so that we earn the right to His kingdom. Unfair? Yes, that is the grace of God. That is the essence of the christian walk.

Let no man tell my children otherwise.

I will gnaw at any man who tells my children that their worth in Christ is measured by how much they can offer to Christ.

*Fangs and claws shooting out*.

....Right, now that i have regain my composure...in other news...

If you are seriously thinking about homeschooling your child, i suggest you pick up this book:

But be warned, it is a very thick book because it covers from preschool years to higher grades. It spells out exactly how you can teach your children, with what resources and even how long each lessons should be. But not everything is applicable, pick out only the things that suit you. What i like about this book is that it has a list of homeschooling resources. I've picked up a few curriculum from this book. I say, borrow from the library- not necessary to buy.

It's Valentine's!

Here are some Valentine's activities i managed to squeez in this week. Bear in mind i didn't do all the activities in one go, we do 5minutes here, 10 minutes there. With 2 kids, it's impossible to do anything for a period of time!

Bible verse that Sonshine is learning this month. I made it for Christmas but we never got to it! Since it's all about love, Febuary is equally apt to learn this verse!

I got this awesome idea from 2 teaching mommies blog on a fun way to get the kid to memorise verses. I wanted to download straight from their site but have been unsuccessful, so i made my own. The verse is broken into parts and sonshine has to put them in order.

Heart shape felt button activity! Sonshine isn't great with fine motor skills and tend to give up easily. As expected, he kept whining 'i cannot!' while doing this. But with some pushing- (yes pushing i was quite annoyed with his whining and was impatient and insistent -but don't follow me), he managed to suceed! He unbutton each hearts and button them back on. I am so proud of him!

And our recent crave- Mosiac! We make Mosiac heart magnet!

The finished work. I would prefer it to be much neater but i reframed myself from telling the boy how and what to do. I wanted to give him freedom to decide. But it was really tough biting my lips!

Incidentally, we borrowed this book without any planning it to coincide with Valentine's- i guess that God working in our homeschooling! Sonshine loves this book, and for me, it is a timely reminder about His love for me. :)

Memory Verse

Here's another memory verse we've learnt! I am so glad he still remembers the other verses! :) I believe it isn't too young to let the child memorize God's word. I know these verses will help him when his older and wiser.

God made the Sea

The following activity was inspired by Mum in the making (I'm sorry but i lost the exact post).  Before i go on, i just want to shout out to Jus- You're one talented mama! Thank you for sharing your wonderfully creative ideas!

I saved this piece of art which the boy painted yesterday. I told him that the blue represents the sea where the sea animals live. He was given a set of animals stickers (given to us for free while we were dining at Waraku) and he stuck them all over the painting. Later on, i pointed to each of them & told him that God made the fish, tortoise, starfish. He pointed to the seahorse and said 'God made this!'. You got it baby!

I cut out some letters from an old magazine and pasted the words 'God made the sea'' on the painting as a finishing touch.

The Lord is my Shephard

Our latest memory verse! I'm also glad that N still remembers all the other verses we taught him. God gives grace, even the very young, to remember His word.

Singing Psalms

I have been wanting N to learn this verse but never seem to get my butt moving. Until last week, my husband turned to me during our church service and suggested that we teach N this verse. I never told my husband my intention hence i was surprise by his suggestion. Yet, i took that as a confirmation that this is going to be the next verse N learns.

"Surely goodness & mercy shall follow me ALL the days of my life"

AMEN!

God is with...

After learning this verse for a week, N has been spontaneously declaring it aloud. I once asked N if God is with Mama? At first he said 'no' but i told him Yes! God is with mama and papa and N! Since then i have been hearing him say, 'God is with papa. God is with mama. God is with Por por. God is with Gong gong. God is with Godma. God is with K (his cousin)' etc. How sweet! One night, i was feeling out of sorts, but hearing him say 'God is with mama!' really put my heart at peace. Although i don't think he was saying right to me but i knew then that God used N to speak to me. Who knew that the verse im teaching my son, is actually meant for me!

Declaring God's word

This week's verse, Isaiah 41: 10. Its a chunky passage but i simplified it into 4 words. It was so simple that N could remember it instantly and recite it on the spot. Simple but powerful.

Success!

I am very pleased that my effort to teach N bible verse have proven to be effective! After doing this with N for a week or so, N now can recite the verse on demand. Every now and then i would ask N 'What does Ps 139 vs 14 says?' and he'd say 'N is fearfully & wonderfully made!'. Amen!

Just now, he went up to his papa and recited the verse to him without any prompting! Praise God! I hope this means that the verse is deeply rooted in him and he'd grow up remembering the verses he learnt. As an adult, i always have problems remembering verses or even finding a relevant one when i need it. I had wish someone had made me remember the key verses when i was younger. That's why im doing this for N, so that when he is older, he will have no problem reaching out for the verses whenever he is in need of it. Now on to the next verse! :)

Learning Bible verses

Ok the following picture is really messy. Bear with me please. I am too lazy to retake another one! LOL!

I want to share how i am teaching N bible verses. Instead of waiting for him to be older and forcing him to memorise verses, i decided to start now when he can memorise and retain things effortlessly. I printed the boy picture here and paste it over a green color paper. I made it into a mini board by pasting the paper over cardstock. I wrote a verse and stuck onto the board.

This week's verse is Psalms 139: 14 "I will praise thee for i am fearfully and wonderfully made..." You'll notice that i tweak the verse alittle. I changed it  to "N (i wrote his full name) is fearfully and wonderfully (yes ok, there was a spelling error  on the original copy!) made". I did it so because i wanted the verse to be personalised to him. I didn't want to quote the entire verse because i wanted to bring it down to a level where he can understand. Also i wanted a short phrase such that its easy for him to recite the verse. MOre importantly, i want him to remember the verse so that when he is older, he can refer to the bible and read the whole verse himself.

We've been reading out the verse every now and then. Im glad that N is receptive towards this and enjoys reciting with me. :)

Bible Study

My very best efforts in exposing N to bible stories have been futile. He is not interested in reading bible stories at all.  I have been cracking my head but i have no idea! This is one of my feeble ways to expose him to God. I took out his old puzzles, and wrote the words 'God created these'. As i placed each piece on the paper, i tell him 'God created dog! God created man! etc'. Erm, well at least he stayed till i finished the story.