Review: Calvary Chapel Bible Curriculum

 I recently reviewed Calvary Chapel's Bible Curriculum.  It's online and free!    Read my review here.

Kid Devotion Time

This morning I had a marvelous time by myself (sans infants) spending time reading the Bible and praying. Our church offers a few mornings during the summer where moms can come, drop off their kids, pick up coffee and snacks, and have a few hours of uninterrupted quiet time. One of the questions in the Bible study I was working on asked, "what would need to happen for you to set aside substantial time to listen?" It got me thinking.

Let me backtrack. Here's the situation: We just finished homeschooling for the year and already my daughter is struggling with boredom. The rest of the day is fine, it's just when little brother and sister are napping and she has no schoolwork to do that it's a bit of a struggle. I have difficulty fitting in my quiet time. She's not having a quiet time. So why not solve multiple problems at once?

Starting today, I plan to make a simple devotion guide for Gracie:

1. Pray (God, help me learn)
2. Read a Bible story (she can read simple stories independently)
3. Read a memory verse
4. Praise God by singing a song
5. Pray to God (say sorry to God, thank God, ask for something you need)

She can have quiet time. I can have quiet time. She's not bored. The little ones are sleeping.

This definitely works for me!

See what works for everyone else to prevent boredom this summer at We Are That Family.

Native American unit Bible lesson

Here is the Bible lesson for our theme that somehow flew away from my Native American theme schedule post before I published it.

We will read Jeremiah 18: 1-6. This is the story of Jeremiah receiving a message from God that compares Him to a potter and His people as the clay. It ties in with our pottery and adobe projects we're doing as we learn about the Pueblo tribe.

Isaiah 64:8 is our memory verse that we will also use for copy work.

The Creation of a Theme Unit

For the next two weeks, we'll be doing a unit on birds and I thought I would document the process of what I do to put together a unit study.

1. Choose a topic

I chose all my topics at the beginning of the year which allows me plenty of time to collect ideas. I wrote more about choosing a topic here.

2. Make a concept map

I have a spiral notebook that I use to keep track of ideas for theme units. At the beginning of the year I gave each topic a page and as I think of things or come across ideas, I write it down. I do take some time at the beginning of the year and go through all the topics I plan to cover and just write down as many things as I can come up with. They may or may not be relevant, but I'd rather write it down and not use the idea than wonder, "What was that great idea I had last night?" (which happens quite a bit, too!)

The concept map is not complete ideas, but really just a page of word associations with that topic. Although if I do have a specific idea, I'll jot it down as well, so I won't forget. Here's on that I made for this unit:

3. Find good literature

I start with any relevant titles that I can think of, especially from our own book collection. I plan on using these books from our collection:

• Make Way for Ducklings (McCloskey)


• The Ugly Duckling (Andersen)


• Stellaluna (Cannen) (Mostly about bats, but also about birds)

The California Department of Education (CDE) website has a helpful list of recommended literature. This list is obviously not comprehensive, but it is a good starting point. The list does have a search category, but I prefer to go through the entire list for the appropriate grade level and look for books for all my themes all at once. I will keep my list of themes next to me (because I will forget some!) and refer to it as I look at the literature list. Additional information, including a summary of the book, is available by clicking on the title if I am not sure of its subject.

Here's what I wrote down from the CDE list (grades K-2):

• The Ugly Duckling(Anderson)


• Baby Bird's First Nest(Asch)


• Beautiful Blackbird(Ashley)


• Urban Roosts(Bash)


• Chick and Duckling(Gingsburg)


• Ducks Don't Get Wet(Goldin)


• Bluebird Summer(Hopkinson)


• Song of the Swallows(Politi)


• Dancers in the Garden(Ryder)


• Birdsong(Wood)

My final stop is a search of our local library's online catalog. I'll start by searching for the books I found on CDE's website. Then I'll do a general search for my topic. When I find a book I want, or even think I want, I'll put a hold on the book. this is the key for me. By putting a hold on the book, the library will find it, even it's at another branch, bring it to my library, and put it on a shelf for me with my name on it. This way, I can walk in, pick up my personalized pile of books (and sometimes movies), check them out, and be done in 5 minutes in the most calm and peaceful manner, no matter what kind of mood my kids are in.

When I look at the library website I can see from reviews and summaries that some books are more fitting than others, and some books are just not available. Here are the books I ended up taking home with me:

• Urban Roosts(Bash)


• Birdsong(Wood)


• Ducks Don't Get Wet(Goldin)
  
• Song of the Swallows(Politi)
  
• Dancers in the Garden(Ryder)


• A Poet's Bird Garden(Montenegro)


• Bird, Bird, Bird! (A Chirping Chant) (Sayre)


• Feathers for Lunch (Ehlert)


• Bird (Eyewitness Book)


• Bird(Eyewitness DVD)

4. Find other resources

As I go about the Internet I often run across a good idea or activity on a topic I'll be covering, so I'll save it to my Favorites file. I organize my Favorites by theme , so when it comes time for that unit, I can go to my favorites list and have several ideas ready and waiting for me.

• Beak adaptation lesson


• Another bird beak adaptation lesson


• One more beak adaptation lesson!


• The Egg Book comparing egg sizes in a printable book


• Make a nest craft
  
• Be part of an official bird count. We got our free kit here.

I also use Netflix for appropriate movies. Instead of searching my theme topic (i.e. birds) I seem to find more relevant movies by going through the entire educational section. I use a method similar to how I use the CDE's list of recommended literature. This does take time, but I only do it once or twice a year. At the beginning of the year or semester I go through the list of educational movies and add the ones I want for all my themes to my queue. When the appropriate theme comes up, I'll bump it to the top of my list. All that to say, I didn't really find any relevant movies on birds through Netflix.

Lastly, don't forget to check for resources you may have at home. We have binoculars, an owl pellet dissection kit and the book Birds, Nests, and Eggs from our charter school curriculum. We may or may not be able to check out a box of bird resources from the local library, so I have not included any of those resources in my plans.

5. Choose activities, lessons, field trips, learning opportunities

On of the reasons I chose this theme was our amazing local resources. The San Bernardino County Museum has on of the largest collection of bird eggs in the world, as well an extensive collections of birds. We also have a local bird farm which we'll be visiting for the first time.

I also wanted to get out do some real birdwatching in our National Forest, so I saved this for the spring, when the weather would be a little more cooperative for us.

6. Create main learning topics

I do this last because I want to prevent being disappointed if a certain book or resource is unavailable. I don't want to plan two days dissecting owl pellets if the owl pellets haven't arrived yet!

First I wrote out a rough schedule with the main topic or activity to be covered each day of our two week unit:

1 day eggs
1 day field trip to museum
1 day field trip to Bracken bird farm
1 day habitats
1 day bird beak adaptations
1 day predator/prey & owl pellets
1 day nests
1 day migration
1 day field trip to birdwatching
1 day Bible story

7. Create a schedule

Next I'll put days in order, putting things in logical order and working around set field trip days.

Monday: habitats
Tuesday: eggs
Wednesday: field trip to the museum
Thursday: nests
Friday: Bible story
Monday: field trip to Bracken bird farm
Tuesday: migration
Wednesday: bird beak adaptations
Thursday: predator/prey and owl pellets
Friday: bird watching

Finally I'll list the books and activities that go along with the topic of each day.

Monday: habitats

• Read Birdsong and begin Urban Roosts.
• Make categories of different bird habitats and list a few that belong in each category. For example flamingos and pelicans are water birds, penguins are arctic birds, and macaws and parrots are tropical birds.

Tuesday: eggs

• Finish Urban Roosts and refer to Birds Nests, Eggs.
• Make the egg book and talk about differences in eggs from various birds.
• Break open and egg and discuss the parts of the egg. Draw a picture and label the parts in science journal.

Wednesday: field trip to the museum

• scavenger hunt for certain birds, eggs, and nests at the museum.
• Draw picture of student's favorite nest in science journal.

Thursday: nests

• Read more Birds, Nests, and Eggs.
• Discuss bird nests seen at the museum and nest drawing in science journal.
• Make a nest.

Friday: Bible story

• Read I Kings 17:1-6.
• Discuss how God always provides for us even when there seems to be no way.
• Memory Verse Matthew 6:26

Monday: field trip to Bracken bird farm and feathers (I added feathers as an afterthought on this day because I didn't have a better place for it.)

• Collect feathers on the ground at the Bird Farm.
• Read Ducks Don't Get Wet.
• Feather & oil experiment
• Feather painting. Use a feather as a paint brush for interesting patterns.

Tuesday: migration

• Read Song of the Swallows or Make Way for Ducklings.
• Look at the migration route of different birds on a map. Find routes here.
• Have student write or dictate a simple story about a migrating bird and what he saw. You can follow this pattern or create your own.

A swallow was flying to his summer home. First, he
saw__________. Then, he saw _________. Next, he saw
___________. Then he was home.

Wednesday: bird beak adaptations

• Birds (Eyewitness).
• Do one of the bird beak activities listed above.

Thursday: predator/prey and owl pellets

• Read Feathers for Lunch.
• Define predator and prey and examples of bird predators (owls, hawks, eagles) and their prey (mice, small birds, snakes).
• Dissect owl pellets and glue recreated skeleton with the bones onto construction paper.

Friday: bird watching

• Read Dancers in the Garden.
• Birdwatch and complete urban birds survey.

Finally I'll check to see if anything is lacking. Are we doing something from each subject (reading, writing, math, social studies, science, PE?) I don't always have lessons for each subject, but I try to be fairly balanced. In this case I added the story frame to migration day. We really don't have PE, but we'll be doing some walking when we go birdwatching. This theme is obviously very heavy on science, which is just fine.

There's a few books that I didn't find a specific place for during our lessons, but I'll leave them out, and they'll probably get read. If not, that's okay, too. I like to over plan and have an abundance of books on a subject so that my kids are immersed in a topic. I don't want them to close the books when we're done with school and forget about until the next day.

This plan is NOT set in stone. I definitely like to capitalize upon teachable moments, but having a plan is a good way to keep me on track. It does take some work to make your own theme unit, but it's also a lot of fun and a great way to personalize your child's education!

It’s all good.

I think that as a homeschooling mom it's really easy to feel inadequate. And then those questions begin in our head. Are my kids learning what they should? Am I focusing enough or too much in a certain area? We'd better start taking piano lessons (or gymnastics or Spanish)! I didn't do art (or science or spelling) this week (or this month or this year)! But it's all good! Take a breath and know that you're fine. And your kids will be too.

Since the majority of the school day is usually devoted to language arts and math, you can feel good that any teaching you are doing in any other subject is probably more than they would be getting in public school. The backyard and the kitchen are probably the best science classrooms. Learning to interact with others across generations is social studies. Remember, a textbook and worksheet is not a requirement for learning! And give yourself double points for doing anything ever in art or music!

It's hard to prevent them from learning. Kids are naturally curious. In fact I am sure there is a direct correlation to the curiousness of your children to the messes they are responsible for. (I don't know if that's true, but it's a comforting thought, isn't it?)

You are teaching them valuable life skills. If you made your child go back and brush their teeth (this time with toothpaste) or stop to say thank you to the neighbor who gave them a compliment, or pray before lunch, you're teaching them! Don't sell yourself short. These important life skills are part of the well-rounded education that you're giving them!

They can always learn it when they're older. I have a confession to make. I never learned the whole pint/cup/quart thing. Or gallon. Maybe I missed that day. But you know what. I turned out ok. And I'm learning it. Two cups in a pint, right? Though I still think liters and milliliters make SO much more sense. And everyone knows how much 2 liters is. But I'll save that soapbox for another day. My point is that in reality some things might get missed. But that's okay. Anything that can be learned at 6 can also be learned at 16 or even 26!

In all seriousness, taking on the education of your children is no small task, but just realize that you don't have to be perfect. I love Psalm 25. I call it the teacher Psalm because the Psalmist uses verbs like teach, show, guide, and instruct to describe God's actions. And really, isn't God the ultimate teacher? It's amazing to think that God understands how to solve algebraic equations, diagram a sentence, and conjugate Spanish verbs. He also knows about learning styles, teaching methods and techniques . And He knows how to work through us to educate and care for our kids. He gives us the patience and grace and perseverance to take on this amazing challenge. And if God is on our side, we're gonna be just fine. Even if our kids don't know who Pablo Picasso is.

Abraham Lincoln: Bible Connections

We've been having some very practical issues with honesty (or lack thereof) this week, so it's perfect that we're studying about ol' Honest Abe. We are going to read several Bible stories that deal with the issue of dishonesty and its consequences. We will read the Bible story, look at the actions of each person and see what effect the action had on them and on others around them. I also wanted to look at the motivation for each person's dishonesty and discuss alternative actions in the light of such motivations.

Here's a copy of the worksheet available for you to print out and use. I also have my answer sheet, which obviously may differ from yours.

Honesty Bible Worksheet

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work bible Homeschool

Bible story		Cause		Effect	Why did they do it?	What should they have done?
Genesis 12: 10-20		Abram lies about Sarai being his wife.		Pharaoh makes them leave Egypt.	Fear	Told the truth and trusted God to keep them safe.
Joshua 7		Achan stole some things that were for the Lord's house.		Israel lost a battle. Achan and his family were stoned and burned.	Greed	Realize he would appreciate the things more seeing them in God's house, rather than buried in his tent.
Acts 5: 1-11		Ananias and Sapphira kept some money for the church for themselves and lied about it.		They fell down and died.	Greed	Told the truth about what they gave.

Chinese New Year: Bible Connections

At the Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown we saw lots of red, which is said to drive away the evil spirits. We read Mark 5:1-20 , the story of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man and learned what God can do with evil spirits.
We made a changing picture book following these directions. On one side we drew words representing the man before he met Jesus. On the other side we drew words showing how he was after he met Jesus. It's a really visual way to see the change in a person after they have met Jesus.

I didn't cover this in school with Gracie, but I thought it was worth sharing. In college, a professor taught me about some Chinese characters that amazingly reflected stories from the Bible. This explains it much better than I can. Isn't it amazing to see God at work across continents, across cultures, and across centuries!

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Bible Connections

 

The parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37 expresses well the idea of treating others fairly and with kindness, even if they are different than you. We read this story and acted it out. The characters are the man walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, the robber, the Good Samaritan, priest, Levite, the Good Samaritan's donkey, and the innkeeper. Sounds like a lot of people are needed, but we managed with just three. Amaryllis was the man walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, Gracie was the Good Samaritan, and Greg got to be everyone else. The girls especially enjoyed being the wounded man and getting to go for a donkey ride!

Next week's theme: Chinese New Year

Gong hei fat choi!

Transportation: Bible Connections

I am trying to incorporate more Bible connections into the themes we're covering this year.

We played a matching game by sorting the Bible character according to the type of transportation used. I made a 3 by 3 grid and wrote in each box a method of transportation: ark, boat, camel, chariot, donkey, marching, whale/big fish, walking, walking on water. Then I read off the list of Biblical characters and had Gracie tell me what kind of transportation they used. And yes, a lot of people walked in Biblical times, let me tell you! Some are just a little more associated with that mode of travel. Gracie was unfamiliar with several of these stories, so it was a great opportunity to read them to her.

Ark		Boat	Camel
Chariot		Donkey	Marching
Whale/big fish		Walking	Walking on water

• Balaam: donkey
  
• The disciples: boat, walking (especially on the road to Emmaus)
  
• Egyptians: chariots (pursuing the Israelites)
  
• Israelites: walking (wandering in the wilderness)
  
• Jesus: walking on water, boat, donkey (entering Jerusalem)
  
• Jonah: big fish/whale
  
• Joseph (with the coat of many colors): camel (with the caravan to Egypt)
  
• Joshua: marching (around Jericho)
  
• Mary: donkey
  
• Noah: ark
  
• Paul: boat (to Rome)
  
• Philip and the Ethiopian: chariot
  
• Wise men: camels (not Biblical that I could find, but traditional)
  

  
  

  I'd like to also have a memory verse that goes along with our theme, but that isn't too "out there." Judges 5:10 is nice and all, but not quite memory verse material for a 5-year-old! I'll try again with the next theme!