Getting Our Kids into God's Word

The main reason that we teach our kids to read is to be able to read God's Word.  Then they can read for themselves what God tells us, not just have to take our word for it.  Since both Buddy and Sweetie did such a great job of learning to read this past year, we gave them each their own Bible at the end of our school year last month.  We also gave them a blank journal along with it.

Even though we are officially on summer vacation, I don't want them to forget everything we worked so hard to learn, so I have been incorporating ways to get in some practice in some new and fun ways.  We also want to work on helping them get familiar with their Bibles this summer, so we have been using them while we practice writing verses.  A couple times I have used some of the Bible studies at Good Morning Girls (I highly recommend the Ministry of Motherhood and Proverbs 31 studies!) and have learned to use the S.O.A.P method when studying verses.  This stands for writing the Scripture, Observations, Application to our lives, and Prayer.  I thought we could incorporate that a little bit into what the kids do.  We have been using the book Little Visits With God and I love how easy it is to use with the kids.  I had this book from when I was young and I still remember reading through it. 

Each story begins with a verse that is explained through the story.  The stories are fairly short and really keep the kids' interest.  And then at the end there are questions that we can ask the kids (keeps them paying attention even more if they know they have to answer a question!) and a short prayer.

Instead of having the kids do the whole S.O.A.P method, I write the verse on our white board each morning and they copy it into their journal. (Writing the Scripture)

Then for the Observation, Application, and Prayer part, we read and talk about the story in Little Visits With God.  When they get older, then we can start have them doing that part on their own in their journals also. 

  I happen to have two copies of Little Visits With God, so if you would like our extra (gently-used) copy, just leave me a comment letting me know.  I would love to bless someone with our extra!  I will randomly pick a winner next Wednesday, June 27.

What do you do to get your kids into God's Word?  I would love to hear your ideas!



Blessings,

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Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Memorizing Scripture

As part of Buddy's curriculum this year he is learning a new verse from Proverbs each week.  One week to learn and remember a new verse is kind of fast for him and Sweetie, so I wanted to find a way to help them remember the verses even after we were done studying them.  At first we reviewed all the verses that we had previously learned each day, but that started taking quite a while once we had gotten a few months of school in.  Then I came across this site about memorizing scripture and thought that would be a great way for us also.  I changed it a little to fit our family better, but if you want to do it they way they describe, there is a link to printable divider cards at the bottom of the page.  We use a recipe file box with 26 divider cards labeled Daily, Odd, Even, Sunday thru Saturday, and numbered 1 & 16, 2 & 17, 3 & 18, etc until 15 & 30 and the last one is 31.  Then when we are learning a new verse, I write it on an index card and it goes behind the Daily tab to be repeated daily.  We usually have 2 or 3 verses there.  Once the kids have them down, they get moved behind either the Odd or Even tab so that we can review it every other day, depending on if the date is an odd or even number.  Once the kids know them better, they get moved behind one of the days of the week tabs so that they are reviewed once a week.  By this time the kids know them pretty well and then they get moved behind one of the tabs with 2 numbers on so that they get reviewed twice a month.  For example the one behind the 1 & 16 card gets reviewed on the 1st and 16th of the month.  We haven't learned enough yet to have any behind the 31 card, but it will be one that they know really well since that one will only get reviewed 7 times a year!

For other memorization ideas, visit Do Not Depart

5 Little Bunnies {Review and Discount Code!}

My munchkins love books.  They love looking at them, being read to, and listening to recordings of books.  I like reading with them too, but sometimes it is nice to get somethings done while they are listening to a recording.  So when I received 5 Little Bunnies book and CD from Twin Sisters Productions for review, I knew we would all like it.  It is a board book of the Five Little Bunnies and the CD has a read along for the book plus 19 other fun kids' songs.  The kids have loved listening to it!  Some of the songs they are familiar with and some were new to us, but have quickly become songs they know and sing along with.  We have really enjoyed reading and listening together, but I also find the kids sitting on their own with the book reading the story.  Lovebug hasn't figured out when to turn the pages yet, so I love it when Buddy or Sweetie sits with him, helping him turn at the right time, and listening together.  They also love dancing or doing hand motions to many of the songs. The Five Little Bunnies book is a board book and if your kids are like my and tend to break destroy things with amazing speed, you probably appreciate board books as much as I do.  The suggested ages for this book are 0-6 and I think that is pretty accurate since all of my kids have enjoyed it.

Here is a little info about Twin Sisters Productions:

For over 23 years, Twin Sisters Productions has been dedicated to producing quality educational and inspirational music resources for children, families, and educators. Founded by fraternal twins, Karen Mitzo Hilderbrand, and Kim Mitzo Thompson, Twin Sisters Productions has continued to expand its product line to include CDs, read and sing-along books, floor puzzles and educational workbooks, all with the purpose of learning through music. These products have received over 160 awards for educational excellence and creativity as well as classroom and family fun, thus reflecting Twin Sisters Production commitment to producing educational audio of the highest quality and value. These awards include nine RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) certified Gold albums and one Platinum album. With thousands of songs that teach and over 26 million albums sold, Twin Sisters Productions positions itself as the leader in children's educational music.

If you would like to hear a sample of the songs, you may do so HERE and if you would like to purchase the Five Little Bunnies book and CD please go HERE.  Twins Sisters has offered my readers a 30% off discount on their site, good through March 31, 2011, using the code FIVEBUNNY.

This is a MamaBuzz Review.  Thanks to Twin Sisters Productions for providing this book to me for free for review. 

Our Chore System

I really dislike having to keep nagging my kids to do their daily chores.  It gets old fast and just makes me frustrated.  A couple months ago, I decided we needed a new chore system to help us out.  I went online and found a few that are working for other people, so I used ideas from those to come up with something that would work for us.  First I printed off or made up little cards with all the chores on them and put magnets on the back of them. (I got most of my printables from Homeschool Creations if you are interested in using these yourself.) While doing this, I also got ideas for chores they could be helping with and weren't, so those were added to the list too.  I also made some for things that aren't chores they get rewarded for, but they still need to do them everyday like brush their teeth and hair.  Then I made a chart for each kid divided into morning, afternoon, and extra chores.  Then each night I put all the cards on their chart for the chores they need to do the next day.

I also made a pocket for each of them to put their finished chore cards in when they were done with each chore.  Then at the end of the day I can just pull out all their cards to see how many chores they did, instead of having to reward them after each chore or try remember to do it later.

For their reward, they get a marble for each chore that they complete.  They each have their own jar and when the jar gets full, they earn a dollar.  Their jars each hold about 30 marbles and they are averaging about $1 a week.

We are also trying to teach them about tithing and saving, so when they earn a dollar, we give it to them in quarters.  One quarter gets put in their tithe jars, one in a savings jar, and they get one for spending.  They get to decide where they want to put the last quarter.  They really like having their own money to take to the store and decide what they want to spend it on and they also enjoy bringing their own money to church for tithing.

So far it has been going really well and it is so nice just to remind the kids to go look what is left on their chore list rather than me have to figure out what each kid has already done or needs to work on yet.  We are only using this system for Buddy and Sweetie, since Lovebug is too young to understand how it works, but we are trying to figure out something to help encourage him to help out with the chores.  Any suggestions?

Resurrection Cookies

This week we tried a recipe called Resurrection Cookies. It is a cute way to help the kids better understand the Easter story. They also had a lot of fun. Try it with your kids!

You'll need: Bible, 1 c pecans, 1 tsp. vinegar, 3 egg whites, pinch of salt, 1 c granulated sugar, 1 qt. or gal. size zipper bag, wooden spoon, tape

Before you start, preheat the oven to 300 and line a cookie sheet with wax paper (I used tin foil because I was completely out of waxed paper).

First, have the kids crush, smash, and beat the pecans and while they do it share with them that this is what the Roman soldiers did to Jesus' body. Read John 19:1-3.

Before you add the vinegar to the mixing bowl let the children smell the vinegar. Explain to them that this is what Jesus was offered to drink. Read Read John 19:28-30.

They didn't think it smelled too good and didn't think it would make a good drink.

To the vinegar, add egg whites. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each kid's hand and let them taste it. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sins. Read Luke 23:27.

They were not liking the taste of it.

Next, the story turns sweet. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 & John 3:1-3.

And of course you can't mix anything without licking the beater when you are done (at least at our house you can't)!

Fold in the broken nuts. Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Place the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED. Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20.

J was so sad about leaving them, but every time I tried to get a picture of him, he smiled for me.

The next morning...open the oven and remove the cookies. Notice - the cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.