2015-2016 Coming to a Close

I'm ready for a fresh new start! Spring is just around the corner and I already feel a renewed sense of energy and excitement in my homeschool. Sunshine and shiny new curriculum and books do that to me!

Before moving on, I want to update with a quick wrap-up of our "school year." (Just so you know, our "school year" technically started a year ago, so it's time).

Prayer for a Child {B4FI♥AR}

~Bo is 5 years~

Prayer for a Child is a simple poem that asks God to bless all the important things in a child's life.

Blessings

Bless this milk and bless this bread...

“When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you." Deut. 8:10

We talked about how we are to bless God and not the food, so I read it this way: "Bless YHVH for this milk and bless YHVH for this bread."

As a family, we pray after a meal because of Deut. 8:10. Though, I confess: it is much harder to remember to do this AFTER a meal when we are full, so I can see the significance in this command.

Make bread ---> daily bread ---> the word of God

I had friendship on my mind from our row of If Jesus Came to My House, so we made Amish Cinnamon Bread (friendship bread without the starter). I doubt I will make this again because it is mostly sugar and white flour, but if I did, I'd quadruple the cinnamon.

Geography & Cultures lesson from the manual (p. 74)

Bless other children, far and near... 

We also sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and read Jesus Loves Children - Mark 10:13-16 (My First Hands-On Bible).

We read People, New Toes for Tia, and The Gods Must Be Angry (the last two are stories from Thailand and all three are from Sonlight P 4/5). All three are wonderful books.

While I was planning this row, I asked Bo if he had ever been to the United States of America and he said he didn't know. I told him he lives there!

I asked him if he knew what continent we lived on and he said George Washington, haha. I told him George Washington commanded the "Continental" Army. :)

I had planned to do a Me on the Map activity with Bo, but instead we later talked about it. I asked him what country he lived in and he said America (he remembered from our earlier conversation). Then I asked him what state, what town, and what street he lived on and he knew them all. And then he did this lesson from Science4Us...

Rhyme
(lesson from the manual)

We also read and enjoyed Poems and Prayers for the Very Young (a reread from Sonlight P 3/4). 

Same/Different
(lesson from the manual)

B4FIAR Quilt

Since my post has so few pictures, I'll share our quilt square for this row. :)

I have one full set of squares for B4 and need two more, so I signed up for 2 sets in the next swap so I can make a quilt for each child that I rowed with. Eliana is quilting with 4H this year so we will start on her quilt first.

There are several spots open on the B4 swap if you are interested in participating. To participate, you will need to join the FIAR Quilt Swap Yahoo Group, then click on the database to add you name to a book that is available. Participation requires a purchase of 1.5 - 2 yards of fabric, from which you will cut twelve 10.5 inch squares for each book you sign up for. You need not be experienced to participate! If you join, be sure to select a book from List 1 AND List 2 so you get a complete set. I'd love to see this swap fill up, so please don't hesitate to join!

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A simple easy row and maybe our last from Before Five in a Row. We don't celebrate Easter, so I'm not sure yet if we will row The Little Rabbit. It would be easy to leave that part out so we may still down the road. It's the only book we haven't rowed from Before Five in a Row, so I'm tempted. A study of rabbits would be fun, but I may just pull it out when we row The Story of Peter Rabbit and include it as a go-along for that row.

Bittersweet that Bo is 5 and that we will be moving on. I've so enjoyed rowing through B4 a second time with him. I'm holding a little tighter to him these days knowing that he is growing up and that it won't be long before he stops climbing into my lap to be held and snuggled. I want to embrace and enjoy each child I have right where they are, but having three teenagers - one about to turn 20, I know that it goes by way too fast. So I will take the advice I was given when Jordan (my first) was born - revel in the moment.

Prayer for a Child is a Before Five in a Row selection. There are a lot of Fun Things to do with B4FIAR, but the most important thing is to cultivate a love for learning. ♥