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Hands-On Project:

Over the holidays we went to see The Hobbit.  My second son was inspired by his cousins to make duct tape weapons.  They even wore these things to the theater to watch it!  They’re made by cutting two pieces of cardboard in whatever blade shape is desired.  Angle it over a stick, and cover the whole thing with duct tape.

To make your own duct tape weapons get the book Warfare With Duct Tape.

What We’re Reading:

What I’m reading aloud to the kids:

Tabitha’s Travels by Arnold Ytreeide.  We finally finished this advent story!

Challenge on the Hill of Fire (Imagination Station book 10, review coming soon) by Marianne Hering

What I’m reading to myself:

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon.  I’m going to read through this wonderful series for the third time!

Six Ways to Keep the “Little” in Your Girl:  Guiding Your Daughter from Her Tweens to Her Teens by Dannah Gresh

 

New Homeschooling Idea:

I had gotten very frustrated last semester in my kids not getting all their work done.  So, I decided that I’d write out every single page/paper/book, etc. that they should do each day of the week.  They aren’t allowed to use any electronics in the afternoon until everything on the sheet is done–and I’ve checked it.  And so far it’s working–they got all their work done this week!  And I was able to get it checked, too!

Public Speaking Class:

The speech assignments for the month of January are to do impromptus.  I think I would have freaked out if I had to do this at my kids’ ages!  (Don’t tell them!).  They did really well this week!  The way it works is this:  They are given a topic such as “On my last birthday. . . ” or “My favorite school subject is. . . .”  They have one minute to think about it.  Then they get up in front of the class and have up to 2 minutes to speak about it.

 

What God is Teaching Me:

I started reading 1 Corinthians this week.  I’ve decided to read it through very slowly and work on meditation–we studied about biblical meditation this week in our Worldview book Who Am I? . The verse that spoke to me most this week–and I think it will be a good focus verse for the whole year–is 1 Corinthians 1:8:

“Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Or in the NIV it says,

“He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ”