Advent Studies ~ Raising Rock Stars

The last few weeks we’ve not been doing our Bible reading, but instead focusing on the fun Advent devotionals that we have in our house.

Kaleb has been doing a special Advent book with me called Beginning with God at Christmas that goes along with the Beginner’s Bible. He’s really enjoying this 1:1 time with me and I’m excited to use some of the other books in this series with him when we’re finished with the Christmas version {coupon info below!!}.

At night we’re getting together as a family and reading Tabitha’s Travels by Arnold Ytreeide and I have to admit that I had to go back and read one of the nights I missed when I fell asleep while Rick was reading!! The kids are really enjoying the stories and always ask us to keep going. Lighting our Advent candles and snuggling up on the couch is much fun! 

That’s about it in our house right now. Don't forget to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and visit around to some of the other Raising Rock Star posts this week!

Quick note: Use the coupon code hscreations10 if you decide to purchase anything from thegoodbook.com and save 25% on your order until December 31st!!

Raising Rock Stars ~ Getting Ready for Advent

I’m not saying that I’m ready for Thanksgiving to already be over, but with Advent coming up soon, I can’t help but be excited!! In our day-to-day studies, the kids are keeping up with their Awana verses and we’re reading {almost} daily from our Hands-on Bible too. 

We received some new devotionals for all of the kids from The Good Book, including a fun Advent calendar we’ll use to start our mornings and then some deeper devotionals that I can do with the kids each day. Kaleb is excited to have his own little book, Beginning with God at Christmas {that goes along with the Beginner’s Bible}, and Laurianna is especially excited to be using the Discover daily devotional.

Something has ‘clicked’ in both of the girls over the last two weeks and it is so amazingly wonderful to watch them take ownership of their own quiet times by really studying God’s word and wanting to dig in deeper. McKenna decided to start reading the Bible in 90 Days following one of the modified Bible reading plans for children. It really makes my heart rejoice to see both girls get excited every morning and find a quiet spot to read and study. :)

I am so excited to start reading the book Tabitha’s Travels by Arnold Ytreeide as a family each night as part of our Advent study. For the last few years we've been celebrating the Advent season with the kids to help focus on the REAL reason of Christmas, and truth be told, it helps keep the adults in the right frame of mind too! There have been various books that we've used together over the years, but the Jotham’s Journey series has been a family favorite. The other two books in the series are Jotham’s Journey and Bartholomew’s Passage.

Whew! That was a lot…I’m interested to know how YOU all celebrate Advent ~ or do you? Are there special traditions that you have as a family during this time? Leave a comment and share!

Don't forget to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and visit around to some of the other Raising Rock Star posts this week!

Trusting God ~ Raising Rock Stars

Even though I brought things along for us to do on vacation {again, grand plans}, we didn’t get around to doing all that I had wanted to do. Now that we’re back home we’re back on our children’s Bible Reading Plan and still reading in Genesis. We’ve been reading about Sodom and Gomorrah {Gen 19}, Hagar and Ishmael {Genesis 21}, Abraham’s Decision {Genesis 22}, Eliezar  {Genesis 24}, Isaac and Rebekah {Genesis 24}, Jacob and Esau {Genesis 25}, and Jacob tricking his father {Genesis 27}.

After reading about Abraham’s faith being tested with the sacrifice of Isaac, we did a fun little activity from the Hands-On Bible to go-along with the passage in Genesis 22. It was to help remind us to trust God ~ even when it is tough.

Each of the kids went outside and found a smooth rock that would fit into their pocket. Using a sharpie, we drew pictures on the rocks to remind us of something that we have trouble trusting God with. Here’s a peek at Laurianna’s rock:

I don’t know if you can quite see it, but it has some ‘echo’ marks and ‘woooo, woooo’ sounds on it to represent scary noises at night. The picture on the right is a girl laughing {with her mouth open} ~ laughing because she trusts that God is protecting her and watching over her.

We’ve also been listening along to the Bible Eyewitness Collector’s set from Adventures in Odyssey {a walk through the Bible for kids}. It was so much fun to see the kids suddenly make connections between what we were reading to in the Bible and listening to on the cd’s {for example, Rebekah was Laban’s sister ~ and the kids suddenly realized that he was an uncle to Jacob and Esau and it further connected the stories for them}.

Don't forget to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and visit around to some of the other Raising Rock Star posts this week!

You can learn more about the Hands-On Bible from their website and also purchase the Bible directly from Amazon. A few sample activities can be found here. We are loving this Bible and the creativity that it offers {and the fact that Mommy has a little less planning to do too!}.

Promises of God ~ Raising Rock Stars

We’ve been reading along most every morning with the children’s Bible Reading Plan that I downloaded from the Hands On Bible website. Our reading this week was still in Genesis and we’ve read passages about Noah and the Rainbow {Genesis 9}, the tower of Babel {Genesis 11}, God’s promises to Abraham {Genesis 12 and 17}, and some unusual visitors {Genesis 18}.

Questions we talked about this week:

• What does the rainbow remind us of?
• Is there anyone we should trust more than God?
• Should God affect the way we make our decisions?
• How do we act to strangers? How did Abraham act?

As we get to the activities in our Hands-On Bible, we work on them. This week we completed the activity that went along with our Genesis 9 passage ~ promises. After reading the Bible story we colored a rainbow for the whole family and wrote the promises that we wanted to make to God and hung the rainbow on our cupboards to remind us every day.

 

The kids all started Awana this past week ~ Kaleb began Cubbies, Zachary will be a Sparks WingRunner, McKenna will be a Sparks SkyStormer, and Laurianna will be in Truth and Training. We’re still waiting on their books to arrive, so for now we’re reviewing the beginning verses in the brochures that they brought home.

If you are using Awana, be sure to check out the free Awana verse printables I have on my website. I’ll be adding more soon {when I get my hands on the kids’ new books!!}.

You can learn more about the Hands-On Bible from their website and also purchase the Bible directly from Amazon. A few sample activities can be found here. We are loving this Bible and the creativity that it offers {and the fact that Mommy has a little less planning to do too!}.

Don't forget to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and visit around to some of the other Raising Rock Star posts this week!

Our Morning Bible Routine ~ Raising Rock Stars

A few weeks ago I mentioned the Hands-On Bible that I bought and started using with the kids. Since then I’ve found some other great go-along resources and we’ve started a morning routine using the Hands-On Bible and activities.

Each morning during breakfast time we read a passage from this great kids Bible using the children’s Bible reading plan found on the Hands-On Bible website {you’ll have to create a free account to access it}. There are questions to answer after each reading and I’ve been surprised at what the kids are grasping and understanding already. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I LOVE seeing that our kids understand the deeper meaning behind stories!

As we are reading through, we stop and complete any of the hands-on activities that are in the Bible for that passage. This past week as we read about Adam and Eve hiding from God, we stamped our fingerprints on paper and talked about how our fingerprints are on everything we touch ~ even though we can’t see them. God sees everything and already knew about their sin…but He sent Jesus and will forgive our sins!

Soon we’ll be adding in a family night and using another great resource: family devotions from the folks at Hands-On. There are 52 weeks of plans for us to use and they include activities to do together as a family and the kids can take turns helping lead the devotions.

Awana will be starting up next week too, so we’ll be back in full swing soon. :)That's it for this week! Don't forget to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and visit around to some of the other Raising Rock Star posts this week!

You can learn more about the Hands-On Bible from their website and also purchase the Bible directly from Amazon. A few sample activities can be found here. We are loving this Bible and the creativity that it offers {and the fact that Mommy has a little less planning to do too!}.

Raising Rock Stars ~ Good Shepherds

Recently a new Bible made it’s way into our house ~ The Hands-On Bible {NLT}. I’m not sure where I even saw it first, but this Bible is filled with ‘do-it’ lessons and activities that help kids apply the stories in the Bible. After seeing those few activities {you can get a peek at some of the lessons here}., I ordered one for our Bible time together and before it even arrived we tried a few of the activities together. The first lesson that we decided to try was based on Psalm 23 ~ Good Shepherds.

Lately, we’ve had a whole lot of worrying from one of our kids ~ enough that it has meant an upset stomach, loss of sleep and then everyone gets cranky. We talked about how God is always with us, caring for us and keeping us safe. God is our Shepherd and we are His sheep! We read Psalm 23 together and then the girls recited the chapter since they learned it last year in Awana.

We had a little object lesson when we were done reading and set up an obstacle course in our dining room. The kids took turns guiding each other through the course with just their voice leading.


When we all had taken a turn {and yes, Mommy even did it too!} we talked about some different questions:

~ How was leading your brother/sister through the course like being a shepherd?
~ Could sheep be on their own? Why do they need a shepherd?
~ What would have happened to you if you didn’t have someone helping you get through the course?
~ How is God our shepherd?
~ Think of something today that shows that God cares for you.
The lesson really helped the kids understand a little better the importance of listening to God’s voice ~ and also understand that we have a God who is always caring for us!

Be sure to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and see what she’s been doing with her kids for Raising Rock Stars.

Seeds Family Worship {Review}

God's Word + Good Music + Family Time + Lots of Fun = Seeds Family Worship

I am so very excited to tell you about a set of lovely cds that were delivered to my doorstep last week, courtesy of Seeds Family Worship.

Can I just say I love them????

Haven’t heard of them? Let me tell you a little more so that you know all about the fun worship cds that we will be using for a long time to come.

It all started when a worship pastor was asked to write songs to help kids remember Bible verses during VBS…now 5 cds later, those seeds are being planted into kids hearts and being memorized. In all there are over 58 portions of Scripture set to contemporary music for you and your kids to enjoy and learn ~ and they are definitely adult friendly {trust me!!}. Need to hear for yourself? They have a channel on YouTube where you can listen to their music.

In addition to their cds, they also offer memory cards to go along with the songs, activity ideas for families to do together, and even chord charts for their music {should you have a guitar playing hubby like mine}. The songs are a blend of adults leading and kids singing along and they are done WELL.

The coolest feature {well, aside from the amazing music}, when you purchase a cd from Seeds, each package actually comes with TWO cds ~ one for you and one to share with a friend. You simply tear the packaging along the perforation and share, and you will definitely want to share them.

There are five different cds in the series, each focusing on Scripture verses of a different theme:

~ Vol 1. Seeds of Courage

~ Vol. 2 Seeds of Faith

~ Vol. 3 Seeds of Praise

~ Vol 4 Seeds of Purpose 

~ Vol 5 The Power of Encouragement

I can honestly tell you that these cds would be well worth the investment for your family. We were just needing some new music along with more verses to learn and I am so excited to use this in the upcoming months as a family and learn Scripture together.

Buy a CD for Yourself and a Friend!

Each cd is $12.98 through their online store ~ so buy one {or five} and share them with your friends! Seeds Family Worship is graciously offering my readers a 20% discount on their cds!! To receive the discount, use the coupon code HOMESCHOOLCREATIONS when you are checking out and it will automatically be taken off your order.

Check back tomorrow too ~ since Seeds is all about sharing, I’m going to have some to share with you!

This product was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Raising Rock Stars ~ from Moses to Jesus

Over the last week and a half, we’ve been busy learning a few new verses {both the girls and Zachary} and talking about some different people in the Bible to go along with those verses.

Zachary {Awana HangGlider}

One of the verses that Zachary worked on was John 3:14 {HangGlider Green Jewel 3:2 & 3:3}. God has a special plan for each of us. He has given each one of us special gifts and talents.

Zachary’s lesson focused on the life of Moses. A few of the things that we talked about:

• Moses’ parents trusted God
• God had a plan for Moses’ life
• Moses was the one God had to bring the Israelites out of Egypt
• Even though Moses didn’t think he could do it ~ God helped him!

The Girls {Awana WingRunner}

Both girls have learned John 1:1-3 {WingRunner Red Jewel 4:1, 4:2, and 4:3}. 

 

The girls learned more about Zechariah and his son, John the Baptist this week. Zechariah didn’t believe what the angel came to tell him ~ and ended up silent for quite some time! They also learned about Mary ~ her visit with the angel was different from Zechariah’s. She believed and was willing! A few key points this week:

• Zechariah’s son, John the Baptist, was the prophet that the Bible told about
• What God says is true ~ even if it seems unbelieveable!
• We should obey God right away.
• God kept his promise to send a Savior {Genesis 3:15}
• Jesus is that Savior

You can click on either the thumbnail images above to find the verses on my Bible printables page {listed by reference}. Be sure to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and see what she’s been doing with her kids for Raising Rock Stars ~ she has some great Resurrection Egg printables for this week that we are going to be using!

Raising Rock Stars ~ Books of the Bible

We’ve missed attending Awana the last few weeks because of all the snow, snow, snow.  The girls {Laurianna especially} have used the time to memorize more in their Sparks books ~ mainly the books of the Old Testament.

Somehow though, we have gotten away from reading out of one of our Bibles in the morning…and that is bothering me a LOT. And that will be changing immediately. Our Bibles had been stacked on the dining room table so we would just grab on in the morning, and they someone managed to get moved … so they will find a home again on the table to be a constant reminder. :)

This morning I let the kid’s pick the story to read and they wanted to hear about Joseph from several different kid Bible versions. I’m guessing that has a lot to do with our seeing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat this weekend with the older three {a local high school musical}. I am very tempted to download one of the songs from the musical just so the kids can learn the names of the 12 sons of Jacob! :)

Some of the people in the Bible that we have been talking about over the last few weeks:

• Josiah ~ God’s word lasts forever {even if we forget about it}.  We are all sinners and don’t always love & obey God’s word like we should ~ that is why He sent His Son to be our Savior! 1 Peter 1:25
• Daniel ~ God is faithful and will always be with us {even in a lion’s den!} ~ 1 Thessalonians 5: 17-18
• Nehemiah ~ as the king’s cupbearer, he was an important servant in the Persian kingdom and still working for God! Colossianns 3:23

Don’t forget to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and see what she’s been doing with her kids for Raising Rock Stars ~ as well as some other moms around the web!

Raising Rock Stars ~ Because God is GOOD!!!

Despite the craziness in our lives right now I just HAVE to post and update on something that we have been continuing ~ our Bible time. We may not do math everyday, language might fall by the wayside, but we've been praying and praising God this last week and half for ALL that He has done.

I shared last week that a friend of ours was in a very bad skiing accident. He broke every bone in his face after hitting a tree and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. I've been busy going back and forth to the hospital, but even though school time with the kids has been at a low, God's faithfulness is so very, very evident!

Each day the reports from the hospital are more encouraging than the day before and we have witnessed first hand how God cares about the tiniest of details in every situation. Being able to relay this to the kids and pray together for our friend's complete healing and recovery has been so special ~ especially as they see God working in his life and hear of his recovery.

For me alone, this last bit has been such an encouragement spiritually! God has been reminding me of things that He has walked us through in our own lives and there have been so many 'lightbulb' moments as I'm working on reading through the Bible over the next 90 days.

My computer had to take a trip back to it's maker this week, so I haven't been able to add the verses and things we have been doing with Awana, but hopefully I'll get caught up...someday. :) Be sure to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and see some of the other Raising Rock Star posts this week!

Raising Rock Stars ~ Celebrating Advent

Not too long after Rick and I were married we began celebrating the season of Advent together as a couple. As we’ve added children into the mix, the way we celebrate has changed from year to year, but the main focus is still remembering the Reason for the Season.

In the center of our dining room table we have a simple Advent wreath. I arranged {fake} greenery in a basket and added in five candles ~ 4 tapers {3 purple and 1 pink} and then a larger white candle in the center {the Jesus candle}.

Each night after dinner we sit down as a family and read an Advent devotional together as a family. Last year we read the book Jotham’s Journey together and this year we are working on the second book in the same series, Bartholomew’s Passage by Arnold Ytreeide. Although the stories are geared for kids, I’ll admit that they pull me in just as much and Rick and I enjoy them too!

I’ll be sharing some of our regular weekly Bible things later, but wanted to share about Advent since it just started. Carisa has some Christmas resources too this week, so be sure to visit her at 1+1+1=1 and see some of the other Raising Rock Star posts!

Raising Rock Stars ::Week 4::

This week we ‘kicked it up a notch’ during our family time. We’ve started a morning prayer time together ~ just sitting at the breakfast table, putting our prayer requests down on paper and taking turns praying for the requests.

Some of the concerns the kids have had are so absolutely sweet, and they have brought up things that I many times overlook. I am really excited about this part though ~ knowing that it will give us a chance to see the many different ways that God answers our prayers and listens to us.

The Girls

This week we mainly reviewed the past verses the girls have learned and made sure that our little verse photo books were up to date with all of our verse cards. Their main assignment for the week was to tell me about one of the Bible people they have been learning about and also a few verses from the last few months.

Both girls are also a part of the Christmas program at church, so we’ve been reviewing lines and songs as well. We’re also gearing up for Advent! Next week we’ll be adding in some advent readings each evening ~ which we are all really excited about!

The Boys

Zachary’s lessons this week focused on Noah, so we added in a few little extras this week with our studies {full resources below}. We did several things as part of Zachary and Kaleb’s regular school time since they weren’t just ‘Bible’ related. Kaleb made his own Noah book too, which I'll show you all a little later in a Tot School post. :)

Our Christian bookstore had some attendance sticker sheets/charts that were all about Noah, so I picked up a few of those for the boys to match up the animals and make their own ark scene.



Quite a few of the activities we did fit into a mini-lapbook {these were made from a file folder that was cut in half horizontally}. Zachary had some math and reading activities in his lapbook too.



Zachary’s verse this week was John 17:17.

Resources we used:

• Christian Preschool Printables ~ Noah's Ark mini book and other resources
  
• 1+1+1=1 ~ Noah's Ark Tot Book
• Coloring page of Noah's ark
  

That's it for this week! Don't forget to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and visit around to some of the other Raising Rock Star posts this week!

Raising Rock Stars ::Week 3::

Before you think that teaching is all sunshine and roses in this household, I'll tell you a little story. Kaleb apparently doesn't like it when I read the Bible to the kids during breakfast. He likes to show his disapproval vocally...rather annoyingly...so there have been several days when I have literally dropped my head to the table and wanted to cry.

Because losing my temper while reading the Bible would be a little ironic, no?

When he starts acting up or being difficult, he get removed {strapped to his booster seat no less} and taken to his room, but that gets the kids giggling so much and reading becomes a lost cause. All that to say, when it says we 'read' the Bible together at breakfast every morning, most mornings involved me reading LOUDLY over the screaming toddler in the other room or repeatedly asking the kids to stop laughing at their brother's disobedience.

The Girls

We're reading {see above for definition} the Day by Day Kid's Bible at breakfast each morning and have been reading through Corinthians and Paul's letters. Is it wrong to say there are a few verses I have avoided?? As in the ones that involve a 3 letter word that starts with s and ends with x? {grins}

Both girls made up for the week they had missed with Awana and recited the entire 23rd Psalm last week. The lessons this week focus more on children of the world and learning about someone who lives in another country. I think we had that well under control with our geography studies, so we used our Children Just Like Me book for them to get information from from those two sections. We've also used the time to learn more about the child that we are sponsoring through Compassion and write her some letters this week.

We also worked on memorizing Mark 16:15 together. I have to say that I am personally enjoying Awana because it is really drilling stuff into my tired brain too!

The Boys

Kaleb is mostly along for the listening ride and the boys will sit down with me at some point during the morning to read out loud from the Beginner's Bible. We've also been listening to the Songs for Saplings cd {the first few verses} at different points during the day and the boys both really enjoy that.

Zachary learned Romans 3:23 this week.

That's it for this week! Don't forget to visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 and visit around to some of the other Raising Rock Star posts this week!