Where Is Thumbkin?

Our  recent lessons in God's Design for The Human Body (science)  have been about bone structure. Yesterday we talked about our hands and feet; especially opposable thumbs and toes.

Today, we tried to spend five minutes without the luxury of thumbs to build a greater appreciation for one of the small wonders that we often take for granted.

Fisher screamed like I was duct taping him entirely... he has ultra sensitive touch... the tape felt weird to him... but he persevered and attempted to write without thumbs before being loosed from his bonds.

They were all asked to write: "This is me, without thumbs."

But first, because they are my children... and their father's... they had to be funny-writing S.O.S. & ABUSED with their four remaining digits.

This is Aletheia without thumbs: 

Wee Catechize

We have been doing a version of catechism with the children for the past few years. It started with reading through "Training Hearts, Teaching Minds" and the desire to give our children a solid foundation of biblical truths.

Now, before you dismiss catechizing as an archaic practice or too quickly equate it with a Catholic-only practice, let me say that I have found it a wonderful way to ensure I'm 'covering all the bases' as I attempt to train  my children in Biblical doctrine. Someone else likened it to teaching the times tables and I have to say, I believe that is a more than adequate analogy. 

We've gotten off track in our home with teaching through the questions more often than we've sailed right through. Even so, it is nice to have a schedule of sorts- a checklist of fundamentals to make sure we've covered as we go; to pick up where we left off. 

It was while looking for varied schedules that I came across this blog post:

  'Cheerios with a Side of Catechism'

If you click over there, you'll find a link to catechism themed songs and a print out of questions that you can take your child through. 

 Around the same time that I came across the post, we were trying to wrap our brains around the most unexpected blessing: we found out we were going to have Riley. 

When I read the suggested age on the list of questions, I fell in love with the idea of starting simplified catechizing as early as possible. (Another one of those things I feel bad about not catching on to sooner with The Bigs... thankfully, God is so much bigger than our parenting gaps!)

Since that time, we've found some additional resources and more supporters/discussions about the value of 'catechizing':

Voddie Baucham

Paul Washer
CJ & Kevin Mahaney w/ Curtis Allen

But now, without further delay, Riley answers the first two questions from the revised

Florida Virtual School

In the not so distant future, the two biggest of The Big Kids will be taking a handful of online classes via Florida Virtual School. 

Because they can.

And, it's free. (for Florida residents, purchasable outside the state) 

We are still in the midst of the enrollment process but were afforded a bit of a preview this evening during the systemwide WorldFest.

Using a virtual white board, teachers were able to share a presentation while maintaining a conversation via microphone and chat window. Whenever we answered a question, the moderator responded on a personal basis, calling on us by name.  

In some ways, it isn't unlike the Bob Jones Satellite system I used in high school. 

The presentations we watched varied in theme based on which country link we chose. We saw Latin American cuisine, amongst others. The instructors were also able to patch through video to enhance the lesson- we watched a video on preparing empanadas. After the video, more dishes were highlighted, a review discussion was had and then an assignment was issued- ("Write a paper on how to prepare one of the dishes highlighted.") 

 The completed assignment had the bonus of being worth class credit if one is taking Spanish. (Chandler and Logan will both be taking Spanish as soon as their enrollment is complete)

After we poked around various country links, we checked out the FLVS Online Library which is basically a vast collection of links for a myriad of subjects. Looks like a very useful tool, if not slightly overwhelming (too many options can overwhelm me and make me feel as if I'm missing something)

All in all, it looks like Florida is offering a fresh approach to education. The format is innovative and the atmosphere of learning has not been lost in the translation from classroom to chat room. If anything, it may prove to be better concentrated. 

We are looking forward to starting classes in the coming days. 

Memory Work: The Apostle's Creed

What do you believe?

Can you sing it?

The Garden of your Mind

You can grow things...

(WE LOVE MR. ROGERS)

Slugs & Bugs Bonus

I mentioned Slugs & Bugs in the last post- they're quirky.

 Riley fell asleep to a playlist of their videos/music last night including 'God Made Me' (not Bob!) and my personal favorite (this five minutes) 'BEARS'... enjoy!

('...but if you don't mind your momma, they just might come and eat you...' ~mm1:37)

BOB Made Me?!

Rye All Ready For Church

Awhile back, I happened across this post regarding the old school tradition of catechizing children (big fan of that here at Aletheia!)

Cheerios® with a Side of Catechism

If you click over, you'll find a link to songs designed to help teach even the little tykes responses to catechism questions, as well as a printable checklist of catechism questions. 

What I liked most about this article & printout, in contrast to the other materials we have used in the past, is the inclusion of tots... 

Rye will be 2 in November and we are already beginning to teach her. 

She can respond properly, and she has, but lately she has begun to tap into her sense of humor and has learned how to be...um, precocious about various things. 

Including Question #1. 

(She feels no need to be sassy about "What does the letter A say?" I guess theology has an affect on us all, no?)

The child knows she's funny and has already learned to play into that...(Heaven help us)

Sometimes I ask her "Who made you?" and she just grins and shakes her head "no" to engage a little tug-of-war before offering the correct response "God made me!"... but the other day, after I asked her, she paused a moment before declaring

 "BOB! Bob made me!" 

And she laughed. 

Which leads me to Slugs & Bugs (& Lullabies)...  

Some of the songs are as offbeat as my precious baby girl, with all the nutrition of a *VeggieTale®. 

They're to be thanked for this alternate God Made Me song 

(which is lodged in my brain...and isn't that the whole point afterall?):