This is my Father's world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.
The last week of September was a bitter-sweet week for us. We had planned and hoped to be in Oregon with Grandma and Grandpa Cheney. It was hard for us to accept that we were unable to go this time. On the bright side, we were able to start right in to our week on the letter S and the Sun without interrupting the new routine we had just established during our introductory weeks.
We spent this week learning the sound made by the letter S and practicing writing the letter S. We even used math blocks to make an S and to make some things that begin with the /s/ sound. But the S word that had our main focus was s-s-Sun.
Some of the fun things we did to learn about the Sun were drying our own raisins, making a sundial that we used for a few days, keeping a weather chart, brewing our own sun tea and using a flashlight and globe to re-create the effect of day and night that is caused by the Earth’s rotation. We found online activities about the Sun which you can see in our next post.
We read Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “My Shadow” and even had a new story written especially for US by Grammy Sally. “Sunshine in My Tummy” (posted 9/24/07)
Here is an activity we did that you can try:
Promise not to cheat. Then put a blindfold over your head. Have someone spin you around. Now, imagine you are on a planet that has no Sun. The planet is spinning and spinning and you can’t see anything. Try to make your way to something across the room without any guidance. How did you do? Did you get lost? Did you stumble or fall? Even Dane tried this one, and none of us did very well! Aren't you glad we have the Sun to help us see where we are going?
Verses we learned to go with this lesson are :
"I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life." John 8:12
and
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" Psalm 119:105
We are learning that God's word helps us find our way and keeps us from falling into sin.
This is a story about a little girl named Guinevere.
Let me begin by telling you a little about Guinevere.
Guinevere lives in a house very much like one you might live in one day. There is a big backyard for her to play in. Inside the house there are various rooms, and Guinevere has a room of her own. When Guinevere looks out the window of her room, she can see mountains. What makes her house very special for Guinevere, is this: her daddy built it! And Guinevere helped! It took a long time to build this house, but Guinevere has lots of memories of smelling freshly cut wood, digging in the dirt, eating picnics on the floor of the dining room before it WAS a real dining room, watching Daddy climb way up high, and rubbing Daddy’s tired shoulders at the end of the day. Sometimes Guinevere sits quietly and remembers what it was like to wait for the house to be finished. She remembers that it seemed as if the house would NEVER be finished! But finally, here it is! And when Guinevere remembers how hard her daddy worked building the house, she feels warm and happy inside.
Guinevere has a wonderful mommy who is very, very pretty, and who does so many fun things with her! She is teaching Guinevere to read, to bake bread, to plant vegetables, and to fix her hair many pretty ways. Did I tell you about Guinevere’s hair? No? Well, let me tell you, Guinevere has beautiful long red hair! She loves her long red hair. It makes her feel like a princess, especially when Mommy braids pretty ribbons into her hair, or puts flowers on her pony tail, or curls the ends of her hair and then piles it all up on top of her head! Then Daddy comes home and says “Where’s my princess? Oh, there she is, just as beautiful as I remember!” and then Guinevere puts her little feet on top of Daddy’s big shoes, and they dance around the room, just like Cinderella and the prince!
Guinevere has two younger brothers. Did I forget to tell you that? One brother is named Lance. Lance has nice brown hair, the same color as his daddy’s. Lance knows that his hair makes him handsome, because Mommy often says she thinks Daddy is very handsome, and she often says to Lance, “You look just like your daddy!” and then she smiles, kisses his hair, and hugs him close. Lance feels so happy when Mommy does that!
Arthur is Guinevere’s other little brother. Arthur has red hair like Guinevere’s. But Arthur DOES NOT feel like a princess! Oh no! Arthur likes to pretend his hair is FIRE! Whenever Arthur looks in the mirror and sees his red hair, he cries out “I have FIRE on my head! Watch out, everybody!” And then he runs, very, very fast through the house yelling, “Out of the way! I’m on fire! No one is as fast as me, because MY HEAD IS ON FIRE!”
Guinevere and Lance stand back and roll their eyes as Arthur races by. “Here he goes again” says one of them to the other. “Better find his hat.” Because, you see, the only way anyone can get Arthur to stop running around on fire, is to find an old hat that Grandma gave him, and clap it on his head. Arthur believes that puts the fire out, and he can slow down. Then everyone can continue with what they were doing.
What were they doing? I’ll tell you what each of them LIKES to do. Lance likes to make maps. His maps are not really maps like most maps, showing roads and towns and such. But he calls them maps because he follows them to “get somewhere.” “Where?” you may ask, “do Lance’s maps take him?” That’s a very good question, because Lance never knows until he is there! That’s the fun of it! This is how Lance’s maps work: Lance writes down directions on a piece of paper. The directions might sound like this: “Walk out the back door. Take 5 steps forward. Turn to the right. Take 25 steps. Turn to the left. Take 30 steps. Back up 3 steps. Make a quarter turn to the right. Take 60 steps. Take 15 side steps to the left. Walk forward 12 steps. Sit down.” Lance never knows where his maps will take him. Once he ended up on top of the picnic table. Once he found himself sitting under the rose bush. Once his map landed him in the wading pool! Lately, Lance has been making his maps even more exciting by adding somersaults, hops, and skips, and occasionally a running JUMP! Lance enjoys this very much!
When Arthur isn’t on fire, he likes to play with his toy cars and trucks in the backyard. His favorite truck is…you guessed it! His fire engine! Arthur likes to make roads in the dirt for his cars and trucks to drive on. He makes houses and stores out of rocks or mounds of dirt. He likes to make an entire town, with a school, a gas station, a church, stores, homes, and of course, a fire house. Things are always peaceful in his town for awhile, and Arthur hums quietly to himself as the cars and trucks drive to the gas station, the church, the store, or the school. But after awhile, a fire always breaks out somewhere! Arthur yells “FIIIIIRRRRE!” at the top of his lungs. The fire engine pulls out of the firehouse, and as it tears through the streets of the town it demolishes every single store, home, school, church, gas station…until the entire town is flattened! Then Arthur sits back, smiles, and sighs. Soon, he begins to build a new town. Arthur enjoys this very much!
Guinevere likes to do many things. She plays with her dolls, she reads her books, she paints pictures. But one thing Guinevere always finds time for, is sitting quietly, just looking and thinking. Just looking and thinking is one of Guinevere’s favorite things to do. And that’s what this story is really about! I just thought you might like to meet Guinevere’s family before I told you the rest of the story. Thank you for being patient. Now I can begin.
One sunny morning, Guinevere took her breakfast, which was granola and yogurt and fresh blackberries, all stirred up together in a little blue bowl, out to the deck to enjoy her meal in the morning sunshine. Guinevere decided this would be a good time to look and think.
It had rained the night before, and there were tiny drops, shining with sunlight, glistening like diamonds on every leaf of the trees and on every blade of grass. Guinevere imagined she was a princess, sitting on the balcony of her palace, looking at her garden of diamonds and other precious jewels. Through the fence she could see the neighbor’s big calico cat tiptoeing through the wet grass. Guinevere imagined the cat was a giant tiger, prowling in the jungle just outside her palace garden.
Guinevere tasted a ripe, sweet blackberry in her mouth. As she bit into it, she tasted the tart juice of the blackberry. She looked into her bowl, and saw another blackberry. She noticed the dark little balls that formed the berry. She poked one with her spoon and it burst, leaking its juice into the yogurt in her bowl. Guinevere thought about picking the blackberries yesterday with her mommy. It had been a hot day, and Mommy had explained to her how the sun makes the berries grow juicy, sweet, and plump. Mommy explained how the sun makes everything grow. “Without the sun,” explained Mommy,” it would be too cold for us to live on this planet! Without the sun, there could be no green trees or grass! Without the sun, there would be no fruits and vegetables for us to eat! Nothing can live without the sun. It is all part of God’s plan, because he loves us!”
As Guinevere munched her berries and yogurt, she looked at the vegetable garden she had helped Mommy plant. She thought about how Mommy had said that the bean vines must not shade the tomato plants, that the tomatoes needed lots of sun. Then Mommy explained how the big leaves on the squash plants shaded the squashes from the sun, so they wouldn’t get too much sun, just enough. Guinevere looked at the vegetables ripening on their vines. She looked at the berries in her bowl. She thought about the sun shining on the berries and the vegetables, and the berries and the vegetables soaking up the light and warmth of the sun as they grew into food for her to eat. Suddenly, she realized that the sun was in the very food she was eating! Just as the plants took in water to help them grow, just as the plants took in nutrients from the soil to help them grow, the plants also took in sunlight to help them grow! Guinevere jumped up, and ran into the house. “Mommy! Mommy!” she cried. “Guess what! There is sunshine in my tummy! When I eat my fruits and vegetables, I’m eating sunshine! There is sunshine in my tummy!”
Mommy gave Guinevere a hug. “That’s right!” she said. “And that sunshine comes right out of you again, every time you smile!”
Guinevere ran to the mirror and smiled at herself. Sure enough! Her smile looked bright and warm like the sunshine! Guinevere gave her tummy a little pat. “Sunshine in my tummy!” she whispered. “Sunshine in my tummy!”
So, that’s the story I wanted to tell you, and that’s exactly what I have done. Isn’t the sun a wonderful part of God’s plan? Is there sunshine in YOUR tummy? When you look at others, can you send some sunshine out to them through your smile?
Try it!
This article was written by Michael Pearl, homeschooler and bible teacher.
It can be viewed at www.nogreaterjoy.org
If you go to the web page you can also subscribe to a free newsletter that will bless your socks off!
Of Utmost Concern
by Mike Pearl
I think most of you feel as I do about many common issues. My most important personal concern is my children.
Even before I was married, my occupation, financial security, ministry, personal fulfillment, all took third place to concerns for my future children. “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” Likewise, what does it profit a father if he gains the whole world and loses the souls of his children?
What can be called success if your children turn out to be part of the world’s problem rather than its cure? What satisfaction can there be in the comforts of material success if your children grow up needing counsel rather than being sought after to give counsel? If your children lie awake at night suffering from guilt and anxiety, being gnawed upon by the demons of intemperance and self-indulgence, how can you enjoy your food or your pillow?
The success of a tree and a man is measured by the fruit that is borne. The fruit of a man or woman is their children; everything else is falling leaves.
If the sun rises and sets and I never cast a bigger shadow, what of it, if my children are growing and flourishing in God’s family?
Let me die poor; let me die early; let me be ravaged by disease; just let my children rise up and call me blessed. Let me not measure my giving by the dollars I spend on them or the educational opportunities that my station in life affords them, but rather, by the hours I spend with them in fellowship.
May they graduate from my tutorship to become disciples of the Man from Nazareth. May they learn good and evil from the pinnacle of obedience rather than from the pit of despair. May they have the wisdom to choose the precious, and the courage to reject the trite and the vain things in life. May they always labor for the meat that endures.
May they be lovers of God, coworkers with the Holy Spirit, and a friend to the Lord Jesus. And when their trail ends, may it end at the throne of God, laying crowns at the Savior’s feet.
Pearl family in 1991
This was our first day of school. They started learning the pledge in Awana's about a week before we started school. Pretty good for 3, 4 and 5 year olds!
This year Augie joins other 3 through 5 year olds in “Cubbies”. They listen to a flannel board Bible story, sing their memory verses with a hand puppet of Cubby the bear cub and do games and crafts that reinforce the verse. Augie looks so handsome in his Cubbies vest. Now if only he would get over his shyness so that mommy can go to her ladies’ Bible study and not attend Cubbies with him!
Ardara and Huyler are in the kindergarten through 2nd grade group called Sparks. To earn their red vests they had to memorize several things:
1. the Pledge of Allegiance
2. The Awana’s Pledge
3. John 3:16
4. The Awana’s motto
5. The Spark’s song
Now that they have their vests, they have to show responsibility by wearing their vest and bringing their books and Bibles to the club each week. Then they can earn badges and pins for their vests by memorizing each new verse. The ability of young children to remember things amazes me. Most of you have already seen the video I made of the kids saying the pledge of allegiance (if you haven’t you can watch it on our web page!) but you may be interested to know that they can also tell you what each of the words means! Those smarties!
Our school year started off with an introductory section that explored the seven days of creation. Each day the kids listened to another consecutive day of creation from Genesis. Then they colored a corresponding number with pictures of what was created that day. The number was cut out and glued on a p
oster in the right sequence. That number would be our “number of the day” that we looked for everywhere we went. Ardara is the champion number spotter. We could hardly get a word in edge-wise with her in the back seat of the van yelling “Six!!” and a minute later “Another Six!” It just so happens that Ardara was turning six very shortly after this lesson, and she was acutely aware of the beauty of that number—which was much bigger than five.
Our daily art project was centered on that day’s creation as well. After the first 7 days of school, we put the artwork in order and stapled it in a book cover to keep and review.
Days 8 through 10 were review days where each child got to use the poster or the book he or she had made to retell the story to everyone else. They were instructed to use the number of the day in their story telling to reinforce numbers and sequencing.
The final part of the day was music time and we learned the beautiful hymn “This is My Father’s World” by Maltbie Babcock. After the first week we even learned how to sing it in sign language. See the video that will be posted later this week!
The last day, we collected various indoor and outdoor items and glued them on a chart, separating them by “Created by God” and “Made by People”. It was a great way to kick off our Kindergarten curriculum “My Father’s World”.
