Truth in the Tinsel

For the last 2 years I've been reading about a Christmas craft curriculum on one of my favourite homeschool blogs 1+1+1=1  called Truth in the Tinsel. Every day there is a clue, scripture, a ornament to make and something to talk about with your kids. 

Rocket Boy knows Christmas is Jesus's birthday but it is all about the presents and what he's going to get.  He spends all year thinking about what he's going to get and gives us suggestions with every toy catalog he reads.  

I want to steer Rocket Boy away from all the consumerism in this season and return to what we believe is the true meaning of Christmas (although I acknowledge that not everyone has the same beliefs as we do, and while we are raising our children within the Christian faith, and we focus on the birth of Jesus, we also teach our children that this is a time for Family.)

As Ladybug has been unwell we've only managed two days so far, but two is better than none.  I also plan to only use craft supplies I already have on hand, so some crafts may not work at all, or need to be changed a little to work with what we have. 

The following Christmas ornaments represent Light (made by Ladybug) and Kingdom. (made by Rocket Boy) and are now proudly hanging on our tree. 

Weekly Wrap up

Two weeks to catch up on in one post.  Hope you haven't missed me, although at times I do wonder if anyone reads this apart from two friends, *waves* Hi Lisa and Tania, if there is anyone else please say hi. 

The last week of November started off with a phone call from Grandma to let Hubby know his Aunt had decided to end her own life that morning, this was very upsetting news for Hubby and took him a couple of hours to process before deciding he wanted to drop everything and head for Auckland (about a 2 hour drive away) to be with his family.  After a few phone calls, we were packing the car and on our way.

We stay with friends who have many kids so our 3 fit right in.  While the reason for the trip was unwanted, it was great to spend the time with Hubby's family, and our Auckland friends. 

We ended up staying in Auckland from Monday until Friday, and in our rush to leave I didn't pack any of Rocket Boys work books, or Ladybugs packs.  So while no formal work was completed there was still plenty of life learning.

Playing with the Dads old Lego at Grandmas

On Sunday Ladybug came down with a fever and took several days to recover, She just wanted to cuddle with Mummy for most of the week and was to unwell to attend Kindy during the week. This made getting back into any routine was difficult and although I did manage to complete some book work with Rocket Boy.

Reading Eggs - Rocket Boy completed Map 10 and the test, while he got 2 answer incorrect he did unlock Map 11, which he'll start on next week

Handwriting without Tears - Rocket Boy completed a Poem, Letters X and Z, then without me even asking Rocket Boy started on an animal story.  Rocket Boy has almost finished his current work book and I have yet to purchase his next book.  I plan to wait until the new year before buying the book, so will find other ways for Rocket Boy to practice his handwriting, such as Christmas cards, and post cards, maybe even a penpal. 

Math U See - Rocket Boy learnt to skip count in 5's, and about tally marks, both of these concepts were completely new to Rocket Boy and while he's grasped skip counting, I don't think he completely understands tally marks, I have plans to go over this again with a packet of lollies which I'm sure will help him learn. 

Next week is Swim Safe, the last session for the year, while I do want to push to cover the work we've missed these last few weeks there is really no pressure to.  As we don't have anyone we have to answer to and no deadlines we have to meet, as long as Rocket Boy is progressing it doesn't matter how fast or slow we go. (I just have to keep reminding myself of this)