This week’s Family Discussion Project was a time for Daniel and Nomi and Science. We only had one session – we should have had three. We missed Monday because I wasn’t prepared. We did Tuesday and missed Wednesday because….. (I have no idea!!). We will have another week with this Science opportunity. I am reading Parables from Nature by Mrs Alfred Gatty; the kids both enjoyed it. Afterwards they made a little mini book on the life cycle of a butterfly. Josh and Jess use this time for writing/journaling.
One of my goals has been to see the afternoons used more creatively. Both Jess and Nomi have picked up creative projects at different times this week. Jess has worked on her appliqué for her Keepers quilt and scrapbooking. Nomi has also worked on her appliqué and has done free hand embroidery on some coasters that A.BB gave her. Nomi once again has showed her creative ability by designing a very artistic flower design to repeat on each coaster.
We have been working with Daniel to be able to play by himself. He finds this very hard. This week though he has spent some time playing with his Lego by himself. He actually builds but rarely then plays with what he has built (unless Nomi is with him). So he has done lots of building this week.
Joshua’s highlight was that the miniature model soldiers he ordered over 6 weeks ago finally arrived. We had to source some paints and sealer – which is a bit of a challenge in our town. We talked to a very helpful man at the hardware – another opportunity for Josh to stand strong as a consumer and discuss things with people who provide a service. We ended up using paints we had at home. He spent the afternoon experimenting and deciding which combination of sealers, mediums and paints worked best.
At Keepers this week Josh and his friend started on their Bows – by trimming down leucaena twigs and whittling the bark off. The girls started to piece their quilt tops together. Daniel had some story time with MrsC as the other little boys weren’t here.
Nomi had the opportunity this last week to prepare some props for Mainly Music – which is a fun music group for parents to enjoy together with their young child. Jess helps on the team weekly so this was a great opportunity for Nomi to serve with her talents. She made 5 animal masks. She had such a fun time and often got carried away with creative thoughts that just didn’t fit the boundaries of this particular task so it was also a good opportunity to see that when we design stuff it needs to service a need.
The highlight academically for this week was the resuming of our Bible studies. I wasn’t happy with how they were progressing so I took stock, looked at what my aims were and how we could best meet those, considering the ages and abilities of each of the children. I have changed our bible study from a study to an overview of the New Testament. We are dealing with one story a day – 3 times a week. We are still using this time to become familiar with various Bible Study tools such as concordances, topical Bibles, atlases etc. I think I’ll introduce Josh to commentary reading next week.
Our week has ended with Josh and Jess both getting braces. So Saturday night and Sunday they are being spoilt and looked after! It was a good opportunity for Nomi and Daniel to step up and do things around the house that the older ones usually do. Though they didn’t take too well to the idea when it was presented as an opportunity to serve and bless Josh and Jess the younger two changed their hearts and got into their tasks.
