Our new object lesson this week in Bible is based on Romans 12:2, and learning how we should not be conformed to this world, but should be transformed. The object lesson details the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat, and draws a correlation between having your heart and mind fixed on the things of God (the way a thermostat can be fixed to a certain temperature) and not allowing external forces to sway you versus allowing the things of this world to control our attitudes, minds and dispositions (the way a thermometer simply moves in relation to the external temp).
The kids were each given a little thermometer and we experimented with how it reacted to being placed first in icy cold water, then hot water.
I asked lots of questions to get them to piece together how they can relate this to their daily lives, and it was great to watch them discussing with each other.
Scarlett's drawing and copywork in her Bible Journal. She drew a picture of a thermometer in a bowl of water and wrote "Do not conform, be transformed." (with a couple of extra "t"s in there, lol)
Decorating his page after he'd glued in his picture and phrase.
I found these great paper globe-maps - a stack of 30 or so for just a few dollars. I was really testing their China geography here, since they had previously only dealt in black and white maps and to a much larger scale (only China, and then only the continent of Asia). With highlighters in hand, I told them to study the map for a minute and then make their best guess as to where China was and highlight that area. Lincoln looked at his paper for about 5 seconds and said, "There it is!" and pointed right to it! I was amazed. The girls struggled a little and I had to give them a hint (i.e., "It's in the purple continent."), but then they found and marked it.
I read several pages out of our China book, then we got out the blocks and the kids worked together to build the Great Wall of China (on a *slightly* smaller scale, lol).
Pretty great! They had it from one side of the dining room to the other, and added watch towers just like the picture in the book. Nice work, guys!
After Scarlett and Victoria did their reading and math, I pulled these two aside and introduced them to the wooden components of the "Handwriting Without Tears" curriculum. I followed the recommendations in the teacher's guide and using socks, let them "polish" the pieces while I taught them the names - big curve, little curve, big line, little line.
Inevitable ;-)
Victoria working to make Mat Man.
Lincoln only wanted to make Mat Man's face. He added some flair by using rubberbands for eyes and a random Cheerio we found on the floor for a nose (just keeping it real).
Scarlett giving me the thumbs up just before starting karate class :-)
This picture from dinner totally cracked me up - I love the triple chin action Waverly is sporting as she gives the kids a Look during their dinner time antics :-)
After dinner, Gram offered to take the kids out in the front yard for a bit... well, it started to rain! But no thunder, so I gave the Okay for them to play in the rain for a while. It's not really a childhood summer if you don't get to play in the rain at least once, is it? :-) Jim went out to move his car into the garage and Lincoln was showing off his strip of trim that he had hammered nails into.
The girlies playing in the rain :-)
Lincoln helped Daddy and Grammie dry off their cars once the rain passed. He is always eager to help (unless it's picking up blocks or, for instance, a bowl of approximately 2,000 pistachio shells from his snack earlier that got dumped on the floor... less eager then...).
Nana and Waverly having their nightly end-of-day chat session. I really can't describe how adorable it is when Waverly "talks." Obviously it's just coo-ing and whatnot, but she does it with such inflection, you can tell she is TOTALLY sure she is saying words and mimicking our speech patterns.
Lincoln came in from all of the outdoor, playing-in-the-rain action and was ready for a manly bubble bath :-)
And of course, some story time with Daddy (and Salty).
Even with the flash giving Waverly laser-eyes, I still love this picture - she was just smiling so hard, looking over at Jim and back at the fan. Two of her most favorite things :-)
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