Week 9: November 1-5 - Fish, Sheep, and Backpacks, oh my!
Fish, Sheep, and Backpacks, oh my!
SEEDS kids enjoying the shade while playing Go Fish.
We had a lot of time outdoors this week, enjoying the subtle change in temperature as we have gone from October to November here in Puerto Rico. Since the mornings have now dipped into the low 80’s (break out your scarves everybody), we were able to enjoy more time outside playing cards, running races (even with backpacks on!), and checking on the plants in the patio.
Speaking of the outdoors, we continued talking about rocks, specifically about Jesus the Rock. As we were learning in Psalm 18, He is our rock and our fortress. We saw in worship how a young David sought refuge in rocks while caring for his sheep as a shepherd boy. And later on as king, David found himself hiding for safety with his men as he hid from his enemies. These experiences clearly helped to inspire him to write many Psalms about God being his rock of safety and point to Jesus as the Ultimate Rock in which we can always trust.
Take time to finish memorizing with your kids the memory verse listed below. This week we will be learning a new one, to go along with a new name of God. This will also be the final week practicing: “Cuando Andemos con Dios.”
“I love you oh Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.”
THE GARDEN
Ready to run the race
Fun in the sun with an obstacle course
This Tuesday in worship we learned about Noah. Noah obeyed God and trusted Him to build an ark even when Noah had never seen rain before. We talked about the rainbow and how it was a visual representation of one of God’s promises for us, that he would never flood the earth again. God is faithful. We can always trust in God’s promises! Later on, we went to the big park and as our indoor activity, had a fun time playing with puzzles and blocks.
On Thursday, our lesson was about running a race. The race represented our lives. We told the children that each one has their own race and will find many obstacles along the way. Miss Vivi told the children that things might change in a race if we ran with a backpack. She put on a backpack and showed the children how much harder it was to run with it. The kids concluded it was because it weighed more. Miss Vivi explained to them that the backpack represented our sin. She told the children how our sin weighs us down in our race and made it more difficult. Miss Vivi explained to the kids that God could remove that backpack (our sin) once we asked for forgiveness. That each time we asked for forgiveness, He would help us and forgive us. Each child took turns to jump with the backpack and prove for themselves that indeed it was harder to have it on. After the lesson, we had our big obstacle race outdoors and the children ran with and without a backpack to represent how difficult it was to run with sin and then how freeing it is when Jesus forgives us once we have asked Him to.
Later on, we enjoyed pretend play with our new tea set for the kitchen and had playdough time. And finally heard Joshua read the book, “The Big Race” to us. What a fun week!
David leading his sheep…
Finding shelter in the rock.
SEEDS
Before culminating our overview of birds, we took a closer look at the birds’ respiratory and digestive systems in Science. The children learned how God designed birds with the most sophisticated breathing system in all creation, ensuring that they are able to fly long distances without needing to stop and catch their breath as other animals do. They also learned that birds have the ability to digest food quickly so that they may have a steady source of energy as they fly. This, along with light bones, streamlined bodies, and specially designed wings combine to make most birds amazing flying creatures! They included a diagram of the bird’s digestive system in their journals. FInally, Olivia and Carolina did a great job sharing what they learned about the Oryx and on the Hoatzin, respectively. We are excited to go on our first field trip this Friday and interact with some mammals and birds!
This week in History, we traveled back to America after spending a bit of the last two weeks in England and Europe discussing the influences of the Restoration and the reign of Louis XIV. We learned about a young French girl in New France named Marie Madeleine and how at only 14 years old, she bravely defended a fort from attacks. Back in the British colonies, a new one was being set up by William Penn, who like the Pilgrims in New England and the Catholics of Maryland, wanted to establish a colony where one could worship God as he or she chose.
We also spent some time learning a new song called “The 13 Colonies” to help us remember which ones made up the beginnings of the United States of America. Have your child sing it to you!
Finally, as we try to have hands on experiences imagining what it was like for new settlers and colonists, we worked a bit in the garden, adding the stones we gathered in our rock study last week to a “grove” of moringa branches we planted. Here Elisha and Olivia are adding some soil to the bed.
Supplemental Readings for SEEDS
American Pioneers and Patriots
pp. 53-62
Guide to God’s Animals
pp. 20-21, 88
The readings above are NOT homework. They are optional readings to reinforce and review with your children the topics covered in their previous classes. If possible, make these readings cozy, comfy, fun, and an activity that the entire family can enjoy together. Kids may even just enjoy skimming these pages on their own, and looking at the pictures. A post-it or an index card will help them find this week’s sections.
REMEMBER that this Friday, we have our first family field trip with SEEDS and THE GARDEN! Here are the details:
Where: Finca Pastoreo, DoradoWhen: November 12, 2021
Time: 10:00am-12:00pm
Cost: $10 per person 3 years old and older
You should plan to be at the location by 10:00am. This is a guided tour and we must all be there for the tour to begin. Please plan accordingly. There will be no SEEDS program in the afteroon this day.
More photos from the Week
Click on an image to scroll through them all
