Week 19: January 22-26 - "Right There" Beauty
“Right There” Beauty
We walked into the facilities this week and someone had hung up the sign pictured below. It read simply, “You make all things beautiful.” This scripture from Ecclesiastes was the perfect reminder to begin a week thanking God for the opportunity He gives us all the time to see the beauty in all that He is doing around us. From a child’s simple painting, to a song sung by little voices, to rays on sunlight bursting through the clouds, God’s beauty is always just right there. We just need to stop to notice it.
Scroll below to see this week’s home readings
Family Book Package Readings
The readings listed below are optional, but are great ways to reinforce the lessons taught during this week. The entire family, from the youngest to the oldest, can explore new topics and enjoy great stories together.
Our Family Memory Verse for this week can be found at the end of this page.
The Bible - the Book of Matthew
Matthew 13:53-58
Matthew 14:1-36
Window on the World
p.122-123 Pygmies
Children’s Atlas to God’s World
P. 54-55 - Egypt
P. 56-57 - South Africa
Additional Read-Alouds:
HERO TALES
p.128-139 - Mary Slessor
The Usborne Living World Encyclopedia
P. 48-49 - Life Underground
THE GARDEN
Last week for worship we learned a new song: Deep and Wide. This was a perfect song to start talking about “Living Water,” which we will continue to do this week. We learned how one time, God provided water for the Israelites through Moses striking the rock. He did it and water gushed out! The other story we discussed was when Jesus got baptized by John the Baptist. “Yo vi a Mr. Jared bautizando un día”, Estela shared.
The children enjoyed running around the big park playing a group game they invented. They also had fun in the swings and Gillian is enjoying climbing the tree more than ever.
This week Hallel and Emiliano had fun pushing Miss Nicole on the swing at the park. But that was nothing compared to this week’s hit activity, which you may all have guessed already: the “transformers” or robot letters! All the children were fascinated to play with these letters and numbers that ingeniously transform into robots. They got along so well and were sharing nicely. “Puedo usar este robot, Cesare?”, asked Emiliano. “Por supuesto”, replied Cesare.
SEEDS
Science
This week we took time to look more closely at the savannahs in Africa and the steppes in Europe and Asia. We learned that even though there are a few kinds of trees in the savannah, the steppes are treeless with short grass and a variety of shrubs. The steppes are also colder and drier as they experience the full seasons. The kids loved seeing pictures and videos of the elephants and their relationship to the majestic baobab trees. At the end of class they sketched a baobab tree on their clipboards.
We also talked about the major carnivores and herbivores of each type of grassland. They marveled at the shape of the Saiga antelope, as well as another endangered species, the Przewalski’s horses. These beautiful, wild horses have survived extinction and live freely like no other horse in the world.
Studio Time
Mrs. Emily began her music class this week and what a joy it was to see her (and her two girls) in the SEEDS T-shirts! It was also really great to finally hear the song she chose to teach, called “Not Alone.” Maybe you’ve already heard some of your kids humming along to it at home. Jean also was helping out in this class, because in case you didn’t know, Jean is a very accomplished musician himself. In fact, he composed the new melody we are learning with the memory verse, Matthew 6:19-21.
On Friday, we learned about “mud” or “earth” painting. “Painting with mud? Really?” Although their initial reaction was of skepticism, the kids saw how beautiful the designs from the traditional Bogolan mud cloth truly are. After seeing various examples, they chose earthy colors that resembled the ones in the pictures and began to work. The older group began to sing the new song “Not alone” as they painted. More and more children joined in and their paintings show the joy and careful work they put into it.
Geography
The Seeds students continued to explore the southern half of the African continent this week, learning more of our African countries song. The students did a great job of learning the names of the 20 countries that make up this half of Africa. We also learned more about Kenya.
THE OAKS PROGRAM
Worship and Park
In OAKS, we examined the 8 parables that had to do with the Kingdom of Heaven. We observed that although not each of the parables is exactly the same, they all point to some aspect of what the Kingdom is like. The students chose between all the options – such as the parable of the hidden treasure or the parable of the mustard seed – and drew small sketches of the parables to form a long mural of them all. It came out wonderfully.
Going outside to the park is always a treat and one of the days was great weather for a race! We learned that Kenyans are some of the fastest runners in the world. In our competition? Mateo placed first, with just one second ahead of Elisha’s time. Good job everyone!
Geography
We have a new book: “Exploring World Geography!” This book is a great resource because it contains several pages that helps the kids use the class atlases and do research to find the answers to their questions on their own. This week, we learned about African Rivers and learned to find them on the map and label them in the books. The students also worked on learning new words in Swahili, including John 3:16.
Science
Our first two types of grasslands to explore were the savannahs and the steppes. We explored the major carnivores and herbivores in each as well as watching various videos showing some of the animals’ distinct features. One of their favorites was seeing a porcupine defend itself against a leopard in the Serengeti plains. They also enjoyed how much the saiga antelope resembled some kind of Star Wars character. This upcoming week we will learn about the pampas in South America and the prairies in North America.
Studio Time
This week we learned about Bogolan mud cloth painting. This method of painting or dyeing cloth using fermented mud originated in Mali and its designs have become famous around the world. We see it showing up in wall papers, rugs, throw pillows, and blankets. After seeing a video that showed the way the mud paint was made, we took a careful look at the symbols they used. The students received a black sheet of paper and divided it into smaller sections that they could paint. They all chose different designs to copy and filled their pages with the symbols.
Memory Verse #17
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
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