Week 16: Unto us a Child is Born

We’ve been celebrating a lot of birthdays recently, but the one we are most excited about is remembering the birth of Jesus at this time. Our play “A Christmas Carol” with the Arts Academy remembered this, as did the work of the Garden students and the songs that the Seeds and Oaks are preparing for our final presentation this Thursday.

REMEMBER TO ARRIVE AT 4:00PM THIS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19 FOR THE FINAL PRESENTATIONS OF ALL OUR HOMESCHOOL SUPPORT GROUPS

Scroll down to see More photos, suggested readings and the memory work

Garden students paint a backdrop of the sky depicting the night Jesus was born.

The Garden

This week, we arrived at the moment of Jesus’ birth during our worship time. What a joyous moment when God took on flesh! There was no more waiting for the Rescuer to come! During activity time, we practiced our songs with Mr. Jean. They also worked hard to make more of the pieces of a collaborative art project that they are working on for the final presentation. We painted the night sky where all of our angels will be and the land where we will place the manger. They loved painting together and it was a great way to exercise self control and respect each other's part of the painting. We can’t wait to share it with you.

Seeds

This week in our worship time, we concluded the first five books of the Old Testament and began the book of Joshua. We learned that spies had been sent into the promised land and although God had told the people to go, they did not obey. The Oaks helped Mr. Jared tell the story, using balloons to represent the good fruit of the land that the spies had brought back. The people, as a consequence could not enter the land and wandered for 40 years. Moses eventually died and Joshua became the new leader, sending a new generation finally into the land. We left off at the start of the story of Rahab and Jericho. We also celebrated Josie and Isabel last week for their birthdays.

The kids used the “balloon grapes” in the park to create their own collaborative games. It was a great time of being creative, enjoying the outdoors and just having fun! After that, they practiced the songs that they will be singing at the presentation in their music class with Mr. Jean.

Learning about the land God created has been quite messy and fun! The children worked in groups to explore a cup of dirt and classify the components into: living, once living, and not living. They found dead plants and roots, rocks, and although the couldn’t see any living thing, they inferred that bacteria were living in the dirt. The older students also learned about different kinds of rocks and the amazing rock cycle. After watching a video together, we did a fun demonstration in small groups. We began with some crayon shavings representing the sediment. They put it together with their hands in the middle of the foil paper to make a “sedimentary” rock. The students took turns pounding the piece of foil paper. When they opened it it seemed as if it was a “metamorphic” rock because we had added great pressure to it. Then, I used a torch to heat up the foil paper and when we opened it we saw that we had made “igneous” rock. Finally, we took our created “rock” and broke it up again with our fingers making “sediment” once more. It was a great way to see how God designed the land and rocks!

SEEDS ReadingS for THE Week

BIBLE:
- Numbers 13-14, 20, 21
- Deuteronomy 32
- Joshua 1-2
DK Illustrated Bible
- pp. 88-92
World History / Ancient History

P. 82-83 / P. 72-73 - The First North Americans
P. 84 / P. 74 - The People of Ancient Peru
P. 85 / P. 75 - The Olmecs

Oaks

The Oaks helped Mr. Jared tell the story of the 12 spies entering the promised land. They have also been working on their Bible/History notebooks to summarize the main stories we’ve learned from the Old Testament, while the full-day high schoolers have been studying through the book of Proverbs.

This week in Biology, the Oaks students learned about the concept of homeostasis in humans as it relates to body heat, blood glucose, and blood oxygen levels. And to review for their upcoming quiz, they played another rousing game of ¿Verdad o Falso? Bayóan amazingly knocked the cup pyramid down every turn he had!

OAKS ReadingS for THE Week

BIBLE:
- Numbers 13-14, 20, 21
- Deuteronomy 32
- Joshua 1-2
DK Illustrated Bible
- pp. 88-92
Streams of Civilization

P. 80-84
P. 104-107 - The Earliest American Civilizations and the Chavin

World History / Ancient History

P. 82-83 / P. 72-73 - The First North Americans
P. 84 / P. 74 - The People of Ancient Peru
P. 85 / P. 75 - The Olmecs

Memorizing the Ten Commandments

You must not have any other gods but Me…
You must not make an idol or an image of anything in heaven, earth, or sea…
You must not use the name of the Lord in vain…
Remember to observe the Sabbath Day, and keep it holy…
You must honor your father and your mother, so you may live long in the land…
You must not murder…
You must not commit adultery…
You must not steal from others…
You must never, ever tell a lie…
You must not say, “I want, I want, I want.” That is called coveting.