The kids gather in one of the playhouses as a surprise rain shower fell in the little park. The way the packed in here reminds us of how the Greeks hid inside the horse in the story of the battle against Troy.

A week full of fun and stories! Plus lots of art activities, ranging from weaving, to drawing, to playwriting. Read more below.

Scroll down to see More photos and suggested readings for the Week

THE GARDEN

This week we honored Gillian and read the very sweet book Dear Duck Please Come. We enjoyed a special snack and time at the big park. When we came back inside, we worked on some insect drawings as part of our letter of the week theme. The kids are growing so much in their drawing abilities! We also set up the water table outside with some soap and rubber duckies. On Thursday, we did our first weaving activity using cardboard looms and pipe cleaners. This was a challenge for all of them at first but they all exercised great patience and perseverance. It was a perfect opportunity to emphasize our Bible lesson of the week: “I am a wise child so I work hard.”

SEEDS

In our time of worship this week, we have been covering the end of the period of the Judges, as we’ve looked at the lives of two Bible heroes: Ruth and Samuel. We consider Ruth a hero because she bravely left everything she knew in her home country of Moab, to follow her mother-in-law Naomi back to the land of Israel. In love, she declared that, “Your God will be my God.” This wasn’t easy, but God rewarded her with a home and a family, and she became the great-grandmother of King David. Samuel too was a young man who had a great purpose for God. From his early years, he was dedicated to serving God and would one day be the man to anoint David as King. What a great time of seeing how intertwined these lives were in weaving together the big story of Jesus—the Son of David, the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We had a combination of Science and Music this week! As we listened to the sounds of J.S. Bach, we discussed the term “radicle,” which is the first thing that emerges from a seed. We got the opportunity to witness this amazing phenomenon by observing some seeds in this process right in the classroom. The students had a great time drawing these in their science journals.

Finally, in History, the students were busy working on their timelines. We analyzed how the civilizations of the Minoans and Mycenaeans were developing according to the Biblical timeline. The students were fascinated to hear about the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, which originated on the island of Crete during the Minoan period, but eventually made its way into the collection of Greek myths we know about today. This week, we will be reading “The Trojan Horse,” a short story inspired by the Mycenaean legend.

If you’re interested in some OPTIONAL extra read-alouds based on what we’re learning in class, check out the titles in the image, either in a local library, online, or in an audiobook format:

OAKS

This week in biology, the students learned about important anterior skeletal bones and directional terms used to describe them when a skeleton is in anatomical position. Using skeleton models, they got to quiz their fellow classmates.

And a special thanks to the Pardo family for sharing their fetal models so that the students could see first hand what size a baby is at what stage in the pregnancy.

In History, we continue to study about ancient civilizations like the Egyptians, Minoans and Mycenaeans. For a special project, Olivia wrote a short play about the life of King Tut. The Oaks spent some time reading through the script in order to perform it this week for the Seeds students.

And maybe the highlight of the week was giving Bayoán a Bible in French! Bayo has had a stirring in his heart to pursue ministry as a pastor and feels like he’s being led to learn French for that purpose. We look forward to seeing what God will do in this young man’s life as he desires to listen and obey His Lord’s voice.