Fall Art Gallery 2010

Personalize your own free digital slideshow

Have You Heard of a Jesse Tree? Deepening the Roots of Christmas

In the days leading up to December, the soft whispers of Advent began to prod my heart through the words of others who have gone before me.  For me, there was nothing else to do, but to prepare a Jesse Tree, not knowing exactly what to do, but knowing for certain that it needed to be done.  The thought of preparing for His coming in stillness and quietness and prayer, seemed all too inviting as the hustle and bustle of the twelfth month drew nearer.

And so, we began to grow our Jesse Tree.  Not knowing how deep it's roots would go.

As the last bites of dinner are being downed, I bring out The Jesus Storybook Bible, the candle lighter and the flute.  At first it felt awkward leading the children and the fine husband through a somewhat ceremonious event. But now, halfway through Advent, the quietness and meditation is expected, and today could not turn into tomorrow without the hanging of the symbol and the saying of The Lord's Prayer. 

Do you do a Jesse Tree?  I would be so blessed to hear of your traditions.  I pray that you will be blessed by ours...

*******************************************
We start out by reading aloud,

"Jesus Christ, You are the Light of the world that no darkness can overcome; for darkness is as light with You. Keep us from sin and straighten our path, so that we may be prepared for Your coming. Amen."

Then the candle is lit.  Each week of Advent another candle is lit so that there are 4 candles by Christmas.  As the coming of Christ draws nearer, the light gets brighter, for He is the Light of the world!

A story is read from The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name.  This book is filled with  the stories of the Bible with each story ending with a small passage pointing to Jesus the Saviour.  This book is perfect for the young ages of my children.

The Jesse Tree symbol is then hung on a smaller tree that rests on the dining table.  After six symbols are hung, they are transferred to the grand Christmas tree.  The symbols were drawn and painted by myself and my girls and then coloured photocopied to create a finished look.

The Lord's Prayer is spoken.

A carol is played on the flute and then sung.

The candle is blown out while the anticipation of His coming fills our hearts.

**********************************************

Some helpful Jesse Tree links:

What is a Jesse Tree?  - Some history about the Jesse Tree.


Making a Jesse Tree - There are printable ornaments available at this site with corresponding scripture readings.


        

Teaching Tip Tuesday - Writing Ideas for the Reluctant Writer

A reposting from the archive for those who have a reluctant writer in their family. These ideas work wonderful with fluent writers too!

***************************************

The following encouragement was taken from a Marilyn Hahn workshop on "Awesome Writing Strategies for the Reluctant Student". Enjoy!


P – Purpose
When was the last time we as adults wrote without a purpose? Probably when we were in school! As adults we usually write with a purpose. We write grocery lists, e-mails, journals, letters or cards, “To do” lists, reminder notes, stories or poetry if we’re feeling creative, blogs, etc. These are the reasons that Marilyn suggested why we all write:

T – to Tell something
R – to Request something
I – to Inform about something
P – to Persuade about something
E – to Explain something or to Encourage someone

All of these reasons to write require another person’s interaction.


P – People who care about kid’s writing
Find an audience. Marilyn suggests that 80% of your child’s writing should have some sort of audience – meaning that it should be sent outside of the home. Even a spelling test can have purpose if you have your child write at the top: “Dear Grandma, I’m writing this spelling test for YOU!” Then mark it, put it in an envelope, and mail it to Grandma.

When your child has an audience, editing starts to matter. Your child will want to write neatly, spell words correctly and reread and revise his/her own work.

Audiences can include: family members (make sure you train them to praise your kid’s writing and NOT point out the spelling errors) (smile), people who work in the church or the community, a friend or cousin or Sunday School teacher, the fireman, the police officer, the doctor, a favourite author or illustrator, the Prime Minister or the Queen (she always writes back!)

Use the yellow pages and let you child find people that he/she would like to write too. The people to write to are ENDLESS!

Here is the link with the queen’s address and some sample letters:
Writing to the Queen


P – Process and the Product
It is easy to get caught up in the rut of presenting children with a piece of 8 1/2” by 11” lined paper and asking them to write something. Marilyn says “Boring!”. Here are some of her ideas on how to spur writing on:

- Write on brown paper bags. Hole punch and then tie them together with a ribbon to create a paper bag book.
- Make the paper smaller. A post-it note looks a lot less intimidating than a piece of binder paper.
- For young writers use a piece of blank white paper rather than lined paper.
- Create an Author’s Gear Box - This is an investment but well worth it. Buy a compartment kit with the little drawers and shelves etc. Take your child shopping to Staples or Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store and let him/ her choose writing items to put in their Author’s Gear Box. Items may include: erasers, gel pens, colored pencils, stickers, binder rings, paper clips, paint, scissors, sticky notes, rad tacks, etc. The materials in the Author’s Gear Box are ONLY to be used when your child is writing.
- Use “Roget’s College Thesaurus” – (Grade 3 and onward) – Let your child look through the thesaurus and find words to create a really cool sentence, This can gradually increase to paragraphs and stories.
- Writing Poetry – Use “Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary” and use Shift F7 on the keyboard to provide a thesaurus. Look through old National Geographic magazines. Pull out a great picture. Have your child highlight up to 50 phrases (max. 4 words in length) in the written text about the picture. Cut the phrases out, arrange in a poetic order, glue onto the picture from the magazine – this is called a Found poem.
- Store your child’s writing in a plastic sheet protector. Immediately, the writing looks polished!


P- Passion
Capitalize on your child’s passion. Write about personal interests.


P – Partnership
This “P” is one of the most important but also one of the hardest. Marilyn suggests sitting shoulder to shoulder with your child and doing a similar writing assignment at the same time. In order to find time to do this, you can schedule “family writing time” into your week.

Life Journaling

Journal Entry #6

A few of "My Favourite Things" is the theme for this journal writing entry. You may want to start your journal writing time by sharing this classic song:



Make a list, cut out pictures, draw a picture representing some of your favourite things. Favourite colour, food, activity, animal ... are all a great way to start your "favourite things" theme. But why not stretch this journal topic out over several journal writing sessions by copying a favourite scripture verse, a favourite recipe, a favourite song, a favourite poem...

Other "favourite" topics may include:
My favourite day of my life ...

My favourite way to spend time with my grandma ...

My favourite way to show __________ that I love him/her.

My favourite way to show God that I love Him.