Teaching Tip Tuesday ~ Physical Learning for the Heart and Mind

While upholding biblical standards, the student is expected to identify the characteristics of athletes and physically active people they admire. {Grade 3 Physical Education Learning Outcome}

As parents desiring to instruct our children with thoughts, ideas, and stories that will nurture their hearts and minds, we want to grab hold of "heroes" who are men and women who have influenced the world with biblical truths.  The "heroes" of this world are easily accessible through the vast media that bombards us every day, but too often these "heroes" are not the role models that we want to be sharing with our children, so we need to search further.

YWAM Publishing is an excellent resource with which to start familiarizing yourself.  The books and study guides presented by this company share the stories of men and women who have lived godly lives of integrity,  keeping their eyes on the eternal goal.

Eric Liddell: Running for a Higher Prize is an excellent book to share with your child about an athlete who used his skills and talents to run races for the glory of God. His biography comes in a "Young Reader" rhyming version and in a chapter book version.  As well, the movie, Chariots of Fire, is based on the story of Eric Liddell and may be a great addition to a family video library.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race 

marked out for us. ~ Hebrews 12:1,2a

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{Please take note of the Term 2 PE Learning Question at the bottom of your Term 2 PE Log.  The Learning Question is also posted at the top of this blog during the duration of Term 2.}  

Storytime with Mrs. Holder ~ A New Coat for Anna ~ Harriet Ziefert

Personalize a slideshow

Social Studies Topics to Consider:

Trading Versus Selling and Buying ~ Due to the struggles associated with WWII, Anna and her mother have very little money.  In order to get Anna a new coat, Anna's mother decides to trade some of her "nice" things {Grandfather's gold watch, a lamp, a garnet necklace, and a pretty teapot} for the services and materials needed to make a coat.  Discuss the concept of trading with your child, pointing out that the worth of the materials and services being traded need to carry a certain value for each person within the trade. Consider setting up a trading scenario with your child using materials or services that are meaningful to him/her.

Natural Resources ~ Parts of Anna's new coat come from resources found in the natural world.  The wool that makes the yarn comes from sheep, and the dye for the yarn comes from freshly picked lingonberries.

Here is a video describing the traditional way of processing wool:


If your child is interested in the concept of how cloth is made from various natural resources, consider sharing a couple of these videos:
Cotton Picking Time Down South
Eagle Cotton Gin at Work
Making Linen from Flax

Community Workers ~ If you have an ongoing "Community Helpers/Workers" list to add to, make sure to add to it "sheep farmer", "spinner", "weaver" and "tailor".  Although the spinner and weaver are no longer very prominent community workers, still include them, and mark them with a special symbol to indicate that they are from "Days Gone By" or "Days Long Ago".  Your child may also enjoy acting out this story as you read it, or illustrating the various community helpers described.

Be a Blessing!
Just as Anna and her mother demonstrated beautiful hospitality to those who had helped them make Anna's coat during the past year, consider planning a special tea and Christmas cake celebration to help your child practice the skill of hospitality. Bless someone who has been a blessing to your family during this past year.

Bedtime Can Wait When Hearts are Changing

{A little sharing from my personal blog writings...}


She finds me at the top of the stairs, tidying up forgotten board books and stuffed puppies, hoping to draw this day to a close. She shows me the picture in the magazine. The one that daddy showed the night before when complaints about dinner arose. A classroom of school children sitting in desks with eyes forlorn and arms of skin and bones. She asks me to tell her about it again. I sit on the bottom step and she sits next to me, eager to hear about the starving souls and starving bodies in a far away place called North Korea. I ask her, "Can you imagine?", she shakes her head, "No". Sister comes and sits next to her to listen too.

My words sound inadequate to me as they stutter, sharing frightful realities to child ears. I ask them, "Why did God allow you to be born here in this country?" The younger answers, "Because He knew that you and daddy could handle it."  I smile and prod deeper, "Yes, but why were you not born to a mama and daddy who didn't have money to feed you, like so many other children are?" I can see their eyes fill with deep thinking.  They're beginning to see. They're catching a glimpse of the haves and the have nots, realizing that they are the privileged, not understanding the whys, but recognizing what is. 

I think about when we pray the words, "Thank you for this food", and say them with haphazard care, not thinking about gratefulness at all, but rather of almost anything else. Can we practice speaking "thank you" with desperate humility?

Thank. You. For. This. Food.

Thank. You. For. This. Food.

I prod further, rhetorically, not expecting a response, "Are you ever uncomfortable? Are you ever without?" They shake their heads, both knowing. "What is your responsibility?" 


"Mama's been thinking about this too ... What is our responsibility since we have so much and others have so little?... Just think about it ..."

Pajamas are slipped on and oldest slips downstairs. I know she has a mission. I finish the hair braids and teeth brushing, gifting the mission hearted one with time to act and do. With enough moments passed, I slowly round the bottom of the staircase and see the work done. A paper card with a paper pocket filled with coins and labelled "money". A rainbow bright on the facing side with a sunshine smiling down. She says it's for Uwizeymana, her Compassion sister friend in Rwanda. I nod with understanding. She's learning and figuring this out, and acting as her heart leads.

Can I learn from her? And act a little more, do a little more? Can I see my responsibility and act upon it too?

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. ~ Ephesians 2:10

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Did you know that Anchor Academy works closely with Relief and Support Services Canada to minister and serve our neighbours in Kenya?  Did you know that they have a child sponsorship program that could begin a new friendship for your child and a needy one in Kenya?  For my children, having their own sponsor child, or sister-friend, has been a beautiful way for them to connect with the needs of dear children from other parts of the world.  Perhaps this would be a consideration for your family, as a way to give, during this upcoming season. 



Related post:
Making a World of Difference

Storytime with Mrs. Holder ~ The Little House ~ Virginia Lee Burton

This free slideshow design made with Smilebox

"Change Over Time" is the main theme of this story and can be explored at a variety of levels.

For the younger student, discuss how the environment around the "little house" changes throughout the story. You may want to draw two scenes with your child - one that represents the country and one that represents the city.  While drawing together, discuss the changes that take place.  As a follow-up, discuss changes that have taken place in your child's own life.  An interesting project would be to create a linear timeline or a booklet of each year of your child's life.  Include the child's age, a photo, abilities, and interests for each year represented.

A couple of years ago, I designed a unit study to go along with The Little House. For the older student, you may like to complete some of the activities presented in this unit study. The activities mainly address learning outcomes for grades 2 and 3.

Related Links:

An interesting interpretation of The Little House using the illustrations and music.

A complete unit study at Homeschool Share.

Another complete unit study to coincide with The Little House

Be a Blessing

During this story, the "little house" changes from being immaculately cared for, to being neglected, to being cared for again. There is also a sense of appreciation for the beauty of creation. Consider blessing those in your community by "making it more beautiful" in some way. Picking up litter is an easy way to help make your community more beautiful, but for the more adventurous, consider requesting permission to paint an old park bench or fire hydrant, or possibly spread wildflower seeds in a weedy ditch. 

Teaching Tip Tuesday ~ Work Folders ~ Encouraging Independent Learning

Most of our day is not filled with independent learning, but somewhere between story time and lunch, I pull out the work folders.  The girls know what to do. They know to ask for help if needed. And they know that all of the assigned work needs to be done by Friday.

Each girl has three folders, each folder has two pockets.  Inside each pocket an activity waits that doesn't require a formal lesson, or is review of something already learned; activities such as: an Explode the Code workbook, a Memoria Press Copywork book,  a thankful journal, some alphabet or spelling practice, and some math review and drill practice.

In the first pocket of the first folder, a chart of the week's assignments is provided.  The girls check off completed tasks and give themselves smiley faces for a job well done.  Mama places smelly stickers on the front covers at the end of the week, and then sits at the computer to prepare the next week's tasks.

Some days the girls work little, and other days they work hard, but always their tasks are completed by the end of Friday.