Window on the World

One of the things I love about my friend Jewel is that she loves to talk homeschool and share ideas, books and tips she's picked up along the way. She's really a wealth of knowledge! Just recently her friend told her about a book called Window on the World: When we Pray God Works by Daphne Spraggett and Jill Johnstone. Jewel ordered one for herself and when I saw this stunning book: I had to have one for myself!

This beautiful book features a country or people group on each two-page spread. It's full of captivating pictures, information about that country (or people group) and how we can pray for them and the missionaries in that area. It's a book that will be loved by all the members of your family regardless of age. Short stories about featured countries or people groups help relate foreign lands and people to children (and adults) in the West. Each page includes a small map putting the country into perspective with neighboring countries, a fact box with essential country, and people information and prayer points that children can ask God for as well as thank God for.

Description (from Amazon): "Window on the World is your ticket to travel around the world! Find out how God is changing the lives of families everywhere through prayer-from the frozen arctic to the hottest desert, on the highest mountains and in crowded cities. Window on the World brings alive the culture, history, and traditions of all sorts of different people. With ‘Fact Files’ and ‘Do You Know?’ features, each section brings you information, true stories, maps, and easy-to-use prayer points that take you into homes around the world. See how children live, what they like to do, what they eat and wear and what they hope and dream."

We have many missionary friends all over the Earth and we pray for them often. I would like to do this more for missionaries all over the globe. We'll be integrating this into our Bible curriculum this year. I think it'll be great to help the kids to be more 'mission-minded' and have global missions fresh in their minds. We will study people groups and countries and we see how they live, what they believe and we learn about the mission efforts in that area, but most importantly: we'll be praying for God to work in the lives of those people in that area.

I picked this book up from Amazon for about $13 (paperback and hardback are both available).

Thanks for telling me about this book Jewel!

~Paula

2011-2012 Curriculum Picks

For the 2011-2012 school year, Robert will be in the second grade and Andrew will be in Kindergarten. Here's what we have planned for our core curriculum:

Bible - Developing Godly Character in Children

Science - Apologia Exploring Creation through Human Anatomy and Physiology

History/Geography - Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times

Math - Math-U-See Beta/Gama (Robert), Singapore Math (Robert), Math-U-See Primer (Andrew)

Penmanship - Handwriting Without Tears (Andrew - K, Robert - 2)

Spelling - All About Spelling Level 2/3 (Robert), All About Spelling Level 1 (Andrew 2nd semester)

English Grammar - Shurley English Level 2 (Robert)

Reading - Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (Andrew), Bob Books (Andrew), Great Illustrated Classics (Robert)

Five in a Row (Andrew Kindergarten core)

Memory Work - We will attend Classical Conversations on Thursdays and the boys will be assigned Memory Work each week in the following subjects: English, Latin, Math, Science, Histoy/Timeline and Geography. In addition to the memory work, the kids will participate in a fine arts activity/lesson, a science project and will have an opportunity to practice their oral presentation skills each week.

"What about extra-curriculars?" you might ask. We'll, I'm glad you did!

The boys participate in soccer, basketball and baseball throughout the year. They attend a kids fitness class each week (P.E.), play the piano and tin whistle. They have an opportunity each day to use the computer and the iPad as we feel that technology is important (after all, I am married to a computer programmer). They love arts and crafts and spend a time each day drawing or creating something related to what we are learning or something they've chosen for fun. The boys keep a journal that they write/draw in a couple times each week. They also enjoy cycling with our family and going swimming at the local gym where we are members. The boys will attend two classes each week with other children who are home-educated. On Tuesdays, we will attend a Co-Op with other families and on Thursdays we will attend Classical Conversations. These classes provide a time of learning and participating in a larger class setting. Homeschooling has given our children a variety of activities to participate in and they are certainly not "missing out" on any opportunities they would have in a typical school setting. We love homeschooling because it gives us the freedom to choose what curriculums best fits our family and we can focus on areas where our children are interested.