Hopping on to Easter...

This year we are keeping our regular Easter traditions and adding a new one.

Monday, the boys and I gathered rocks and limbs and made an Easter tree. Each day we are doing a few minutes of additional bible reading and creating an ornament. I'll post pictures later this week, as we only have two right now!!

We are just copying some corresponding illustrations from Trystan's bible, pasting them on to card stock and hanging them with ribbon. If all goes as planned we will hang an ornament every day this week. On Easter Sunday we put all of the kids' goodies in one basket and hide it. Then we tie yarn to it and trail it all over the house. Around door knobs, under furniture, through the refrigerator handles.... every year we make it a little more complicated. The kids have the most fun searching for their basket!!

This year I bought some Easter Egg ornaments (we don't usually do candy eggs, the kids get their quota of candy from Ninnie on Easter!) too, and we are going to hide them and let them decorate the easter tree with them. It's just a gaggle of sticks in a pitcher filled with rocks, but He makes all things new, doesn't He?

Kid's bible reading charts

Earlier this year, the Lord told me I wasn't doing homeschool the way He wished. Since then we have been revamping the way we do things, but one thing has remained the same. As a friend of mine once told me "Keep the main thing, the main thing."

I make up a spread sheet in excel for each of the kid's bibles, using chapter headings and page numbers. Then we make a poster (or two) with the spreadsheets, and use stickers to mark off the chapters that have been read. Our oldest (7) also keeps a bible notebook. In Charlotte Mason style, he narrates to me what he noticed in the chapter, and I write it down for him. Sometimes he makes illustrations to go with what he learned.

Trystan, our 4 year old, gets stickers for every story read to him, usually by Isaac (7). Trystan's bible is Isaac's old picture bible, so he really enjoys revisiting these stories and reading them to his little brother.

We are going to add in some story time in the evening and allow the children to put on plays and act out with blocks and toys their bible reading.