Homeschooling for His Glory

School is almost out for the season. We are dragging it another 3 days and then it's party time, at least for the boys! You know how it goes, for us homeschool moms, break time is really planning time, isn't? I have lots of planning to do for the coming year's school schedule. Since we came back from our vacation in November I have not been doing all of the subjects I really want to cover, so it's time for a new plan. But, that put aside, what happened this week? Let's see... The boy's cantata at church went well, praise God. They both had a solo part and did quite well. On the picture they are the boys at both extremities. We've pressed on in Handwriting We've started a new spelling curriculum, which I am really excited about: The Logic of English. Watch for a review of it sometime in January. We've covered estimating or rounding, multiplying decimals, place value including decimals and continued practicing long divisions. We'

Luke :1:8-23:    18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.   19  Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.    20  But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.    21  And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name   Jesus , for He will save His people from their sins.”   22  So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:   23  “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,”  which is translated, “God with us.” Christmas - Tis the time for rejoicing and ce

My youngest is a pasta lover, so I always have pasta dishes as staples as our house. Here is one that was enjoyed by all. Ground Beef and Farfalle Dinner Ingredients: 1 lb ground beef 1 lb asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces 2 medium onions, sliced 1 1/2 cups beef broth 1 cup tomato puree or stewed tomatoes 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil 3 tablespoons heavy cream 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 tsp Red pepper flakes (optional) 4 cups cooked farfalle pasta (bow-tie) Parmesan cheese Preparation: Saute the asparagus, onions in a tbsp of oil. Add 1 cup of beef broth; cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has almost evaporated; remove mixture from the skillet. Add beef to the skillet; stir/saute for about 2 minutes or until no longer pink. Return vegetable mixture to the skillet; add in the remaining broth and the next 4 ingredients; stir/saute and simmer while cooking the pasta. Cook the pasta. A

Glory Be to God Glory be to God on high Let peace on earth descend  God comes down before our eyes To Bethlehem God invisible appears Endless ages wrapped in years He has come who cannot change And Jesus is His name Emptied of His majesty He comes in human form Being’s source begins to be And God is born All our griefs He’ll gladly share All our sins He’ll fully bear He will cover our disgrace And suffer in our place Let the joyful news ring out The Prince of Peace proclaim Lift your heart and voice to shout Immanuel’s name God has kept His promises What a work of grace this is Son of Mary, chosen One The Lamb of God has come BRIDGE Hosanna, hosanna The Lamb of God has come Hosanna, hosanna He is the promised One © 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).  

It's Friday and time for a wrap-up. By God's grace we had a reasonably good week. Yesterday, the boys had  to have their annual check-up so we took that opportunity to go to the Science Centre afterwards. We enjoyed a sport exhibit, a space exhibit and the regular children's area. On the school front we continued on  with our regular subjects: Nouns and pronouns with Johann Verbal phrases with Zach Division, rounding and multiplying with decimal numbers Spelling Handwriting In history, Zach covered the Cherokees, and we started learning about Andrew Jackson's presidency They've read: " First Strawberries", "Cherokee Animal Tales", " A Boy Called Slow", "The boy Who Drew Birds", "Into the Woods ". Lastly, today we decided to kick off the baking season.  

Ok, so it's this time of the year, and Jenn, over @ Treasuring Life's Blessing , is hosting a Virtual Cookie Exchange party, so I thought I would join.  Today was our first cookie day of the season and I decided to try a new sugar cookie recipe, and also make chocolate chip cookies since for my younger boy, if we do not make chocolate chip cookies we have not made cookies. So here we go: Amish Sugar Cookie 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine 1/3 cup cooking oil 1 eggs 2 tbs water 2 1/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond flavoring Mix granulated sugar, powdered sugar, butter, and cooking oil together. Add eggs,  and  vanilla,  mix again. Mix together flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda, and add to the creamy mixture. Mix to blend. Drop small balls of dough on cookie sheet. Then slightly flatten dough with the back of a spoon dipped in water. Bak