Weekly Highlights: Week 17

BIBLE: This is Ezra (and my) favorite part of school. It helps that Ezra has such a love for hearing Bible stories. He is always asking more, which is great- especially this week! We had some catching up to do (from our sick days), I thought this would be a great week to treat him with a few extra stories. :)

Tower of Babel: This is such a great story in explaining how so many languages came to be. It also reminds me of Acts 1:8- "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." The Lord spread out the people from Babel. God wasn't pleased with them congregating in one spot, building a tower so big, to make a name for themselves. Likewise, we are to spread out & spread God's Word. He gave himself unto us, in a form of a man. So that we can relate to Him in all stages of our lives. So that we would be filled with His spirit. So we can be effective in sharing His love with others. So that others may come to know Christ & be saved. We are to be like salt, but too much salt (in one spot) isn't a good thing.


Abram & Sarai.

Son for Abraham.


Wife for Isaac:

I absolutely love this story! It gives us another great opportunity in talking to our children about selecting his/ her future spouse. It's never too early to instill those values- how & what to look for godly characters... and how to rely on the Lord for help, like Abraham's servant did.)


Esau & Jacob:

We had so much fun with this story! We decided to act this one out. My son laughed his head off when I screamed & pulled out ("gave birth") 2 baby dolls out from under my sweat shirt. (Do not add the screaming part, unless your child fully understand the curse women have received from Adam & Eve's story.) Ezra must not have expected it, because he fell over his chair from laughing so hard. He thought it was the best thing ever & even retold this story at dinner time. It was definitely fun to create a visual to show what it must have looked like when Esau came out, with Jacob holding onto his twin brother's heel. The conflict between the twins had begun since they were in Rebekah's womb. Again, this is a great story in teaching about sibling rivalry, forgiveness, relationships, honesty, etc.. There's so much to teach our children in each of these stories.... Seriously, who needs parenting magazines, when you have the Manual for Life in the Holy Book God has given us- that we can read freely??!!!


READING & WRITING:

e = /ea/
oy & oi = /oy/
e, i, y preceding letter 'g' = 'changers'


MUSIC:

Lots of Traditional Christmas Carols!!


Other Activites:

Studying Camel's Feet- Following the "Wife for Isaac" story. How Abraham's servant was able to travel a long distance with 10 camels loaded with presents. Camels have wide feet that keep them from sinking in the sand. We had an activity in learning about the effectiveness of camel's feet- using pencil, quarter, tape & sand.

Making Lentil Stew- (To reinforce the story about Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for some bread & lentil stew) Lentils are a small plant, like a pea, that grow well even in poor soil, and have been an important food in the Bible lands area for centuries.

Heat in a large soup pot:

1 1/2 T. olive oil

Add & saute:

1 chopped onion

1 minced clove garlic

Add:

4 cups water

1 cup lentils

1/2 t. cumin

Cook the soup 30~45 minutes until lentils are tender.

Add:

2 T. lemon juice

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

(For a less authentic option, add one can of diced tomatoes & cubed ham or crumbled bacon.)