I Love My Bible 7 Week Study for Kids

While teaching children's church recently I used the following resources to get our kids comfortable with using the Bible and help them understand why it matters.

The 7 week series from Church on the Move
http://seeds.churchonthemove.com/series/i-love-my-bible


The You Tube video we used during our mid-week and weekend services.
La Bible by Apologetix
http://youtu.be/KmFAHBTmQbk

Printables
We used these awesome Books of the Bible coloring pages as flashcards.
http://www.kidsbibleworksheets.com/BibleColoringPage.htm

Emergency Preparedness for Children

September is National Preparedness Month and so I've been gathering some online resources to share with you and with my boys. Enjoy.

FEMA Ready Kids Includes information on creating an emergency supply kit and developing an emergency plan. Also includes games, coloring pages, songs, etc.

Ready Classroom Emergency Preparedness for teachers, students and families. Includes videos on fire drills, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and many other topics.

American Red Cross Masters of Disaster Grade level appropriate disaster preparedness curriculum created by the American Red Cross. Includes educators kit, family kit, activity sheets, etc.

U.S. Fire Administration for Kids Fire safety, games and resources for parents and teachers.

This is a short list but there's a lot of good information covered on each site. If you have a favorite that I've yet to share please leave a link in the comments.

Thanks,

Bone Naming Games

When I put this poster and Halloween decoration on the wall side by side I did it because I was hoping to spark some interest in the skeletal system. So far the boys have enjoyed rearranging the skeleton but have asked no questions and expressed no interest in learning more.

So today I introduced this online bone naming game and this online bone matching game and they loved them (especially the matching). We'll see if learning the names of the bones inspires a bit more curiosity about their function, what they're made of, etc. and if not we'll do something else for a while.

Hope you're having a great day,

Bible Learning Plan for Judges Through Kings

I love the Veritas Press Bible Curriculum and just got done raving about it a few days or so ago, but right now I can't justify the cost...

So, realizing that you don't need a curriculum to teach the Bible but that it's nice to have a plan I put together the following list. What I did was decide what 36 events from the books of Judges through Kings I want to study with the kids over the next year. Then I googled like crazy trying to find movies (my kids still love Veggie Tales), activities, games, crafts, lessons, worksheets and color pages to go with the events I chose. (I'm certainly not committed to using them all the time but they're nice to have when you want them.) For the few lessons that I was unable to find something to go with we'll probably paint or draw what we read about.

As with all the other lesson plans I put together I'm publishing these in hopes that someone else will find them useful and not have to redo all the work I've done.


1. Deborah - Judges 4 Calvary Chapel Deborah Worksheets
Rockin' the Standards - Place Value Rap Lyrics
Rockin' the Standards - Place Value Rap on You Tube
2. The Call of Gideon - Judges 6-7
Calvary Chapel the Call of Gideon Worksheets
Calvary Chapel Gideon's Army Worksheets
eBibleTeacher.com Gideon Goes to War Worksheet/Color Page
Build an outdoor shelter using materials we find in the yard only.
Review the 10 Commandments.
Fighting the Giants - Gideon and the Fleece
Fighting the Giants - Gideon's 300 Men
3. Jotham and Abimelech - Judges 9 Give Me Leadership or Give Me Death - David C Cook lesson on Judges 8-9

4. Jephthah's Vow - Judges 11

5. Samson and the Lion - Judges 13-14 Calvary Chapel's Samson is Born Worksheets

6. Samson and Delilah/Samson in the Temple - Judges 16
Calvary Chapel's Samson and Delilah Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's Samson Pulls Down the Temple Worksheets
Online Bible Trivia Game covering the Book of Judges
Grass Seed Samson Craft
Movie - Veggie Tales: Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush

7. Ruth and Naomi - Ruth 1-4 Calvary Chapel's Ruth Chooses to Stay with Naomi Worksheets
What Makes a Good Friend? Accordion Book
Calvary Chapel's Ruth Gleans in the Fields Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's Boaz Redeems Ruth Worksheets
Movie- Veggie Tales: Duke and the Great Pie War

8. Samuel is Called to Serve God - 1 Samuel 1-3
Calvary Chapel's Hannah Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's Samuel is Born Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's Eli and His Wicked Son's Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's Samuel is Called Worksheets
Book- Adopted for a Purpose by Pauline Youd

9. The Ark is Captured - 1 Samuel 4-6
Calvary Chapel's The Capture and the Return of the Ark Worksheets
Ark of the Covenant Crafts

10. Samuel Anoints Saul - 1 Samuel 8-10
Calvary Chapel's Saul is Made King of Israel Worksheets
Crowns for Bible Kings Craft and Lesson on the Difference Between Crowning and Anointing

11. Saul's Downfall - 1 Samuel 11, 13

12. God Chooses David - 1 Samuel 16
Calvary Chapel's David is Anointed King by Samuel

13. David and Goliath - 1 Samuel 17 Calvary Chapel's David and Goliath Worksheets
The Battle is the Lord's Wall Hanging Craft
Movie- Veggie Tales: Dave and the Giant Pickle

14. Saul's Jealousy - 1 Samuel 18-19 Saul's Jealousy of David Matching Worksheet

15. David and Jonathan - 1 Samuel 20 Calvary Chapel's The Friendship of David and Jonathan Worksheets
Friendship Postcards Craft
eBibleTeacher.com Choosing Our Friends Worksheet

16. David Spares Saul's Life - 1 Samuel 24 Calvary Chapel's David Spares Saul's Life Twice Worksheets

17. David and Abigail - 1 Samuel 25

18. The Death of Saul - 1 Samuel 28, 31 Calvary Chapel's Saul and His Sons Die in Battle Worksheets

19. David the King - 2 Samuel 5-6 Calvary Chapel's David is Made King Worksheets

20. David is Kind to Mephibosheth - 2 Samuel 9 Calvary Chapel's David is Kind to Mephibosheth Worksheets

21. David and Bathsheba - 2 Samuel 11-12 eBibleTeacher.com David and Bathsheba Lesson

22. Absalom's Rebellion - 2 Samuel 12-18 eBibleTeacher.com Lesson on Absalom's Rebellion

23. David's Last Words - 2 Samuel 23

24. Solomon Becomes King/The Wisdom of Solomon - 1 Kings 1-3 Calvary Chapel's Solomon is Made King Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's The Wisdom of Solomon Worksheets

25. The Building of the Temple - 1 Kings 5-8 Calvary Chapel's Solomon Builds the Temple Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's The Dedication of the Temple Worksheets

26. Solomon and the Queen of Sheba - 1 Kings 10
Calvary Chapel's The Queen of Sheba Worksheets

27. Elijah in the Wilderness/ Elijah Helps a Widow - 1 Kings 17 Calvary Chapel's The Ravens Bring Food to Elijah Worksheets
Raven Finger Puppet Craft
Calvary Chapel's Elijah Helps a Poor Widow Worksheets
eBibleTeachers A Widow's Jars of Oil Color Page
Bread Recipes so the kids can make bread for the family like the widow did for Elijah

28. Elijah and the Priests of Baal - 1 Kings 18 Calvary Chapel's Elijah Beats the Prophets of Baal Worksheets

29. Elijah and the Angel - 1 Kings 19 Calvary Chapel's The Still Small Voice Worksheets

30. Elijah Chooses Elisha - 1 Kings 19
Calvary Chapel's Elijah Chooses Elisha Worksheets

31. Naboth's Vineyard - 1 Kings 21 Naboth's Vineyard Booklet Idea
eBibleTeacher.com Ahab Asks to Buy Naboth's Vineyard Color Page

32. The Parting of Elijah - 2 Kings 2 Calvary Chapel's Elijah is Taken to Heaven Worksheets

33. Elisha and the Widow / Woman of Shunem / Boy Raised From the Dead - 2 Kings 4 Calvary Chapel's Elisha Helps a Poor Widow Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's Elisha and the Shunnamite Woman Worksheets
Calvary Chapel's Elisha Raises a Boy From the Dead Worksheets

34. Elisha and Naaman - 2 Kings 5 Calvary Chapel's Naaman's Leprosy is Healed Worksheets
Naaman is Healed Song and Craft

35. The Crowning of Joash/Joash Repairs the Temple - 2 Kings 11-12 Calvary Chapel's Joash Repairs the Temple Worksheets
Treasure Chest Craft

36. The Death of Elisha - 2 Kings 13

Rain, Rain...Learning More About Water

Suggestions and ideas...opportunities for learning about water. This is a little all over the place and very general but I think we'll have fun with it.

Books and Videos
The magic school bus at the waterworks
Biotrackers [juvenile DVD] : explore habitats of the world!
Air, weather & water [juvenile DVD]
The way things work [juvenile DVD] floating
The water cycle [videorecording]
Explore the ocean

Maps Skills

Locate the 5 oceans on world map
Look at map and try to estimate how much of the earth's surface is covered with water

Vocabulary Words to Discuss
Habitat - the place an organism normally lives
Surface film - habitat for certain beetles, bugs and plants
Conservation - the process of preventing loss, injury or change
Distillation - the process of purifying water by boiling it and condensing it's vapors
H2O - define hydrogen and oxygen (intro to periodic table)
Evaporation - conversion of a liquid to a vapor state

Creative Writing
make a list of where we think our drinking water comes from
Record our water usage for one 24 hour period
Write a story as if we were one of the boys in the art print below

posters.com

Art Appreciation or Application
learn more about Homer Winslow and his painting pictured above
nature art journaling while visiting the lake

Hands on Activities and Field Trips
Make a rain gage

Create and Observe a Solar Distiller

Conduct Water Cycle Experiment

visit a local lake -

• talk about what might live in the water


• use nets and bug boxes to collect specimen of water and see what living organisms are visible


• use microscope to look at samples of lake water


• return water along with all living organisms to the lake

Bonus Activity from KONOS unit study on Africa:

Pretend your back yard water faucet is your only water source. Put signs at all the faucets in the house to remind you not to use them for one whole day. Take a bath using only one bucket of water. Discuss the need of clean water, hygiene and sanitation training and how we can be part of the solution. Click here and here for more info.

Learning About Opossums

While cleaning out and getting rid of all our old magazines, the boys and I came across an interesting article about Opossums and we decide to read it together. These animals are much more interesting than I realized. (Please note that this article has some parts that I skipped or rephrased when reading it out loud.)

So anyway, here's what they said they learned...

• Opossums have pouches


• the babies climb up the mom's fur into the pouch


• Opossums waddle when they walk


• Opossums have little "thumbs"


• they are immune to the venom of rattlesnakes

So that was our science class for the day!

Bears and Bear Habitats for J

J asked me where bears hibernate and what their homes are like, so in an effort to answer his question we went online together and put the following items on hold from the library. These are all resources he picked out.

• Woodland animals by Walsh, Patricia


• Fishing bears by Berman, Ruth


• All-American bear [videorecording] by WGBH Educational Foundation


• Polar bears by DuTemple, Lesley A


• The world of the polar bear by Rosing, Norbert

I'm excited that he is expressing his own interests in learning and that I have the opportunity to point him in the right direction as far as resources go. Maybe when we're done with these books and videos I'll print out some color pages or worksheets for him, if he's still interested.

Trees and Leaves Nature Study

With all the leaves falling from the trees it seems the appropriate time to learn a bit about them. (trees and leaves that is) And so here are my lesson plans (hope you don't mind me sharing).



Books to read:

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Be a Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber

Maple syrup season by Purmell, Ann



Videos/Movies to watch:

Arbor Day by Rhonda Fabian

The Big Christmas Tree by Hartrampf, Roerig



Writing projects or worksheets:

We'll make a poster or flashcards identifying the leaves we collect from our neighborhood. (See physical activity.) We'll also draw one of our favorite trees at the arboretum in our nature journals.



Art project or appreciation:

We'll write an acrostic poem about trees or leaves



Physical activity:

We will take a walk around the neighborhood collecting as many different fallen leaves as we can to be identified when we get home.



Field trips:

We will spend some time at our local arboretum hiking and identifying and drawing different trees.

Learning a Bit About Frogs (and how to keep one as a pet)

This little unit is for J, who adores frogs and has one captive in a 5 gallon aquarium on our kitchen table. There are so many resources at the library on this topic, this is just a start. If J is still interested and would like to learn more we will continue on and check out more materials. (By the way, I haven't previewed any of these books or movies. They're just the ones that looked intersting, informational and appropriate for a 1st grader.)

Informational videos and dvds

Magic me [videorecording] by National Geographic Television

Getting started with frogs [juvenile videotape] by GCG Productions

Magic school bus hops home [videorecording] by Cole, Joanna

Books

A tadpole grows up by Zollman, Pam

Pet frog by Nelson, Robin

They walk the earth : the extraordinary travels of animals on land by Simon, Seymour

Printables

Frog coloring page

Life Cycle of a frog coloring page

Jumping Frog origami

A little lesson in local government

Just a few movies we watched in response to W's questions. "How do you become mayor?" and "What does the mayor do?"





Local government [juvenile DVD] by Stone House Productions.





Federal, state and local government [juvenile videotape] by McCally, John.





The lone star kid [videorecording] by Williams, Anson.





As usual all of these resources were borrowed from the local library.

Botany for my 8 and (almost) 6 year old

This is the kind of unit that may usually be studied in the spring but we're doing it now in an effort to stay interested even though the winter is coming. We'll be borrowing all of these resources from the library and just enjoy them. There's no timeline or test, just fun! Hope you find some of these suggestions useful!

Books to read
Stems by Bodach, Vijaya

Plant plumbing : a book about roots and stems by Blackaby, Susan

Roots are food finders by Branley, Franklyn Mansfield

Grocery store botany by Rahn, Joan Elma

Shakespeare's flowers by Kerr, Jessica

Videos/movies to watch
What is pollination? [videorecording]

How plants grow [videorecording]

How seeds get here-- and there [videorecording]

How plants get food [videorecording]

Maps/charts to look at or create
Map out a plan for our vegetable garden to be planted next year with our neighbor.

Writing project or worksheets
Label the parts of a plant worksheet

Art project or appreciation
Shakespeare's flowers by Kerr, Jessica

Physical activity or hands on project
We may chose a project to try next spring from the following book:
The plant-and-grow project book by Dietl, Ulla

Field trips
Go outside and enjoy, identify, and draw plants and flowers. (Maybe we'll make a Wild Day
of it!)

Our Rainforest Learning Adventure!

Books to read

Living in a rainforest by Winne, Joanne.

Deep in a rainforest by Pascoe, Gwen

Animals of the rain forest by Savage, Stephen

Videos/movies to watch

Magic school bus in the rain forest [videorecording]

Rainforest animals [juvenile videotape]

People of the rainforest [juvenile videotape]

At the zoo 2 [videorecording]

Maps/charts to look at

Locate rain forests on world map.

Vocabulary words to discuss

We will focus on learning the names of the animals and maybe some of the plants.

Writing project and/or worksheets

Write the names of the rainforest animals we learn about each day on notecards. We will use these at the end of the study for a game of rainforest animal charades.

Click here to go to The Rainforest Cafe website where you can find the printable activity books that we may use.


Art project or appreciation

Looking for jaguar and other rainforest poems by Katz, Susan.

Draw! rainforest animals by DuBosque, D. C.

Physical activity

Rainforest animal charades

We will also play a rainforests card game we have.

Field trips

Dessert or a shake and (hopefully) a tour at The Rainforest Cafe.

Learning about worms

Books to read-

Garden wigglers : earthworms in your backyard by Loewen, Nancy

Inchworm and a half by Pinczes, Elinor J.

It could still be a worm by Fowler, Allan

The inside-out stomach : an introduction to animals without backbones by Loewer, H. Peter

Wonderful worms by Glaser, Linda

Videos/Movies to watch-

Creepy creatures & slimy stuff [videorecording]

Slither & slime and other yucky things [juvenile DVD]

Maps/Charts to look at (or create)-

We'll be collecting worms in the yard to start our own worm farm and will keep track of how many other insects and critters we find in the dirt. We will then create a simple bar graph to organize and compare the information we've gathered about the underground habitat in our back yard. We will probably do this with legos.

Vocabulary words to discuss-

• Burrow - to make a hole or passage in, into, or under something.


• Clitellum - a ring or saddle-shaped region of glandular tissue in the body wall of certain annelids, as earthworms and some leeches, that after copulation secretes a cocoon in which the eggs and sperm are deposited for fertilization and development.


• Setae - A stiff hair, bristle, or bristlelike process or part on an organism


• Wormcast - cylindrical mass of earth voided by a burrowing earthworm or lugworm


• Invertebrate - not vertebrate; without a backbone

The three we will focus on the most are burrow, wormcast and invertebrate.

Writing project-

I will encourage my big boy to either create a short comic book type story about a worm (this will take all week) or write two sentences a day telling me what he is learning about worms (this, of course, would be done each day.) My little boy will probably choose a couple of words a day to write for me (such as earthworm or dirt).

Art Project or appreciation-

We will chose a project from this book -

Insects, bugs, & art activities by Parker, Steve

Physical activity-

We will enjoy pretending to be worms by slithering around the house

and will read

Pets in a jar / collecting and caring for small wild animals by Simon, Seymour

and try our hand at a worm farm.

Field trips-

Go in the back yard a collect worms and dirt for our worm farm and probably go fishing with Dad! (Notice I did not say "with Mom". Yuck!)