Prepare and Pray Lesson 16: Ten Years Later

Prepare and Pray, is a family preparedness study based off the book Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Wyss. SFR is a delightful "living" book that is rich in natural science, vocabulary, geographical details, history and physical science. It is a timeless classic with strong moral and spiritual content. We read the original version and love the rich language. The subjects we cover in our curriculum include Bible memory, Handi-work/Crafts, Life skills, Clothing, Shelter, Health, Safety and Nutrition, Natural and Physical Science, Geography and History. The discussion questions provided provoke deep discussions. And I love the Toddler Tales for the little ones.

I think the thing that stuck out to me most in this chapter is that Franz is finally considered mature and ready for manhood at the age of 24, as determined by his father, with respect to his judgements and abilities, rather than by a cultural norm that says a child is an adult at age 18 without respect to their maturity, abilities or parental authority.

". . . that our eldest son is now of an age to be dependent on himself. I shall, therefore, henceforth leave him at liberty to act in all respects according to his own judgement: and, especially in the matter of voyages and excursions, he must not be hampered by the fear of alarming us should he choose to remain absent longer than we expect. I have such entire confidence in his prudence, and at the same time in his affection for us, that I am certain he will never needlessly cause us anxiety."

This is my hope for my boys that we will have such confidence in their prudence and affection for us! Just as the Robinson boys had work to do, so do we. As we discussed each character trait of the Robinson boys, we also evaluated where we are and where we hope to be ten years from now.

I began with my oldest (who is 13). I printed off a list of character traits and had him write the definition of each trait with a verse from Scripture that describes that trait and a blessing for displaying this trait. I also had him do this for negative character traits that we want to avoid. He had to write the desirable trait that we want to replace it with as well as write a list of natural consequences if the negative trait was displayed. This was a good lesson for him and one that I hope we will continue to develop as we shape and mold his character.

I used the Character Traits Check List from Heart of Wisdom, Doorpost's If/Then Chart and Blessing Chart and the book Parenting With Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments

as a guide for our "character training."

Also in this lesson, we talked about how our family would survive in an extended crisis. We have become more conscious of how we use and save items that can be reused. This is not always easy in a throw away society (so much is considered disposable).

We talked about what kinds of recreational activities we would enjoy doing as a family if we had no electricity, telephones or internet (like learning to play a musical instrument, games and handi-crafts). I would love to acquire a treadle sewing machine, spinning wheel and floor loom. I would also love a foot powered potter's wheel. The boys said they would build forts and toys made from wood, explore, collect rocks and unusual items to make a museum like the Robinson family did.

One of the assignments this lesson was to start a family journal. My scrapbook is a family journal and memory keeper and my blogs also serve as an online journal of our family, but it did get me thinking about another aspect of our family that I do not journal much about and I would like to.

Many of the other activities in this lesson we have already done or did not have much interest in doing right now.

One of our discussion questions caught our eye. It was on gardening techniques and how to deal with challenging situations such as steep slopes (terrace gardening), dry soil (irrigation, mulching), poor soil (composting and raised beds), cold temperatures (cold frames, green houses), small spaces (trellises, container planting). We have many of these conditions on the homestead we are building in Montana, so we tried some of the techniques.

On the lower banks of a seasonal creek bed, we planted a terraced strawberry garden from babies that we transplanted. While we were digging, we discovered about 6 inches of composted pine needles that resulted in a very rich black soil. Underneath that was a lot of rock that we dug out.

We placed the rocks as stepping stones and also to prevent erosion.

I made sure that we gave them plenty of room to grow. They have a way of spreading and taking over the place.

We also planted blueberry bushes along the upper edges of the bank of the creek.

We added coffee grounds to the soil for acidity and used large rocks to create a border and prevent erosion of the soil.

We raked the nearby pine needles over the top and then added hay for more mulch. We also built a make shift fence to keep the cows out.

All that hay will be tempting, but I am hoping the fence will keep them out. This is only temporary because while it may keep the cows out, it will not keep deer and other critters out.

I enjoyed the rest of our discussion and reading Toddler Tales to the little ones. I wasn't sure that Mali was listening but he came up to me afterward and asked me what to do if a cougar attacked you. (In the story, Susanna frightens away a cougar by opening up her cape with her arms and looking big.)

Other posts in this series can be found in my sidebar under the category Prepare and Pray.

Instant Challenge #3: Cup Holder Solutions

If you missed it, be sure to see my introductory post for rules and more information!

Cup Holder

Challenge: Your TASK is to create a structure that holds two cups as high as

possible and as far apart as possible.

Time: You will have up to 7 minutes to use your IMAGINATION to create a

structure and then up to 1 minute to place the cups on it for score.

Set-up: A table with materials, two cups and a taped square.

They began with a pipe cleaner reinforced straw structure attached with mailing labels to the paper (since they could not attach it to the floor).

Then they made a bridge by attaching the envelope to the supports with the paperclips.

Jordan reinforced the structure by rolling up the tin foil and attaching it to the sides.

In a last ditch effort to use all the supplies, they added the pennies for "weights." Their structure held the cups 6 inches off the ground and 5 inches apart.

I had the boys score themselves this round.

They gave themselves:

0 out of 10 points for having a completed structure after Step 1.

10 out of 20 points for creative use of the materials

6 points for how far off their cups are off the ground (6 inches x 1 pt for each inch)

10 points for how far apart their cups are (5 inches x 2 points for each inch apart)

10 out of 20 points for how well they worked together

For a total of 36 points.

During our feedback session, I asked the boys how else this could have been built and they said they didn't think there was any other way this could have been done (lol), so we are curious to see if anyone else was up for a challenge and what kind of structures you may have come up with!

There will not be a new challenge this week. I will post a new challenge next week.

A Review of Explore/Plan by ACT Advantage

Jordan, my oldest who is currently 13, took the Explore test offered by ACT. We previosly reviewed the Discover program and worked on making a plan for Jordan's future. The Explore test was another step in working towards that goal.

Explore is the first part of a testing system that goes on to include Plan and the ACT.

The Explore/Plan tests sell for $22.95 each.

Typically, students take Explore in the 8th or 9th grade, Plan as 10th graders, and the ACT as juniors or seniors. As a member of the Crew, we received both Explore and Plan Sample Tests, but I only had him take the Explore.

All three test you in English, math, reading, and science. However, the material tested in each program gets more difficult. Hence, why we stuck with the Explore.

There are 4 parts to the test:

1. English
2. Math
3. Reading
4. Science

1. The English Test measures your understanding of standard written English—punctuation, grammar and usage, and sentence structure (Usage/Mechanics)—and your understanding of the use of strategy, organization, and style in writing (Rhetorical Skills).

You receive a total score for the English test and separate scores (called "subscores") for Usage/Mechanics and Rhetorical Skills.

Sample English Test Items

2. The Math Test measures your mathematical reasoning. The test focuses on your ability to reason in math rather than on how well you have memorized formulas or can do involved computations.

Questions on the test cover four areas—knowledge and skills, direct application, understanding concepts, and integrating your understanding of concepts—in pre-algebra, elementary algebra, geometry, and statistics and probability.

Sample Math Test Items

3. The Reading Test measures your ability to understand written material from different school subjects. The skills measured include referring to details in the passage, drawing conclusions, and making comparisons and generalizations.

Sample Reading Test Items

4. The Science Test measures your scientific reasoning skills and your ability to understand scientific information and draw conclusions from it. Six sets of scientific information are presented in one of three formats: data representation (graphs, tables, and other forms), research summaries (descriptions of several related experiments), or conflicting viewpoints (two or more hypotheses that are inconsistent with one another).

Materials for this test are drawn from the life sciences, Earth/space sciences (e.g., geology, astronomy, and meteorology), and physical sciences. The test emphasizes your scientific reasoning skills rather than how well you can recall scientific facts, or your skills in mathematics or in reading

Scoring:

The Explore Student Score Report gives information about your knowledge, skills, interests, and plans. You can then use this information as you plan your high school coursework and begin thinking about college and work.

Your report also tells you how you did on the tests and how your scores compare to those of other students across the nation. It contains information about your educational and career plans, interests, high school coursework plans, and the amount of help you think you need in seven areas.

Your scores can then be used to predict how you are likely to do if you take PLAN as a tenth grader.

You can then use these predicted or estimated scores to see if you are on track to achieve the scores you want when you take the ACT later in high school.

I thought the test packet was straight forward, easy to implement and simple to score and understand. I have been wanting a test that I could give at home to access development and this fit the bill.

See other crew member reviews of Explore/Plan, or click on the banner below to visit the Crew Blog.

I received this product for free in exchange for my review as a member of the Crew. No further compensation was received and I offer my honest opinion. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Homeschool Highlights #7 The Off Week Ediiton

Me to the kids: "What did we do this week?"

Jordan shrugs shoulders. "Oh, we did the instant challenge." (I will post the solution to this weeks challenge tonight).

Nathan: "We did our independent work. And science."

We did a little history too.

We had a fun day on Tuesday. (Watched a movie and had a special dinner).

But mostly, this has been an off week for us. Just the basics.

Then Friday, I stubbed my toe, pinched my arm, and jammed my finger all in the span of 5 minutes. Then Malachi fell down the basement stairs and cut his nose and forehead on the edge of a desk and we spent a couple hours trying to get him to let us ice it with a bag of frozen corn. I then added a comfrey poultice instead. The swelling has gone down quite a bit, but he is sore. Needless to say, we had corn for dinner but while I was taking it out of the oven, I dropped the creamy corn dish and it spilled all over the oven and floor. Then as I was putting the lasagna away after dinner, I dropped it and dumped half of it on the floor. I am afraid to touch anything.

On a different note, I am organizing and rearranging again - always a good thing. I am also rethinking the whole workbox thing. We'll see what happens with that.

But, me [re]thinking usually means something has to change.

I really hope to accomplish more this week - even if it means more organizing, rearranging and restructuring (of which I have a strong desire to do right now).

In closing, I almost didn't post this because I try to remain positive and try not to dwell on the bad stuff. But just in case anyone was wondering, we have off weeks too!

Cain and Abel, Seth to Noah, Corruption of Man

Here is what we have been up to for Biblical History:

Readings:

• Chronological Bible: Genesis 4 (Cain murders Abel), 5 (The Family of Adam) & 6:1-8 (The wickedness of men, Noah pleases God, the ark prepared)
• Adam to Messiah: Cain and Abel, Seth to Noah, Corruption of Man
• The Victor Journey Through The Bible: Cain and Abel (p. 14)
• Genesis: Finding Our Roots: p. 37-42
• Who's Who in the Bible: Cain, Abel, Seth, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah
• Adam and His Kin: Ch. 5 "Cain," Ch. 6 "Writing in the Stars" & Ch. 7 "The Preachers"
• The Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History: Discussion questions

Audio:

• What in the World? Track 3 "Early Man"(12:06)
• True Tales: Ancient Civilizations and the Bible Track 3 "Early Man" (17:14) and Track 4 "Where Did Cain Get His Wife?" (9:08)

In Genesis 4, we have the first case of sibling rivalry ~ Cain slew his brother Abel because he was jealous that God accepted Abel's offering and not his. There are several theories as as to why his was not accepted: his heart condition (he didn't bring the best of his crops or that he did not bring the correct offering). Knowing what we know about sacrifices and offerings in the Torah, we think it might be the latter. There were grains offerings and animal offerings, but not vegetables offerings.

Cain was punished. His punishment was to great for him to bear, so YHVH put a mark on him to protect his life. He went to the land of Nod and there he built the first city and took a wife. So, where did Cain get his wife? Short answer: Cain married his sister. {They could do that back then because the genetic pool was pure}

Pre-flood Society and Culture

• The first city is built (Genesis 4:17 ~ Cain built a city in the land of Nod and named it after his son Enoch)
• We have the first case of polygamy (Genesis 4:19 ~ Lamech took for himself two wives)
• Nomadic herdsmen (Genesis 4:20 ~ Jabal was the father of all who dwell in tents and have livestock)
• Musical instruments (Genesis 4:21 ~ Jubal was the father of all who play the harp and flute)
• Craftsmen in bronze and iron (Genesis 4:22 ~ Tubal-Cain was the father of every craftsman in bronze and iron)
• Genesis 4:26 then men began to call on the name of YHVH.

We threw a little science and technology in with our study of History and learned that bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. And that iron is an element that in its pure state is soft. It needs to be combined with carbon to make steel to give it strength. I assigned each boy to research the trades of Jabel, Jubal and Tubal Cain. It was easy to decide which for each boy ~ Jordan has a hands on/industrial bent, Nathan wants to be a dairy farmer and Dylan has a musical gift.

The boys also completed a notebooking page on pre-flood society.

We learned that there is a hidden message is the names of the descendants from Adam to Noah:

1. Adam ~ Man
2. Seth ~ Appointed
3. Enosh ~ Mortal
4. Kenan ~ Sorrow
5. Mahalalel ~ The blessed God
6. Jared ~ Shall come down
7. Enoch ~ Teaching
8. Methuselah ~ His death shall bring
9. Lamech ~ The Despairing
10. Noah ~ Comfort, Rest

If you put them all together you can see the hidden message: Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow [but] the blessed God shall come down teaching [that] His death shall bring the despairing comfort, rest.

The gospel message is that we are all sinners and God's son died to bring us salvation. ~ Ruth Beechick

Pretty neat that the gospel message is found in the lineage of the descendants of Adam. If you don't know this, a sinner is anyone who transgresses God's law (the Torah or law of Moses). (1 John 3:4) The law did three things: gave us teachings and instructions on how to live a life pleasing to the Father and pronounced blessings and curses. The ultimate curse of the law is death. Yeshua (Jesus) paid our debt in full when he died on the cross. {It is free to all, but, you have to ask for this gift and then you must endure to the end by living a life pleasing to your Savior ~ ie. just because we are under grace and not under the law (meaning we are not judged by the law [found guilty] because we have redemption in Yeshua~Jesus) doesn't mean that we can continue to live a sinful life (transgress the law of God) Romans 6:15, and we don't make void the law just because we are under faith. Romans 3:31}

Chapter 5 is all about the generations of Adam and 6 is about the wickedness of man, Noah finds favor in God's eye and the ark is prepared. The days of Noah (full of wickedness) characterize the days just before Yeshua's return. Are we living as in the days of Noah? I am curious to study the meanings of the names of the rest of the descendants of Noah!

Up next : Noah's Ark and the Global Flood

Also in this series:

1. Introduction to Biblical History
2. The First Week of History
3. Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and The Fall

A Review of Gymathtics by Exploramania

Exploramania just sounds like a cool name for a company that produces the Exploracise® Gymathics® DVD.

The colorful cover and the "gym" and "math" caught my interest because my kids love being active, but they don't love math as much.

Gymathics is complete 30 minute program that includes:

• Shape Stretches Warm Up: Stretch your mind and body with line, circle, and polygon stretches.
• Counting Calisthenics: Aerobic movements work your heart as fun counting concepts work your brain.
• Pattern Power: Growing and repeating pattern exercise combinations challenge minds and strengthen muscles.
• Well-Being Wind Down: Relaxing stretches cool down the body and open the mind to think about healthy lifestyle choices including the Nice Wave Stretch and Big Dream Stretch.

Shape Stretches Warm Up include:

• Straight, Parallel, Intersecting and Perpendicular Lines
• Ray, Angle, Obtuse Angle, Acute Angle, Right Angles
• Diagonal Lines, Wave function, Wavy Lines
• Circle, Semi-Circle,
• Congruent Shapes, Similar Shapes
• Circumference, Radius, Center Point of Circle
• Oval, Polygon, Triangle, Quadrilateral, Rectangle, Pentagon
• Square, Rhombus, Trapezoid, Parallelogram
• Equilateral, Isosceles, Scalene, Obtuse, Acute, Right Triangles

Counting Calisthenics includes:

• Whole Numbers
• Integer
• Number Line
• Odd and Even Numbers
• Skip Count
• Place Value
• Prime Numbers

Pattern Power includes:

• Growing Pattern
• Repeating Pattern

The math education details in the program are incorporated through three senses: Kinesthetic/Movement, Auditory, and Visual.

Price: $24.99

While this seems like an excellent concept (learning math through movement), this didn't work for our family. It showed lack of originality and frequently repeated phrases seemed, well, overused and a bit irritating. (Our two year old was the only one who would watch it a second time ~ she loved following along and especially liked that there was another little girl in the program.) My boys love to be active in sports and real activity. Even in the wintertime, they will bundle up and head to the park to play ball. On really cold days, they will go to the gym.

I also thought it was a bit overpriced for the quality.

However, Exploramania carries other products such as this Multiplication Thumb Ball and this Geometry Thumb Ball and we think that would be something that would work for our family. My kids are glued to a soccer ball 8 months out of the year. If we go anywhere, they always bring a soccer ball. What a great way to teach them math with a sport they love. I am all about that!

Be sure to see what other Crew mates think of Gymathtics, some really liked it!

I reviewed this product for free in exchange for my review as a member of the Crew. I offer my honest opinion. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Nature Explorers: Habitat

~Mali is 4.9 years and Elli is 2.10 years old~

Part One: Wyoming Habitat

For our lesson on habitat, we started by visiting the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Forest Service.

They were very helpful and loaded us up with info and stuff.

Checking out his loot once we got home. We used the print information at the end of our study.

We learned that Wyoming has 5 main habitats:

1. The Alpine Zone
2. The Foothills Shrubland
3. Sagebrush and Prairie Grassland Community
4. Urban and Agrarian Lands (Agrarian means cultivated land)
5. Aquatic and Riparian Areas (Riparian means of or by the banks of a river)

We talked about how people share the same space with many animals in Wyoming and that we need the same things from our habitat that wildlife does:

• food
• water
• space
• shelter

But we use our habitat differently than an animal does.

Checking out several species common to Wyoming.

The black tailed prairie dog lives in the Sagebrush and Prairie Grassland Community among 53 species of birds, 58 species of mammals . . .

By the time we were done, they were Junior Game Wardens.

Part Two: Jump In On Brother's Science Experiment To Learn That An Animal's Habitat Can Protect Them From Predators.

The older boys are studying land animals, and their first experiment had to do with how camouflage can protect animals in their habitat. So when they were done, Mali did his own experiment ~ of course it involved chocolate so he was anxious to do so. He went on a hunt to find the candy bars and made a candy "bar" graph.

Part Three: Forest Habitat

After reading several books on different habitats, I let Mali pick which habitat he would like to study further and he picked forest. We own property that is considered forest land, so we went for a hike to see what we could see.

We saw several old stumps and knew that they could be a home for several small animals, such as mice or rabbits, according to Mali. We saw evidence that animals had been there, including deer and turkey tracks and turkey feathers. We have a resident black bear, but did not see any signs that it had been nearby (no scat or tracks). We did see evidence that something attacked a turkey - there were feathers everywhere. It must have carried it off. And on our way back, we saw a woodpecker.

Brush piles and underneath a log are homes for small animals and insects.

We spent time reading about forests, forest fires and animals that live in the forest. And then back home, we used the info that we gathered from the Forest Service to make a forest collage.

Cutting out trees.

More cutting. (Sure one photo would have been enough, but I love my little man to pieces)

Cutting and organizing his collage.

Pasting it all down with rubber cement. . .

. . . while watching a documentary on Noah's Ark.

The finished collage:

Forest animals and trees.

Animals and tracks we find in the forest.

Looking at posters from the forest service and learning about Fire's Role in Nature.

Some of our readings on forests included: Wonders Of The Forest and The Tree in the Ancient Forest*

We briefly touched on other common habitats by reading the books Frog in a Bog*, The Young Scientist Investigates Pond Life, and The Hidden Life of the Meadow.

*Our favorite ones.

I don't think two weeks was long enough to explore habitat. We will for sure have to come back to this on our own again.

Now head over to Blissful Moments to see what she and others did this week to explore habitat. Any other young nature explorers out there? Check out the next topic: forest layers (which will make a lovely extension of our study on forest habitat!).