Preschool by the Letters

With a big family I always start our school day by giving attention to the little ones.  We have 3 big containers filled with books, games, math assignments , art projects and many fun things for children in preschool through third grade that are organized alphabetically in file folders.
Each week we pull out a new letter folder, read the books  and do the crafts. They are a supplement to my home school but the small children really like the extra attention. 

 I hope to share some of the projects weekly in photographs.  

After we read  There is an Alligator under my bed by Mercer Mayer my little fellow gets to make an Alligator.    If they want to make their alligator differnetly I let them.  I do not want to stifle genus by putting how to do everything in a box.  The first week we start small and work up to big things.  Little ones tend to memorize "a"  quite easily. 

With the letter A there is a great opportunity to have fun with science because of animals. 
Before we started this semester we took a field trip to the zoo and to see my sister's farm animals including sheep, chickens and a llama!

Of course with the letter A there are Animals. 

The little ones will listen to any book on animals and I have them tell me about what they learned.  In the photo are cut outs of zoo Animals.  Some one else made them and we just play with them saying the name of the animal and and the sounds they make. 

Great A books in the file:
Ashanti to Zulu African traditions By Margret Musgrove Anno's Alphabet
There is an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer
The Art Lesson
Imogene's Antlers By David Small





*The Alphabet is a great place to start when educating preschoolers and early elementary children.  We try not to say the letter names.  We start with the soft sounds and work up to the long sound after the child has the soft sound memorized. 

**Also we use Rod and staff books  for pre k and kindergarten.
         http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Rod_and_Staff_Preschool/ 

***Most of these neat things were created and designed by Mary Jane Brown

Gluten free Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Ok so maybe this one is not alkaline but the kids ate it.
Enjoy.  Oh feeds 10 hungry people.








30 corn tortillas cut into 1 in squares


1 can Texas 2 Step Chili mix (from HEB)


plus one can water


1 package all beef hot dogs Cut lengthwise into strips then cubed.


¼ C onion


2 cups grated cheese






Place all ingredients in a 9 by 13 baking dish. Mix thourally. Place dish into a 350 degree oven for 30 min and watch the kids inhale.

My Favorite Room

My favorite room is not one you might guess and probably not for the reason you might think.  My favorite room is my laundry room.  Yes, it is special because I redesigned it to work efficiently and yes I do spend a lot of time there but it holds a secret behind the doors.  Behind the doors on the wall is a multi-pocket display hanging and 3x5 note cards and a sharpie marker.  I use that marker a lot.  I do not bother to write down dates or times.  Sometimes I only write a name.
        You see I have wanted this wall for a long, long time.  It is a place that I pass all the time.  A place I know is there when I fold the laundry or start a load.  What is on this wall you might ask?  Names.  Names and reasons.  Reasons to pray that is what is on the wall.  People, loved ones, friends, unknown strangers, pastors, missionaries, people are on that wall so I can remember to pray for them. 
    I feel so important for just a moment presenting my petition before the Lord God Almighty.  He, yes He listens to me, my prayer for a moment.  What a privilege!  What an honour!  He is real.  He hears my prayer and things happen.  And laundry happens too.  A servant needs to keep their perspective now don't they. So there you have it my favorite room.    

 

Of Intolerance and Dog Droppings

{Oh you are not going like what I have to say.  You are probably not  going to like me because I am intolerant!   Go ahead crucify me!  I will not be moved!}
   Acquiring  2 dogs has taught me many things.  One of the first things I learned was that found female dogs will more than likely be pregnant.  Another lesson learned was that old dogs can not be trained to do new things.  If they poop and pee in a home, they can and will poop and pee in yours no matter how you train them.   
 It is intolerable to live in a home where 2 big dogs constantly do their business if you know what I mean.  There is a relationship that I expect with an animal that has been rescued: I am the master and it is to obey my rules.     That seems like a reasonable relationship to me.  And yet they will not yield that authority. One dog Lucy almost does but because of the other dog she follows the bad behaviour.  Linda is so nasty out she will go today.    We are putting her outside pups and all. I am intolerant of dog poop and pee in my home.  For the sake of the pups society says I should tolerate this poop and filth.   The world wants me  to clean up the piles in my home and subject my family to it's disease all for the sake of the precious puppies.  Out they go where there will be barking and whining where there are snakes and birds of prey.  It is my home and I have others to think about.  My children deserve a clean home and a mother who has not had to waste her time cleaning up poop.  I can not afford to be intolerant of dog poop in my home.
   God is intolerant too!  He does not tolerate sin or disobedience.  We can accept his salvation but if we choose not to follow the rules we do not belong near him.  His home is perfect and does not have even the slightest imperfection.  Our disobedience is no different than  dog droppings in our Father's home.  He knows if we will sin in His home and will not tolerate it.  We have accepted being rescued from our old sin now isn't it time we wake up and follow the Messiah as our MASTER?  He asked us to pick up our cross and follow Him.  Isn't it time we asked how or at least what the rules are?  I for one do not want to be thought of as the Dame that left droppings at Heavens door.  Good thing He left a set of the rules too.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Rosanna Danna Banna here with the news interpreter commentator for today. 
With all this business of Killing Bill, I do not know what to think.  I know that Bill was once the President of the United States but I do not think that it is a good thing to put up signs to kill him.  Now I know he did some things which were questionable like Monica Lewinsky and Whitewater but really a mob now is kind of late....oh wait  some one is here explaining to me something.  Oh, oh I get it KILL the BILL.  That makes more sense What bill? http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politicsinvesting/1563-20-ways-obamacare-will-take-away-our-freedoms Oh my sorry! I got that wrong.

Gods Top Ten Unabridged

Exodus - Chapter 20


And YHWH spake all these words, saying,

1) I am YHWH thy Elohim, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2)Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I YHWH thy Elohim am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3)Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy Elohim in vain; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4)Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YWHW thy Elohim: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5)Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which YHWH thy Elohim giveth thee.

6)Thou shalt not kill.

7)Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8)Thou shalt not steal.

9)Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

10)Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

{And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw [it], they removed, and stood afar off.
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for Elohim is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where YHWH [was].
And YHWH said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.}

God's Top Ten and Parenting

God is the best parent.  He designed some very simple rules to follow that yield some powerful results.  My favorite are his top ten.  Do you know them?  Can you say them backwards?  I can.  That is how I learned them.....as an adult.  No one forced me to learn them as a child well because Jesus did away with the law.  Right?  So we do not need it.  Right?  Hold on cowboy, let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.  Granted I do not need to accomplish a perfect life in order to enter heaven I do want to follow the rules to be pleasing to God and to honour Him.  When our Lord was asked about the commandments He said loving God was the most important thing.  Do you know why?  If you love God you will naturally do the rest.  Boy that would be nice. 
I am always cleaning out my spiritual closet, always trying to improve, always attempting to do it right.  I know it is the saving grace paid on the cross by Yeshua the Messiah  that makes me perfect but I want to be better for Him.  I want that for my kids too.  Did you know all of the offences they break in the house can be dealt with using the 10 commandments.  Maybe that is why they were in every school years ago.  They were not just good moral code to memorize. They were the rules to live by.  The boundaries set in place by God himself because he knew that we were incapable of loving Him enough and He knew that we did not love one another.
What are those ten?
10. Do not covet    
9. Do not Lie about another
8. Do not steal 
7. Do not commit adultery
6. Do not murder
5. Honour your father and mother
4. Keep YHWH's sabbath
3. Do not take the name of YHWH in vain
2. Do not make or worship idols
1. YHWH is One and the only God

As you can see they are great tools to parent a child.  Using them as a parent I can see that each commandment correlates to a problem children have.  This is a little of what I add in the explanation to train my children.
10. Do not think of taking your siblings stuff.  It leads to all kinds of heartache. 
9. Do not lie about someone else because they do not deserve your punishment for your gain.
8. Whatever your sibling has you can not take.
7.  Do not even begin to develop lustful thoughts about anything because it will lead to divorce.  If you fornicate you are sinning against your future wife  and the person you are with and if you look lustfully at the TV magazines etc. you may fall prey to adultery in your head as an adult and you need to control that appetite always.
6. Do not hate your siblings or friends or anyone for it leads to murder.
5.  If you can not honour your parents you will not develop an understanding of how to honour God.
4. The 7TH day from sun down to sun down you are to take a break and rest.  Do not buy.  Do not sell.  Rest and remember God made the heavens and the earth so YOU do not forget because God loved you. He made you.  Do not for get it.
3. YHWH is Gods name.  Erasing it and replacing it with another term or using it to swear by all is wrong.  Any name you use to refer to Him is holy because He accepts you and loves you and you should not use that term in any negative way.
2. There are many things that can become idols.  We can make them or we can just worship them.  We can even set ourselves up as our own idol when we put our self first. 
1. YHWH is one.  He is a being with many facets but He is a beautiful mystery that is to be above all other things including ourselves in our lives.   We are to love Him with everything that we are and nothing less.

It is tough training kids in this manner.  Other people have let me know just how wrong I am.  They have called me names and hated me for it.  It is not the most easy path when parenting but it yields great results.  The most wonderful thing about using Gods rules is the realization that He knew we were not perfect and prepared these rules from the beginning and wrote them out with His own finger on stone tablets for Moses.  Now that is truly cool.  Oh I always include that part when parenting too.  This was so important that God took His finger and wrote them down perminately just for us.  Cool!