Have you noticed that most unhappiness in life is due to the fact that we are listening to ourselves instead of talking to ourselves? We are so used to listening to our souls–mind, will, and emotions–which love to talk away all day long, and as we know, misbehave quite often. You know how worries and troubles of yesterday, today, and tomorrow can fill your thoughts first thing in the morning as you sit there and listen? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All day long our soulish selves jabber away, giving our spirits little say so, and as a result, we feel unhappy. However, our souls were created to be subordinate to our spirits. Our spirits are where the Holy Spirit and His amazing truth abide. When we feel turmoil and unrest in our emotions, we need to call our souls to attention! Our souls don’t naturally bless and praise the Lord, and at times they must be wrangled. In Psalm 103, David speaks to his soul and commands it to bless the Lord. We can also command our souls, out loud, to line up with our spirit. Yes, its kind of funny, we can order ourselves around, and we can obey ourselves.
“I command my soul to bless the Lord. I command my hands to lift you up. I command my voice to sing your praise. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”
As the school year comes to a close, and we are looking for a happy ending, Psalm 103 can help us to bring God His glory due. The end of the year should have a strong finish where God is allowed to seal the work He has done in us and our children. Our children really benefit from a good solid sense of closure to every milestone, which largely comes through celebration, and praise is the #1 way to create a life changing celebration. Plus, the best way to overcome any final plans of the enemy to cause our school year to fizzle out, or to come against weariness in our race just before reaching the finish line, or to avoid not realizing or taking notice of what the Lord has done this year, or to not go out feeling numb, jaded, or even disappointed is……….to PRAISE the Lord! However, if our souls happen to be working against some pretty strong negative feelings, lifting up our voices can feel uncomfortable, like a “sacrifice of praise.” Just when it seems like a perfect time in which to praise the Lord in exuberant joy–like at the end of a school year–sometimes we find that our soul feels blah, uninterested, unhappy, asleep, guilty, or ready to just move on to “better things” (i.e. Summer Break). Yet our spirit desperately knows that the Lord deserves mighty praise for what he has done at milestones such as this. So ready or not soul, its time to make a happy ending with a big praise celebration. As we focus on the happy habit of praise this May, lets practice bringing our spirits into command, and our souls into submission as we declare together in praise, “BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL!!!”
Fun Theme: Bugs and Butterflies
Seasonal Theme: Spring
Character/Habit: Praise
Bible: Numbers
History/Geography: Ancient Egypt, Africa
Nature Study: Pollination and Dragonflies
Parent Study:
- Continue learning about creationism vs. evolution and young earth vs. old earth
- Continue my own prayer journal and nature journal along with Noah.
- Read some chapters out of JR Miller’s book, The Home Beautiful
Art, Music, and Poetry Study:
All Things Bright and Beautiful Blog
- Poetry: Various selections from A.A. Milne (When We Were Very Young and Now We are Six)
- Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach— selections, biographies, and other suggestions from All Things Bright
- Artist: Rien Poortvliet, and paintings in his book, Noah’s Ark
Character/Habit Development:
Read one story a month from Storytime with the Millers. The Millers books are wonderful!!
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Circle Time/Family Time:
Promise and Blessing Time: Use God’s promise in Psalm 103 to command our souls to praise the Lord: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” Also take a minute in circle time to verbally build our children up with spoken blessings.
- Awesome praise! God inhabits your praise!
- God delights in the sound of your voice _______.
- You are doing damage to the kingdom of the enemy with your mighty weapon of praise!
- _______’s worship in spirit and in truth is beautiful.
- God loves your joyful noise!
Prayer Time:
- Continue Praying for people of the nations, especially places we learn about in history/geography studies. Use the children’s book, Window on the World:When we Pray God Works, to inform us about people groups and provide prayer points.
- Use “praise scriptures” to ask God to teach us how to praise Him.
Discussion Time:
- Why do we worship? God is worthy. (Psalm 18:3, Psalm 33:1, Psalm 96:7-9, Psalm 145:3, Philippians 2:9-11) We were created to worship. (1 Peter 2:9, Romans 12:1, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Revelation 7:9-12)
- How do we worship? In spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24, Psalm 95:1-7)
- Read out Psalms of praise such as 8, 29, 34, 40, 63, 92, 103, and 147 on various days.
- Teach and practice commanding our souls to praise the Lord no matter how we feel. (see intro at top of this lesson plan)
- Teach the children about the different ways people praised and worshiped God in the Bible. Let them know that there are many ways to express our thanksgiving and love towards God. The following are a few examples and scriptures that talk about praise and worship in the Bible:
TOWDAH- TO SACRIFICE – Psalms 50:23 YADAH-
TO LIFT YOUR HANDS- 2 Chronicles 20:19-21
BARAK- TO KNEEL OR BOW – Psalms 95:6
SHABACH- TO SHOUT – Ezra 3:11
ZAMAR- TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT – Psalms 150/1 Chron. 15:16
HALAL – TO RAVE AND BOAST – Psalms 44:8
TEHILLAH- ALL OF THE ABOVE – Psalm 22:3
- Focus on growing in/practicing some of our more neglected areas of praise listed above
- Let the Spirit move and allow children to minister. Let children share by asking them what they are thinking, feeling, or seeing. (My kids love to say what they are picturing when I ask.)
- Practice waiting silently in His presence. “Be still and know that I am God.”
- When we are faced with hard times and tough issues that are beyond our control, instead of grumbling and complaining or being anxious, which hinders us from entering into God’s presence and steals our peace and joy, our goal is to learn to choose to rejoice in the Lord and enter into praise and worship. Make a list of complaints. Praise with all our might. Tear up the list when we feel that God has taken our burdens and heaviness has lifted.
Bible:
Read Numbers stories in the Children’s story Bible by Catherine Vos, and/or my ESV Study Bible. Read 1 corresponding commentary chapter from Numbers Commentary 3x a week (Commentary during Bible study at night with daddy). 
Memory Verses:
Psalm 103:1-5 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
- Review May verses from previous years:
- “My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise Him. ” Psalms 28:7
- “…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
- “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26
- Learn memory verse for our Stewardship Street “Spending” coin bank (a toy store): “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalm 37:4-5
- Review previous coin bank verses:
- “Dowry” coin bank (a little yellow house): “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Ephesians 5:25
- “Living Expenses” coin bank (a clothing store bank): “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10
- “Short Term Savings” coin bank (a gift store bank): “There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.” Proverbs 21:20
- “Tithing” coin bank (a church bank): “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10
- “Long Term Savings/Future Dreams” coin bank (a rocket shaped bank): “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7
- “Charity and Missions” coin bank (a lighthouse bank): “ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” James 2:15
Hymns:
Lovely hymns are full of more truth than many sermons (2nd and 3rd verses are often especially theologically deep), and can imprint precious truths on our hearts.
Poetry Recitation:
(pick favorite stanzas)
Handwriting:
Copywork on praise, handwritten letters, notes of encouragement, mothers day and birthday cards, thank you cards, shopping lists, nature journal entries, prayer journal entries, poem or memory verse copywork.Reading:
LOVE the pathway series readers
Word Building:
Preschooler Faith sounds out 3 and 4 letter phonetic words, and spells them out with letters (word building). Each week kindergartener Noah builds 5-12 new words that he is currently learning to read in his reader. 
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Literature Read Alouds:
Put holds at the library/make online orders at abebooks.com today! 
Insect fables, like The Grasshopper and the Ants, in:
History and Geography:
- One lesson a day from SCM’s Genesis-Deuteronomy & Ancient Egypt lesson plan book; living books that are suggested in the lesson plans
Math:
All lessons from Kathy Richardson’s “Developing Number Concepts” math books. Noah’s has a “My Number Book,” which is simply a small blank book (from the dollar section at Target) where he records what he has learned about numbers 4-9 after our math lessons. Each number is designated a two page spread for drawing pictures and writing equations. For example, on the “7” page, he has recorded 0+7, 2+5, 3+4, 1+6, and sometimes draws pictures/cubes to represent his equations. We also record what we learn about subtraction as well. The book has been a great kindergarten project. The more a child can internalize these number combinations for numbers 4-9 before moving to larger numbers, the better. Understanding higher numbers completely rests on a solid understanding of the relationships between numbers 0-9. 
Noah’s Lessons:
Ongoing Review: Spend a few minutes a day practicing instant recognition of number combinations. Use homemade “flashcards” with arrangements of items that can be counted (like toothpicks or buttons that can be grouped into two numbers upon closer inspection in order to quickly find the total). Hold up a card and say, “Tell me fast. How many?” Ask, “How did you know?” (Cause there is a four and a three, and that’s seven) When recognizing groups of more than five easily, child will have to mentally combine the smaller groups that make up the larger ones.
Grow and Shrink (p 28) Children roll a 1-6 number cube and place the appropriate number of counters on working space paper (paper with 10 dots to place counters on). Children roll again, then verbalize (and write) how many counters will need to be added or subtracted in order to change the first rolled number into the second rolled number. For example, child rolls a six, and puts out six counters. Then child rolls a four, so he says ” I need to take away two” and also write “-2″ on a slip of paper. Then roll again to keep adding or subtracting from whatever number is on the paper. Use two working space papers if there are too many counters to fit, or say “not enough” if taking away more counters than what is left on the paper is required.
Number Arrangements: Cube Squares (79) Using unifix cubes, can you make a square? What numbers makes a square and which don’t? (4 and 9 do) Could have children record their arrangements by gluing down small squares of paper on 6″x 9″ pieces of paper in the same way they arranged the cubes.
Number Arrangements: Using Toothpicks (p 82) Have the children use toothpicks to create a variety of arrangements for their number of the day. Have children make recordings by gluing toothpicks onto 6″ x 9″ pieces of paper to match their arrangements. Children an also label recordings with equations that describe the parts of their number arrangements.
Building and Rebuilding (p98) Fold a large piece of paper into 4 sections to use as a working space. Choose a number of the day. Children use one type of counter and build a different design to represent the number in each section of their paper. Then they write a number sentence for each design. When the children have finished, remove the counters. Then they reread the number sentences, and build designs to match, this time using a different type of counter.
Instant Recognition of Number Shapes (p118) Hold up blank number shapes and ask children to describe any number combinations they see.
Number Shapes or Number Trains Using Spinners (p 90) Make a +/- spinner. Choose a number of the day, provide that number shape/number train, and unifix cubes. If child spins +, roll number cube to see how many of one color cube to place on the number shape. Then child fills in rest of shape with another color and records the equation (can use Number Shapes Equation Worksheet). If spinner lands on -, child fills in number shape with one color cube, then rolls the number cube to see how many counters to take off, and records the equation.
Faith’s Lessons:
Nature Study:
- A story or two a month from this very sweet little treasure by Simply Charlotte Mason:
- SCM’s Outdoor Secrets Companion lessons
- Burgess Animal Book Audio ever so often
Videos:
Show children how the Kingdom of God IS advancing around the world. “Dispatches from the Front” is a thoughtful, moving, understated, and ultimately convicting series of videos depicting the work of the gospel in some of the most challenging corners of the world.” – D. A. Carson 
19 science DVDs on creation 
Awesome Science is a high quality DVD series produced by a family that homeschools and works on the series together. Noah is the field guide and host for all 13 episodes which explore the globe to discover evidence of the accuracy of the Bible. Noah contends that the earth is NOT millions of years old and the dinosaurs did not die from a meteor. These videos provide excellent science content as well as a theological perspective. They are an effective way to challenge evolutionary assumptions with scientific evidence while providing a very visual science education. 
6 Episodes all compliment study of the account of the flood in Genesis.
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Traditions, Fun Friday Projects, and Other Ideas:
Butterfly Snack
Draw and Paint Butterflies
Our dragonfly
Butterflies we raised
Our Monarch butterfly egg find
Mother’s Day Tea Party
2012
2013
2014
Fieldtrips:
Coyote Hills Regional Park Annual Butterfly Festival .
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