The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart
Some new Word Family Resources
to correspond with the original Word Family Booklets
are now inside Hubbard’s Cupboard!
Here’s a quick peek!
Word Maker and Sight Word Find
Word Family Match
Word Family Houses and Pictures/Words to Sort
For descriptions of the above activities and free printables
to go along with 14 different short vowel word families,
please visit the Word Family Resources at Hubbard’s Cupboard.
I follow a homeschool blog by Carisa called 1+1+1=1. If you are a teacher, parent, and/or a homeschooler and have not visited her blog, I urge you to do so. =) Since coming online in 2007, she has regularly created and shared wonderful resources for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners.
As I was browsing blogs in my reader this evening, I came across a post from Carisa called Easy Readers for iPads and Tablets. As I read through her post, I was becoming more and more excited at the idea she was presenting – making PDF booklets available for use on iPads and other devices.
Why would this excite me?
…because Hubbard’s Cupboard has over 50 sight word booklets and 28 word family booklets already in PDF format.
You have always been able to print small black and white versions as well as full size versions of these booklets (many in color) to use at home or in the classroom. Now, piggy backing off of Carisa’s idea, simply download the ‘Teacher Versions’, save them to your device, and you can create a whole bookshelf of emergent readers for your beginning reader to enjoy on your iPad, Kindle, Nook, etc. It saves paper and it’s portable!
My technology loving husband had fun experimenting and here is what it looked like on his devices…
iPad – This was successful! I can’t wait for our newest up and coming reader to test it out. 
Kindle – This could work. It just converted the booklet to grayscale.
iPhone/iPod Touch – This option even performed well – just on a smaller scale!
printable booklets that you’ve come to love
+
new technology
=
just one more way to enhance the reading skills of your young child
From the time our oldest child was just two years old, we have been attempting to learn ways to help our children hide God’s Word in their hearts. Over the years, as we have been graciously blessed with more children, we have found several resources that are helping us in this endeavor. Here are some of the things we have used over the years, as well as some online discoveries from other blogging moms that look beneficial!
Books:
1. The Bible (of course!)
During our morning Bible reading time, we try to have each child Kindergarten age and older sit with a Bible. We encourage them to follow along and/or take turns reading aloud. Younger children often want the ‘grown up’ Bibles to hold as well! Of course, our toddler likes to wander around, pat the Bibles, maybe look at a picture Bible, and cause general mayhem as our attention is focused elsewhere. =)
2. Big Truths for Little Kids: Teaching Your Children to Live for God by Susan and Richie Hunt
3. Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland
4. My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts by Susan Hunt
5. Family Night Tool Chest books by Weidmann and Bruner
Activities:
1. Individual Bible reading and Bible Notebook
(top – our then somewhat sleepy Kindergartener working in her Bible Notebook and her first entry; left– a second grade entry in which she decided to copy the verses)
2. Bible verse cut aparts and copywork (chosen through our curriculum or a family memory verse we want to focus on)
3. AWANA
4. Memory Verse File Box
(Idea and description from Simply Charlotte Mason)
5. Singing Scripture
(above: the oldest girls leading in song – I’m not certain why they are both holding up a verse card. I’m fairly certain we were only singing one of those at a time =) )
Listening to Bible Song CDs and DVDs:
Free Printables:
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,than much pure gold.
They are sweeter than honey,than honey from the comb.
(Psalm 19:7-10)
What are your favorite resources for instilling a love for the Word?
I’m hesitant to post this, especially after my last entry on The Joy Stealer. If you are another homeschooling mom, please don’t let this post steal your joy! Either skip it all together or read with a heart full of grace (towards me and yourself) and follow Christ’s leading for your own family.
During this school year, our class/school/family consists of a 4th grader, 2nd grader, kindergartener, 3 year old preschooler, and a toddler. We have a wide range of needs to meet this year! So, in God’s strength, we embark on another homeschooling year. This post is about what we hope to accomplish. Although, as we walk with Him, I am sure God will have us all learn so much more (including mommy)!
History / Geography
This year, we will be continuing the second half of Exploring Countries and Cultures from My Father’s World Curriculum. Our main geography will be focused on learning about various countries around the world – learning about the cultures, and experiencing music, food, and art from each country. We will also continue to pray for unreached people groups using Window on the World. We are ready to get on our travel gear and continue our journey around the world!
Science 
As we learn about different countries and cultures, we will also be learning about the animals that live in those environments. We plan to continue to use the resources suggested in the MFW ECC curriculum – The Living World Encyclopedia, Properties of Ecosystems, The Big Book of Animals, The Great Animal Search, and the Encyclopedia of Animals. The older girls will also be drawing animals to coordinate with the different continents and regions/habitats of the world using Draw Write Now.
Bible and Devotions
Read Alouds
Art
Foreign Language
Last year, our oldest two children began using Rosetta Stone. I noticed that they enjoyed doing the lessons, but the rest of the family had no idea what they were doing! So, the additional resources reflect a desire for all of us (preschooler–adult) to be able to start learning some Spanish!
Reading / Language Arts /Math
our 4th grader…
our 2nd Grader…
our kindergartener…
our preschooler…
our toddler…
Lifeskills and Extracurricular Activities
Some of the above will change during the course of the school year as we finish our study of MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures. We are still praying about what will replace the Bible, geography/history, and science once MFW is completed in order to round out our school year.
(Please note: This post was updated – the portions in italicized parenthesis- towards the end of the 2011-2012 school year to reflect curriculum changes that we made during the course of the year.)
_______________________________
Are you curious what our planning looked like in previous year’s?
2010-2011 (3rd, 1st, PreK, 2 year old, 4 mo old baby)
2009-2010 (2nd, K, 3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived end of year)
2008-2009 (1st, PreK, 2 year old, 6 mo old baby)
2007-2008 (K, 3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived mid year)
2006-2007 (PreK, 2 year old, 7 mo old baby)
Joyful Heart Character
2005-2006 (3’s preschool, toddler, baby arrived mid year)
Joyful Heart Bible and Rhyme
2004-2005 (2 year old, 6 mo old baby)
Joyful Heart Learning
________________________________ 
It is the 3rd annual ’Not’ Back to School Blog Hop hosted by Heart of the Matter Online! This week’s focus is on curriculum. In the following weeks, they will also share ‘school’ rooms, student photos, and a day in the life. If you choose to hop, guard your heart and mind, give yourself grace, and encourage others as you take a peek at what fellow homeschoolers are preparing for in this coming school year! (Yes, I am reminding myself as well =) )
For those of us who speak and read the English language fluently, there are thousands of Bibles available to us. In our home alone, we have at least one children’s Bible for each child, a handful of smaller sized Bibles for quick reference, and many full size Bibles – in various versions such as NIV, NKJ, and ESV. But what about other cultures and languages?
A blank page. That is what John 3:16 looks like in many languages.
I’ve recently blogged about our experiences with the My Father’s World Exploring Countries and Cultures curriculum. I mentioned that we have been enjoying reading the YWAM biographies on missionaries (from the Christian Heroes Then and Now series) that MFW has chosen to use within ECC. The very first YWAM biography used in the curriculum was on Cameron Townsend. The kids were intrigued by his life and how God had placed it upon his heart to translate the Bible into every language.
A few weeks ago, in our Hero Tale readings, the focus was on William Tyndale. I was also able to find a Torchlighter video on Tyndale at the 
library. After viewing the video, we completed a related worksheet on translating for kids. The kids began making connections to Cameron Townsend and his start of Wycliffe Bible Translators. All of the kids were interested in learning more, especially our five year old son. I then remembered that, earlier in the school year, I had come across free online lessons from Wycliffe on Bible translation. So, in an attempt to encourage our son in his new interest and to expose all of our children to the important work of Bible translation, we took a two week hiatus from MFW ECC to devote to learning about the Steps to Bible Translation.
The online downloadable lessons are free and easy to follow. The only thing that I was missing was their recommended resource called ‘My Volcano Adventure Resource CD‘. Fortunately, we were able to borrow it from a friend of ours. The CD had audio of John 3:16 in other languages, audio samples of a language that uses both speaking and whistling, short video clips with true stories of the impact of Bible translation, etc. Our friend also let us borrow the accompanying leader’s guide. It had a LOT more ideas. I incorporated a few ideas from the guide for Bible memory and additional activities, but I ended up mostly following the online lessons. In my opinion, the online lessons seemed more focused and centered on the translation aspect.
(Above: ‘Alphabeti Spaghetti’ from lesson 5
in Wycliffe’s Steps to Bible Translation)
So, what did we do? We planted seeds and learned how Bible translation is a long process. It takes much time and prayer. We were reminded of the 10/40 window and how there are over 2,000 language groups that do not have John 3:16 or any other portion of Scripture in their own language. We prayed for Bible translators and for those still waiting for the Bible in their own heart language. We learned about the International Phonetic Alphabet and caught a glimpse of how difficult creating an alphabet and translating languages might be. We saw the importance of learning to read and of hiding God’s Word in our hearts. We became more grateful for the access we have to God’s Word in our own language. We memorized Hebrews 4:12 and had ‘sword drills’. We caught a vision for the need for everyone to have the Bible in their own heart language.
Wycliffe Bible Translators have launched the Last Languages Campaign. Their goal is to have a Bible translation project started for every language that needs it by the year 2025.
Please pray for Bible translation around the world.
“Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will never pass away.”
(Matthew 24:35)
