"Who Owns The Sun" by Stacy Chbosky

This week we are rowing the FIAR title, "Who Owns The Sun" by Stacy Chbosky. If you haven't read this one you must try to find it and at least read it even if you do not do Five In A Row. It is so rich in so many ways. My first read through was today and I must tell you that I was all teared up by the end. It gently and tenderly introduces the subject of slavery. Something my innocent child had not learned about until this point. It was so hard for him to understand why others were treated so differently just because of the color of their skin. I did not go into a lot of detail, but just enough for him to understand on his level. Every time I row another book I always say, Oh, this is one of my favorites!" This title is no exception. From what I understand this book is out of print and I was very lucky the other county closest to me had a copy at there library. I contemplated not doing this title, but what a blessing I would have missed by skipping it!! Below I will list some of the enriching areas we will learn about all because of this one book.

Today we did the history portion of the lesson. Here we explored American slavery that eventually led to the Civil War. During Social Studies we discussed human relationships and the devotion the boy had for his father. We compared this to the relationship Luke has with Travis and it was at this point that Luke became teary eyed. He stated he loved his Daddy so much that sometime when he is awake early in the morning and hears him leaving he starts to cry. Then he added, "and it makes me want to cry just thinking about it right now"! This was another wonderful FIAR memory I will always cherish. I love that we get to share our deepest feelings together each day!

During Language Arts today we made lists of the qualities of Big Jim, the character in the story that is the slave and father to this little boy. We also listed things that are to wonderful to be owned. Luke nearly remembered everyone of them stated in the book. We will draw pictures of these tomorrow to further drive home this point. Tomorrow we will continue out LA lesson and discover new words such as, squinted, windmill, wanderer, and continue. We will also have a lesson on and activity to learn the appropriate use of a period or a question mark at the end of a sentence. We will continue our writing lessons from our Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. (HWT) What fun this has been! It is a multi-sensory approach to handwriting. Tomorrow we will write the lower case "v" and do the "Alphabet Boogie!" (One of my personal favorites! :) We are even making up our own dance to this one!! LOL!

On Wed. we will also embark on the Art portion for this week. We will view and discuss each picture in the book. We will discuss what medium was used and discover new colors that the illustrator used throughout the book and learn there names. We will also pick a picture and try to replicate it with paint.

For the applied math in this story we will choose the many different items throughout the books illustrations and count each of them. I can not wait to see how many flowers there are! We will also continue our studies in Math U See. (MUS) We are clicking right along with addition and he has nearly mastered all of his 0, 1, and 2 addition facts. On Wed. we will also introduce solving for the unknown.

Our Bible lesson we will study the uniqueness of God's most wonderful creation, US! We will read Matthew 6:26 (one of my favorites hence the blog site name) and Genesis 1:26. We will talk about The Creator and how we are made in HIS image and this is the one reason we can be so creative. For, there was never one more creative than our God!

For Science on Fri. we will review the seasons and what months go with these. We will also experiment with the 5 senses and how they teach us about the world. We will read the descriptions throughout this book that describe the beautiful ways we can use our senses. We have a book to create on the 5 senses as well. We will take a nature walk and observe the many things we can see, hear, smell, possibly taste, and the many different textures we can feel. A nature walk is always a great time.

Other elective type areas are soccer, music, Lego's, and computer time.
For our physical fitness Luke has begun the fall soccer league at church. We have been practicing each day as a family and he had his first official team practice on Monday night. We have also been listening to and memorizing the Kid's Choir Christmas musical. He hums or sings it throughout the day. It is precious! His Bible verse memorization is going great so far as well. I think he is up to 6 and this is the 5Th week of school. I am really proud of him for that.

It is a fun filled action packed week, but what a blessing it is to hold my little boy in my lap and teach him each and everyday. It is not always so easy, but it is always so worth it! I praise the Lord for the sweet times we share. I thank Him for this curriculum that allows us so much time together learning to love each other and to love learning!! And for the dear sisters who encourage me in this journey, my fellow homeschooling Mom's!
Amen!

5 Weeks In!

Here we are already 5 weeks into the school year! I can not believe how quickly this Summer is moving! We have had many adventures so far. Rowing titles such as, "Truman's Aunt Farm", "Lentil", "Paul Revere's Ride", and this week is "Andy and the Lion". I can not tell you which has been our favorite thus far. I just LOVE all the Five In A Row titles! (FIAR) We have explored everything from homonyms to the Revolutionary War. I have implemented Sue Patrick's work box system, as many other homeschool Mom's have. I for one love the system and it keeps me organized. I have also found that all the review has benefited Luke greatly. He is getting used to the idea and likes looking and seeing just how much work he has done and is still to be done. The system is working out well.

There are many stories I could share at this point, but the one that warms my heart most happened last Thursday during our Bible time. In the box with our Bible lesson for the day I placed a candle and a lighter. (child safe of course). He was so inquisitive when he opened this box. In an earlier lesson we had read about Gideon. How God's army had used torches in their battle to defeat the Midianites. I took him the darkest room in the house and shut the doors. I told him how the smallest light can light up even the darkest of places. I lit the candle and the room lit so brightly and warmly. The look on his face was priceless. I shared the verse from Matthew 5:16 that says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Then we squatted and sang, "This little light of mine". Luke sang with all of his heart and had the sweetest most contented look on his face with the candle light reflecting it so sweetly. I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me and whisper, "This is why you home school my child, for moments like this when you are teaching my truths, the most important lessons of all!" I left the candle burning the rest of the day in the bathroom to remind us that we are supposed to be a light to this world, Amen!