My word for the new year is (insert drum roll, please)….”LESS“!
Some of my thoughts about “LESS” are personal, others are more family oriented:
Spend Less, Worry Less, Doubt Less, Fear Less, Less Mess/Clutter, Less Screen Time, Less Anger, Less Complaining, Judge Less, Yell Less, Less Stress, Argue Less, Use Less (gas, water, electricity), Less Junk Food, and even Less Caffeine!
“Less” – At first, it sort of seems like a negative word. But, apply it to the “Laws of Physics” (yeah, that’s how my train of thought often goes, but bare with me, this makes sense)
“Newton’s third law is:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object. The direction of the force on the first object is opposite to the direction of the force on the second object. Forces always come in pairs – equal and opposite action-reaction force pairs.” (Source – http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/u2l4a.cfm)
So, all of my “LESSES” (a new word ?) are going to equal out into a lot of “MORES“! More Peace, More Quality Time, More Money, More (better) Health, More Quiet, More Self Control, More Happiness….
But LESS homeschool? NOT A CHANCE! However, “less planning” is a potentially good thought. It seems like sometimes I spend more time planning – researching, gathering materials, etc – . than we spend actually learning or doing an activity. Not to mention all the times that plans fizzle out because of lack of interest , change of interest direction, or something unexpected comes up instead. “Less Planning” – It’s a consideration, for sure.
And of course, a “LESS” application for my spiritual growth and relationship with my Savior, “Less of me = More of Him”! John 3:30 – “He must become greater; I must become less.”
Less cooking, cleaning, and laundry? – Well, a girl can have dreams for the new year, too!
What’s your resolution, goal, or focus word of the new year? Whatever it is, I wish you the very best with it.
It’s been a wonderful holiday break from homeschooling for us, but it’s time to get back into the swing of lessons and learning. New Year’s celebrations will be our last lesson focus of 2014 as well as our first lesson focus of 2015. Below are the online resources we’ll be using for our study.
Are you extra busy this time of year? We are! Our calendar is filled with Christmas program rehearsals, a holiday workshop, caroling, and parties. We’re decorating, crafting and baking. And of course, there’s light displays to drive by, extra shopping, and gifts to wrap and deliver. Oh yeah, there’s homeschool lessons, too.
Not only are we counting the days down until Christmas, we’re counting the days left in our semester. I know some homeschooling families that take off the month of December, as nice as that sounds, it isn’t for us. We keep on learning through December, and we have about two more weeks of homeschooling before we’ll be ready for a break . However, with the added busy-ness, regular lessons won’t give us the time we need to pursue the activities that make this time of year so special.
Below are the online links to Advent and Christmas countdowns that we are using for quick lessons that are helping us check off our daily subjects. Not only have the kids been liking these (probably because it’s extra computer time and the studies are short), I like them too. It’s wonderful to have a break in lesson planning and to devote my “teacher time” to all the activities December brings. It’s fun knowing that we have surprises waiting for us to learn about each morning. And since these resources are brief, we have the afternoons for all those extras.
As we move along on our “special days” studies through November, I see Thanksgiving looming coming up in the not so distant future. I thought seriously about not teaching Thanksgiving lessons this year. How could I not want to teach Thanksgiving? We’ve always had wonderful Thanksgiving lessons in November. Yes, that’s it. For 17 years – 17 Novembers, I’ve been teaching a week or two or three of Thanksgiving. The who, what, when, why, and how of those Mayflower pilgrims and the natives that they encountered, Lincoln’s proclamation to make a Thanksgiving holiday, Bible studies that focus on giving thanks and gratitude, nutritional studies of squash, pumpkins, turkeys, sweet potatoes, and corn, Thanksgiving celebrations around the world, tons of cooking projects, and craft activities to go along with it all – we’ve been there and done that over and over again.
In addition to my grumpy mood about Thanksgiving lessons, our primary history focus of the year is Modern World History so the Pilgrim/Indian theme just doesn’t seem to fit or apply. I look over the recent additions to our timeline and see WW1, the stock market crash of 1929, WW2 – hard and fearful times, but still were thankful times, too. Hmmm …
Below are some of the online resources we’ll be using as we begin a new Thanksgiving study with a modern history twist, and the cure for my Thanksgiving lesson planning grumpiness. I’m actually getting excited about these lessons now!
The common thread of Thanksgiving celebration during these times seems to be making the most with whatever resources were available and finding blessings in any circumstance. With this in mind, our Thanksgiving Bible studies will focus on contentment.
Philippians 4:11-12I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
1 Timothy 6:8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you;never will I forsake you.”
This National Geographic video is NOT for the squeamish! It is actual footage of the digestive process filmed by a scope procedure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QYwscALNng
Crafts, decorations, recipes, themed lesson ideas…..Oh yeah, this time of year lots of us are visiting Pinterest! This is a clever video/ “Pinterest” parody of that Taylor Swift song
Still Learning Something New 