A Dry Week

Caleb was an Indian king in the tiger hunt the kids played last weekend with Daddy.

What a privilege it is to spend all day with my children. (It’s also a privilege when I get a break now and then. :)) This week I got the former wonderful privilege!

Bee exam.

Curried rice and fish (and chicken nuggets for the kids).

A dead bee was on our windowsill, so the boys studied and drew it for nature study this week. We also studied about ancient India in history; for dinner we enjoyed curried rice and fish. Seth and I love Indian food, so that was no hardship for us. We also watched The Tiger and the Brahmin by Rabbit Ears Production, a story from the ancient Jataka tales (moral stories from Buddhism). I wasn’t terribly impressed with the story; it showed me the superiority of logic in a Christian worldview.

We are still reading about the fascinating Adventures of Old Mr. Toad in science, such adventures as eating his skin when he “changes his clothes” and almost getting caught by Mr. Blacksnake! We will finish next week and begin studying human anatomy.

Caleb finished his last lesson in the Alpha level of Math U See! How exciting! We’ll continue drilling his addition and subtraction facts for a while, and we’ll also review concepts learned this year (and some others not covered) using Singapore Primary Mathematics levels 1A and B, rather than rushing on to the next level. (Besides, the next level isn’t here yet. 🙂 Still waiting on a shipment from America to get here!)

 

He wore the crown all week.

I’m excited to get the best of both worlds by reviewing with another stellar math curriculum. I plan to set the timer for 15-20 minutes and just review four days a week until the timer goes off. The 5th day we’ll play math games or have a lighter day.

We are enjoying our new language arts curricula. Caleb is flying through All About Spelling’s level 1, which is a testimony to how great ABeka’s phonics program is working for us! I took time this week to plan how to combine and skip lessons in First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease in order to get him up to level two in time for our next school year.

Colin is also progressing well in learning to sound out some simple words and sounds–if he deigns to look at them. 😉 In handwriting he regularly tells me (when being told how to form a new letter) that he “already knew how to make that letter!” Good thing he’s a quick learner.

Carson loves this toddler toy from My Father’s World. It kept him busy for hours…last week!

The last three days were very difficult trying to teach without interruptions from the two toddlers. I am eagerly awaiting our shipment, which includes more toys and educational distractions to hopefully keep them busy while I teach.

Callie’s figured out a new way to carry her baby giraffe.

We just heard today that our shipment arrived in Durban and was cleared through customs! We will not be able to get it though until about two weeks from now, as it needs time to be transported to Johannesburg, and then we are hosting an African Pastor’s Conference right at the same time we would be able to pick it up.

This week has been a dry one. I will post more on Monday about our situation, but in short, the water workers in our province are on strike and have turned off all of the water supply lines. Our water tank is empty after a week. This would be a terrible time for stomach flu, but I fear that Callie and I are coming down with just that. (Concerned!) The only comfort in the situation is that our teammates in the next village over have their own private well and allow us to wash our laundry there!

Yesterday Seth labored with his hands helping our teammate to put roof trusses on their new church building. It was hard work full of improvisations, but the trusses were up in one day! He also has an opening to minister at the largest prison in the region.

We are also busy preparing to host the African Pastor’s Conference that I mentioned above. Housing will be quite a difficulty. Please pray with us that many national pastors will come and truly understand the Gospel, and that those few who are faithful pastors working under stressful conditions will be encouraged. And that we (and my pots) will not die from the effort. 😉 (Last year one of my pots was scorched beyond recognition!)