Weekly Bible Memory Verses

We are learning Bible verses or passages every week. I used the ABC Bible Memory Verse cards
from ABeka as a jumping off point for ideas and then added in another 10 verses or passages to fill
out the 36 weeks.

Weekly Memory Verses:

Week 1-Colossians 3:23 (work heartily)

Week 2-Philippians 4:13 (can do all things)

Week 3-Romans 3:23 (A)

Week 4-Acts 16:31 (B)

Week 5-Ephesians 6:1 (C)

Week 6-Psalm 34:14 (D)

Week 7-Proverbs 20:11 (E)

Week 8-Isaiah 43:5 (F)

Week 9-1 John 4:8 (G)

Week 10-Exodus 20:12 (H)

Week 11-John 14:14 (I)

Week 12-John 14:6 (J)

Week 13-Psalm 34:13 (K)

Week 14-Isaiah 45:22 (L)

Week 15-Philippians 4:19 (God will supply)

Week 16-Isaiah 7:14 (virgin shall conceive)

Week 17-Luke 2:10-11 (good news of great joy)

Week 18-Isaiah 9:6 (to us a child is born)

Week 19-Proverbs 23:26 (M)

Week 20-Matthew 6:24 (N)

Week 21-Psalm 118:1 (O)

Week 22-Psalm 147:1 (P)

Week 23-I Corinthians 16:13 (Q)

Week 24-Exodus 20:8 (R)

Week 25-Isaiah 55:6 (S)

Week 26-Genesis 16:13 (T)

Week 27-Psalm 75:1 (U)

Week 28-John 16:23 (V)

Week 29-Psalm 56:3 (W)

Week 30-2 Peter 1:4 (X)

Week 31-Matthew 5:14 (Y)

Week 32-Psalm 97:8 (Z)

Week 33-Jeremiah 29:11 (plans I have for you)

Week 34-Jude 24-25 (to the only God, our Savior)

Week 35-Micah 6:8 (do justice, love kindness)

Week 36-Philippians 4:4 (rejoice in the Lord)

**NOTE--Weeks 16-18 correspond in our school schedule to the last three weeks before our winter
break (Thanksgiving through New Years), so if you are on a traditional school schedule you may
want to adjust those weeks accordingly...as they are verses that pertain to the birth of Christ.

The rest of the memory verses can obviously be learned at any time...though I did try to put
encouraging verses about working heartily and doing all things through Christ at the beginning of
the school year...and great verses to wrap up the year at the end. Hope this list helps some mamas
out there!!

Lazy Mom's Guide to Story of the World Activities, Part 1

We love Story of the World, we really do...even just eight weeks into Volume 1...but one HAS to admit that the projects are just a bit daunting to say the least!! Which is why I posted the following on Facebook as we finished up the third week:

Well, I guess that person is ME...lol!! I posted about our first few weeks on Facebook and there was some interest so I am just going to share here what we have been doing...probably in four week chunks so as not to overwhelm (because even with our simplified projects I don't want to make my posts too incredibly long)!! So here we go!!

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WEEK 1: Introduction

Suggested activities-
*Make a History of My Family book (with interviews and photographs of family members)
*Make a This is My Life timeline (with pictures and dates of things like first tooth, first time crawling, etc)
*Do an archaeological dig (with items that represent our civilization..using garden trowel and sifting sieve)

What we actually did-
*Simple family tree going back three generations...written on a whiteboard
*A "dig" in our cloud dough and kinetic sand for things like toy cars, Pokemon figurines, etc.

WEEK 2: Chapter One

Suggested activities-
*Make a Cave Painting (with paper grocery sacks and black/beige/reddish-brown acrylic paints)
*Make a Prehistoric Hunter's Game Bag (with animal print fabric and thin rope)
*Build your Own Hut (in the backyard out of sticks, branches, leaves, grass, animal print fabric, etc. Bonus if you camp out in it that night)!!

What we actually did-
*Made a cave painting with paper grocery bags and the tempera paints we have on hand...just mixing them a bit to get the right colors
*Made a "hut" using a table and a floral sheet (what we had on hand)...and the kids played in it for a while as if they were prehistoric people

WEEK 3: Chapter Two

Suggested activities-
*Make a Model Nile (with clay pyramids on the banks and grass "reed" boats floating in it...with grass seeds to grow after flooding it)
*Make the White Crown of Upper Egypt (out of waxed paper and paper)
*Make the Shepherd's Crook of the Pharaohs (out of a tube, newspaper, masking tape, and paint) Bonus if you make a switch to match

What we actually did-
*Made a river Nile...very basic (without even a real delta at one end) but it turned out pretty awesome in any case!!

WEEK 4: Chapter Three

Suggested activities-
*Make Cuneiform Tablets (out of clay that needs to be dried)
*Make a Hieroglyphic Scroll (with computer banner paper or papyrus paper from craft store)
*Experiment to see which of the two projects hold up better by dunking them in water, leaving them out in the sun, and baking them in the oven!!

What we actually did--
*Made "clay tablets" out of playdoh and created cuneiform and hieroglyphs in the playdoh (and then cleaned it all up afterwards)

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So there ya go!! The first four weeks of simplified and doable projects...for the mamas who want to do SOME projects, but not at the expense of their sanity or budget!! Hope this helps other mamas like me!!

Our Homeschool Life

Homeschooling in this day and age is not such a fringe idea as it was back when I was growing up, when truant officers came around to see why kids were not in school and being outside during school hours just wasn't done!! There is so much more acceptance of homeschooling these days and people of all stripes homeschool for so many different reasons. There are also SO many more resources and SO much more support out there for homeschoolers!!

My children are actually second-generation homeschoolers, as I was homeschooled the bigger chunk of my school years as a missionary kid. My husband was also homeschooled for two years. We chose to homeschool for multiple and varied reasons, though in all honesty our biggest reason is a life-threatening food allergy...as food allergy bullying is becoming a problem in schools as food allergies are also on the rise.

We are technically now in our fourth year of homeschooling, though the first couple of years were just with my son and VERY relaxed. But now I have a third grader and a preschooler...and I wanted to start blogging again...so here we are!! I am hoping to use this blog as a place to share both my goals and plans and curriculum choices...as well as to document what we are up to personally as we explore and enjoy this educational journey that we are on!! 😊