February 2009
In this issue, you will find articles that I originally wrote several years ago.
♥ CRAFT CORNER: A HEART FULL OF LOVE
♥ FROM MY HEART TO YOURS: The Greatest of These is Love
♥ UNIT STUDIES AND MORE: Valentine Mini Unit on Love
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CRAFT CORNER: A HEART FULL OF LOVE
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Here is something that we made in 1999 in honor of Valentine's Day, to encourage sweet communication between family members. I took a LARGE piece of red felt, cut out a heart about 2 1/2 feet wide (70 cm), and edged it with lace. Then I sewed on a rectangular red felt pocket for each family member (plus a few extras for those not yet born). The pockets are about 3 inch by 4 inch (9 cm by 12 cm) and are also edged at the top with lace. I sewed two tabs on the back, and it can be hung on the wall with tacks or nails. In the week or two before Valentine's Day, we put little notes, stickers, service coupons, drawings, pieces of candy, and other small items into each other's pockets. We could take stuff out of our own pockets every day. Of course, on February 14, I put in some extra special goodies for everyone!
We're still using this heart a decade later! I just bought packages of Werther's caramels and gummy bears, the latter of which I will put in plastic bags so the bears won't get felt fuzz "fur" -- blech! Unfortunately, our heart only has 10 pockets, and we now have 13 family members, including our new son-in-law. (And I thought I was planning ahead for extra babies ten years ago!) So I put "Dad & Mom" on one name card and added Ryan's name to Mary's card. I guess I could put Avi's name on their card, too, since he is my beautiful grand-kitty. Catnip, anyone?
I also didn't do a pocket for my 19 year old daughter Julia this year because she is in Bolivia and I already sent her a homemade Valentine in her care package last week. At the moment she is in Tapeite, a very small tribal village down near the borders of Argentina and Paraguay, about six hours away from the mission in Entre Rios. A team of 12 from the mission went down on Tuesday and will return on Thursday. Apparently the tribe is quite primitive; Julia has been told she is going into another world! You can read more on her own blog at www.JuliaKnowles.blogspot.com. Be sure to read her funny post about serving calzone, too. And don't miss her post "Las Abras: Love" if you want something profound for Valentine's Day. Do pray for her -- the work is extremely strenuous, and they keep going and going and going, often walking for two hours in over 100 degree heat!
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FROM MY HEART TO YOURS:
The Greatest of These is Love
by Virginia Knowles
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"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13
If there is one thing that every home school family needs more and more, it is LOVE. A loving mother responds with gentle words and an offer of help when a child is frustrated about a difficult lesson. She doesn't embarrass her children by comparing them against the godly genius in the support group, nor does she breed insecurity by setting them up on that wobbly old pedestal. In her home, she isn't so smitten with her position of authority that she fails to listen to her children talk about what is bugging them or what they want to do different. Instead, she has the humility to realize that sometimes she is the one who needs to change. She doesn't insist that her way is the only way. She tries to teach her children not to interrupt, but when they do, she doesn't lose her temper or act rude in return. When she feels overwhelmed, she tries to stay calm instead of snapping at people, and she refuses to nurse a grudge. When there is some sort of transgression -- and there usually is -- she deals with it quickly, because she doesn't want it to linger all day. She doesn't laugh with the child who makes a really witty but hurtful remark about a brother or a sister, yet she does smile on the one who makes an attempt -- successful or not -- at something noble and true. She wants her children to build healthy relationships with one another, so she works hard at training them, by instruction and example, to speak sweetly and serve sacrificially. She checks up on the ones playing outside with friends, to make sure they are safe -- not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. When her child has been irresponsible or disloyal, she quickly gives him a chance to prove himself in some small thing and thus begin to regain her trust. She has a hope within her that God will work in her children's hearts to transform them in ways she cannot fathom. When she is tempted to give up, persevering love keeps her committed. When she feels that her family life is ready to wither and die, a fresh dose of divine love is what will make her bloom and flourish at home with her children.
Some would say these words are only platitudes. I certainly don't consider myself to have attained them -- not by a long shot! -- but this is what is on my heart for my family this year: to let the love of God break through our hearts and fill us with compassion for one another. Though I am far from seeing the reality of God's high standard of love, I will keep persevering, with faith and hope, until I do!
The poem "Love Through Me" from Amy Carmichael's book Toward Jerusalem, reflects my thoughts right now. (Amy was an Irish missionary to India, and founded the Dohnavur Fellowship to rescue girls from temple slavery. Though she never married nor bore children from her own womb, she was a spiritual mother to thousands!)
LOVE THROUGH ME
Love through me, Love of God
Make me like Thy clear air
Through which unhindered, colours pass
As though it were not there.
Powers of the love of God,
Depths of the heart Divine,
O Love that faileth not, break forth,
And flood this world of Thine.
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UNIT STUDIES AND MORE: Valentine Mini Unit on Love
by Virginia Knowles
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LANGUAGE ARTS
♥ Have your children find several poems that convey love and affection. Copy them into your notebook. (This is a great idea for those who are easing into a Charlotte Mason style of education.) The Book of Virtues is a great place to start.
♥ Write original poems to copy on to cards, using your very best handwriting.
♥ Write an essay about love.
♥ Write letters to family members and make sure you send them on time so they will get there on or before February 14.
♥ Practice spelling words like: love, heart, Valentine, compassion, charity, kindness, cardiology (or any word with root "cardio", which means heart), etc.
♥ How about a little educational game? Let your kids write a list of words using the letters in the phrase "Valentines Day" -- like "daily", "live", and so forth. You can't use a letter twice unless it appears in the phrase twice ("a", "e", "n"). You can't make a new word just by adding "s" to another word. This is obviously a spelling and vocabulary game, but here are some ideas to extend it into a GREAT math activity. Try writing the words in columns marked for one letter words (1 point each), two letter words (2 points each), three letter words (3 points each), on up to 8 letter words. Yes, there are at least four 8 letter words! To score, count the words in each column and multiply by the points for that length of word. Then add the column values together to get your total. (I dare you to beat my score of over 950! Let me know if you do.)
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
♥ Find out who St. Valentine was, where he lived, what he believed, and why he died.
♥ Research the history of the Valentine's Day card and how people celebrate it around the world.
♥ In other cultures, the heart is not considered to be "the seat of emotions". It could be the kidneys or some other body part! Find out more about this! (But don't ask ME where, because I don't know! I just remember hearing about it because Bible translators have to take this into consideration when working in different places!)
SCIENCE AND HEALTH (THE HUMAN HEART)
♥ Learn about the anatomy of the human heart and how you can keep it healthy. Those of us who have had children with heart defects have learned a lot from the web about this!
♥ Study what kind of nutrition is best for the heart -- one low in saturated fats, cholesterol, etc. Plan a week's menu with heart healthy foods and talk about how cooking wholesome foods for your family is a great sign of love in action! (OK, so you can still have some chocolate on Valentine's Day!)
♥ Sign yourself or your older children up for CPR classes. These are offered by the American Heart Association, local hospitals, the fire department and other organizations. My four oldest daughters all took a combination CPR / First Aid / Babysitting class from Florida Hospital. If you already have a CPR manual, REVIEW IT RIGHT NOW!
MATH
♥ Count out candy hearts, combine groups of them to show addition, put them in rows and columns to teach multiplication, divvy them into piles to do division, and then eat them to demonstrate subtraction!
♥ Calculate how much postage you will need to mail Valentine's cards, or how much you will save by sending e-mail and web cards!
BIBLE AND CHRISTIAN CHARACTER
♥ Read 1 Corinthians 13 and answer the question, "What is love?"
♥ Look up some of these Scriptures: Matthew 5:43-46; Matthew 26:36-40; John 3:16; John 13:34-35; John 14:23-24; John 15:9-17; Romans 5:6-8; Romans 8:35-39; Romans 12:9-13; Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 8:1; Galatians 5:13-15; Ephesians 3:16-19; Ephesians 4:15-16; Philippians 2:1-4; Colossians 3:12-14; 2 Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 10:24; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 3:1; 1 John 3:10-20; 1 John 4:7-21 (I know this looks like a lot, but it's only a small sample of New Testament passages with the word "love" in them. You can find more if you have Bible software on your computer. You can look them up first before deciding which ones to share with your children. You could pass out little slips of paper and have your children look them up and read them aloud for the family. They could each choose some short verses to copy, too.)
♥ If you know any Christian songs about love, sing them together! There are some great ones on Steve Green's Hide 'Em in Your Heart Scripture memory song albums. Others are "Oh How He Loves You and Me" and "Oh How I Love Jesus."
♥ Talk about the different kinds of love (romance, friendly kindness & affection, and unconditional "agape" love) and when it is appropriate to show each of these.
♥ Ask your older children, "What is the best way to find a mate?" Compare how our culture views romance with what the Bible says about marriage. (See Ephesians 5:21-33, 1 Peter 3:1-10, Titus 2:3-5.)
♥ Find the lyrics of love songs -- good and bad! -- and discuss them with your children. Which lyrics you choose to discuss will depend on the maturity of your children and what they have already been exposed to. Hopefully, this will help them to learn discernment as you help them see what is wholesome and what is not!
♥ Show your children your wedding photos, and talk about how you met your mate.
CREATIVITY
♥ Make fancy valentines for relatives, friends, neighbors!
♥ Bake cookies and bring them to a shut in.
♥ Prepare a special dessert for Daddy, such as a decorated cake.
♥ Make the felt Heart Full of Love.