Sailing, Sailing on the Ocean Blue

I promise I will start getting better at posting weekly updates so I can be true to the name of this school series, the weekly review.  

Our Mayflower voyage went well and we sailed right into the learning about the pilgrims daily life. 

We created suitcases that displayed what we would bring on the Mayflower and even created our own Mayflower ships that listed our newly learned facts. 

When polled: Most children decided that they did not want to ride on the Mayflower. One interesting fact we learned was that the Mayflower was not meant to carry passengers. 

As you can tell we learned many more facts about the pilgrims and their voyage. Their favorite fact: When the water went bad, everyone, children too, had to drink beer.(Maybe I'll leave that out next year ha!)

 I chose to include five things in my suitcases hoping that they would at least fill in the same amount.

This little guy went above and beyond listing 12 things he would want to bring. If you notice #11 it will bring a giggle. 11. and evrethig ellts (translated: and everything else!)

They also loved learning that little boys had to wear dresses until they were six years old! We took the two days before Thanksgiving break off from Scott Foresman to review before our Unit 2 test so we had time for some fun activities. The media center showed the Mouse and the Mayflower which allowed us to further our Pilgrim journey. I have to admit this movie is cheesy and very poorly made but my kids were enthralled with it as they always are when we get a chance to watch a movie. During the movie they quoted some Psalms which I loved and hope took root in my little guys hearts. This lead to the Pilgrims talking about the Holy Bible. One of my little boys(SJ) came up to me right after and said, "Miss Anderson, they just talked said the Holy Bible, guess what? My mom has that book!" Me: "Really, I have it to, its a really good one!" This was a great reminder that I am a teacher to not only teach them about curriculum but to spread His word and love by my actions and words. 

This touching moment was followed by a hilarious one. Two seconds after the first mention of the Bible, little MM comes up and says " Miss Anderson, they just mentioned the Holy Bible and that reminded me...my mom's name is Holley." 

As we were waiting on the bell to ring, we discussed all the things we were thankful for and I was shown God's work in my little ones again, when two of them said that they were thankful for God and Jesus. These were followed by a precious little guy saying that he was thankful for old people. At that comment the bell rang and they were off to their homes to celebrate Thanksgiving. Oh, how they make me smile! I hope you were able to count your blessings yesterday with great food, friends, and family. We have so much to be thankful for!
~Miss Anderson

Someone I Love

So I was thinking...how blessed I am to grow up in a two parent home. Being surrounded by teaching and school systems my whole life, I am sadly realizing how common it is for children to come from a divorced home. My sister's photography challenge this week was: Someone You Love. I had many choices that I could choose from, however living two hours from family it was hard to take one this week, so I went to my albums to search for someone I love. Here is what I found:

This is my dad, taken on a mission trip that we went on together after my senior year in high school. For this challenge, we had a trailer that was tilted (visibly uneven) well with a lot of hard work we were able to completely level it and added some insulation siding on the bottom.

Pretty proud of our results!

But back to the topic, of someone I love. My dad is a pretty quiet person, well compared to my mom, sister and me who can talk enough for all of us; but when he talks, you listen and learn. There are many things that I have learned from this incredible person. 

1. Family is important. Be there for them in whatever way you can.

2. Follow the Lord, he will direct your path. Spend time in His Word and make sure your decisions and actions reflect this. 

3. Give with everything you have: your time, money, prayers, and love. My dad is one of the most giving people that I know. Giving most of his vacation days to go on mission trips and help out in literally WHATEVER needs to be done, he is the first one there and the last one to leave.

4. Do your best in everything, don't leave a project if you can do it better. (If you know me, this is where I get the perfectionist gene)

5. Love for the Auburn Tigers, War Eagle!

And so much more! 

I am continually shown how blessed I am and I am thankful to the Lord, my heavenly Father, who has blessed my family in the tough times and the celebration times, all glory and praise to Him. 

~Hope you are finding many things to be thankful for in this season of Thanksgiving. 

~Rachel 

A month full of thanks

So I was thinking...how many things we have to be thankful for. 

I made this little fellow as a craft for my class; however, it was a great reminder to how many things I have to be thankful for. My turkey could have had a full flock of feathers, but to a six/seven year old this could of been overwhelming, so I stuck with the basics.

Last week was a great reminder of how thankful I am for my faith and ability to worship God. On Friday night I got to spend six hours in the Lord's word. I attended David Platt's Secret Church. It was an intense six hours but definitely a great rejuvenation for my walk with the Lord. While there, we learned about the persecution of our fellow believers in Egypt.

The information we learned makes my heart break for these people who are trying to follow God's will. Please join me in praying for these people and to thank God for all of your blessings, He is the giver of all our blessings.