Teaching has been my life as of late. Here are some of my latest "doings".
Teen Boys~ I have a half-dozen boys in my teen Sunday School class who are engaged in a "secret service" project. After studying the parable of the talents from Matthew 25, each boy received a ten dollar bill. They have been challenged to make it grow during the next 2 months and the money will be used to bless a dear lady we all love on her 80th birthday. (Shhhh, it's a secret!) She needs a couch :)
Cooperative School~ Administrating the school should be enough, but I would probably shrivel up if I couldn't participate in the teaching, too! This time it is a "Living Math" class with a dozen 1st-3rd graders. We are doing a lot of art projects that have math correlations, such as making a quilt block banner, painting tesselations, folding 3D polyhedra, and constructing a geodesic dome out of rolled newspaper large enough to crawl inside. Amazingly, I've also found some mathematical poetry. Fun, fun, fun!
Women's Ministry~ This is a verse by verse study of the book of John, my favorite book in the Bible. We keep it really simple. I just ask the ladies to read the section daily and follow up with a little journaling exercise: What does this passage teach about the nature of God (or Christ)? Identify the key words and define them. Write a personal application, using the word "I": Is there a promise I can claim? A sin I should avoid? Is there a positive action I should take or an example I should follow?
Homeschool: Our favorite read aloud right now is the Dry Divide by Ralph Moody. This would be a great book to include in an economics course, but we're reading it because we just love this series. It's much more interesting than an economics textbook, for sure. And speaking of textbooks, we continue to learn biology mostly without one. We've learned about the circulation of the blood from Huxley, binomial nomenclature from a biography of Carl Linnaeus, and the immune system from a book called Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster. In between times, the kids have read 2 modules in the Apologia biology text.
Sunday School: We host a quarterly supper meeting in our home for the teachers and try to provide ongoing training. These times together have been so rich. By sharing our victories and difficulties, by praying together and encouraging one another we are sharpened and stimulated to love and good works.
Life has a rhythm. I spend my summers reading and soaking up all I can and then try to give out during the rest of the year. Both are energizing in different, but complementary ways. Teaching is for me one of the greatest joys of life.
2 comments:
I'll miss being in on that study through John.
I was just telling my sister today about what a dedicated teacher you are. Thanks for your example.
I miss you! We really miss everyone. Sometimes we pop in an old teaching CD. I hope we get to come visit in a few months. At least we will be up in September.
I have missed your posts, dear friend.
I see that you have good reason, though, for not posting. What a full plate!
We loved Ralph Moody, too, but I haven't read that title. I'll look it up!
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