Sunday, February 3, 2008

Starting Traditions



We bought an AWSOME book 2 weeks ago called, "Mrs Sharps Traditions" It goes through month by month and gives fun traditions to do with your family....it also talks about routines and their importance for children. Bath time, family night, bedtime routines, these are all important for children and we already do these but I wanted to add some holiday/monthly traditions to richen up our lives so I wanted to share in case someone else wants to do this as well!
New years eve- a farewell to the year tradition~~~~
First off, in the evening, we will all write down on a peice of paper, something we regret/wish didnt happen/didnt like in 2007. Everyone tells each other whats on their paper one at a time and then throws it into a box......when its done, we burn the shoebox in the fire place or throw it away/bury it as a symbolic thing to say out with that crud, we are ready to start fresh tomorrow and move forward from that that we regretted/didnt like.
Next everyone gets out their hats and streamers at dinner or tea after dinner.....we celebrate New Years because as Mrs. Sharp says, "what mother would seriously want to wake their children at midnight....much funner to celebrate while everyone is still spunky and awake, not to mention it keeps the normal routine for bath and bed!
Next, we will write down our prayers for 2008 on a sheet of paper(I will write, everyone tells me what they are going to pray for) and then we fold it and put it in the center of our family Bible and leave it til next year. Then next New Years, we pull it out and read it and it will show the kids the power of prayer as most likely most of it will be answered whether the way they want it or some other way that will work out better!

There you have it, we are a family soon to be very very rich in tradition! I started our new Bible curricula today and its a BLAST.......totally refreshing way to go through the bible Verse by Verse each day for kids. It will take us 5 years to complete all 5 volumes of the Weaver(thats the name of the curriculum) and all our studies will be surrounding it. EG, when learning about creation as we are right now, we learn about the science of the earth, transcribe the verse perfectly for the day, have a creation poem each week to learn, math is revolving it as well and we are reading Little House in the Big Woods for recreation together.....Kaylas reading A Secret Garden on her own and Wyatt is working through Hooked on Phonics to learn to read. Hes about 1/3 through the Kinder HOP and doing FANTASTIC! Then each Sunday is church and the kids just finished the Christmas choir program with that so with all thats going on, we are BUSY and the kids and I are LEARNING up a storm to say the least..........we craft/playdouhgh/blow bubbles/mold with clay/color/paint/bake/cook/fingerpaint/play/ride bikes/nature walk/use a magnifying glass with creatures/planning our garden for the spring/knit a ton/and READ READ READ! Its a busy crazy homeschooling life but I wouldnt trade it for the world. I their teacher and I get to decide what is put into their little brains, NO ONE ELSE!

1 comment:

Mommy Bee said...

I bought this book after you recommended it on BBC and I love it! I am right in the middle of the "August" section. It's so inspiring!