Homeschooling with a MISSION

What a week! We have so much to tell, but first…..the popping! Language Development class with Mrs. Pintar has been right on time. The Fall-like air has been teasing us a few mornings along with the allergies that tickle the nose. We’ve had a few itchy noses and sneezes around here, so the lesson on Healthy Bodies was a timely reminder. Mrs. Pintar taught and illustrated the fact of germs and the importance of using tissues, covering our coughs and sneezes and washing our hands. One illustration was quite memorable.

To prove how important it is to cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing, Mrs. Pintar brought out what every K4 child loves ( or at least, AbiNoelle) and what a lasting impression. It was a lesson learned with a ooey-yuck and wrinkled nose when Mrs. Pintar took that pin and

popped the balloon and all the little pieces of paper came fluttering out all over the place to show how far reaching those cough and sneeze germs travel! Oh my! Cover your mouth!

Of course, you saw the hat! It has been quite the week. First was “horse” day as AbiNoelle reviewed letter “Hh,” it’s sound, and how to write it. Homer Horse loved coming to school and giving a ride to go along with the lesson.

Then came “Hat Day”. AbiNoelle read blends with her cowgirl hat, marked the blends and read words.

Reading is rolling right along – she is reading those blends quickly and having no trouble adding consonants to make words. She even took a little test with Mrs. Pintar and made an A+.

Reading circles – look out! – we’re coming soon!

Next came Americana – I love America! Dynamite Day was first, and the fireworks were going off in our room has AbiNoelle sparkled in reading all those words.

What a dynamite worker!

Then we decorated our room and dressed in red, white, and blue along with the K4 class to say, “I love America!”

Finally, Friday arrived with an early morning of getting school started with the promise of a special surprise at the end of the day. With school completed, we hopped in the car to meet up with Daddy and head about an hour away for a “voyage” she’ll never forget. Mommy and Daddy both grew up listening to those yellow cassette tapes – you know the ones, right? That’s it – Patch the Pirate. Well, we have certainly passed on the heritage to AbiNoelle. We are so grateful for every opportunity she has to hear the gospel message and Patch the Pirate achieves this in such a memorable way with his stories and songs. This past Spring, AbiNoelle was able to dress up like a pirate and participate in a special homeschool class with Patch the Pirate.

Since then, we have also been using that “Pee Wee Club” material used by many churches  in their children’s program to continue the the musical and godly character learning provided through the Patch the Pirate program. This week, however, was truly the icing on the cake in that category, as we had the opportunity to go to a dramatic production of Patch the Pirate’s “Kingdom Chronicles.”

The Academy of Arts is a fine arts drama ministry that focuses on sharing the salvation message through their plays. This season they chose to perform a Patch the Pirate drama – and what a success! AbiNoelle was so excited to see the Jolly Roger, Sissy Sea-gull and all the characters. At first she was concerned about the “imposter” Captain Patch on stage, but all was OK when the “Real” Captain Patch was spotted in the hall during intermission. You have never seen her so excited. She was actually breathless, speechless, trembling, and even a little teary-eyed (although she won’t admit that part now). “It’s Patch the Pirate!” The drama team did a fantastic job, the gospel message was clear, the music was tremendous, the big, fire-breathing dragon was awesome, but when the little dragon that wanted to breathe fire DID – we all cheered, because he was on God’s side and God always wins the battle over sin!

It was also a unforgettable moment to have a picture with the “Real” Captain Patch and to go behind the scenes and see how it all took place. WOW!-What a night! So exciting to be able to do fun things that impact eternity for God’s glory.