Week of Thanksgiving, 2010

It has been nice to take a break from our "full" curriculum this week.  If something doesn't get done, I don't need to worry about it!  We are memorizing Psalm 100:4 and copied it for handwriting practice.

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, 

and into His courts with praise. 

Give thanks to Him and praise His name." Psalm 100:4

Today I read "The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving" by Ann McGovern for the pilgrim perspective and Richard Scarry's "The First Thanksgiving of Low Leaf Worm" for the Native American perspective.  Even though the children are older, they still love Richard Scarry books! 
We began working last week on a lapbook called "Thanksgiving Countdown" that I downloaded from www.currclick.com.  It has been easier to do just a little part of it each day, spread out over several days as we countdown to Thanksgiving!  They don't always turn out exactly the same either.  It's fun for the children to arrange things in their own way on each book.While working on this lapbook we did lots of cutting and folding (good occupational therapy!).  Activities included in the lapbook materials provided for reading Bible scriptures about giving thanks, copywork, writing, talking about what was eaten at the first Thanksgiving and what we eat at ours, vocabulary, poetry, and creating your own countdown.  My favorite part was seeing what the children added to each little pocket in the countdown.  There were little cards to place inside each numbered pocket that said, "I'm thankful for..." and then the children wrote something on it and maybe a picture.  We plan on taking these to our family's Thanksgiving celebration and sharing them with our family.

J's cover to his "Countdown to Thanksgiving" lapbook

J's lapbook

B's lapbook

B's list of food that might have been served at the first Thanksgiving

One of the things that B is thankful for "Pets". These go in the countdown pockets each day.

"G is for God" B wrote in her poem about Thanksgiving

 We also completed these cute handprint turkeys! They turned out really well.  I got that idea from this post at Our Homeschool Fun blog.  I also plan on having the children make milk carton Mayflowers tomorrow to place on the dining table for Thanksgiving!  They are also an idea from this post at Our Homeschool Fun blog.  The handprint turkeys are definitely something I want to keep!

It is fun to do different crafts, projects, and to have a little lighter schedule this week.  We have been working hard in school for 3 months already.  I like emphasizing Thanksgiving because the Bible tells us in so many places to give thanks!  It is important for the children to understand that giving is more important than receiving.  It fills my heart with joy to hear the children thank Him for the things that are important to them!