Our Easter journey pt 1

This Easter, I'm combining 'A Sense of the Resurrection' ebook (bought online) and the resurrection eggs lessons (with this website as a guide - http://ateachingmommy.com/day-1-donkey/).

We started by preparing our hearts for Jesus' death and burial.

Smelling the lavender essential oil poured in a jar to remind us of how Mary anointed Jesus to prepare him for His death and burial.

 

Our Easter basket with the resurrection eggs...

The boys hunted for the first hidden egg, opened it and immediately loved the paper donkey I put inside.

Coloured their palm leaves and used them to dramatise how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on His donkey. The rocking horse became the 'donkey'. :) We dramatized the scene several times with the boys taking turns to be 'Jesus'.

The next activity intrigued them so much cos it involved water. The feet washing activity was so fun we took turns washing each other's feet many times too. No pictures taken as I was too busy trying to control two overly excited boys.

The second resurrection egg contains coins. Printed out the coin bag from http://ateachingmommy.com. The boys covered each circle with a pebble while counting the total number of silver coins Judas was given to betray Jesus.

The next morning, at the dining table, the boys were seated down and I narrated the story of the last supper. We had a loaf of bread (from Duke bakery) and a cup of wine (Ribena). I broke the bread and poured the 'wine' for them. Then we finished up the bread for breakfast. :)

Love the part when I used a picture of a boy, naming all the bad things he had done and then erasing the black marks I had made with the marker.

Both Zech and Nathanael contributed too as they recounted the wrong things they had done. When I shared with them how Jesus still loves them even after they have sinned so much, they looked so attentive I felt like crying. For a moment, I thought they looked sorry. Erasing all the  black marks which represented their past sins has quite an impact on them I guess.

Zech did some colouring. Not his cup of tea but he didn't mind colouring.

These two below were printed from http://www.bible-printables.com/Coloring-Pages/Easter/10-easter-008.htm.

One of the boys' favourite things to do is blowing bubbles. First time for Nathanael! For this activity, the boys took turns to say a prayer before blowing their bubbles up to heaven. Really glad to hear Zech praying with more depth in his content now.

Made a crown of thorns using playdough.

 

Used cellophane paper and contact paper to make a purple cross to remember Jesus, dressed in a purple robe, is the King of kings.

Not forgetting, painting Easter eggs!

The final products, with some touch-ups by Mummy, displayed at the 'fire place'.

More Easter activities coming up next week...

Legoland

We were at Legoland last Sat with a bunch of friends. A warm day but lots of respite from the hot sun under shelters, inside cafes, shops and the cinema.

Slightly after 10am, we bought our tickets and off the boys went in, with much anticipation and excitement.

Our first stop - the Brick Shop! Didn't think much of it at first but look at what the boys got themselves into?

Nathanael simply enjoyed taking out all the parts that go into making a mini Lego figure while Zech diligently fixed his figures.

The final products... Love them too!

Thrill rides taken by Zech and his papa while Mummy and Nathanael looked on.

The roller coaster was scary for Zech. Both his papa and him were unprepared for the steep drop I guess. It was his first roller coaster ride but luckily that didn't deter him from trying another roller coaster ride later on. 

Here's the poor upset fellow who's underage and below the height required (at least 115cm) for most rides.

Headed straight to the Duplo Express after the roller coaster ride, as a consolation to my younger one.

There was a sheltered playground and the boys played around on their own while the parents rested. Lots of sound and light effects, which the boys adored.

 

Just at 12pm, we managed to catch the 4D movie at the cinema. A first for the boys!

 

Had lunch at one of the restaurants.

Like how spacious and relax it is. The boys entertained themselves at the Lego table in the restaurant while waiting for food to be served.

 

After lunch, we went to the boating school. Love Nathanael's expressions as he sat in the boat with Papa. Priceless! Didn't know how much these rides mean to a small child.

My first ride after such a long time. :)

There was a driving school just opposite and of course, the boys wouldn't miss it for the world.

Nathanael had his nap in the stroller after this so we took the chance to explore the Medieval Kingdom.

There are 2 dragon roller coasters here. Zech sat on the mini roller coaster meant for young kids. Enjoyed himself so much he went twice.

He came out exhilarated and declared he was going to try the other dragon roller coaster. But he went into the castle, queued up then backed out. Hahaha!

He went on a leisurely ride after this. The Royal Joust. A very lame ride because sitting on a real horse is definitely more enjoyable. But the sound effects and visual experience probably added on to the joy of the ride.

Other thrill rides...

 

 

 

There was this really fun but tiring ride suitable for families. Didn't take any photos as we were too absorbed by the entire experience. We went up a fire engine and had to pull and push the lever to move the engine towards a burning house. Once we were in front of the house, we ran down, turned the lever for water and the boys used their hose to aim and spray at the burning part. Then off we went back to the fire engine again and did the same thing to go back to its parking lot. The boys were intrigued. Zech was really fascinated with the fire engine.

 

Managed to catch the Star Wars exhibition.

 

 

 

It was really dark inside. Surprisingly, my boys love the intricate figures. Not a Star Wars fan myself but found it very interesting to read up on the background of the plot. Zech asked many questions as we moved through one room after another. Though I couldn't answer most of his questions, the exhibition was a visual feast.

 

Definitely we couldn't go home without buying any Lego products. One of the best things I bought was the baseplate at around 20sgd.

 

Will surely go back again. No crowds and no long queues. A plus factor for many of us. But we will wait till Nathanael is 5 and hopefully will be at least 115cm by then.



A regular week in our K2 homeschool

Some updates from our garden...

The tomato plant has grown.

Bought a Venus Fly Trap recently.

Bought some pots from Daiso. Waiting for the sunflowers I bought over the CNY to dry up so we can plant the seeds. :)

Science

Outdoor learning is set aside almost every Friday. Zech's learning about trees now. We are blessed to have a garden nearby. There used to be many rubber trees in AMK Town Garden. Not many are left now. Zech did some bark rubbing on some trees including the rubber tree.

 

We discovered a broad-leafed mahogany tree and a tembusu tree too. Picked up a couple of tree seeds.

Our mini collection of seeds in an egg carton.

Zech was really amazed at how a small seed can grow into a big tree. The wonders of God's creation!

Learning about seed dispersal. Inspired by a book we read about dandelions, here's Zech trying it out by blowing on a mimosa.

Zech began documenting his learning in a Science journal this week.

 

Bible

In every unit, there's a memory verse from Proverbs. Memorising and copy work is usually done on Monday. The rest of the week is focused on the 5 minute devotional book. Up till now, Zech has memorised 3 verses from Proverbs. He does the copy work when his little brother is taking his nap.

 

Realised recently how important modelling good handwriting is. The size of the model certainly matters to young kids. Zech copied these verses from the teacher's manual. The font size and type of font is big and clear. This is a sure way to teach kids to write in their best handwriting.

English

This year, Zech is learning the sounds of long vowels and consonants. Here's Zech working diligently at one of the easier pages in the workbook.

There are certain sounds such as th  that Zech finds challenging.

These Finger Phonics books are very useful. Using them as a supplement.

Writing "Animal Tales" - Zech copies a sentence from the workbook page and illustrates it.

Mathematics

We are seeing shapes everywhere lately. Shapes hunt is a game Zech enjoys.

 

One-difference train is another great activity that allows a child to think of the attributes of shapes. Taken from the "Complete Book of Math", Zech chose any attribute block and followed it with another block that's different in 1 way yet similar in other ways. We took turns and ended up making a long train.

The Math book Zech is using.

 

Each topic comes with suggested activities. I tear out the worksheets for Zech to do and file them away after marking.

Art

Can't believe I'm teaching Art. However, I need to because my boy is lagging behind in his artistic ability. I didn't order the Art resource book that came with the MFW materials. Using whatever materials I have on hand and the wealth of resources on the internet, I've taught my boy how to draw an aeroplane, a cat, a snake that turned out to be a caterpillar and the latest? I thought I should start teaching Zech how to draw people.

Zech's first attempt at drawing a boy. Not sure how the hands turned out green and the legs black. Perhaps they are wearing gloves and boots? Haha!

What works for my child may not work for yours. But many kids love rewards and I use stickers as a way to motivate my boy. Nothing fanciful but works a million for Zech. Every time he obeys at once or completes a task joyfully, he gets a sticker.

I use 1 index card per week. These are the stickers he gets from me so far this week.

Homeschool is especially challenging this year. But I'm thankful we made it through with some adjustments and laying down of rules. Praying with the boys and getting them to pray aloud help us through hard times too. It's week 7 now and I can still say I look forward to school every day.