Goodnight Moon Activities

So we started Goodnight Moon today and despite Hannah being a bit miserable with a cold we had a good time. I kept it really simple using my preschool planner and only putting a few activities in a day. This was so less stressful, fun and simple to prepare. What was amazing was that our morning started with a beautiful crescent moon against a clear sky outside James' bedroom window. God is SO good

Bible
We simply looked at the Verse Card that I had made - I thins really helped as we had a little chat about sleep and I was able to point to the words as I read them which was good for James. It also helps that James can see the numbers. As we look at this each morning I hope to expand on what this verse means. I also read the poem and we looked at the pictures. James pointed out that the child picture must be a girl because she had long hair and a pink pillow.

Music
We sang Hey Diddle Diddle with our musical instruments. Hannah had her drum (her favourite) and James the musical bench. We played quiet, loud, slow and fast. When we played loud James looked concerned and said we must not break the musical instruments! We then practiced using the props - I can see that this will be good for Hannah's vocabulary. James knows the whole nursery off by heart and Hannah is picking up bits really quick. I asked what James thought a fiddle was and he said a violin. James was then looking at a Mother Goose book and found the Hey Diddle Song. H then started making up his own nursery rhymes and trying to get his words to rhyme!

Stories
I read Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Usbourne Book). Hannah was transfixed - I forget sometimes that this is all new to her. I could tell she was really caught up in the story. She also loved Owl Babies and keeps asking for this one - she especially likes Percy saying "I want my Mummy" - I think she can empathise. James and I talk about how Goldilocks could have gone about getting porridge a different way. james said she could have asked to come in, have porridge etc and then she could have also stayed for dinner and stayed the night!

Moon and Stars Snack
This was a bit spontaneous with what we had in the fridge but it worked perfectly. In fact it was very yummy!

Melon Crescent Moon, Cucumber Full Moon and Star Toast

Shadows This was a fun activity and James seemed to find this easy. His pencil control is really developing. Hannah is now spotting shadows everywhere and loves to move herself around to change the shadow shapes!

James drawing from the picture to the shadow

James drawing lines between pictures and shadows all on his own with lovely straight lines!

Learning DVD
Maths Adventure to the Moon - a sweet DVD introducing the concept of maths. It addressed counting in 2's which is great as James is learning this at school. Ultimately it is a about going to the moon and using maths to complete the mission.

Colouring
James is coming on so well with his colouring. He is now holding his pencil much better and using colours much more intentionally. They both really enjoyed the Three Bears theme and were interested in making a lap book.

Imaginative Play
There has been lots of imaginative play this week with sofas etc to make rockets to the moon. Hannah invited me on at one point and was delighted to show me that she had found a Bible to take with her! James has asked Daddy for a cardboard box to make a rocket so think we will do that next week.

Good Night Moon - The Blessing of Sleep

I wanted to spend some time meditating on one of the verses recommend in the Manual so that I could teach my children to love His Word through the books we read and enjoy. As the Word always did I was so ministered to by my time dwelling on this Word that I thought I would post my thoughts as a reminder of His goodness to me.

“It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labours; For He gives to his beloved even in his sleep” Psalm 127:2 (For He grants sleep to those He loves). This is a beautiful promise and one I would do well to meditate on. Sleep is a gift and during those moments of resting the Lord is working for our provision! His servants are allowed to rest – they do not have to work themselves to the bone – all day AND most of the night. It is a reminder that the Lord never sleeps and even when I am switched off and not able to DO anything He is working and planning and providing.

I love what my William Macdonald Commentary says, “This Psalm is a tremendous unfolding of the Word of the Lord through Zechariah, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts (Zech 4:6). There is such a danger that we depend on the power of the dollar or on human ingenuity. But the Lord’s will is not accomplished in that way. It is by His Spirit that we build for eternity. It is not what we do for God through our own resources, but what He does through us by His mighty power. All we can produce is wood, hay, and stubble. He can use us to produce gold, silver, and precious stones. When we act in our own strength, we are spinning wheels. When we bring God into everything, our lives become truly efficient. Carnal weapons produce carnal results. Spiritual weapons produce spiritual results.”

According to Moffatt, this verse can be translated, as “God’s gifts come to His loved ones as they sleep”. It would be great to encourage the children to pray specifically about something and encourage them to know that even while they are sleeping God is working on the answer. I find all of this incredible and it has really spoken to my heart! How much time do I spend at night thinking about things when ultimately He will be working through the night to provide for my needs! I am tempted to consider, once they have memorised this verse and understood it to bring a little present to them while they sleep!

Goodnight Moon

I am SO excited. I am starting FIAR with Hannah and feel so blessed to have this opportunity to go through this experience once again. Hannah already loves Goodnight Moon so I decided that was where we would start. Good Night Moon is a book about a little bunny rabbit settling down for bed. It is beautifully descriptive of his bedroom and the illustrations by Clement Herd are simply wonderful (I think for me one of the delights of reading this book is how each time there seems to be more detail that I did not notice the time before). One by one the objects in his room are told Good Night until all is quiet and dark and still and the little rabbit is asleep. It is such a peaceful book and wonderful introduction to bedtime routine, the moon, time, porridge and Goldilocks and the Three Bears! I plan to post as we do activities rather than one single post and that seems more practical and realistic. So here's to our journey though BFIAR.