SOTW - Chapter 3 The First Writing

The discovery of the first writings is a very interesting subject. One can only image what the explorers must have thought when they saw it for the first time.

Here is a nice site about how writings came to be.

HERE (as in the picture above) is  a short lesson that explains to you how to make a 'coutouche' with your name written in it, it explains how the sounds work and there is also some art activities.

Here is another site about the writings and an online typewriter. You can type out your name and print it out. Look towards the bottom in this link for the 'typewriter' Here is a screenshot of my name as per the 'typewriter'.

Even though this study is very interesting I have to admit I became very frustrated in my search for hieroglyphic alphabets. I managed to find several on the internet, but there were some difference between the symbols in some letters. Therefore I really am not sure which are the true and correct alphabet.

We used what we could find. The kids used the above typewriter to make some coutouches of their names. They used oil pastels on sugar paper.

Matthew's name

Makayla's name

Some fantastic documentary films by BBC about the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the Hieroglyphics can be seen below. The films are quite long, but it is told in a story format. It is very interesting how they started to dig deeper into the meanings of these symbols. It is really worth looking at it. My children were hooked from the get go and also finished the second film in one sitting.

The first video here below is about the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. I suggest that you watch the films in this order as I placed it here. The film story is based on the same characters and one basically continue from the other one. 

In the second film it continues to show how they discovered the aphabet and how they were able to read what was written. The second film could also be watched as a stand alone film if you do not wish to watch the first one. 

We managed to find these films at our local library, I was lucky to find them on Youtube and be able to share with you. This is really a must watch. 

Happy learning and discovering.

Blessings

Maryna

What happend to us?

It has been a while since I last posted. Just wanted to say were are still here.

Our family has been through an emotional time and we are now getting everything back in order again.

School holidays here actually kicks in from about Friday for the next week, but we will be taking this week off and maybe next to just get everything back on track. I will use this time to organize and plan.

Watch this space, I will be back soon. I still need to post our last SOTW activities :)

Blessings

Maryna

Bible memorization the fun way

In our house we make God part of everything we do. It is critical that children  have an intimate relationship with God. Also to build a Godly character and know what is expected of them an how to act on it.

As part of building a relationship with God one needs to know the Word of God.

We use a wonderful series of books called Learning the Word for Life. These books can be purchased from Bible Draw which is also better known as Picture Bible. If you are in South Africa you can buy the books from Oikos Ministries in printed format. 

The main idea behind this series is to teach children (even adults) to memorize verses from the Bible by connecting it to a picture/illustration. First you would read the entire verse or verses to your child. Then you will brake it down in sections as the Parent book indicates (see below). On day one you will introduce the picture and what it represents and teach that portion of the verse to the child. So they will when they see the picture know what each illustration represents. Every day in the week for four days you will do this and then by the last day in the week the entire picture is completed and they will know the verse.

This series consists of three portions (books) each with a parent and student book. This is a great introduction to the follow up books which is the Picture Bible books: The New Testament and The Old Testament.
 
In the picture below you can see how each topic is divided into sections. Each with one section of the picture and the verse below it (parent book). On the right hand side you can see the outlined page as it appears in the student book. I have written ours in Afrikaans underneath each verse section as we are doing it in Afrikaans.

Example from the Parent book

In the picture below you can see what the student book looks like. On the left they can write their dialogue with God. We use it to write the verse out in Afrikaans. On the right you can see what the incomplete picture looks like.

Example from the student book

Here is examples of how the kids been doing it. Yes I actually have a book too :)

From Makayla's book

From Matthew's book

The kids love doing this and it is amazing how quickly they learn these verses and are able to even after weeks still recite them back to me. I also really enjoy doing these books. It is important that we don't just give work to the kids to do, we need to be part of everything and learn and grow with them.

Make God part of your day, every day!
 
Blessings

Maryna

Sport Activities

Last year the kids started doing Figure skating and are still doing it.

This coming weekend will be their first official grading tests.
 
With their big love for the ice and moving really fast, they have also now tried their hand at ice hockey. Matthew decided to officially join the DurbaKnights Ice Hockey Club. Makayla can after the next lesson decide if she wants to also join the ice hockey club.

DurbaKnights is Durban's official ice hockey club. They are currently making use of the ice rink at Galleria in Amanzimtoti. The Durban rink is currently undergoing a massive renovation. Once completed it would be an official Olympic size rink. We are looking forward to this. It is also a lot closer for us to travel to that rink.

Currently the kids are using the club's kit. If they move up to more advanced we will get them their own kit. Matthew does have his own hockey skates. 

Ice hockey is not for those who are afraid of getting hurt. It is a very fast contact sport. It is also a fantastic team sport. It is great for kids to build self confidence and help them to overcome shyness.

I will make more future posts of their sporting progress.

Blessings

Maryna

Crafting inspirations

My kids love to make things. Makayla will silently disappear keeping herself busy making some sort of craft project. Matthew would normally rather draw some pictures.

Here is some of their creations that they recently made.
 
Makayla made this cityscape using some old cardboard boxes. She cut them to pieces and painted the scenes. Then she glued the one piece on the next to create a 3D effect.

Makayla's cityscape 

 

 
On the Tv program Art Attack, Mayala saw how they made this maze type game. She made the walls from papermache. She tore newspaper in little pieces and covered it with water overnight. The next day I helped her to drain all the water from the newspaper. She then broke the newspaper into smaller pieces and mixed it with glue. She shaped the walls and left it to dry for a few days and then painted it. There is a little blue ball on the right hand side in the middle that you manoeuvre around the board. The goal is to let the ball go out the hole (at the right bottom corner). The board is covered with a plastic sheet.

Makayla's game

Is that a fried egg I see on the chair? Matthew saw this Art Attack project and jumped right in. He mixed white paint with craft glue and placed it on a sheet of plastic. He left it to dry and then painted the egg yolk in the middle.

Matthew's fried egg

Closeup of the egg

Makayla saw this book at the library Die Sonskyndag Boek. This book show you how to make all kinds of craft projects. She made this sun-catcher.

The top shiny part she made from kitchen foil. She rolled it up in a snake form and then twisted it. The flower part she cut from a paper plate. She covered the flower with foil she rolled in balls to create texture and opening it up to cover the flower. The middle section she rolled a strip of foil and taped it on. She then painted the flower and added the extra decorations. The bottom part she made with string and different beads.

Makayla's sun catcher.

Closeup of the sun-catcher.

Children don't ever need to be bored. Go on and get them creative. You are welcome to share you crafts with us.

Blessings

Maryna

SOTW - Chapter 2 Egyptians on the Nile River

We continued our study of Story of the World. Last week we learned about the Egyptians who lived by the Nile River.

In this chapter the kids learned about two things:
The floods of the Nile River and how important it was for the farmers. Also the myth of why it flooded every year.
They also learned about the two kingdoms and how they become one. Also how it came about that King Narmer wears a double crown.

The activity book had a suggestion of a craft where they make a model of the Nile River.  The kids worked very hard in shaping their paper-mache and waiting patiently for a few days to dry before the big painting starts. When they wanted to start the painting they found that an army of bugs moved into their models. Needless to say the models ended up in the garbage. So no final project there :(

The photo below is a moveable model of King Narmer. It can be downloaded HERE. There is an option for a coloured figure or a black and white figure so the kids can do their own colouring.

In the video below you can see how the two Kingdoms became one.

A very interesting video explaining about Narmer and his Palette.



The kids made some artworks of King Narmer using oil pastels. .

Makayla's artwork

Matthew's artwork

On Artfactory you can find various Egyptian artworks that you can do.

Here is a nice Egyptian memory game that you can download and print.

I trust that you can find some of the projects and downloads useful in your Egyptian studies.

Blessings

Maryna

Fun boardgames

We are very big fans of animation movies.

I found two really fun boardgames based on the animation movies Rise of the Guardians and Turbo.

I printed it out in full colour and on cardstock. I also covered it with Contact Film. This will ensure it lasts a long time.

The instructions on how to play the games are included in the downloads.

Here is the game that is based on the characters from the movie Rise of the Guardians.

Download the game HERE.

Here is the game based on the movie Turbo.

Download the game HERE. 

Enjoy it!

Blessings

Maryna