A Search for the Lamb - A Christian Alternative to the Easter Egg Hunt

We've pondered the problem of the Easter egg hunt for a while now. I grew up hunting candy on Easter afternoon, hidden by my father - a Bible believing baptist preacher, and it was a lot of fun.

But, in recent years, we've been challenged to considered where the symbols of eggs and bunnies come from, and whether they have a place in our celebration of the resurrection of Christ. Since the resurrection celebration is not actually God commanded, we have a lot of freedom in how we observe it.

What we are told in scripture is to remember the events of Jesus' death and resurrection. That's something Jesus started himself, with the introduction of communion (Luke 22: 14-23). Jesus also instructed us to share the message of the gospel (Mark 16: 15-16). And, we are to be separate from the world while still living in it (Romans 12: 2).

With these things in mind, we can examine the idea of an Easter egg hunt, and find a fitting alternative. I say alternative, because if bunnies and eggs really do have to do with pagan goddesses of fertility, and because at the very least, they have nothing to do with the story of Christ, it does not seem inappropriate to remove them from our celebration. However, there is nothing wrong with the tradition of the hunt (in fact, you could tie it very nicely to scripture by introducing it with Matthew 7: 7 - "seek and you will find"), it is only the symbols being hunted for that need to be changed.

Why not hunt for the Lamb? Instead of eggs try hiding lamb shaped cookies (in baggies of course), with verses about the Lamb. This not only provides a fun time after dinner, but a little learning with dessert. Learning about Jesus and why He is called the Lamb, will help children remember the story and the significance of His sacrifice. As to the sharing, a plate of lamb shaped cookies could be taken to the neighbors, sent to work with Dad, or given to friends, as an opportunity to share some of what Easter is really about.

We have also thought of hiding one special crown for the children to seek. When looking for the Lamb, they might find the King!

This is just an idea we thought we'd pass along for thought. Celebrating apart from the world, doesn't have to mean leaving the celebration behind. Jesus did say "Let the little children come to me." (Matthew 19: 14)

And, while it's great to be a homeschooler, it's even better to be a Christian!

Reader's Theater - An Easter Activity For Children

I was looking for ways to give our school work an Easter theme this week. One idea that I half stumbled on, and half pieced together, seems to be working especially well. Since it has a lot of potential for modification for any age - as long as they can read, I thought I'd pass it along.

This year for Easter, my older three children will perform a reader's theater for the rest of the family. There are a multitude of great puppet plays, dramas, poems and songs (both religious and secular), that could be adapted to this purpose. Reader's theater is perfect for homeschoolers (and the disorganized mothers like me, who prepare for a theme unit the night before), because it does not require costumes, sets, props, or time to memorize lines, and yet it provides a real taste of drama. The readers must convey the action and emotion through there voices, or small gestures. It's also a lot of fun.

We chose a poem entitled "Easter Chant", by Don Stott, that we found at http://www.eliab.com/ . A quick search for Easter plays, poems or reader's theatre will provide you with an abundance of material. The children will sit side by side on kitchen stools, and read off of the printed page. This is how they chose to divide the poem - which they decided sounds a little rap like.

All Voices Together: Hosanna! Hosanna!

Voice One: Hear the people cry.
Riding on a donkey
The King is passing by.
Riding to Jerusalem
Wave those palms and cheer -
Jesus the Messiah
The "promised one" is here.

All Voices Together: Crucify! Crucify!

Voice Two: Hear the people shout!
Tell governor Pilate
To bring Jesus out.

All Voices Together: Crucify! Crucify!

Voice Two: Hear the people cry -
"He claimed to be our king,
Now he must die!"

All Voice Together: "Forgive them! Forgive them!"

Voice Three: They don't know what they do
I'm willing to die
On this cross for you.
I'm your king, Lord, Messiah.
It is finished! I cry -
For your sins to be forgiven
God's Son must die"

All Voices Together: He's risen! He's risen!

Voice One: See the joy on Mary's face.
She came to the tomb
And now she must race
To tell the disciples -
"We don't need to fear,
Jesus has been raised to life.

All Voices Together: He's alive! He's here!

Again, the poem is by Don Stott, but the children broke it apart, and will add the drama and inflection to transform it into a dramatic performance. They took to it with a surprising amount of delight. Usually, when I introduce something new they cringe or whine. Maybe after the science lessons of the last couple of weeks, they're happy to be exercising the right side of their brains. Whatever the reason, I can see this growing into a real Easter tradition for us. Maybe as they get a little older, they'll even write their own material. Or maybe, that's just a mother dreaming.

Either way, it's great to be a homeschooler.

Product Review: Shalom Sesame - Hebrew For Children

Shalom Sesame is a Hebrew/English version of Sesame Street. Although, much like Plaza Sesamo, it has a slightly different format and a few extra characters than the American version of Sesame Street. We owned the entire set on VHS, but when our old player finally died, we switched over to DVDs entirely, and so sold this set. From time to time I find myself really missing it as a supplement to other lessons.

It teaches a little bit the the modern Hebrew language, and a good deal of Jewish culture. Although it is a definitely dated (segments with actresses such as Nell Carter or Mary Tyler Moore really bring that home), so you'll be getting more of an 80's picture of Israel. Even so, it spotlights particular cities and events, and can be a useful addition to a Passover, Hanukkah, or multi-cultural unit study.

I've noticed that now the entire set can be purchased on DVD, which is nice. Before you rush out to buy it though, I would suggest that you take a look at some of the clips of the show offered on YouTube. I wasn't able to find an entire episode there, but if you play several of the video clips, you'll get an idea of the quality of the show.

Again, it is in English and Hebrew, so it's not too intimidating for an English speaking child. But, it can be a little off-putting to hear Cookie Monster or Bert and Ernie with different voices. Still, trying to catch the Hebrew numbers in some of those fast paced Sesame Street animations can be a real kick for parent and child alike.

It's great to be a homeschooler!

Expanding Our Passover Mini Unit - Science, Art, History and a little Math

We continued on with our study of Passover today. Starting off with the science project we encountered at www.chabad.org/kids . It's a very simple experiment of mixing warm water, yeast and sugar in a bottle with a balloon on top. As the yeast devours the sugar, producing carbon dioxide within the bottle, the balloon inflates. The younger children watched The Magic School Bus: Ready, Set, Dough, which also deals with leaven.

Next we moved on to an arts an crafts project courtesy of http://www.makingfriends.com/ (they have many wonderful paper doll printables on this site). Our project, as you can see from the picture, depicts Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea. This was fun, but a little more time consuming than I had planned - a lot of great cutting and gluing practice, but very messy!

While the children worked on their project, they also watched the DreamWorks movie, The Prince of Egypt (that could be why the crafting took longer than I thought it should). The movie however, provided us with a springboard into history. We pulled out our Bibles, time lines, and notebooks and did a little math. In the movie makers version of the Exodus story, the Pharaoh is Ramesses. I'm guessing, because there's mention in Exodus of the Israelites building the city of Raamses. However, a quick bit of math tells us otherwise.

In I Kings 6:1 we are told that Solomon started building his temple in the 4th year of his reign and 480 years after the Exodus. Since it is usually accepted that Solomon began his reign in 970 BC, his fourth year would have been 966 BC. 966 + 480 = 1446BC. This places us more in time with Amenhotep II, or Thutmose III. There have been other thoughts on the matter of course, but the point for the children is not to take Hollywood's word as truth when it comes to matters of Biblical history (or any other history now that you mention it). Our research for all of this was pulled together from bits and pieces of information, but mainly from the Bible, the notes in my NIV Study Bible, and Dorling Kindersley's History of the World.

If we could just get some sun for a little hands on brick making to go with our charoset (or our version of it - we are not pretending to be in the least bit Kosher, but we are enjoying the pursuit of a better understanding of the customs), I think we could call our Passover mini-unit pretty well done.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Making Matzah (Or Something Like It) - A Passover Lesson for Christian Kids

After dinner this evening our minds turned again to Passover. We watched several very entertaining and informative videos on www.chabad.org/kids. A couple of them went into pretty good detail on the making of matzah. One started in the wheat field , and explained all the care that goes into keeping everything Kosher.

Not being Jewish, we were not really concerned with being Kosher, but we were still interested in reliving the story of the Exodus. We were challenged too, by the fact that only eighteen minutes is allowed between the start of the matzah making and the pulling the "bread" out of the oven. Of course, we had to try it for ourselves!

Our oven is not nearly as hot as the proper matzah baking ovens, our flour was not Kosher, and we had not removed every evidence of leaven from our home, but we set about making our own version of unleavened bread anyway (call it hardtack if you it makes you feel better!) We preheated our oven to 400 degrees (not the 2000 degrees recommended), prepared our pans bowls and ingredients (just water and flour). Then, we set our timer for eighteen minutes and began.

We mixed three cups of flour with one cup of water and combined it together with our hands. We rolled it out as thin as we could get it (not nearly as thin as in the video we had watched). Then we placed it on the pan and poked it full of holes to allow the steam to escape and discourage rising. Finally, we popped it into the oven, and let the timer run down. Our bread was finished about 18 minutes after our timer went off - oh well.

We broke it into pieces and ate it with honey and jam, though we did taste it plain first. While we were eating our snack, we read from The Passover Journey a Seder Companion by Barbara Diamond Goldin. It was the one book I could find in at our local library about Passover. Really, in a small Montana town, I was very happy to find even one book on Passover, especially since I waited until today to go and look for it. It turned out to be a very useful, and enjoyable book, reviewing the Exodus story, and explaining the steps and meanings of the Passover dinner.

It was a very informative evening. We learned quite a bit about Jewish tradition, but also about our own faith and traditions. And although we are not still waiting for the prophet Elijah to prepare the world for the Savior, we opened our door in preparation for Easter and our hope of the return of the Messiah. Even so come Lord Jesus!

It's great to be a homeschooler!

Garbage Bag Solar Balloon, Birkat Hachama, and a Cloudy Day

We spent most of yesterday evening refiguring our solar oven for another test run and building a solar balloon. We awoke today with high expectations. But, the best laid plans of mice and moms often go awry, and today was no exception. The sky this morning was dark and cloudy, and according to the updated weather forecast, we should see clouds and rain through the weekend.

I took a look at the calendar, and decided to go ahead and transition into a quick Passover study to be followed by Good Friday, and then Easter. Hopefully by Monday, we'll be back into sunshine, and our solar studies can continue.

I was absolutely thrilled to see the perfect bridge from solar ovens to Passover in the headlines this morning. Birkat Hachama is something along the lines of a Jewish sunrise service. It has to do with the vernal equinox (according the the pre-Gregorian Jewish calendar), the sun being created on the 4th day - which would be Wednesday, and some long held Jewish tradition about the sun today matching the sun's position on the day it was placed into the sky by God.

I scrambled a bit, and came up with a creation day coloring sheet of the sun (at http://www.coloring.ws/) for the little ones, and a good Passover coloring book (at www.diaspora.org.il/holidays) . The older children read the creation story, and then popped ahead and saved a spot in Exodus for the story of Moses and the plagues. After a brief discussion of creation and how it ties into the Birkat Hachama being recited by Jews around the world today, we were ready to move on from the sun to Passover.

Since I was still scrambling a bit, our studies this year started by watching The Rugrats' Passover, which we found online at http://www.wejew.com/ (I'm not sure how people managed to homeschool before the Internet!) I've also found some very good videos, lessons, and a Passover related science project at www.chabad.org/kids , which we will pursue tonight.

As for the solar balloon, which is simply some very thin (.5 MIL) black garbage bags cut open, taped together, and tied up at each end - we just couldn't resist taking it out in the yard to play with it a little. Although a solar balloon will not rise on a completely cloudy day (as our picture shows), it is still a lot of fun to bop around. We were excited to discover that even without good sunshine, the air inside the balloon begun to heat up. When we deflated it, it was like standing in front of a furnace vent. We can't wait for a sunny day to see the thing fly!

It's great to be a homeschooler!

Homeschooling With a Toddler in the House

Homeschooling can be a beautiful, blissful time of mother child bonding, and learning - as long as you only have one child. Homeschooling with a toddler loose in the house can be frustrating, tiring and unproductive. Please note that I said "can be", that doesn't mean it always has to be.
Here are a few tips from one parent to another on how to keep school going, keep your sanity, and keep a toddler safe, cared for, and occupied at the same time.

1. Create a safe room or floor in your house that is as free from choking hazards, poisons, or other general safety risks as possible. This will allow you to let your toddler toddle about a little without grave concern (as long as the area is pretty open, allowing you a somewhat constant view of your little one).
2. Don't be afraid to use the crib as a cage (I meant play pen, of course). We have set up cribs in the television room, and televisions in the room with the crib, in order to allow our little one to have some quiet viewing time. Adding a few hundred of those ball pit balls to the crib can make for a very festive time for while. Just remember, all those balls will eventually be tossed all over the room, and have to be picked back up.
3. Let your toddler have some "homework" in the form of a coloring sheet. Those color wonder sets by crayola are great for keeping down the mess.
4. Try to keep the toy scattering limited to one or two rooms in the house. Toys all around can be distracting to the children trying to study, and discouraging to you if you find chaos a little bit difficult to deal with.
5. Be flexible in your school schedule. This is probably not the best time to start a really rigid curriculum that requires a specific number of hours to be spent on each subject each day. You need to be able to squeeze in a subject here or there as your little one is occupied.
6. Take turns working with your older children, and enlist the ones not doing school work to help with toddler duty.  If you don't have multiple children to rotate through, then work with Grandma or Dad, when they're available, to watch after the toddler while you get in some quality teaching time.
7. Be understanding but firm with your older children. Yes, it can be difficult to concentrate on multiplication problems when someone is banging on pots and pans in the kitchen, but there will be distractions in the workplace too. Not everyone gets to work in complete silence with no interruptions. It's best to learn to concentrate despite the distractions now.
8. Spend time with your toddler. Sometimes an especially fussy or destructive child just wants some one-on-one time. Hold them until they want to get down. They usually behave better if they know they are still getting their share of care.
9. If all else fails, and things seem to be getting out of control, fall back to the basics. Pick one or two subjects that you absolutely have to get through each day, and let the rest fall to videos or educational video games for a while. This season in homeschooling will pass quickly - it's better to get some learning done than none at all.
10. Remember that learning can happen in many different ways. Not all school work involves sitting in front of a workbook filling in answers. A lot of it happens while playing games, going for walks, visiting places around town, and just going about your normal day - these are all things your toddler can participate in - make the most every learning opportunity.

It's great to be a homeschooler!