Robert Raikes - A Christian Hero

Robert Raikes - Wiki photo {{PD-US}}

A little note: I used Grammarly (www.grammarly.com) to grammar check this post, because even we grandmoms have been affected by this texting generation. :)

Most folks who know me know that Sunday School is close to my heart. I love teaching and always develop a special affection for the children who are in my class. Do your children like to go to Sunday school? If you’re in a church which, for whatever reason, has decided not to have one that’s certainly not a sin. Nowhere in Scriptures are we commanded to do so. But many Christians feel it does bring a wealth of benefits to the young and so do I.

Many people don’t know how, where, or when the first Sunday school came into existence. It’s quite a story, born in the heart of a man named Robert Raikes who was concerned about poor ragged children in his native England. At first, these children were taught to read and write as well as given spiritual training because it was the only school these particular children attended. When others heard of the success of this school held on Sundays, many more such schools cropped up all over England and the movement's eventual spread throughout the world is history. 

Read more about Mr. Raikes at The Church History for Kids site. Incorporate this article into the history studies of your school at home. Tell your sons and daughters about this man who believed the world marches forth on the feet of little children. I agree with him.

Maxine, a/k/a Nanna

Lessons from Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal

Below is a female Northern Cardinal and I got this photo from Wikipedia.

The author’s name is Geoff Clarke.

 We’re all familiar with the brilliant red color of the male and see many pictures of him, but not so often of the female. But I think she has a beauty and loveliness of her own, though I'd say hers is a more subtle beauty. 

Most of my family and friends know how much I enjoy feeding the birds and not just feeding them, but observing them. It all started with a pair of cardinals who decided to build a nest in the bush right outside my kitchen window, giving me a “ringside seat” of the whole process. I learned a lot about birds from them, as their nest was a successful one and I got to watch the mama roosting on the eggs and all the comings and goings of both parents. And best of all, I got to watch and hear the parents calling and urging their two young ones out of the nest at the right time (now how do they know when that is?) and watch them “leading” them, walking backwards and flapping their wings, across the yard to safety in some branches in the yard in back. It was quite an amazing spectacle to to say the least.


I just wanted to take this time to say a few things about some behavior patterns that impress me about this father and mother. I like how with cardinals they both sing. A beautiful song. But I like it that he sings loudly from high in the trees, and she sings a softer lovely song from the nest. I like it that while she’s contentedly resting on her nest, he brings her food and places it in her mouth. I like it that when the eggs hatch, both parents bring food to their hungry offspring, but that she tends to stay awhile and clean things out a bit. And she keeps cover over them still, after hatching, in bad weather and during the night.  I like it that when the little fledglings come out and begin life in the world, that both parents  call them out and both parents lead them where they want them to go. When I observed it myself, I liked how they flapped and flapped their wings at the little guys, not just telling them what they needed to do by the calling and chattering, but showing them how to do it. Then, it was the dad who really caught my attention and made me become a fan of this bird. Once the “children” are out of the nest, it’s their father who so zealously and tirelessly goes about the feeding and teaching and protecting of his offspring. Usually, you see them with him, and as they grow older, they follow him about from place to place until he no longer takes heed to their noisy pleas for food.  And from what I read, their mama is usually somewhere starting a new nest while their father teaches them the ways of the world. Until fall comes, that is, and then you may see the mom join in more with getting everyone ready for the winter.


Can you see any lessons to be drawn from the way God made this one creature in His universe? I think there are some nice ones to be drawn from this beautiful and familiar bird. Maybe nice applications for children in a science lesson or during family time. Oh, and one other thing I learned about Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal. They mate for life. Need I say more about that?

Maxine a/k/a Nanna

Phillis Wheatley, a Christian Heroine

Phillis Wheatley is one of my favorite heroes of the faith. I think it’s not just the fact that she and I are of the same ethnicity. More than that, it’s because she was a writer. And much of her heroism, in addition to her sterling character, was in her writing. There are many people whom I admire because of their writing. It’s close to my heart, you know, because I want to serve the Lord in written words above all else. What I have and hope to commit to paper will never measure up to that which was penned by this little “lowly” slave girl who accomplished so much above all the odds against her.

Please, read her story to your children. Hers is an important account of what can be achieved by human tenacity and will. I’ll let you read this tremendous tribute to this wonderful person at this site. Ask your children what they’ve learned after you read it to them. Or as a great homeschool language arts or social studies assignment, print out the story and have them write a paragraph or two about what they have learned after reading the story of this remarkable American who was a Christian hero. 

Maxine, a/k/a Nanna

Nigerian Special Children

Something for you and your children to pray about. There are so many youngsters around the world in need of prayers and sometimes there may be other ways to help. Just a little more info on happenings in Nigeria. Please read this article at the Persecution blog, perhaps during family devotions where you can talk and pray about it as a family.

Thomas Ken, a Christian Hero

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Do your children know these words? No doubt they’ve sung them at church. Do they know anything of the man who wrote them? His name was Thomas Ken, who lived in the years 1637-1711. This would be a nice homeschool research paper for them, as well as Christian History project: Let them find out all they can about this man and his musical contributions to the Church. Let them study his childhood and his later trials in the time in which he lived in England. Let them learn about this unsung hero. I think they’ll benefit. 

WriteShop

Have you noticed, as we have, that there is an important virtue children of the past learned, which is not seen as often in today's society? That virtue, or should we say Christian grace, is thankfulness. But to see this grace in our kids we need to practice it ourselves, don't you agree?

As we embark on our fourth writing contest, we have a perfect opportunity to be an example to the children to whom we're trying to minister, by expressing our thankfulness to WriteShop for graciously donating one of the prizes to the first place winner. Though the primary purpose of our Speakables is character development, we also recognize the importance of children learning proper writing skills. The StoryBuilders e-books are certainly a great tool you can use to develop your child's ability to do that. If your son or daughter were to submit the winning story in our contest, they would have the opportunity to choose one of these e-books which would help them to learn to write even better stories in the future! What fun!

I would encourage you to visit WriteShop and see all of the many resources they have for teaching fundamental composition and editing skills to teens and younger students, at home or in the classroom. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Blessings,
Maxine

Total Lunar Eclipse

Nice show put on courtesy of our Creator God in the early morning hours of December 21st. If you can afford the lost sleep and if the weather would permit doing so from outside, no doubt this would be quite worth while observing with your kids. More information is at The Old Farmers Almanac site. Please bookmark the sky watch page for kids to use in your science studies.

Build a Dollhouse

I came across the following website quite by accident and I LOVE it!!! I just HAD to pass it on to folks who come here to HCG so that you can bookmark it. Excellent project(s) for the whole family to work on together and a wonderful hobby for older boys and girls alike. You'll find links to all kinds of goodies, especially for art and applying math skills. Hats off to this lady, Jennifer; I sure do wish I had tried this when my children were smaller.

Dollhouses are so great. And making your own. . .well, that's the best. Hours of enjoyment for young people of all ages and surely you'll agree that it reaps lots of imaginative benefits as well as decorating skills which will be useful in future days.

If any of you out there do try your hand at any of these projects, please let us know how you make out. Go now to Let's Build a Dollhouse and look around!

Learning from Joseph

We're having VBS at our church this week and our theme is the story of Joseph. Need I tell you of the many lessons which kids can learn from this Bible character? It's a story of forgiveness, of course, but there are many other important Biblical truths to be learned. Have you ever read through the account of Joseph to see all of the similarities to Jesus in his person and life? You might want to get out a little notepad and jot them down. You may be surprised at how many there are. Our pastor handed out a listing of some. Here's an interesting one: "Both Joseph and Jesus were stripped of their clothes." That's really something! I hope you'll be teaching your children about this Old Testament saint, instilling meaningful lessons of godly principles while you do. He's one of those Christian heroes we want to hold before them, even if he was from long ago.

The above image is a little craft you can do with children from this story, either in your home school or Sunday school. It's one of the many neat crafts found at a favorite site of mine. Go here to check out this activity and many others.