Getting Comfortable

I am sure you were impressed with the Roman signum that your child brought home from school today. The kids did a great job creating a signum that would represent their legion in the Roman army. I loved seeing the fierce creatures, or emperors the children drew on their plates. Once our signums were made, we marched down the hall holding them high as we pretended not to let the Barbarians, Celts, Vandals, and Huns take our legion's signum. We were able to relate this history extension to the story we have been reading in class, Teddy's Button. In the story, Teddy's father was responsible for protecting the army's colors/flag. His father was a hero because he rescued the colors from the enemy. Next week, we will talk about the banner that Christ holds over his people. We will talk about how Christ has never dropped his banner of love, and how we as his soldiers must hold the banner of Christ's love over our friends and enemies.

Speaking of enemies, ask your child if they met their greatest enemy in school on Wednesday. In Teddy's Button this week Teddy was told by Pastor Upton that he would meet his greatest enemy in the Christian life. Before I read the part of the story where Teddy meets his enemy, I took the children into the bathroom and had them line up with their backs to the mirror. I asked them if they wanted to meet their greatest enemy. On the count of three I had the children turn around to see their greatest enemy in the mirror--themselves! This led to us finishing the chapter and having a discussion on the war we have with ourselves when it comes to loving, obeying, worshipping and serving Christ. We talked about how knowing and loving Christ is the only way to fight this enemy. It is precious to see these children love this book and identify with this young boy and his journey with our Saviour.

It was obvious today that the students are getting comfortable with me and with school. Everyone has become better acquainted with where everything goes and the order of our school day. The biggest clue to their feeling of comfort was the large amount of excess talking. I had to speak to the group several times about listening and not talking, but the more I think about it this is a good sign. In a matter of three classes, they feel safe and at home. They love their friends and want to share what they are thinking with them. They are excited about what they are learning and can't wait to share the answer. I will continue to remind them of being respectful and proper listening skills, but I am thankful for their enthusiastic and friendly spirits!

I want to take this opportunity to encourage each of you regarding Shurley grammar. We are working in class on alphabetizing and the correct usage of a and an. At this point, I am not expecting mastery. We are going to camp out in these concepts for awhile. Anything you can do to reinforce these concepts at home is great. Perhaps having your child alphabetize your spice rack, dvd's or books at home would be a good review activity. In class we are playing games to reinforce the concepts each week.

I hope each of you has a terrific week. Please let me know if I can help you in any way.