Top Ten Tuesday: "How far that little candle throws his beams!"

"How far that little candle throws his beams!

So shines a good deed in a naughty world."

William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene I

This past week SC had her fifth birthday, which I have briefly mentioned already, but so did our Compassion sponsored child, Oneydi, who lives in El Salvador.  We actually sent her a birthday package two months ago in hope that it would arrive in time for her birthday, but I wanted to highlight some of the things we sent for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday.  I know when we first started sponsoring Oneydi that I wasn't sure what kind of things to send (since they all have to be flat), but especially for her birthday, I found a few neat things that I hope make her feel special and loved.

1. Letter

2. Handmade birthday card

3. Photos of SC

4. Name coloring sheet from here

5. Sticker book with hundreds of reusable stickers and scene pages

6. Alphabet and number stickers (above)//Bible stickers, Christian fish stickers, ocean life stickers (see below)

7. Color by number/letter pages, alphabet worksheets and mazes

Also, I tend to find things that would go great in a package for Oneydi when I am just out and about doing other shopping, so I have a box full of stuff just waiting to be sent.  Compassion has a guideline that the package cannot be more than 1/4 inch thick, which means only about 50-60 sheets of paper (or other flat items) can be sent each time.  So, when we maxed out our 1/4 inch for her birthday, we held on to some of the other things we wanted to send.  Last week we got back our first letter from Oneydi with answers to some of the questions we had asked, plus new information.  This letter was all about Independence Day in El Salvador, so we shared some information about American Independence Day. SC spent time painting both an American flag and the flag of El Salvador to send.  I have previously posted that we sent maps so that Oneydi can see approximately where we are (we also made one for SC that she has hung up in her room), but I think sending flags is also a great way to build cultural understanding.  SC had a wonderful time helping look up the flag of El Salvador and then creating it.

8. Original artwork meant for Oneydi (flag paintings this time)

9. Bilingual coloring book ("Jesus Loves Me") with song lyrics

10. Watercolor books with paint on the paper

I like to send things that are bilingual, as I am honestly not sure if she will be taught English (once she gets to school) or things will only be in Spanish.  Luckily, living in Texas, there are ample items that fit the bill.  Also, I have discovered that scrapbooking stickers (see the alphabet ones above in the 1st picture) are great to send, as they are usually more unique than the "kid" stickers.  Many times "kid" stickers include pictures of items I don't know if Oneydi will recognize, as I am unsure of how rural her home is.  I have also had to be careful when sending pages from many of the workbooks because they are geared toward American children and sometimes include pictures that may be unfamiliar.

I have no idea what we will send in a few years once Oneydi (and SC) start to outgrow the worksheets, coloring pages and stickers.  I think it will also be hard as she gets older to keep up with her development, especially with the time it takes to first send a package and letter, and then ultimately receive a response.  Hopefully when that happens SC will have some ideas for us!

What do you send to your Compassion International (or other group) sponsored child(ren)?  Leave a comment, and then check out other Top Ten Tuesday posts here:

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"An unused life is an early death."

“An unused life is an early death. “

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

So, it has been about a month since I posted anything at all on the blog, and life has been pretty busy.  SC has switched to "beginner 1" gymnastics from the preschool level, which is in the evening instead of the mornings.  She is the youngest in the class, which was great in the beginning, but she has made a friend and they frequently get in trouble for being silly.  SC likes to do "cannon balls" into the foam pit instead of whatever cartwheel/round-off move she is supposed to be doing, or will purposely flop onto the ground instead of landing a move in the proper manner.  It has been difficult.  

SC has also started soccer and has practice on another evening.  They have played two games, and though they don't keep score, her team has lost pretty bad each time.  In fact, the first game they lost 20-0.  After talking with some parents from the other team, we discovered that most of those girls had "been together for 3 seasons" already.  We were shocked, as all the girls on our team are only four, and this is the under-5 league.  Our coach did some digging and found out that apparently the league combined the under-5 and under-6 teams because there were not enough, and by luck of the draw, we got put in with the older group.  So, it will be an interesting season, but hopefully playing against the older girls will help our girls figure things out quickly and benefit them in the long run.

 AC has been traveling still, and has spent most of the weekends this past month in Los Angeles.  The one weekend he was home he worked overnight on a project on Saturday, and then we had to travel to Kansas Sunday afternoon to attend his grandfather's funeral.  Grandpa T was 90 years old, a farmer and carpenter, and led an amazing life.  His beautiful wife is still living, and though it was a sad time, it was also a great time of love and family.

As for homeschool, I have discovered we are fairly unstructured and fit well into the "unschooling" category.  We are definitely SC-led, and as things pop up that interest to her, we follow that path.  However, we do try to stick with working on general math, handwriting and phonics skills daily.  

We very recently abandoned Math-U-See because SC was not interested in any way in using the manipulative blocks, and simply wanted to do the sheets.  She has been playing a few math games on the iPad and her addition and subtraction skills have really taken off.  After reading some reviews, we have opted to start Singapore Primary Mathematics Level 1 to see if it is more her style.  I think we will be able to complete all of Level 1A and 1B before next fall, starting level 2 for her official "kindergarten" year.  We are also going to try out Life of Fred, as I have heard great things about it as well, though I am hoping I can check it out in person when I go to the Homeschool Book Fair this May.

We are still slowly working our way through the BOB Books collection 1, though I am pretty sure SC can read more than we have completed.  However, we let her read these at bedtime, and frequently bedtime is one of our most difficult times of day, and SC ends up going to bed without any reward books, including getting to read to us.  However, we work on Explode the Code phonics and A Reason for Spelling during the day.  Explode the Code requires a lot of writing, so we are moving slowly through it.  However, SC's handwriting is getting very readable.  She can correctly write all of her letters, both upper and lower cases, with only a few occasional "oops" (like switching lower-case b and d).

For both science and history, as mentioned above, we have taken a more "unschooling" approach.  I keep reminding myself that SC is not yet even 5 years old, so it is okay that we are still only on week 3 of History Odyssey, but we have had tons of opportunities to talk about more "social studies" type lessons, as well as learning about other cultures as AC travels.  We have also gone to see mummies, which was awesome, and joined the new Perot Museum, which is also awesome.  Though I really like the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy, it was just too much for SC at this age.  We never even made it to the first lab.  She definitely understands many of the concepts, but all the activities are really geared toward a child that is already writing and creating written work on their own, even if simple.

SC's favorite part of homeschool (aside from math) has become reading the Bible.  We have been using Bible Study Guide for All Ages, and I found an awesome coloring book that has multiple scenes of almost every story in the Bible, which she colors on her own as I am actually reading.  It has really helped her to focus.  

This past week, of course, we have been talking a lot about Jesus, Easter, how sad His death is, but how glorious it is that His death paid the price of our salvation.  We sent our sponsored child, Oneydi, a letter specifically about Easter this week (which I realize will probably not arrive until after Easter).  We wrote about who Jesus was, and what Easter means for us as sinners.  We also talked about some of the things we do traditionally for celebrating Easter, like decorating eggs, and the significance of that.  I found these awesome "paint with water" books (similar to these, but Easter themed) that I took apart and sent along.  All that is required is a brush/q-tip and water  -- the paint is included on the paper.  SC actually uses these all the time.  They satisfy her need to paint almost daily, but with much less mess than traditional watercolors or acrylic paints.  We also sent Easter stickers, and I took apart The Very First Easter from the Beginner's Bible series (my first attempt at sending a book).  Finally, we sent an Easter card to Oneydi, as well as one to her family.

So, we are going to keep plugging along in our chaos, enjoying each other, spending some time doing structured school, spending quite a bit of time learning in life, and just living.  We are all traveling to Los Angeles to visit family and have the first real vacation in probably two years (though AC is going to be working Saturday night still) over Easter weekend.  SC is very excited to go to the beach, go to Disneyland, and see our family.  AC and I will be traveling to London together for a work trip of his, and I am super excited to be spending some time alone in this amazing city, seeing the sights, while AC works, and then getting to spend the evenings with him.  And, we shall see what else God sends our way this year.

Though this is more of a monthly wrap-up, check out how some other blogger's weeks have gone here:

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Top Ten Tuesday: "...the letter once written remains."

The voice once heard perishes, 

[but] the letter once written remains.

Roman proverb

The past few weeks have been busy for us (as evidenced by the lack of posting on the blog), with AC coming and going from town, and SC and I just trying to keep up.  

One of the things we worked on last week was our second letter to Oneydi, the little girl we sponsor through Compassion International.  As I prepared to blog about what we sent and wrote in our second letter, I realized that I failed to mention anything about our first letter, so this week my Top Ten Tuesday is a conglomeration of our first two letters to Oneydi.

1. Handwritten letters & handwritten translations: I mentioned before that we chose Oneydi because her birthday is only two days after SC's, and I thought it would be neat for SC to dictate (mostly) the letters to me to send.  Of course, SC thought this was a great idea, so both of the letters were "written" by SC and I just did the physical writing.  I also decided to use my limited (four years in high school) Spanish to translate the letters myself, because I really wanted Oneydi and her family to see that we are investing in them.  I know that they will probably still go through a translator at Compassion, but I wanted them to have a hand-written translation as well.

2. Photos: We sent both a picture of our entire family, as well as a picture of just SC.  I hope to send updated pictures every six months of SC, because she grows and changes so much.

3. Artwork/pictures:  SC made what she calls "cards" for Oneydi that she stamped, drew, decorated, glittered and doodled on, including writing both her own and Oneydi's names.

4. Map:  We sent a map of North and Central America, circling the USA, and coloring in El Salvador and Texas, so that Oneydi would be able to see where we are located in proximity to her.  SC has an identical map that she has put up on her mirror in her bedroom, along with a picture of Oneydi.

5. Stickers: What little girl doesn't just love stickers?  SC picks out the ones she thinks Oneydi might like the best, and for the first letter we sent monkeys and butterflies, and in the second letter we sent zoo animals and hearts.

6. Flash cards:  We found some bilingual flash cards at Target that have both the English and Spanish on one side and a simple image on the other.  Since Oneydi is still young and probably not reading yet, I hope that these flash cards can be utilized by either the workers at the Compassion Center or even by her parents.  I know they do not have a "preschool" program for her to go to, so I hope I can send a few things that might supplement that.

7. Alphabet worksheets:  Along with the flashcards to help Oneydi learn to read, we sent pages torn from a "Brainquest" workbook that focus on letters.  I send the letters "A" through "E," and will continue sending through the rest of the alphabet in chunks.

8. Dot-to-Dot sheets: These are both follow-the-number and follow-the-letter sheets that create images, which Oneydi can color.

9. Color by number/letter: Again, more fun activities to help her learn her numbers and letters.

10. Mazes: These are simple mazes that will help her with fine motor skills like writing, as well as (as they get more difficult) logical thinking.

Of course, I have to assume that Oneydi has access to things like pens, pencils, markers, crayons, etc.  I really wish we were able to send some along, though I do understand why they are not allowed.  I also have to assume that the worksheets in English are easy enough for someone who may only speak Spanish to figure out.  I may have to see if I can find some activity books that are in Spanish.

Also, I found a bilingual book of Mother Goose nursery rhymes that I am going to attempt to send next time.  I am hesitant to tear a book up, but apparently the only way to send them is completely deconstructed.  

Do you sponsor a child through Compassion International or another group?  If so, what kinds of things do you send to your children?  Leave a comment, then check out other Top Ten Tuesday posts here:

Thankful Thursday: "...as you did it to one of the least of these..."

"And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, 

as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’" 

-Matthew 25:40

This week for Thankful Thursday, I am thankful that our sponsor information packet arrived from Compassion International.  AC and I have actually been talking about sponsoring a child for a while, because though we both have a heart for adoption, it just isn't in the cards for us at this moment.  Sponsoring a child was the next logical step, but neither of us actually went out and signed up.  

In the last few weeks, we have been dealing with SC being a product of the technology generation and have really taken a hard look at what we have compared to what so much of the world has, and how we can express to SC that she is so blessed.  We do not want to raise an entitled child, who demands to be entertained during dinner, in the car or when she is "bored" at home.  In fact, we thought we would never be those parents who hand over a phone or other device at a restaurant or have movies playing in the car.  Things have changed quite a bit in the past four and a half years since she was born.  

So, when I signed up to sponsor a child, I wanted to choose a girl who is the same age as SC, because I think as SC grows, it will be easier for her to compare her life with that of a child her own age.  I was really excited that one of the first girls I was shown was born only two days after SC.  I immediately selected her, and tried to wait patiently for the packet to arrive.

Our little girl's name is Oneydi, and lives in El Salvador.  SC cannot wait until we get back from our next tag-along trip with AC to start making her cards (stamped with both girls' names) and send her some small gifts, like stickers.  We have also already been able to talk about how her life might be different from SC's, as well as what things might be the same (they both care for animals as a chore, though I imagine Oneydi's animals are much larger).

Now, we are not doing this so we can say "there are starving children in third-world countries, so you have to eat your dinner" or in any way threaten her to feel guilty about what she does have.  We want her to see how blessed she is, and to raise up a child who loves to give to those who need in the same way that we have been given to cover our needs.  We want to educate her that not everyone lives the way we do, but show her that God's love extends to the deepest, darkest reaches of the Earth, and that He can use us to spread His love.  We want her to feel that giving is so much better than receiving.  We want SC to, hopefully, be able to develop a friendship with Oneydi rather than simply think of her as someone "less than" us who needs our help - to really know that we are all equal in the eyes of God/love.

Do you sponsor any children through Compassion or another organization?  What type of gifts have you found to be the best/most liked/easiest to send?  Leave a comment, then check out what some others are thankful for at: