Do not intimate to your children that it is no matter whether they labor or not. Teach them that their help is needed, that their time is of value, and that you depend on their labor.
I have been shown that much sin has resulted from idleness. Active hands and minds do not find time to heed every temptation the Enemy suggests; but idle hands and brains are all ready for Satan to control.
Spiritual Gifts 4B, pg 137
Are you thinking of participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count but need a few ideas to “flesh out” your unit study on birds? Here are a some links that will get your creative juices flowing to create a project of interest for students of all ages:
Bird unit study ideas from Adventist Home Educator
All About Birds from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Bird crafts from DLTK Kids
More Bird crafts from Family Fun
Cross-curricular ideas for bird unit study at Squidoo
Bird coloring pages at Squidoo
During the first six or seven years of a child’s life, special attention should be given to its physical training, rather than the intellect. After this period, if the physical constitution is good, the education of both should receive attention. Infancy extends to the age of six or seven years. Up to this period, children should be left, like little lambs, to roam around the house and in the yards, skipping and jumping in the buoyancy of their spirits, free from care and trouble.
Parents, especially mothers, should be the only teachers of such infant minds. They should not educate from books. The children will generally be inquisitive to learn the things of nature. They will ask questions in regard to the things they see and hear, and parents should improve the opportunity to instruct, and patiently answer, these little inquirers. They can in this manner get the advantage of the enemy, and fortify the minds of their children, by sowing good seed in their hearts, leaving no room for the bad to take root. The mother’s loving instructions is what is needed by children of a tender age in the formation of character.
A Solemn Appeal, pg. 133
Here’s a great idea I found on Pinterest if you need to practice b,d,p & g. The original source is linked at the bottom of the illustration.
“The Bible must be made the ground-work and subject matter of education.” “When teachers become connected with the Great Teacher, we shall see the golden mixture of heaven in every line of study, binding all together, and enabling each one to do its work in revealing the character and purpose of God. Much is lost by the students because there is brought into their lessons studies that have an influence merely to make them ambitious to master them, while the truth is overshadowed and buried out of sight.”
Pamphlet 131 – Church Schools- page 13
The Great Backyard Bird count is a fun way to incorporate nature study into your program and make a contribution to science at the same time!
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event.
Click on the image to head over to the GBBC website where you can learn more about the count, download activity pages and tally sheets and learn more about birds in preparation for the count.
The Great Backyard Bird Count takes place February 17-20, 2012. Why not use the Adventurer Feathered Friends award and the Pathfinder Birds and Birds-Advanced honors to turn the bird count into a fun unit study?
The Adventist Home Educator 