C's Homeschool Blog

Friday, December 24, 2010

Excelence in Writing

Merry Christmas! We hope you enjoy these short stories we wrote.

THE BIRD WHO PUT OUT A CANDLE
BY Brianna

Martha an old woman who lives in the Washington mountains, did not have electricity, so she put candles all over her house and outside. After lighting each candle, she shuffled to the fire place where her gray and almost hairless kitten, who hunted a mouse like a cheetah chasing an antelope. “Almost Christmas,” she told herself. Looking outside a window she spied a candle that was blown out, but the wind was not strong enough to blow out a candle. Quickly but calmly Martha stepped outside and lit the candle again.

Inside the house Martha looked out the window and spied a yellow breasted sparrow standing on the window sill. The sparrow flapped it's wings gently which blew out the candle. Leaving the little cottage the bird disappeared as quickly as she came, into the trees. “Did that sparrow blow out that candle? Martha asked herself.

After a few minutes later, when Martha opened the window to get some fresh air, found the tiny candle knocked over. When she neatly set the candle upright she noticed a string attached to the wick. She examined. She wondered. She understood. GOD had sent the bird to blow out the candle so her house would not be accidentally set on fire. Carefully Martha got down on her knees and thanked the LORD for the bird who put out the candle.

God's Greatest Gift
By Heather C

Since I was born, I have had this mysterious black star on the top of my right leg. Unlike the other camels, who would always say the star was a mark of destiny, I , Samuel, knew it was just a plain old birth mark. Or so I assumed. I was two years old when three richly dressed men came to our humble stable to buy camels. Undoubtedly these men were wise men. Examining them more closely, I realized they were Gasper of India, Melchior of Persia and Balthasar of.....of a place I don't remember. When they came to my stable, they started whispering and pointing at my birth mark. They men bought me along with Joseph and Sarah. Had I been chosen only because of the mysterious black star?

Watching that shining star, which we had been following, hover over that quiet town, we were all silent. Our little caravan had been traveling for a couple of years following a star. It was pretty strange at first having to travel by night, but eventually I got used to it. Although we visited many places, my favorite was Herod's Palace! The palace was very beautiful. It was also big! Not big, HUGE! Now where were we? Oh, we headed towards Bethlehem and found a place to stay for the night because it was too late to late to search for whoever our owners were trying to find. Luckily we got to stay in a very cozy stable instead of smelly ones we might have stayed in. The animals told quite and interesting story. About three years ago, a baby was born right there in that very stable. I fell asleep that night watching that hovering star and wondering about my own star.

Looking at that child, who was in its mothers arms, and watching our masters bow down and give gifts to him, I knew there was something different about that kid. Eagerly that morning, our owner had gotten us up and began the long search. When our masters found what they were looking for, they hurried inside while we camels stayed outside. I watched through the window. After awhile the child noticed me. I stuck my head farther down as the child slowly walked towards me. “Jesus dear, come back.” called the woman. That was the name of the baby who had been born in the stable! As I looked at the black star on my right leg I knew that God had given it to me so I could glimpse at Gods greatest gift to man.

Rachel the Kindhearted Lamb of Christmas
By Rachel Christensen

Walking along, a little lamb named Rachel headed to the fields after a nice rest in a warm stable.
She was an adorable lamb with a coat of wool as creamy and white as milk. Abruptly she paused when she spotted a young woman moaning softly. The woman, who appeared very pregnant sat on a donkey, and next to her stood a man trying to comfort her. Since the stable was such a nice place and this couple seemed to need a place to stay, Rachel mewed loudly, and the man noticed her and followed her to the barn. Then Rachel's mother called. Off she trotted to the fields for the night.

Comfortably Rachel snuggled up on the ground as her mother finished her last few bites of grass. All was quiet except for the occasional mew of a lamb or the quiet whisper of a shepherd who would be up all night. Suddenly a bright light appeared. The silence was broken by a shining angel who told them in a clear voice that they should rejoice because a Messiah had been born in the city of Bethlehem. As he finished, the angle was joined by a glorious host of other angels. They sang! They praised! They shone! Then, they were gone. In amazement the shepherds lay there for some time. Staring up at the sky where a bright star blazed, Rachel walked silently with her mother, the other sheep, and the shepherds to find this thing which the angels had told them about.

When Rachel entered the stable, she did not know that this very night, in ages to come would be known as the first Christmas. This was her stable. The stable in which she was able to rest and feel at peace, and there on the hay sat a man, and a woman who held a baby. The shepherds kneeled respectfully. Who were these people? Excitedly Rachel whispered, “Mother, I think this is the couple I led here earlier today!”
“I think you're right,” her mother answered. From the corner which she and her mother had settled down in, Rachel noticed how the baby shivered and sniffled. On the ground half covered with hay was a brownish, slightly soiled strip of cloth. This, Rachel brought to the mother. Smiling warmly, the mother whispered, “Thank you kindhearted little lamb.” Rachel didn't know it, but that baby was the promised Savior of the World, Jesus Christ. You know that lamb that is part of your nativity set?
Laying there peacefully is Rachel the kindhearted lamb of Christmas.

Friday, December 17, 2010

First SNOW in Ankara

We were thrilled to see snow again

Carsten didn't know what to think of it

He had a little trouble...

Beginning our snow fort

Some of our neighbor girls joined us

SNOW BALL FIGHT!!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Excellence in Writing

This is our second year of being a part of writing class. We use the Excellence in Writing DVD course. Thanks to Mr. Pudawah (the teacher on the DVD) and our moms, we've become much better writers! Here are a few of our "easy beginning of the year" essays. We've taken the key words from each sentence and re-written it in our own words.

The Most Important Figure
By Brianna Christensen

Robert Gosseteste who was the bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in 1200 AD was the most important figure in the in the middle ages. He was sincerely committed to the belief that the secrets of the natural world could be explained by the laws of God. MR. Grosseteste wanted to learn what caused things to happened. Instead of making complicated inventions, he only wanted tounderstand why they worked. Naturally he taught that scientists should use observations and then make tentative explanation, to describe why things worked. It was because he was the first to explain and use the scientific method that he was considered to be the most important figure of his time.

Thanks Thomas Bradwardine
By Heather Christensen

Thomas Bradwardine was the first to investigate Aristotle's ideas. For hundreds of years Aristotle was the standard for science. Thomas believed that the earth was made up of four substances which are: air, water, fire and earth. Thomas explained why rocks fall: It is like the rocky earth and wishes to be with it. Being as smart as he was, Thomas also explained why he believed smoke rose: It is like air and the fire of the heavens so it goes that direction. Thomas bravely explained why things moved: things move when a force moves them. Thomas was determined also to find out why things stopped. When using mathematics and experiments, Thomas was able to prove that some of Aristotle's idea were wrong! Obviously we know now what was wrong. We thank you Thomas Bradwardine.

From Careful Observation to Brilliant Conclusion
By Rachel Christensen

The scientific method has been used for hundreds of years by scientists, evidently to help them explain the mysteries of the earth. There are four steps to the scientific method which are: observation, hypothesis, experiment, and conclusion. Observing something in the world is a scientist's first step. Then he makes a guess as to how it works or why it occurs. Determining if his hypothesis (or guess) is correct is the following step, which he figures out through experiments. Finally, from results, a scientist can conclude whether his hypothesis was indeed correct or not. Over time, if many scientists come to the same brilliant conclusion, their hypothesis is recognized as a scientific law.

Joke Central

Teacher: Where's your paper? I was supposed to grade it today.

Student: I decided to do you a favor and grate it for you!
I hope you don't mind but I used the paper shredder instead.