Homeschool Creation Science Class

Once a month, my friend, Billy, and I tag-team a Creation Science class for our local homeschool group. It is targeted for 1st graders to high schoolers. We typically have around 25 students, not including their parents. We have power point presentations, video clips, experiments and even skits! I've had great feedback from the kids and parents alike. In fact, we love having the parents join in because they are learning, too! For many beginning homeschoolers, this is the first time they've ever really researched the idea of Creationism. This is typical since our generation were almost all publicly educated and spoon-fed the evolution/old earth theories. 

Ever since going to Russ Miller's Creation Science seminars last spring, God has lit a fire under me concerning this subject. I thought I would start sharing all that I've learned with our homeschool group. When you are a homeschooler, you've got to decide what you believe in regards to Evolution, because you can't cop out with a "go ask your teacher" since you are the teacher! Homeschool families have to decide what they are going to teach because Evolution and Creationism are completely different things. Creationism is using science as evidence that we can take the bible literally and Evolution is where people use science to try and prove that the bible is a bunch of fairy tales. 

So many Christians don't think it really matters, but I ask you, why bother teaching your kids about the bible at all? If they believe that only part of the bible is true and they can pick and choose what to believe, then why believe the bible is true at all? The bible is either completely true, or it isn't. I believe without question it is the inspired Word of God. What are so many Christians teaching their children when they don't reconcile this? That we only adhere to part of the bible? That only parts of the bible are important enough to believe? That is a slippery slope, one that I slipped on myself as a teenager/college student. Praise God I hung on by a thread, and when challenged to research Creationism, I took the step of faith and looked at it with an open mind. What did I discover? The scientist in me saw the evidence pointing to a literal 6 day creation and a global flood. God's Word really was completely true, word for word and cover to cover! It gave me a confidence in Christ that I can't explain. I see that same confidence in my children and it is awesome!

My friend, Billy, giving the Power Point presentation. He is great with the kids and keeps their attention for a full 45 minutes of lecture time (even the 1st graders).

I have two homeschooled teenagers who love drama and do a skit for us every time. Here is "Dr. Lenslo" and "Dr. Page". I use the "Genesis For Kids - Science Experiments that show God's power in Creation". It is an awesome resource. That is where I get the skits, too. 

Billy made these awesome scales so we could use them in an experiment to determine that air has mass.

Billy and I explaining an experiment to the kids.

In this experiment the kids hit the ruler sticking out of the newspaper with a hammer. The paper never lifted and the ruler broke when it didn't slip out. I definitely would use old wooden rulers next time, because plastic rulers are too slick. It is amazing that the two sheets of newspaper didn't raise up when the hammer hit the end of the ruler. Our atmosphere definitely has some "weight" to it ;)

Some students are become fast friends and science buddies.

We did several experiments involving apple juice that were a big hit with the kids.

The teenagers are so helpful.

I passed out two different colors of straws to each partner, then I had them race to see how fast they could drink the apple juice. What they didn't know was that I had pricked holes near the bottom of one of the straws, so due to the "vacuum principle" the person without the holes in the straw automatically won. It was so funny when I had the losers inspect the ends of their straws carefully to see the holes ;)

Billy created a cloud in a bottle. It showed how air pressure effects the presence of clouds.

We created rain in this experiment.

I have so many more pictures but I had to pick and choose some of the best for these blog post. 

If you haven't checked out this article http://news.yahoo.com/whales-desert-fossil-bonanza-poses-mystery-135321328.html, you simply must. This may be a mystery to some scientists but to Creation scientists who believe in a global flood this mass grave of well-preserved fossilized whale bones found in a desert, makes perfect sense. The dates in this article are improvable, but this scientific evidence points to a global flood. The article seriously cracks me up. I truly think God is revealing these things on purpose as we get closer to Jesus coming back and a great revival is going to take place. I believe it is part of the "Every knee shall bow" plan spoken about in His Word. It is amazing how much evidence is coming out in very recent history regarding Creation Science. Secular scientists are having a hard time lining up this new evidence with their new theories. I can just picture God having a good chuckle over this article, too!

In His Truth,

Jackie

Healthy Pumpkin, Ginger Soup Recipe - Served In Personal Pumpkins

I got the basic recipe for this soup from Sunset Magazine and I just tweaked it to my preferences. You should have seen my kid's eyes when they realized they got to eat their soup out of their very own pumpkin! I wish I would have made a straight cut across the top of the pumpkin instead of what I did in this photo as it proved a bit hard to get the soup out. Still is was fun and I would do this again. It was a nice way to use up the small pumpkins from the garden that we had been using for decorating.

Healthy Pumpkin, Ginger Soup Recipe - Served in Personal Pumpkins 

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 Tbl chopped ginger (fresh)

2 Tbl olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, pressed

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp sucanat, honey or maple syrup

4 cups fresh or frozen pumpkin, ground

4 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade broth

salt and pepper to taste

Italian bread crumbs (optional)

Cut tops off 4 small washed pumpkins and scoop all guts out. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 1 & 1/2 hrs or until inside of pumpkin can be pierced with a fork. Don't over cook! 

While pumpkins are cooking, in bottom of soup pot, saute onion, ginger and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add coriander, ground pumpkin, broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. Process soup through a blender, pour soup into warm pumpkins and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Serve on individual plates. 

Monday Meaderings

What a crazy week! Michael was gone elk hunting and my cold decided to turn into a stubborn sinus infection. It is now clearing up thanks to some traditional approaches, although I was close to having to go get antibiotics for this one. I had even made and appointment but ended up cancelling it at the last minute. I honestly struggled this week as I worked, homeschooled and tried to keep meals going for me and the kids. Right before Michael went elk hunting for a week, the dishwasher we had for 14 years finally gave up the ghost. We had nursed it along for years, but it finally completely died on us. It was the very first appliance we ever bought as a married couple when we moved into our home. I didn't grow up with a dishwasher, so it was really a big deal to get one. When it died, we let Josiah completely tear it apart. I don't think there was one wire left uncut by the time he got through. Here is a pic of him with our new dishwasher. Doesn't he look like a salesman in the making? He is showing off the buttons which are located on the top of the door to keep little ones from pushing buttons. Where was this when I had toddlers?!! Awesome invention! Can't believe how well it cleans. So blessed because as usual, God provided the money unexpectedly so we didn't have to take it out of our emergency fund. He has done that three times this year with unexpected, large expenses. I just praise him for his goodness and providence!

We had our first snow last week. It was just a dusting, but it didn't stop the kids from going out (before the sun had even come up all the way) and playing in the snow. Was shocked that they somehow managed to make snowballs with that little amount of snow. Where there is a will, there is a way!

Last weekend, I felt horrible, but knew I had to get the pumpkins processed. They kids were SUCH a big help. We cooked the pumpkins, let them cool, peeled them and then ran them through the KitchenAid grinder attachment.

As you can see, we got it all over us and the kitchen, but we had fun! I guess wearing a white t-shirt probably wasn't the best idea ;) We got 23 cups of pumpkin frozen, all from Josiah's little pumpkins that grew in his garden space.

The next evening we visited my husband's elk camp. Poor guy, he didn't get anything and only saw one elk that he couldn't shoot that whole week. We saw more elk than he did. On our way home that night, two elk ran right in front of us. If I had been going any faster, I would have hit them. 

I brought Michael's hunting buddy's wife and baby up, too. Loved getting to hold little James. He is precious little boy. 

I brought the guys some soup and cornbread and my friend brought a cheesecake. They were grateful to not have to cook a meal. It was very cold up there. Even though we were all bundled up, the kids and I were ready to leave after two hours cause our feet were freezing. 

Michael and I catching up around the fire. 

The kids had a blast! Josiah found a log that became his buckin' bull. Like I said it was all fun for about two hours. I was glad to be going home instead of staying up there. Those guys are crazy!

After pushing through the week flying "Hans Solo" with my nasty sinus infection, my MIL arrived just when I was about ready to crack. Praise God she had Veteran's Day off and had already planned a visit. She helped out with the kids and the house because I had to let a lot of things go in order to still have the energy to homeschool and work that week. God was so good to provide a friend who was able to take Josiah to Aikido because I couldn't leave the house one day. Another friend dropped off eggs and ran errand for me. What a blessing for such great friends!

Michael took this picture of me in my new favorite hat and wearing my penguin sweater as I was relaxing on the couch. He came home Friday and I tried to rest most of the weekend. It helped because I feel so much better now. Glad I didn't have to go to the doctor after all!

It was an emotionally disappointing weekend for Josiah. Michael took Josiah to the AWANAS Grand Prix on Saturday. He had worked really hard on his car, but alas, he didn't win any first prizes. I wasn't there, but Michael and my MIL said he handled it really well until the end. He wants a trophy in the worst way and is finding out how hard it is to get one. Then on Sunday morning he learned my mom's bird, Duffy, died. He was so upset, that we couldn't take him to church. I'm learning he's an very sensitive child, so I'm trying to be more careful about the timing of giving him bad news. I should have waited until after church. Poor kid, he cried and cried. I'm praying God will use that tender heart for his glory. We are working through these life issues one at a time and praying for wisdom along the way.

While it wasn't the greatest week ever, I can look back and see God's provision and sovereignty the whole time. So glad I'm not doing life alone and I've got my God to watch my back!

Hope you all have a great week. God Bless, Jackie

Stream Restoration Field Trip 2011

Here are all the homeschool kids who went on the stream restoration field trip we had a couple of weeks ago. It was a really great day for a field trip. Not too cold or wet (if you didn't fall into the stream). They are sitting on a pile of what our family calls "dredge poop", the tailings leftover from a gold mining dredge that left a wake of destruction in the streams and rivers it dredged. 

Our tour guide is homeschooling father, Joe, who works for the Forest Service. His job is to restore the "health" of these streams to increase fish habitat.

He showed us pictures of the different kinds of fish you would find in the stream we were looking at.

Netting for aquatic insects.

Hailey with her friend, Becca. 

More netting.

The kids were so excited when they found an aquatic bug or minnow. 

Joe is pointing out a salmon nest in the gravel bed. 

Joe spent a lot of time showing us all the equipment he uses in his job. It was very interesting. I have a lot more respect for people who restore streams. It isn't an easy job at all!

Stake-pounder.

Simulating how you would "pin" two trees together. Keep in mind you would actually be standing on these logs in a stream doing this. Not as easy as it looks!

We topped off the day with a picnic on the "dredge poop". Doesn't get any better than that!

Thank you, Joe and Becky, for putting on such an interesting field trip. We learned so much!

Homemade Whole Wheat Italian Bread Crumb Recipe

I've made more bread disasters than I can count! I'm forever forgetting ingredients. Sometimes I end up making tortillas out the dough, sometimes pizza dough, but if it is so bad that I can't do either of those, I will make Italian bread crumbs out of it. My family loves this on top of my Twice-baked Potato Casserole recipe or coconut oil-fried meats (every now and then). If you've ever looked at the back of the ingredients in Italian bread crumbs you get at the store, it'll make you want to make your own for sure, especially when you see just how easy and delicious it is!

Whole Wheat Italian Bread Crumb Recipe

1.Loaf of whole wheat bread, broken up on cookie sheet and toasted in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour or two (just depends on how wet the bread is).

2. After bread has cooled, put toasted bread into food processor. Blend to desired consistency.

3. While still in food processor, add to taste the following: garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Keep tasting until you get the combo you like. You want it to be strong in flavor.

Can't believe I used to just throw away my messed up bread! What a waste, when I could have been making this delicious stuff. Hope someone out there finds this recipe useful as well.