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Dear Family,
Welcome to the FALL!
There are whole lot of changes going on in our world today. But one thing is for sure: God's love for you and your love for your children will never change. Fall is a beautiful time, when the trees light up with brilliant colors and the air turns crisp and cool. Be sure to turn the news off if even for a few minutes and get out of the house to collect those pretty leaves.
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Fall Fun: Math Activity
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Choose a local newspaper, a local TV
station, or a national weather Web site, such as the Weather Channel,
to use as a resource for collecting local temperatures during September
and October.
Use a line graph to chart average daily temperatures day
by day. Older students can chart both the daily high and daily low on
the same graph for more detail.
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| Blaze-A-Trail Mix |
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Comes in handy after a full day of enjoying comfortable autumn weather.
Ingredients:
2 cups honey graham cereal
1 cup tiny marshmallows
1 cup peanuts
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup raisins
Directions:
Step 1: Put the cereal, marshmallows,
peanuts, chocolate pieces and raisins in a plastic bag. Close the bag
and shake to mix. Or mix by hand in a bowl, then transfer to a covered
container.
Step 2: Store mix in a cool, dry place for up to two weeks.
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Aromatic Candle Pumpkin
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Here is a fun craft for fall. You could also include it in a study on the seasons.
Supplies:
1 pumpkin
Cinnamon, nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
1 short fat candle
Directions:
1. Remove the "lid" from the pumpkin.
2. Carve as you normally would.
3. Sprinkle choice of spice all around the inside of the pumpkin and the inside of the "lid."
4. Set candle inside the pumpkin.
5. Replace "lid" on pumpkin.
6. This creates a wonderful aroma when the
candle is lit. It also will cover the odor of the pumpkin as it begins
to sour and age.
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Fall Wreaths
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Supplies:
Fall leaves, pinecones, etc.
Hay wreath
Hot glue gun
Large bow in fall colored ribbon
Fall colored ribbons to hang pinecones with
Directions:
1. To be on the safe side, bake all natural pieces for 45 minutes at 200 degrees to kill any insects and eggs.
2. Use a hot glue gun to attach the leaves, seeds, etc, to the wreath, and the large bow.
3. Attach the pinecones to ribbons and hang them in the center.
4. You can also attach these to a paper plate if you don�t want to go to the expense of purchasing a wreath form.
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Fall makes me think about the sacrifice many trees make for the life of that tree. They give up their leaves in a God-ordained effort to sustain it and prepare for the cold season ahead. Likewise, parents who teach their own children give up a great deal each and every day, as an investment in their present and future life. More than that we are priests for our children, entering into God's presence everyday to ask Him for grace to lead our children and raise them in His graces. To me, there is nothing quite as glorious as this heart-felt sacrifice.
You know, all sacrifice actually comes from the greatest sacrifice of all, from Him who gave Himself up and entered into the holy place on our behalf. Remember this from Hebrews?
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come.
He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which
was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood-not the blood of goats and calves-he entered the
Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. ...The first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal. For after Moses had read each of God's commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God's law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool.
Then he said, "This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you." And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified
with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of
things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the
real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices
than the blood of animals.
And here is the best part...
Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which
was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven
itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the
high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after
year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and
again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has
appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the
sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but
to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
This is how we know what love is. This is where all sacrifice begins and ends. Notice it says the real things are actually in heaven. Things here are just a representation of those things which are in heaven. This idea is certainly in keeping with His plea for us to lay up treasures in heaven. And that is certainly what we are doing with our children. Everyday.
When you invest time in your children it is no small thing. Each moment, each hug, and each whisper creates a place in their hearts for you and opens up their heart to God's love. Do you see how this is the highest home school calling?! We must not loose sight of such glorious truth: We are given children for just such a time as this. And in a time when economic investments are uncertain we can be certain this investment will yield a great return.
That Christ entered once and for all does not make us lazy, of course. Doing what the last verse states so clearly, we must eagerly wait for Him to bring the final salvation! You may forget from time to time, in the day in and day out of your home school routines, so I want to remind you. The sacrifices you make for your children are indeed eternal. They are made here on earth but they are stored up in heaven. No sacrifice we make for our children will go without eternal reward.
Keep up the good work. Drink in the glorious gifts of God. And continue to lay your lives down each day for those precious little people with whom God has entrusted you. Never forget that above all you are a priest on behalf of your kids. Just as the trees shed their leaves to the ground this season, may we all shed our love abroad in our children's hearts. Take hold of the once and for all sacrifice made for you. Then enter into God's presence for their benefit and seek Him each day for their future.
May God richly bless you and your children.
David Parkerson
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