Little Drops of Water

Thought of this today and wanted to share it. It would make for great copy work or memory work.

Little drops of water,
little grains of sand,
make the mighty ocean
and the beauteous land.

And the little moments,
humble though they may be,
make the mighty ages
of eternity.

Little deeds of kindness,
little words of love,
make our earth an Eden,
like the heaven above.

So our little errors
lead the soul away,
from the paths of virtue
into sin to stray.

Little seeds of mercy
sown by youthful hands,
grow to bless the nations
far in heathen lands.

Glory then for ever
be to God on high,
beautiful and loving,
to eternity. 

Words: Julia Carney, 1845

Can your kids understand this?

I ran across this today and had a big time with my kids as they saw it as a riddle. I had them take turns reading it, just to see how many could understand it. ...I had to read it twice myself! ;-)

Most poetry flows and entertains as it goes- this is entertaining- but you have to pay attention!

The Atheist And The Acorn
Methinks this world is oddly made,
And ev’ry thing’s amiss,
A dull, presuming Atheist said,
As stretch’d he lay beneath a shade;
And instanced in this:

Behold, quoth he, that mighty thing,
A Pumpkin, large and round,
Is held but by a little string,
Which upwards cannot make it spring,
Or bear it from the ground.

Whilst on this Oak, a fruit so small,
So disproportion’d grows;
That who with sense surveys this All,
This universal Causal Ball,
Is ill contrivance knows.

My better judgment would have hung
The weight upon a tree,
And left this mast, this slightly strung,
‘Mongst things which on the surface sprung,
And small and feeble be.

No more the caviler could say,
Nor further faults descry;
For, as he upwards gazing lay,
An Acorn, lossen’d from the stay,
Fell down upon his eye.

Th’ offended part with tears ran o’er,
As punish’d for the sin:
Fool! Had that bough a Pumpkin bore,
Thy whimsies must have worked no more,
Nor skull had kept them in.

Anne, Countess of Wincheslsea
(descry – caught sight of)

This Week's Memory Work:

In Evil Long I Took Delight

By John Newton

---

In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopp'd my wild career:

I saw One hanging on a Tree
In agonies and blood,
Who fix'd His languid eyes on me.
As near His Cross I stood.

Sure never till my latest breath,
Can I forget that look:
It seem'd to charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke:

My conscience felt and own'd the guilt,
And plunged me in despair:
I saw my sins His Blood had spilt,
And help'd to nail Him there.

Alas! I knew not what I did!
But now my tears are vain:
Where shall my trembling soul be hid?
For I the Lord have slain!

--A second look He gave, which said,
"I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid;
I die that thou may'st live."

Thus, while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace,
It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief, and mournful joy,
My spirit now is fill'd,
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by Him I kill'd!

Will Memorize for Sugar...

My children were given a nice box of their favorite candy a few weeks ago. I decided to make the best of it!

The rule- you can have the candy anytime you want IF you memorize something :-)

The fun for me has been to find the things I want them to memorize!

I started with things they had memorized before but had to study over, like the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23.

From there we've added more Scripture, songs and hymns, and poetry.

I try to pick several things a week and lay them out on the school table and they can study it in their spare time.

Here's one site I'm digging through for Poetry and here's another specifically for children.

This is my favorite for hymns and here is Ambleside's homeschool list of hymns.

The kids' choices this week are My Jesus, I Love Thee and God of Mercy, God of Grace.

Here are two from the last few weeks that I thought you might like:

My Books
By: Author Unknown

I love my books
They are the homes
of queens and fairies,
Knights and gnomes.

Each time I read I make a call
On some quaint person large or small,
Who welcomes me with hearty hand
And leads me through his wonderland.

Each book is like
A city street
Along whose winding
Way I meet
New friends and old who laugh and sing
And take me off adventuring!

************

A Student's Prayer

Now I lay me down to study.
I pray today I won’t go nutty.
If I should fail to learn this junk.
I pray today I will not flunk.
But if I do, don’t pity me at all,
Just lay down my bones in study hall.
Tell my teachers I did my best
Then pile my books upon my chest.
Now I lay me down to rest,
I pray I’ll pass tomorrow’s test.
If I should die before I wake,
That’s one less tst I’ll have to take.

by a suffering student.