Nurturing the God Given Love of Learning through an Impromptu STEM Lesson

I miss teaching STEM this year, but parents continue to tell me how that one year of STEM class has made their children more prone to observe nature and make inferences about nature and the way God put the world together and to conduct experiments to test their hypotheses. What joy these stories bring.  

On the way home from school (on 9/27/16), my son said, "It seems like ice melts faster in water than in air even when the temperature of water we drink is typically cooler than air. Is that true? Why?"

When we got home and before I could finish unloading the van, he had already set up an experiment where he observed that an ice cube melted completely in a bowl of cooler water before the same sized ice cube had barely begun to melt in a bowl of air.

So we began the process I love so much of asking questions to figure out why. Once he understood the factors affecting heat transfer coefficient, we considered what his discovery might reveal to us about God and/or spiritual truth. (Yes, I tend to spiritualize everything because God created all things to reveal His glory and because it makes life, discovery, and exploration much more fascinating.)

Then we compared the references to water and air in the Bible and took special note of references to "living water".

In Ephesians 2, the term "air" describes Satan's work of hardening the human heart so it will not melt.

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." - Ephesians 2:1-3

Then my son noted that an icy heart would more easily melt if submerged in living water. John 7:38 teaches us that for "he who believes in [Christ], ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water."

When Christ returns as conquering King to throw down the prince of the air, He will come swiftly, just as air molecules move faster than water molecules, and those who believe and possess the life of Christ (the living water) in them will meet Him in the air and live with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) And with all those water molecules in the air reflecting the glorious light of the Son, imagine how splendid that rainbow will be!

Great Wolf Lodge Survivors - Take 2

Long lines, mind numbing noise, crazy crowds, rowdy munchkins, price gouging, greasy grub, and manic mayhem awaited us once again at Great Wolf Lodge.  GWL is like heaven for kids, but it can feel like torture for the parents. It's one of those things you endure and survive for the sake of the kids you love so much.  We took our daughter there for her 10th birthday, so our son asked to go for his 10th birthday.  We never wanted to go back, and while we've tried to instill in our kids a clear understanding that life isn't fair, we want them to enjoy some sense of fairness during their youth whenever possible, and God is a such a giver of grace, so to GWL we went!

All joking aside, the trip really wasn't all that bad. We allowed our son to bring a friend, and the boy he chose is at least 10 times more hyper than our son. This friend had never been away from his parents for more than twelve hours, but he was generally well-behaved.  Having our tween daughter there to help keep watch over the boys was a tremendous help.

Since our daughter is currently playing two sports simultaneously, school field hockey and AAU basketball, and the boys are playing Pop Warner football, they wanted to join me in the hotel's exercise room.  The gym had no free weights whatsoever, so I had to make do with whatever they had to add weight to squats and lunges.

 

So will the wee athletes-in-training with me ever believe me again when I tell them, "That's a tool, not a toy"?

Ben proved to be quite the gym rat. When my kids were done, he kept lifting and pressing.  He could not get enough, so my kids left him with me while they went on more Magiquest adventures.

The twilight sky was just stunning that evening. I'm so glad we decided to go out to eat instead of eating at the lodge because we would have missed this gorgeous sunset had we stayed inside.

The next day, my daughter, our little Ninja warrior, showed us all up on the lily pad course.

Big Ninja vs. Little Ninja on the lily pad course and Daddy/Daughter wave pool fun

Ninja boys

Who Wore It Better?

 Who wore the man bun better, the male model or Muffin?

Male Model

Samurai Muffin and the Bun-Bun

Who wore the LED headlamp better, my husband or me?

My hubby wore it while  making me brownies for my birthday when the stove light was out.

 

I wore it while trying to set recessed screws for an elliptical repair as my husband coached me remotely through my phone. 

Answer: He did because in both cases, he put the interests of his family before his own. He consistently takes way better care of me than I could ever deserve.

School, Cute Kids, and Crazy Critters

Middle School
One week I was rejoicing with surprise over how much I had been enjoying parenting the middle school years, but the following week, I realized that we just hadn't reached the difficult stage yet, which apparently begins in 7th grade. So we're donning our Ephesians 6 armor and constantly examining God's word for wisdom and truth. We moms are committed to praying each other through these middle school years, but given the trials that I sense await us around the corner, I thought a before and after picture would be amusing. Here is our before pic taken after only 17 days of 7th grade. How old and worn out will we each look by the end of the school year?

We're already seeing lots of mood swings and friend drama, but she still loves her friends dearly and goes to a lot of effort to decorate her friends' lockers.  It must be the top love language for middle school girls.

Kinderbuddies
The kinderbuddies program is very popular at our school.  Each 4th grader is paired up with a kindergarten student and serves as a big brother/big sister to help the younger students in their transition to school.  In our son's case, two boys are assigned to one younger student because our kindergarten enrollment is down this year.  They officially meet once a week, but they look for each other throughout the school year to wave, smile, and offer encouragement. Our son's class attended their kinderbuddies' flag pinning ceremony last week as well.  During their weekly time together, my son will read books to his buddy, teach him things he is learning in 4th grade (like the bones of the body as shown in the picture below), or help him with a craft. 

 

While driving my son home from school one day this past month, we had the following conversation:

Introverted boy: Sometimes I wish I was the only kid at school.

Me: [Gasping while mentally planning therapy sessions for him until remembering that introverts just need a little downtime after being around lots of people all day.]

Less than two minutes later.....

Introverted boy: I can't wait to go to school tomorrow because I get to read to my kinderbuddy and hang out with him. He's so cool. I sure do love my kinderbuddy time.

Introverts may need their quiet and their space, but they love others deeply with beautiful sincerity. I'm so glad I married one.

4th Grade

Based on his grades, the feedback I'm getting from his teacher who sings his praises, how much he loves his teacher, and pictures being shared on the class website, I think my son enjoys school more than he lets on.  He still thinks homeschooling is better, but he sure seems to have a lot of fun there, no matter how strict people say it is.

Mrs. Gardner's 4th grade class

His best friend Ben isn't in his class this year, but they play on the same football team and see each other at recess and lunch.  They still get together often during the weekends, too.  Here are a few recent outings of those silly guys together.


Middle School Teachers
Our new science teacher is every students' favorite. She's a huge blessing to the school, and I'm doing my best to keep her encouraged.  She's hands-own, organized, and so spunky.  I found this little pun on her classroom wall the other day.

 I hope they also do a lot of laughing in that class like we did in STEM GEMS.

Teachers need all the love and support they can get.

So, I've been trying to love and support another of our daughter's teachers with anonymous gifts and encouraging notes each week.  The gifts usually involve her favorite color and her favorite food.  I'm also trying to get to the school when I can to help her with lunch duty, so she can have a few moments of peace and quiet during the lunch period.  We take the 7th and 8th graders outside to the field house (and field) to release some of their energy and their noise.

My first day helping at lunch felt like a scientific investigation. For that day's sociological research study, we tested the validity of perceived stereotype vulnerabilities associated with 7th and 8th grade subjects with regard to student engagement, degree of respectful behavior, mode of emotional release, inclusive tendencies, and cross cultural, cross gender interactions as complex macro-nutrients are infused into the bloodstream during a brief period of release from the containment area while also being exposed to solar radiation and the scent of well used turf grass. (AKA - Middle School Lunch Duty )

School Pictures
While I know it can be very self-defeating to compare oneself with others and strongly warn against it, I still think it helps give our kids perspective when we share how much worse life was for us at their age or for children in other parts of the world. Out of all my tales of suffering and woe, nothing made my daughter feel better about her situation quite like showing her my 7th grade school picture when she wasn't happy with hers. The feathered wings had her in hysterics. :-) #anythingtomakehersmile #noshameover40 #awkwardyears
 

7th Grade - Daughter (L) vs. Mother (R) - She has her dad's smile!

Guys' Turn - Our son is in 4th grade, and I think his dad is in middle school in this photo.

By the time our kids are seniors in high school, let's hope our daughter doesn't have 80's hair like mine, but I imagine our boy will look like a Bop magazine pin up poster, as did his dad.

Crazy Critters

When the critters play hide and seek but forget who was supposed to seek, I have to find them both.

Orwell likes to do what Muffin does. He sits in Muffin's cage, hops around the house, and even eats Muffin's leafy greens. He has a plethora of resting positions of his own, but this pose is the quintessential bunny sprawl, likely copied from Muffin as well. Now let's see if he makes his ears lop for his next ape trick. #CopyCat

They also both seem to enjoy yoga and/or Pilates. Here is Muffin's latest pose.

 

The vet told our cat he was getting a little pudgy, so it looks like Orwell has started the couch to Christmas tree training program.

I buy my husband's cat all his food, litter, multiple deluxe scratching posts, litter box, toys, etc. I let him live here even after he destroyed all the carpets, expensive area rugs, leather sofas, recliners, chairs, bar stools, etc. which I spent countless hours shopping for to find just the right match for our new home. I even just bought him blue soft claws with shiny sparkles for his next spa day instead of getting him declawed. I organize play dates for him with his pal Boo. I discipline him gently and hang out with him all day long. I even let him take a portion of my husband's affection which should all belong to me. The cat sheds hair everywhere, but I'm the one to clean it all up. I even let him sleep on or under my luxurious sateen bedspread. But this cat still despises me. I try to be nice to him and play dumb cat games with him, but all I get in return are claws in my skin and sinister hissing. So how fair is it that I am also the one who gets to take this cat to the vet?  He recently got a boatload of shots, so I continue to be his arch enemy. 

 Orwell got a manicure earlier this month. He's trying a new color this time. How does blue sparkle work for him? Since my husband loves this cat so much, and I'm always scolding the cat, I jokingly call this the manicure that saved our marriage. (This soft claws were the last straw between the cat and me.  If he didn't stop ruining everything in the house, he would have to go. He still scratches, but these claw covers keep him from piercing so much.)

Two little critters sitting in a (cat) tree

 One is as curious as can be.

Top Quotes of the Week

During my readings each week, I come across quotes that seem especially relevant or that I want to remember, so I'm going to try to start recording them here for future reference.

The most pondered quotes by me this past week include:

"The argument is that mathematical laws, in order to be properly relied upon, must have attributes which indicate an origin in God. They are true everywhere (omnipresent), true always (eternal), cannot be defied or defeated (omnipotent), and are rational and have language characteristics (which makes them personal). Omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, personal… Sounds like God. Math is an expression of the mind of God...Modern natural science was created by people who said that they were trying to 'think God’s thoughts after Him.'” - from an interview with Vern Poythress by Jerry Bowyer, "God in Mathematics", Forbes 

Biblical Masculinity

I fell asleep reading these words in a book by John Piper, "At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to a man's differing relationships."

Then as soon as I woke up the following morning, Facebook sent me this applicable quote by my son when he was only 5 and likely only modeling the "mature masculinity" his father possesses.

While my husband was away on a camping trip with our daughter, I commented to my 5-year old, "I don't like it when Daddy is gone for the night."

My boy put his arms around me and said, "Well, I guess that means I'll have to protect you tonight, Mom." And so he did.

2016 Elections

"Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens."  (Exodus 18:21, Jethro's advice to Moses)

Given that Hillary is clearly very ill as evidenced by her most recent public fainting incident (I'm convinced she has advanced Parkinson's Disease) but still lying to cover up whatever it is, she is not able. She obviously is not a man and given her lust for power, her compulsive lying, her gross corruption, her bribes, pay-for-play, stealing items and even large furniture from the White House, and her long history of corruption, she is certainly not the type of leader Jethro had in mind. 

Of course, Trump isn't exactly qualified either.

"A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace,but with the humble is wisdom.

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness. (Proverbs 11: 1-5) 

And this is why I'm so outspoken about the elections this year. The corruption, deceit, greed, and battle against God and all that is good and right is epic.  We must fight it.

Trials

Context:  After my daughter shared all her frustrations over the AAU basketball tournament today and with the way other players are treating her, I replied, "If it is causing you so much angst, maybe you should take a break from basketball now and just focus on field hockey."

She replied, "No, Mom. I can't quit. Besides, bad days make better players." 

That quote must have come from the Lord, for it sounds a lot like Romans 5:3-4.

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4) 

Living Life Abundantly

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."  - Helen Keller

Friendship

"If you want to make friends, spend more time noticing and caring about others than you spend trying to get others to notice you." -Paraphrase of a quote by Tony Dungy from his book, Uncommon

 M3 Memory Verse

 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.^"  (Romans 12:1)

Field Hockey Surprise

Our daughter's middle school field hockey team is having an amazing season.  After two years of no wins and I think no points at all, they are having quite the winning season. I'm sure she's glad she picked a winning season to experience this new sport.

Record: 5 wins, 1 loss, 1 tie

Goals For: 11

Goals Against: 2

Nana & Pops surprised our daughter by showing up at her field hockey game last week. When she saw them, she turned her fierce factor up a notch and scored her first goal ever (as she is a rookie player). 

Nana & Pops must have inspired the entire team because they delivered their best game yet winning 4-0. That makes 3 wins in row after only one loss which was almost too close to count. Go Lady Knights!  Nana and Pops treated our girl to Yo-Lo yogurt to celebrate after the game.

On a side note, earlier that day before I knew Nana and Pops were coming, I posted the following sarcastic update on Facebook:

For those who view me as traditional or non-rebellious, I have a confession to make. Except for a summer study abroad experience and various short-term mission trips, I have lived my entire life in the South and was raised with deep southern traditions. Yet today, three days AFTER Labor Day, I've been to 10 different venues, including a Bible study comprised of respectable, southern, Baptist women, while wearing....(wait for it)......WHITE capris pants, and I wore them on purpose.

So, when Mom arrived wearing white Capris as well, I had to laugh!

On another side note: 

Since the kids call my mom "Nana", I found this random historical fact to be especially interesting.  Nanna was the name of the moon god and patron god of the city of Ur when Abram lived in Ur with his polytheistic family. When Abram beheld the glory of the one true God (Genesis 12), however, he knew in an instant that there is no god like the one true God who possesses all the attributes the Chaldeans looked for in many gods. He discovered that this God is good, loving, and just and calls mankind into a personal relationship with Himself.

Then this week, there was a game that none of us could attend due to piano lessons and a football scrimmage for her brother and a leadership dinner at church that I had to attend.  But much to our surprise, "Grandma Susan", a family friend and her former childcare giver when I worked part-time during her first few years of life, showed up last minute surprising us all.  What a gift from God her unexpected arrival and perfect timing were.

Playing field hockey as a 7th grader and a rookie has been quite the learning experience for our daughter, especially as she learns to play the other supporting positions which are essential to helping the forwards push the ball in for a score when all she really wants to do is be the forward who scores.  The prized positions are reserved for 8th graders who need more playing time to get ready for the more competitive varsity team next year. Her time will come.   She did get to play forward when Nana and Pops attended, since the starter was out that day, so I'm glad she got to score when she had her time in her favorite position.

There is also a difficult personality on the team who God is using to refine her.  This player shares much in common with our daughter.  Both were competitive gymnasts. Both are rookies. Both are driven, fierce, competitive, intense firstbornswith a tendency to boss others.  This girl has three younger siblings, however, and is an 8th grader, so her tendency to boss our girl around is more extreme.  Still, our daughter recognizes that part of what bothers her so much about this girl is something she sees in herself, and I'm praying she will remember how it feels to be on the receiving end. At times, my daughter's humble confessions and wisdom in recalling Matthew 7:3-4 about pointing out the speck in another's eye when you have a plank in yours, and just the way she is learning from this trial have amazed me.  Then there are other days when she's throwing fits, and I just have to remind myself that mood changes are all apart of adolescence and that the mature side of her will win in the end. 

I've been referencing the verse below with her as well as a reminder that we all have to work our way up in life, learning and experiencing all the different roles of a team or an organization before we can get the role we want or effectively lead others. Through these trials, she must cast off her frustration and give her worries to the Lord until He chooses to lift her up.

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷ casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-8, ESV)

Football: Let the Games Begin

Our son's first scheduled football game got cancelled after a tropical storm flooded out the fields, so the first official game the team got to play took place last weekend.

Go Chargers!

Well...technically the games began four years ago when football games required less equipment, fewer players, and only a short "commute" up to the 3rd floor rec room of our last house.

He was chosen to be one of the captains for his team based on his character, obedience, respect for authority, leadership, and team-building, so he got to walk out on the field for the coin toss.

Coin toss

He played cornerback for defense, rotated between guard or wide receiver for offense, and also served on the punt team. Notable moments from his first game included a nice open field tackle for a loss on the opposite side of field and forcing  a runner out of bounds to prevent a touchdown by the opposing team.

 

See that red cleat sticking up just over the top right of #63's helmet in the photo below? That's our boy, one of the team captains, making his first tackle at his first football game ever.

 

He had a scrimmage this past week, so my husband tried to take a few pictures (below) with our SLR camera. If our kids continue field sports, we will need a nicer telephoto lens.  Even his iPhone takes better action shots than the SLR.

So far, playing football has brought out more toughness, discipline, endurance, and speed from our son. He set a PR last week for running, coming in 2nd place. The other kid who beat him is in his 5th year of Pop Warner football, so for this to be our son's first year, I think he's doing really well.

After that game, and after weeks of trying to find sports drinks that did not have food dyes, corn syrup, excessive sugar or other toxic chemicals, I decided to make my own for the kids to drink the rest of the season. My batch included sea salt, organic coconut sugar,magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, B vitamins, kale, chia seeds, and spinach. And as is typical of healthy drinks, it looks like bile. Did they drink it?

Our son liked it.  Our daughter wasn't too crazy about the gritty texture of the chia seeds floating around undissolved.  Oops!