Hannah learned that jewels are formed inside the earth, but they look very different when they come out of the ground than they do when we see them in the store. We watched a documentary about diamonds so she could see how they're mined. She was hooked! In fact, it mentioned a diamond mine in Arkansas that you can visit; and if you find a diamond while you're there, you get to keep it. She is currently campaigning very diligently to make this our next vacation. I guess Marilyn was right: Diamonds really are a girl's best friend! I told Hannah that jewels are very valuable—especially diamonds—and the bigger they are, the more valuable they are. She was shocked to know that people would spend thousands of dollars on one single diamond.
When we did our grocery shopping this week, we ventured over to the jewelry counter at Wal-Mart so Hannah could see the different stones in person. I asked her which one was her favorite, and she chose the emerald. She had no idea that it was Grandma's birthstone, but she was pretty impressed when I told her. I also pointed out a ruby (mine and Hannah's birthstone), an amethyst (Millie's birthstone), and an aquamarine (Daddy's birthstone).
This week we read A Cache of Jewels, a book about collective nouns. After we read it, Hannah wrote and illustrated her own version of it. She chose A Name for Everything for the title.
(I had to help out drawing the swans. They were a little tough!)
We also added a few items to our dress-up bin this week. The girls each made a crown with "jewels" on it (rhinestones) and a necklace with "jewels" (beads). Here they are, wearing their treasures while eating Ring Pops!
We also made rock candy. Here's Hannah, pouring some sugar into our boiling water . . .
. . . and here's the finished product!
I didn't let the girls eat it because it had been setting out for about a week by the time it was fully crystallized, and I didn't know if it was safe.
Our special words to remember this week were "Jesus is more valuable than anything else."
We talked pretty extensively about Philippians 3:8 ("What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider then rubbish, that I may gain Christ.") and Jeremiah 9:23-24 ("This is what the LORD says: 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the LORD."). Then we spent some time singing "More Precious Than Silver."
Definitely a treasure of unit!
No comments:
Post a Comment