Worms--Unpleasant but Important

The kindergartners have been studying living and non-living things, and last week in Science lab we compared living things (earthworms) to non-living things (gummy worms.)

Earthworms are slimy, squishy, squiggly. Some of the children found them unpleasant and refused to touch them. I don't enjoy touching them either, but I know they're vital to the environment. They fertilize and aerate the soil so that plants can take root and thrive.
 
Some things in life are terribly unpleasant but nonetheless essential. Disciplining children is one of those things. I don't enjoy meting out consequences for misbehavior, but I know discipline is very important to a child's well being.

The Bible says, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.
 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short tie as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:7-11


"Discipline" in Hebrews comes from the Greek word "paideia," and it refers to "the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose...commands and admonitions,...reproof and punishment." 

Disciplining children is hard work! It involves so much more than punishment of misbehavior. It involves teaching children right from wrong, teaching them how to behave, teaching them what God expects of them. It's often unpleasant, but if we stick with it, we'll see start to see results in the lives of the children.

What We've Been Doing

Building Animal Habitats in the STEAM lab...

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Cheering for our Football players...

Playing on the playground....

Reading and writing....

Using geometry in our art projects....

Worshiping with elementary friends in Chapel...

Academics, athletics, arts, abundant life....we've been doing it all!

At Parkview we are training children in academics, athletics, and the arts, but, most important of all, we are teaching them to fear God and to obey Him.  We are channeling their conduct in the way of wisdom, directing them on the path that God wants them to take.

When children learn at an early age to make good choices, they reap a lifetime of benefits.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."  Proverbs 22:6

Zoo Trip

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the

sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God He created him; 

male and female He created them."  Genesis 1:26-27

As a follow-up to our lesson on Creation and as part of our study on living and non-living things, we took a trip to the zoo to observe the variety of animals in God's creation. We saw a few fish, birds of the air in all colors of the rainbow, and creatures moving along the ground (including a snake roaming freely through the grass.) I took lots of pictures; I even took a few pictures of the animals. The animals were interesting, but my favorite part of the zoo trip was watching the excitement on the children's faces when they located the animals on their Scavenger Hunt page.

God's children (young and old) seem to be His favorite part of Creation, too. The Bible tells us we're made in His image---not our physical bodies, because God is Spirit. We're made in the likeness of God in that we have self-consciousness, God-consciousness, freedom, responsibility, speech, and moral discernment.  We reflect His glory when we show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

 And just as He was pleased to make a myriad of different kinds of animals, he delights in the uniqueness of each of His children. No two are exactly alike. Because each person is made in God's image, each one is valuable and precious in His sight.

"God saw all the He had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31