Thursday, August 3, 2017

Joy School!

I just realized that I have not advertised my little Preschool,
(I call Joy School),
on the blog before-so here goes!

Nine years ago when my first born was entering preschool
 I began looking for a curriculum for him.
Nothing I found had what I wanted.
What was I looking for?
I desired a Bible based curriculum that taught my little guy
his A,B,C's and his 1,2,3,'s.
I found nothing that pleased me.

A few days later I began writing my own curriculum.
"God, Me & My A,B,C's"
(Which has since been published!
and on the shelves of Moore Expression's in Virginia Beach!)


Well, my friends found out about it and asked me to teach their children too!
Thus began Joy School.

Sadly,  my early years of teaching Joy School was not digital, but
here are my twins- graduates of the Joy School class 2008!

 Here is the class of 2012
(the cute little boy in the middle is my fifth child).



And here we are in 2013...
(My little boy graduated again! He was just three when
he went through Joy School the first time.
And the little girl in the middle with the huge smile is my two year old!
She was so happy with herself for 'graduating' with the big kids!) 




All six of my children have graduated from Joy School
along with many of their adorable and wonderful children!

So, here I am again, in 2017 with a new class!
If you are interested in joining Joy School please contact me at:
shepherdingwithjoy@gmail.com
or share with a friend!

If you are interested in the preschool curriculum I wrote:
God, Me & My A,B,C's
and
God, Me & My 1,2,3,'s
check them out on my Joy School blog to purchase it:
Joy School

I have been blessed to be able to stay at home with all of my children,
teach other children,
and help my family financially.
I love what I do and I love serving the Lord.

Blessings of JOY!

Monday, July 24, 2017

Godly Girls 2017: I AM God's Princess

Day 1:
"I AM God's Princess!'
Is our theme this week.
We need to know the truth of who we are
in order to fight the lies we hear about ourselves.
Our girls are inundated with Walt Disney princesses
every which way they turn. 
What are they learning?  
Wealth, castles, beautiful tiaras, fluffy pink dresses
is what makes a princess?
But they don't need all of that to be God's princess.
This week they will be learning about the truth
of who they are in Christ!

 

 We opened our time in prayer.
I shared our lesson for the day-
which, if I may say, was inspired by Holy Spirit.

Then off to the dining room to begin painting our canvas.'




Ten Godly Girls in my house!
I am sooooo blessed!







I took all the canvas' outside to spray them with 
clear lacquer.


After painting their canvas,
they cut out the Scriptures, I chose for them,
and pasted them around the center.
They have a canvas that reflects the truth of who they are!



Day 2: I AM Crowned:
Today we talked about the very thing the girls wished they had- a tiara. 
We talked about those who wear a true tiara and how they are from royalty.
 They wear a tiara to show their rank and authority.
Than I shared how God has prepared a crown of life for us if we persevere. 
12 "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12)
We also read in Psalms how God crowns us with love and compassion, and salvation and victory!

 So, we made our own floral crown to remind us 
what the Lord has done for us!









My ten Godly Girls
crowned!



Aren't they beautiful!


Day 3: I AM the APPLE of God's Eye!

Before we started our day,
the girls spontaneously gathered together and played a game.
Today we talked about how our Father in Heaven adores and cherishes
us, His princess. The Bible says we are the apple of His eye!
Soooo, we made felting apples!


 I allowed my daughter to teach today's craft lesson.
She did a great job!




She explained how we had to wash our wool felt
to decrease in size.


This is what it looked like before it was washed...

 and this is what it looked like after.


Before stating the craft, I had each child wear band-aids 
on two of their fingers for protection. 
The needle they were working with was very sharp
and I thought save than sorry!


Some girls made green, yellow, red and even blue apples!
The color they chose was to represent their favorite color
since the apple represents them!






Are they not the most beautiful apples
you ever saw!!!




SWEETIE!

I showed them a prepacked felting kit they 
could buy and do now that they know how to work with felting wool.
My daughter is presently working on it!


DAY 4: I AM God's Jewel
Just as an earthly princess may have a jewels worth high in it's value,
today we talked of how we are God's treasure!
I taught the girls how to 'stamp' jewelry!

'Beloved.'
'Adored.'

First, we had to tape our metal jewelry piece down 
to a wooden block.

Then with a jewelry alphabet
the girls stamped or hammered each letter
to remind themselves of who they are in Christ.






This little eight year old stamped,
'beauty.'
My six year old stamped,
"Joy."
"Princess."
"Loved"


Each girl worked hard to stamp out the 
message they received from God.
It took them about an hour to make the one piece!
They persevered and now they not only have the 
know-how to jewelry making, but have a keepsake that
will remind them that they are God's Princess! 

Day 5: I AM God's Princess!
My Godly Girls surprised me today! 
They all came in dressed in a beautiful dress and
than crowned me princess!
I couldn't have been more touched!


I saw this artwork on Pinterest and LOVED it!
I thought about simply copying this craft with the girls, 
but than I thought- 'No, I don't want to make a Disney princess.'
Soooo...
Image result for princess silhouette with buttons

I came up with turning my Godly Girls to 
their very own silhouette princesses!


First, I took pictures of each girl wearing a tiara.

Then they used that picture to cut out the silhouette of themselves.


Here is my six year old's silhouette.



After cutting out their silhouette
they glued gems or buttons to their crown!










MY GODLY GIRL PRINCESSES!!!

I wish this week didn't have to end.
We bonded with the Word of God and each other!