of squires and knights

Code of Knighthood for the Order of the Light

A True Knight is Honorable
A True Knight must accept responsibility for the one thing that is within his control, himself.
A True Knight must always keep their word, realizing that a person who's word is as good as their bond is held in high esteem by all.
A True Knight must never speak harshly or critically of a Brother or Sister, unless it be in private and tempered with the love we have for each other. Always speaking to him or her for the purpose of aiding him to be a better knight.
A True Knight must always rely on the “words of the Scroll” and lessons taught to him throughout the course of his Knightly career when deciding right from wrong.

A True Knight Shows Excellence
A True Knight must commit to excellence, and seek the highest level of excellence

in all aspects of his life.
A True Knight must always excel in his education, putting forth his best effort in all his lessons.
A True Knight must always excel in bearing, keeping his or her attitude and conduct above reproach, that others may have an honorable opinion of those “who follow the light

 and the author of the scroll”.

A True Knight has Courage
A True Knight must have the courage to stand up for those principles which he believes are right, especially in the presence of those who oppose the cardinal virtues of the Order of the Light.
A True Knight is never afraid to respectfully defend their own rights and those of others.
A True Knight shall always stand to defend the rights of the weak, the oppressed, and the downtrodden.

A True Knight is Loyal
A True Knight shall always remain loyal to the Order of the Light and the Scroll

by which we know truth.
A True Knight shall, at all times, remain loyal to his brothers.

A True Knight is Generous
A True Knight shall be generous with his time, always endeavoring to share his knowledge and experience with the younger Knight.
A True Knight shall always offer to help and assist whenever the need should require it.
A True Knight shall demonstrate his generosity anonymous and by example, placing the needs of others above his own.

A True Knight is Well-Spoken
A True Knight shall not engage in vulgarity.
A True Knight shall always be heard speaking favorably about the Order of the Light, the Scroll and his kingdom in general.

A True Knight is Discreet
A True Knight shall maintain all confidences entrusted to him.
A True Knight shall not engage in any conversation that demeans any woman in particular or women in general.
A True Knight shall not engage in slander, realizing that that which is unseen is unknown.
A True Knight shall keep to himself those things which are seen, but may cause physical or emotional damage to another.
A True Knight shall keep his relationship with his lady private, and not hold their relationship up to public scrutiny.

A True Knight is Pure
A True Knight shall not, in any manner, bring shame upon himself or the Order of the Light.
A True Knight shall not consume anything that hinders their fighting ability or thinking ability to the point of being useless to the land in which they serve.

A True Knight will keep his mind pure by taking every thought captive and filling his mind with the words of the Scroll.

A True Knight is Wise
A True Knight shall endeavor to use the tenets of the Scroll, the Order of the Light and the lessons of life to prevent foolish actions.
A True Knight shall always hold the tenet " Think twice before speaking once" as the basis for all his dealings with others.
A True Knight shall always attempt to apply practical knowledge to all of the situations he faces.

A True Knight is Courteous
A True Knight shall always take the time to display those courtesies which we all are entitled to,

remembering that familiarity does not serve as an exception.
A True Knight shall always attempt to make others feel welcome and appreciated when visiting the Knight's Lodge.
A True Knight shall be patient and understanding when working with a younger Knight or Squire.
A True Knight shall respect the fact that others have their own opinions, and not require them to adopt his own.

A True Knight will at all times respect the authority of those over him with attitude and actions.

A True Knight is Just
A True Knight shall not value himself above others or feel that he should be singled out

 for special treatment.
A True Knight shall refrain from judging others based on outward appearances or characteristics.
A True Knight shall treat all people with fairness and honesty, regardless of their station in life.
A True Knight shall, when asked to, mediate a dispute between two Knights,

judge fairly, honestly and without malice, taking into consideration the effects of his decision on his fellow knights and the Order of the Light.

This is our school name and logo:

Bible verses we have put on other shields on the wall are (each will be memorized in time):
Philippians 4:4-9
Ephesians 6:10-18
Galatians 5:22-26
2 Corinthians 10:3-6

I am putting other verses we memorize on small shields. Some of those are:
Philippians 2:14,15
Deuteronomy 5:16
The 10 Commandments in Exodus 20
Psalm 119:9-11
Psalm 1
Hebrews 4:12,13
Micah 6:8
Deuteronomy 6:4-6
2 Timothy 4:3-4
Matthew 6:22
Psalm 101:3
Psalm 119:1,37,105,9-11
Psalm 121
Psalm 139
Psalm 23
Psalm 25
Proverbs 3:6
and more I am quite sure!

So, the boys are in Squire training (late elementary and middle school). They have to pass several quests to get to knight training (which would be around the start of High School). Then after more quests their goal is to be knighted at graduation.

Dave created a quest game board on which their plastic knights achieve objectives toward the completion of the quest. These things are basic behaviors and skills they are working on. Such as doing their school work well, personal hygiene, getting along with others, honesty, respectful attitude, etc. If they achieve it but don't hold on to it with making it a habit then the dragon takes the castle or fortification and they have to get it back with real life actions. When they complete this quest (ie they have made these things habits) then they move on to another quest on a new game board. This moves them closer to completing their squire training and moving on to knighthood training.
 We use this book as an illustration of our mission.

 There is also a devotional to go with it. I am waiting for it to come.

This is a good book to go with this theme for parents:

 

You can read one of these at various stages of childhood. The first for younger children is The Dangerous Journey. Then the Little Pilgrim's progress for elementary readers. Then moving on to the full Pilgrims Progress in Modern English for the teen. 

Your Story Hour

Your Story Hour (the Bible Comes Alive series ) with Uncle Dan and Aunt Carol is a great product for a walk through the Bible audio stories. We have been listening to it in the car. It is fun because we can note where we are in history with the stories and things that are happening in the audio drama of the Bible Stories. It is done in the same order as a standard Bible.With a short discussion after each story you could use this for your Bible curriculum or just for fun. There are also stories of famous people and events as well as missionaries and Christians who changed history or made a significant contribution. We pick them up at our local library, but I think you can order them on line as well. Here are some options to listen and buy:

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/your-story-hour/

http://www.yourstoryhour.org/store/

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ayour%20story%20hour

http://bfbooks.com/Books/Your-Story-Hour-CDs

http://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/bible-curriculum/your-story-hour?&sp=97442&event=YAHORG

What's In the Bible?

Have you seen the video series called What's in the Bible? Its produced by Phil Viscer who created Veggie Tales. The purpose is to give kids an overview of the Bible from start to finish and explain why we believe what we do and what the Bible is. Not just to teach the stories but what is the Bible anyway.
Well, we picked up a few from the library just to check them out. My boys are 9 so I thought they may be a little young. NO WAY, they LOVE them!!!!!! So, we have been using them for our Bible lessons and have three more videos to go. We even watched Why do we call it Christmas? It also was great.
My boys are big fact guys so all the facts and details they give are really helpful and give us lots to discuss afterwards. Plus the catchy tunes and jokes they repeat all day.
Get one and watch it with your kids and see what you think. I think they are awesome.

I just found this site that uses this series in their bible curriculum. Thinking Kids Blog. Looks promising.

Pre History Unit. Old Earth Creation.

We are using Story of the World for History. Because History starts MUCH further back in time than the book starts we started with a Pre History unit.

*****{To determine if this unit is of interest to you: This is from an OLD earth creationist perspective. We also acknowledge that MICRO evolution (within species) is a fact, but not MACRO (between species) The evolutionary part is easily altered for whatever your perspective is}.*****

I could not really find a great unit out there for this. Most everything is either strictly secular evolutionary process or young earth creationist. Neither of which we adhere to. So I put together my own Pre History Unit from various sources. We did a fly over without a lot of detail. This is elementary after all. If you are also a homeschooling family who is Old Earth Creationist then this section is for you! Let's share, send me your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I am sure we will be doing this again and will need better stuff!

For this we are using a modified Note booking concept in which we keep everything in a three ring binder. Each activity is recorded in a picture or writing or both and placed in the binder.  This is organized for elementary age.

Ancient Africa Unit Study

One reason I decided to home school was to give my kids a broader view of history. In school we mainly cover Europe and The US. We briefly touch on Native peoples and South America and Asia. We even more briefly touch on Africa.
Why? Well, I don't know. But it is not ok with me.
If we are to be a world community of diverse yet understanding people who value other cultures and people different than ourselves then we should probably try to have some level of understanding for them. When we know where others come from we understand them more. When we understand them more we see how alike we are and how amazing the differences are too. So, why not study what makes Africa, Africa or China, China, etc? I wonder if the level of discrimination would be less if we really studied the history of other countries like we study our own. This is especially true as American culture is a mix of so many cultures and so many that are NON European get totally ignored. Let's understand one another by knowing and respecting a broader range of history.

I could not find anywhere any one book or curriculum that does a decent job of covering Ancient Africa. There are some great resources that cover PART of Ancient Africa but not all of it. So, I have done my best to create a curriculum that will cover all of Ancient Africa, as best as I can. We touch on Egypt briefly but most curriculum's cover Egypt pretty well, so it was not necessary.

This unit is designed for independent readers and workers grades 3-6.  It can be altered for any child's interest or level.  I have put it in it's own tab. I hope you enjoy it! We sure are. <link>

new url for this blog

wayfarerfamilyfieldtrips.blogspot.com

New URL for this blog. 

homeschooling

Well, it's official. I will be home schooling the boys next year. So excited. I guess I've always wanted to be a teacher. My library sure reflects an educational bent! And I am looking forward to this time with my sons and knowing them more.

I have no intention of blogging my home school experience, but this particular blog may turn into some resources for schooling at home.There are too many out there already and I do not intend to have time to do anything but school and keep up with the house and family.

I will put our plan out there though, because it helps me organize my thoughts. Since we have been at a Classical model school, we will maintain that as I like it best. I am a well ordered person and plan to order our days as much as possible with a good solid routine. I don't do well with chaos, so if we want to succeed we will have to minimize that. Ha! Good luck you say. Well, thanks, I'm pretty sure I am going to need a great deal of that along with grace, mercy, understanding and a fair measure of providence which holds it all together.

I plan to use a linear timeline approach to all subjects and relating back to history as much as possible. I think I now have 5 or 6 book timelines for history, science, engineering, art, etc. We can reference them when making our own and doing our studies to see who fits in where! I love the notebooking idea. It is a lot like what the kids are used to with copy books and other writing and projects they do at school. Just much expanded. It seems very natural to me and not too crafty or complicated for the boys. It is also very cross subject and I like that as tying things together makes for longer lasting learning.

History will be our main class that ties subjects together. Story of the World book, activity books and other great books to go along with the subjects. Usborne and DK, and the library!!!  I got the REAL History Odyssey time line to go along with it. I liked how it looked and I like that it has a PRE History section available, and STICKERS no glue or cutting out. Living books and other good literature will compliment our learning in every subject.

Unlike most curriculum's we are going to start our history with Pre History. While this gets lumped in with Science a lot of the time, I find that it is really both. It is our history as people and our ancestors. So, we will start there. I myself am completely fascinated with it.

Ancient history studies will include a LARGE study of African history, the cradle of humanity. I am really excited about that and digging into the boys heritage. I hope they enjoy it as much as I think I will.

I hope to acquire The Story of US by Joy Hakim, the entire set, for reading along the timeline when American History is highlighted.  Still looking for a bargain as it is pricy.

While I plan to mostly do things in a linear fashion following a timeline across the globe, we will necessarily do units as well. For example, we are planning a trip to Washington DC this summer. So, we will do some units on government,  Presidents, national symbols, etc.

At every possible place I am plugging in as a natural part of our studies as much on African influence and African American history as possible.

Science will tie in for the Ancients with a few books I picked up called Science in Ancient Egypt/ China/ Greece. 3 books. There is a great series of books that are __________ for kids. These have great scientists and their discoveries as well as history, etc.  We will use them along our timeline for supplemental work and science discovery. Our main Science curriculum will be REAL Science Odyssey. It is a notebooking based science curriculum which looks completely fabulous! I am so excited to dig in. Starting with Life Science and will follow with Chemistry. Because of the bent of one of my sons I will be doing some engineering too, using a book called Hands On Engineering. Looks great.

We will incorporate our writing with History, Literature and Science using Institute for Excellence in Writing. (keeping with what the school we are coming from is doing and I like it very much). Easy Grammar will form a base for writing. Word Roots will give me a way to teach spelling and vocabulary with a format that makes sense. I will take words from our studies as well.

We will also use Discovering Great Artists for art history and projects and lots of art example books and an art timeline to fit it into history.

Meet the Great Composers book and cd along with Piano lessons will form our music class.

Math using Singapore. A change for us, but I think a good one. Dave is our Math and Science person so he is directing the curriculum for these mainly. He is also our principle and with a Teacher's licence and soon a PhD in education he can also keep our records and give progress tests or evaluations. BIG bonus.

We will also work on responsibility and character with these books: Lessons in Responsibility for Boys and a kids Bible study called Choosing Obedience and another called Choosing Self Control. There are many in this series. 

The boys will get to play a sport in fall and spring and get lots of running and playing in our big backyard all year round.

We have been accepted into the D20 Homeschool Acadmy for the TRACKS program at School in the Woods. It's in our neighborhood! Not much is. They will do local forest ecology, history, etc. it sounds really neat, maybe I can sneak into a few classes and learn something too! It is mostly experiential and hands on, so less classroom.

We are needing to UN classroom for a year, so no co-op classes for us right now. I am not sure I want to hand over main subjects as we are combining everything into a big pot of learning anyway. Maybe someday.

Ok, so how many times did I say, I am so excited?! Too many. I guess I am "so excited" to do this. Why didn't I keep doing it after pre K and Kinder? Who knows, but we are going to be back together after this semester.

I joined some groups to get ideas and support. So glad for those who are experienced. I am so amazed at the number of places to buy used curriculum and books, etc!!! I am thankful as this is not a cheap endeavor.

Wish me luck.............. and patience and grace and mercy and providence.