Back to School 2012!

Morgan, age 5 (birthday 1/22/07) First Grade 2012-2013 school year

 

Jaden, age 8 (birthday 8/5/04) Third Grade 2012-2013 school year

 

I had to photograph the girls for their Friday School badges, and this is what I got.  Though we do home school all year long, many activities are only available to us during the school year.  We are starting back in all of the school activities.

 

Friday School starts on September 21st, and will be every Friday until the end of November.  Morgan will be taking kindergarten classes there with her friends.  Jaden will be taking Character Traits class, Team Building, and Alphabet Arts.  Their classes were very picked over by the time we got to pick because we took a 2 year break from the cooperative.  Next semester, they will have more choices. 

 

GEMS girls' club starts back up this coming Wednesday.  Morgan is still not old enough to attend, but Jaden will be a part of the group.  She is very excited for it to start,

 

AWANA starts back on September 10th.  Jaden will be in Truth and Training and Morgan will be in Sparkies.  They are both a little anxious to start because their friends will be in the groups younger than them.  Most of Jaden's friends will still be Sparkies and Morgan's friends will still be Cubbies.

 

We are ready to get started with all of these activities.  Looking at the schedule exhausts me, but it will be fun. 

GEMS~ Girls Everywhere Meeting the Saviour

GEMS Girls Clubs:  Most people have never heard of GEMS.  It is not a widely recognized group like Girl Scouts.  It is pretty small, but they are international.  The club that Jaden is in meets during the school day.  All 40+ girls are homeschooled and between the ages of 6 and 16. 

The mission of GEMS is: "GEMS Girls' Clubs seeks to equip women and girls to live radically faithful lives—doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God."

The youngest girls are in grades 1 to 3.  This is called the "Awareness" level.  They discuss an important story in the bible and how they can relate it to themselves.  The purpose is for them to learn how God works and how He loves them.  They participate in crafts, songs, games, and friendship. 

Jaden will not go on to the next level until 4th grade.  The "Discovery" level goes deeper into self-discovery and working for Christ.  This group earns badges by showing their faith in God and discovering their talents.  They, also, participate in crafts. songs, games, friendship, and leadership.

The "Advanced" level girls are 7th and 8th graders.  They have unique curriculum based on Esther.  This teaches them to live a God-centered life.  They, also, focus on self-esteem and not falling into peer pressure.  They begin helping the counselors with the younger girls during sharing time to prepare for being counselors and leaders one day.

I like that the aim of this club is to keep a tight-knit group of girls that help each other follow God and his teachings.  In a world so full of negatives, this is a polar opposite! 

GEMS web-site