Rowing “If Jesus Came to My House” by Joan Gale Thomas

We’re really enjoying our Before Five in a Row (BFIAR) curriculum! Although it says that it’s for ages 2-4 years old, you can still use the books even if your kids are older. 🙂 I’m pretty sure we’ll still read them when Timmy turns five. So far, we have rowed seven books and currently rowing our eighth. We also have read other Five in a Row (i.e. the next curriculum after BFIAR) books but haven’t done unit studies with them.

I’ve noticed that Timmy loves them more than his Dr. Seuss or Mo Willems books! I applaud the creators of this curriculum because they picked books that really capture children’s attention and imagination. 🙂 This is also the reason why I love old school story books. They explore different characters and build up the plot thus making the kids glued to it! They are also rich in values. 🙂 Here’s how our BFIAR week went!

Books and the Bible

In “If Jesus Came to My House” the boy showed hospitality to Jesus by sharing his toys, serving Him tea, picking apples with Him, and more. Jesus was portrayed here as a young boy. So aside from reading that we also read other books that are in keeping with our theme of kindness and hospitality. Jesus visited the houses of Zacchaeus and sisters Mary and Martha. We explored how each of them responded to Jesus’ visit and what we can learn from them.

Since sharing is a big part of the story in “If Jesus Came to My House” we read “Big Bird Can Share.” We also read books with stories revolving around houses such as “The Little House” where the main character is the house itself, witnessing different seasons and changes around it. “Five Little Puppies” is about giving a home for abandoned dogs. While “A House for Hermit Crab” is about a crab’s search for a new home and how he decorated his shell all year long. 🙂

We also watched the following videos for our Bible stories. 🙂

Overcoming fear is one of the highlights of the book “If Jesus Came to My House” and our memory verse that week was Isaiah 41:10. This scripture song helped us memorize the verse! 🙂

Writing

I downloaded free printables for “If Jesus Came to My House” from Homeschool Creations! So grateful for generous people who take time to do all these! 🙂 Timmy practiced writing, matched rhyming words, and answered other language exercises. In one of the activities, he was asked “If Jesus came to your house, what would you do?” He wrote, “Share some books and my blocks!” Awwwww. <3 He also drew a house for Jesus with their picture together. Timmy is such a sweetheart! 🙂

Math

For math, we did a fun counting activity! In the book, the boy went apple picking with Jesus so I decided to create some foam trees and draw apples on them. I asked Timmy to count the apples and write the correct number in the basket. 🙂 We’re already doing addition, subtraction, and all sorts of skip counting for math but I’ve always believed in repetition and practice to encourage my number-loving preschooler. A fun counting exercise can do wonders in keeping your child’s interest in math! In my experience, it makes him more cooperative, too! 🙂

Life Skills

In the book, the main character served tea for Jesus. So we decided to make some tea! I taught Timmy how to make tea using a simple tea bag and water. We opted for cold tea so I can drink it immediately after he prepared it. 🙂 He had so much fun! He even offered to make tea for me over the next few days after we did this! 🙂 Which reminds me, I just might ask him to prepare one for me today. 🙂

Learning Through Play

I asked Timmy to make a house for Jesus. I told him that it will be the place where they can play just like the boy and Jesus in the book. This is what he came up with! 🙂 I actually love this art deco home for Jesus! Good job, sweetheart! 🙂 I’m sure Jesus loved it!

I mentioned earlier that overcoming fear is one of the highlights of the book. The boy is scared of walking through the dark alley of their house because of the shadows of the objects that appear on the wall. When Jesus walked with him, he didn’t become scared anymore! He even started playing with shadows and so we decided to do the same! We were laughing while Timmy was doing it! 🙂 I couldn’t remember how amazing it was to be a child since I’ve been an adult for so long. Thankfully, through homeschooling I’m reliving that experience again. 🙂 This shadow play says it all!