American Girl class Fall 2019

We had another wonderful semester in American Girl class learning about the time periods and girls of Kaya and Felicity. The girls liked the crafts and the snacks (for the most part-- some of Kaya's snacks are unusual!) I loved seeing the girls interact with one another and making the crafts. I enjoy their comments (We're making TWO crafts?!) and seeing the work that they do in class. I enjoyed getting to know some new students and their moms. In all, it was a great class! I will miss the girls until we begin again in six weeks!

 Playing "string games" during Kaya class...

 I am super thankful for my mom helpers!!

 Making hats during Felicity... this was the class when I really burned my finger!

 My daughters both helped me in my class, and when I hurt myself, she did A LOT of hot gluing!

 So adorable in their Felicity hats!

 Here we are cross-stitching bookmarks... several of the girls did very well and came close to finishing two letters in their initials!

Next semester I'm looking forward to discussing Caroline and Josefina!

Exodus 36:8
[ The Tabernacle ] All those who were skilled among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by expert hands.

Exodus 35:30-33
Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.

American Girl class highlights 2019

We had another wonderful semester of American Girls. This year I had three sisters join our group, and they were so fun! Their little brother is adorable, and their mom helped a bunch. We discussed Molly and Julie this semester, and World War II, and the 70's. I had fun wearing my bell bottoms, peace sign jewelry, bandana skirt and mood ring. 

During Molly, we tied fleece blankets again, and donated them to Project Linus. We made two soft blankets, one had watermelons on it and the other made mermaid like design.

 During Julie, we did tie dyed shirts again, and the girls loved it.

 Here they are wearing their shirts after they were washed. They lined up shortest to tallest on their own!

 This sweet girl finished three years of my American Girl classes and got a completion certificate!I will miss her cute personality and contagious giggle!

It was a fun and fantastic semester. I'm so thankful that their moms entrusted me with them for one hour a week. They were a joy to teach, and I'll miss them this summer!

What about you? DO you have things concluding for the school year? We have our AWANA awards night this week. We had our co-op finale on Thursday night, and I loved hearing the choirs, seeing the  dances and the ASL classes perform. They did so well and it was a delightful evening!

I'm planning on reading a lot this summer, and I'm looking forward to hopefully teaching my classes again in the fall!


Deuteronomy 32:2
Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.

Ezra 7:10
For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

Psalm 78:1
My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.

Proverbs 1:8
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

Mark 6:34
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

American Girl class highlights

We had a delightful American Girl class this semester with 4 girls. We discussed Rebecca and Kit, the American Girls. I've done these classes several times, but I still enjoy teaching it to girls who have never had the class before. One day during Rebecca, we painted Russian nesting dolls. The girls had lots of fun painting them!

 Rebecca goes to Coney Island, so we had a day playing games, here a girl is bowling! The loved the little prizes that they got for playing the games!

During Kit, we made "team" pennants, like Kit has in her room for the Cincinnati Reds (she is from Ohio).

 The last class of Kit, we made red Fleece mittens with sewing machines. It was aa quick and easy way to make them, and the girls loved their mittens! Love their cute smiles!

The semester went by so quickly. I always enjoy teaching so much. These girls were pretty silly at times, but their giggles were contagious! It lightened up the topic of the Great Depression, which is what the Kit books cover. I look forward to seeing them again next semester, I hope!

Judges 6:39
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.”

Proverbs 31:13
She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

American Girl class highlights: Addy & Samantha

We had another fun semester of American Girl class! We studied Addy and Samantha for 6 weeks each. We had fun with the crafts, but apparently I didn't take too many pictures! I loved getting to know each one of the girls a little more. They are so sweet! The first two pictures below are when we made spool puppets during Addy. I don't know what the girl on the left was doing when I took the picture! The dolls are a little complicated, and I am always so thankful for the mom's who help! The girls enjoyed most of the snacks, except for carrot soup with Samantha... it was different!

 A girl showing off her spool puppet!

 Making our felt wall hangings...

During Samantha, there are a few weddings in her family. The books don't discuss the weddings much, but we made some old-fashioned wedding favors with doilies, a string of pearls, a bright pink ribbon around it all, and a round piece of tulle in the middle with bubbles tucked in it. It was not a difficult craft, but we also made May Day baskets that day with bright pink cardstock. It is fun to see little glimpses of history in our book and make crafts from the Victorian era. 

We had many other great crafts too, including the stick horse during Addy. One mom said that she might have to make 3 more for her other kids! The girls always love making that craft, and the little brothers like it too! The girls always like the little calling card boxes that we make during Samantha too. I love seeing their creativity in the crafts and enjoy watching them make the craft their own!

It was a great semester, and I am sad that it is over for our co-op classes. We enjoy seeing friends each week there, and getting to know different people. There were a few new homeschoolers there this year, and I liked them! I hope each family will come back to our co-op in the fall. We will be discussing Rebecca and Kit then. They are both fun girls too! My daughter Bethany "graduated" the American Girl classes at the end of this semester. She took the classes in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. I will miss having her in my class in the fall!

Mark 5:38-43
When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”  But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.  He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Marie-Grace and Cecile Weeks 1-6 highlights

In our American Girl class, since I have already covered Marie-Grace and Cecile before, I am just going to post highlights. We've had a fun semester so far, and can't believe the semester is half over already! The girls are so sweet, tell me thank you after class, and I love seeing their friendships develop. Even though I only have 7 girls this semester, it is just right.

We've enjoyed all of the crafts, even if some of them didn't finish them in class.

 The first week we made Mardi Gras masks.

 My daughter improved her mask at home the next day:

 My daughter Mallory helped in class one day and took selfies with these girls:

 Working on drawing portraits...

 Several girls drew pictures of each other, I loved the detail that they included!

 This past week, we made hair wraps and grated nutmeg, like Cecile did in our book:

I'm so thankful for these girls! What a joy they are to me! I'm looking forward to beginning Kirsten next week!


Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

John 17:13
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

2 John 1:4
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.

Kaya/Felicity class highlights

I began my "cycle" for my American Girl class again this fall, starting at the beginning of the chronological order. Kaya is first, and then Felicity. We had a great semester, I didn't make posts or take photos of each class, just a few times during the semester.

I had 2 glasses again this semester, and really enjoyed getting to know each girl. Some of the girls were new, and some of them had taken my classes before. They enjoyed learning about Kaya and Felicity. I didn't take any pictures of the Kaya classes. I wished I had a photo of Kaya's teepee that one of the girls owned and brought to class for us to see. It was pretty neat!

These first pictures are from the first Felicity class, when we made mop caps and decorated sun hats with flowers. My 7-year-old took a few of the pictures, of the other girls in the class in their hats. They look adorable in their old-fashioned hats.

 My toothless daughter... (below)

 This was my outfit for week one of class, again it was very hot with lots of layers. I had a new petticoat that I wore with it, it was shorter than the skirt. The sun hat fell off easily. I also showed my daughter's parasol in class. We talked a lot about how they didn't like to be sunburned or even tan, that was not fashionable.

 This girl from the 2:00 class was too cute in her hat...

 This was the week that we made quill pens, I love that you can see the Bill of Rights that I brought to class in the foreground, and see the girl dip her quill pen in the ink.

 My daughter and her friend work with quill pens...

 This was the snack for week 6, lemon tarts. I think it's the first time that a mom made the recipe! They were so cute and delicious!

What a fun time we had in class! I'm looking forward to studying Caroline and Josefina next semester!

Psalm 91:4
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Deuteronomy 11:18-20
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates...

American Girl class: Julie week 6 (time #2)

American Girl class: Julie Week 6

We had another great American Girl class this week! First I handed out the tie-dyed shirts from last class. (*Be sure to wash the shirts ALONE the first few times so you won't dye any other clothes!) We reviewed book five in the Julie series, Changes for Julie, we discussed having a deaf friend and practiced sign language, including the alphabet, numbers, colors and a few other signs.  I gave each girl a printed copy of the sign language alphabet that I found here.

 For our Craft, we made “Campaign” Buttons. I gave each of the girls a 3" x 4" piece of white card stock. I had cardstock circles and squares which I had for tracing. After they traced them, they cut out their circle and decorated it with markers. Then I took their decorated circle and laminated it with my laminator from home. After each piece was laminated, the girls cut out their piece and glued a pin-back on it. Voila! A button!

I had debated covering the buttons with mod-podge, but thought it would take too long to dry as well as being messy. I also thought of covering them with clear packing tape, but thought that would bubble. So laminating worked well! The glue dots with the pins worked and adhered easily (better than hot glue!)

 Tracing and coloring their buttons...

  Our snack this week was Nachos and Hawaiian punch. The girls really liked it!

The 2:00 class:

 Tracing the circles for buttons... I was bummed during this class when one of the girl's buttons got jammed in my laminator (which never happened before?!) and then my laminator died. ; - (

 Enjoying snack...

 One of the girls' buttons said NO BOYS! (She said that did not include family, she loves her brothers.)

Since we had extra time, I brought this printable found here, for the girls to cut out and write about the changes in Julie's life-- not just in this book but in the whole Julie series. 

It was another wonderful class!

So that is the end of our American Girl cycle! We have gone through all of the main American Girls, (from Kaya-Julie) and we will restart the cycle beginning with Kaya again in the fall. 

I have loved getting to know all of my girls and their families in my classes! I will miss them LOTS over the summer.

Exodus 4:11
The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Leviticus 19:14
“‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.

Matthew 11:5
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.