In preparation of these next six weeks I was able to take a little time to read on some blogs about Circle Time. For some reason, I just kept feeling unsure as to how Circle Time was supposed to feel. Was it supposed to be school-like, was it supposed to be relaxed, was it supposed to be formal, informal, chaotic, choppy… ? I came to realise that Circle Time is supposed to be fun, enjoyable, and whatever it is meant to be for our family. That’s freeing and a tad nerve-wracking. I still get caught thinking “Is what I’m doing OK?”
I had an opportunity to sit with Husband and brainstorm what he thought would be good items to include for Circle Time. Together, we came up with a list of Bible verses (Scripture) to memorise, Hymns, songs (both Gospel-centred and preschool oriented), things to memorise (such as the names of the 66 books in the Bible), books to read, and some preschool activities to do. Once we came up with this jumbled list, I sighed with relief and felt like I could easily come up with a plan for each week based on these items. Some ideas I’ve left to happen as they arise naturally (such as writing a thank you note). Husband reminded me Easter would be falling in this next six week bracket and to have that as our focus as we move closer to it. So here’s what we came up with.
Scripture to Memorise (not necessarily in this order): John 3:16, Philippians 1:6, Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24, Romans 3:23, Jeremiah 29:11-13, Romans 8:28, Romans 5:8
Gospel-Centred Songs/Hymns (not necessarily in this order): It is Well With My Soul, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, He Who Began a Good Work in You {coincide with memorising Philippians 1:6}, The Bible Alphabet (from the J is for Jesus CD), God Made Me (J is for Jesus CD) {coincide with Psalm 139}, Easter Song (J is for Jesus CD) {coincide with Easter}, Death In His Grave (chorus only) {coincide with Easter}, songs from our CD “It’s Play School” (preschool CD) and songs and finger plays from “Wee Sing” CD (also preschool).
Memorisation: Books of the Bible, Months of the Year, Days of the Week
Books to Read: The Children’s Book of Virtues (thanks to PaperBackSwap I was able to receive this hardback for free), Big Thoughts for Little People
Reprise: Anything we have learnt in the past or have just memorised. Husband suggested a basket for each girl, and once they have something memorised, to write it on a slip of paper, drop the paper into their basket and on Fridays have each girl draw one (or two) paper(s) out of their basket and recite it. I like this idea a lot.
Things to Do: Write a thank you note card, Read a Proverb. Writing a thank you note card falls most naturally when my girls grab their pencil cases and a colouring book and begin to colour and/or draw. It is easier for me to grab a note card and begin to write a thank you when they are already at the table and ready. I didn’t want to add this as a part of Circle Time, though I know I can at the end of Circle Time if it feels right for that day.
My job now is to assign what we’re doing when and to coordinate each of the elements above to coincide with each other; to create a plan for each day that flows; and use the plan as a guideline. If we need to add more, then we will. If we need to continue memorising a certain portion, then we will. If we need to take a break and pick it up in a new week, then we’ll do that.
My plan is to sit down over the weekend sometime and plan the following week based on what we’ve done in the previous week and how we’re progressing. This is because I just really have no idea how long it will take to learn certain songs/hymns (some are easier than others), or to memorise the books of the Bible, etc.
This is just what I’ve needed. It is wonderfully fun to plan our week ahead and then wait as it unfolds before us; either just as planned or (usually) slightly altered. So while I begged asked my friend if I could sit in on her Circle Time, I felt very differently once I had these elements to plan. Just don’t ask me about the next six weeks after this or I may just panic.
I do plan to post the actual Circle Time plans for #1 Weeks 1-6 that we’ve just completed, as at the moment I alter it quite a bit as we go. So, what’s done is done and while I didn’t take as good of notes, you can see what we didn’t get to because it was included in the following week unchanged.
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