Funky Fridays
Funky Fridays (since 2000/1)
Fridays have become the day to study the “unusual” subjects that only happen once a week. We keep our Friday work in a special decorated treasure chest that is so much fun to delve into!
On Funky Fridays, we do some of the following:
watch a DVD series: The 24/7 Experience (Evangelical Covenant Church), Transforming Culture (Darrow Miller)
use Samaritan’s Purse prayer guide, “PrayerPoint” to pray for various countries around the world
read a few pages of If by Amy Carmichael
read several sections of Revivals: Their Laws and Leaders (James Burns)
read a chapter from Battlefield of the Mind (Joyce Meyer)
read a section from Hero Tales (Dave & Neta Jackson) – there are four in the series
read a chapter from Grandpa’s Box (Starr Meade)
read a chapter of The Adventure of Missionary Heroism (John C. Lambert)
read a chapter of Heroes of the Holy Life (Wesley Duewel)
go through a chapter of The Thinking Toolbox (Nathaniel & Hans Bluedorn)
read a page of Springs in the Valley (Mrs. Charles E. Cowman) – the sequel to my favorite devotional, Streams in the Desert
use Fandex cards to learn important facts (e.g. Presidents)
pray for an unreached people group — Window on the World, Samaritan’s Purse prayer guides
read a special book, such as Dangerous Journey (the children’s version of Pilgrim’s Progress) or Hind’s Feet on High Places
read character-building stories & poems — Book of Virtues
study history using Child’s History of the World (excellent overview of world history in chronological order); One Year Book of Christian History (fabulous); and Usborne’s Timelines of World History (amazing concise summary with illustrations), On This Day
read about Heroes worth emulating (e.g. John Wesley, Amy Carmichael, Brother Andrew, Nate Saint, Eric Liddell)
study apologetics — The Case for Christ (Lee Strobel), The Case for Faith (Lee Strobel)
read from the devotional book Extreme Devotion (awesome stories of ancient and modern day believers who sacrificed everything for Christ)
read poetry — Poetry for the Soul, 742 Heartwarming Poems
learn about recognizing bad reasoning via The Fallacy Detective
recognize famous works of art (artist, title) — Kiddie Connoisseur, Master Impressionists
use flashcards to learn cool facts like Famous Places or U.S. Presidents
do Brain Quest cards–stretch your brain! We use the series from the Kindergarten level all the way through 7th grade. Some of the questions are exceedingly challenging! I let the children move to the next card if they can answer all the questions on the card with fewer than 3 mistakes. We also use the “America” and “Presidents” series, and have the children form a team, rotating who the team captain is, to think together.
write postcards to people we know to bring encouragement 🙂 We like to order from Dover–they have a large selection of beautiful nature and art postcards
take a trip to the library to find new treasures to borrow!
read a chapter of Do Fish Drink Water?–unusual and little-known facts (or factoids!)
solve mathematical puzzles, brainteasers, & enigmas
Classic Puzzles
The Lady or the Tiger?
Garden of the Sphinx
enter Online Math Contests
Elementary Math Contest
Middle School Math Contest
Geometry Math Contest
Algebra Math Contest
Problem-of-the-week Math Contest
do various and sundry thinking skills problems (Critical Thinking Books & Software)
learn a new set of homophones from The Ear is Human
learn one Latin or Greek root (and accompanying English words) from Merriam-Webster’s Vocabulary Builder
learn vocabulary (100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know)
1000 Great Lives (use discretion)
Tales of the Kingdom (David & Karen Mains) – also Tales of the Resistance, Tales of the Restorations
Other things we’ve done in the past (and may do again!) include:
