Blessed and defended by an angel Num 22:12

The book of numbers has a collection of lots of stories. One of them is commonly known as Balaam’s Donkey. In my classroom, I have retold this story many times. The kids are amazed or laugh at the talking donkey part. I use a silly voice for the donkey, it is funny. Kids books are filled with stories of talking animals, so the full impact of a talking donkey might be missed by them. Really, my starting point is that I have retold this story many times. To my surprise, I heard some new from it today. That is one of things that is some exciting about the Bible. You can reread it over and over, still find something new that jumps out and pulls at your heart or makes you think.

Today that word that jumped out was “Blessed.”

But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.”

Numbers 22:12

Let me paint the full picture for you, God said (simply) “do not put a curse on those people, they are blessed (to me). Then he sends a angel with a sword to defend what he called his blessed ones.

Jesus called us blessed.

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed;blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

I like the idea of that he can come to the aid of his blessed ones, even good as far as sending an angel with a sword to protect his blessed ones. That group of Israelites, was less than the perfect group. They were humans that made lots of bad choices, just like myself. We are all prone to make mistakes. It is nice to know that God still comes to our aid, even when are undeserving of it. Sometimes even sending an angel with a sword, to stop something that is coming our way.

For the full story read Numbers chapters 22-24.

Bible references from NIV:

Biblegatway.com . (n.d.). Retrieved April 09, 2018, from http://www.biblegatway.com/

Different ways to Use Flashcards

There are lots of ways to use flashcards in the classroom.

Hook them together: a small little hole punched in the corner of each one will keep them together, & make them easier to flip. * I love to hang my flashcards right next to my circle time chair. The flashcards add to the decor of the room instead of creating clutter on my shelf.
Dry Erase: Some cards need to be laminated first, but Dry Erase pens are great for tracing and circling counted items. This works well at the writing table and can easily be put on a tray as a choose your own activity on the math shelf.

The mnemonic abcs & handwriting cards are very useful cards to link together.

Take a look below or jump to my Teachers Pays Teachers site

Alphabet Poems Trace & Learn Letter Formation Cards: Awesome Animals ABC

Mnemonic Alphabet cards Lowercase letters with pictures a-z short vowels

Air Writing Flash Cards with Teacher directions

Try my starfish count and clip cards at my shop.

or my heart cards Here.

Teaching with Letter of week creation facts is fun

In my preschool classroom we use letter of the week items. I try to include many real creation facts into the week. This has had an amazing result on the students. Many parents are surprised at the new thing their kids are interested.

One example is the letter O for octopus.

Octopus, lives in the ocean, has 8 arms and squits ink. Cool right!

I have grouped together a book, counting cards and few playdough activities, and a coloring sheet.

The book