The Curriculum Choice

Boyhood and Beyond & Created for Work

May 022011

I love to use really good devotionals with my children. But, to take this prestigious place of Bible time, they have to be really good. If they’re too fluffy, I don’t hesitate to send them sailing across the room to the nearest garbage can. I simply don’t have time enough with my children to waste on fluffy times learning about God.

Karen Andreola recently sent me a review gift of two devotionals that have passed the test and made it to the hard-earned spots on my bookshelf.

Both books, written by Bob Schultz, are meant to be read with boys. Best case scenario, dad and son(s) go through these together. However, I read through them with my son (and oftentimes my teenage daughter was hanging out with us, too) simply because this is what I wanted to use for morning devo time, which happens to be when Dad is at work.

They are recommended for boys from about 10-18, but I found Boyhood and Beyond to be a little easier than Created for Work. Both follow the same general layout of 3-4 pages that include a real-life story tied into a character trait or Bible story, with practical examples tied-in. There are always a Bible verse and quote to consider, as well as 4-5 thought-provoking discussion questions.

I love that the topics are so geared to keep the attention of boys! Hunting, hiking and hot air balloon trips really connect with preteen and teenage boys. Each book contains more than 30 devotions that are time well-spent!

Drawing Basics by Thomas Kinkade

Art, Bible 3 Responses »

Apr 182011

I count it a benefit of homeschooling when one of the masters can step in and teach my children. Thomas Kinkade has led my children in Drawing Basics several times already. That is with the Alpha Omega DVD Lifepac. An Alpha Omega Lifepac is a full subject of study “built upon the principle of mastery learning.” Drawing Basics is an elective Lifepac.

Our two eldest children went through all the lessons with the accompanying workbooks. We just added drawing tablets, pencils and erasers. Drawing Basics is truly the basics. The study begins with line and shape and leads all the way to art history.

The five units each include three sections. Thomas Kinkade teaches the concept at the beginning of each section, encouraging students to sketch along in their drawing tablets.

Next the student is directed to pause the DVD and to “return to your workbook” for practice in the concept.

Also included:

18 weeks of study
extra enrichment activities
review questions
tests
teacher guide
5 unit workbooks
instructional DVD

Unit workbooks and instructional DVD can be purchased separately. Alpha Omega Publications offers the DVD for purchase by itself for $13.95 here.

Intended for:

Grades 3 to 5 but can be adapted for up to grade 8. (Guess what? My 5-year-old, 3^rd grader and two middle schoolers all enjoy it).

Plus:

Thomas Kinkade teaches from a Biblical worldview and includes a Bible lesson in each section.

This resource is great to use as an elective, a unit study and/or to compliment history studies. Plus when you’ve already enjoyed his lessons several times, the DVD is so nice to pull out on a sick day. There is always something new we didn’t notice before. And that day, not long ago, when I was on the couch, it was sure fun to tell my fellow homeschoolers, “Oh Thomas Kinkade taught school today!”

For more information on all Alpha Omega Lifepac Curriculum, visit their site.

View a video sample on the AOP website by creating an account here.

How about you? Wouldn’t you like the ‘Painter of Light’ to teach your children?

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

The Answers Book for Kids, Volumes 1-4

Bible 4 Responses »

Feb 272011

Did Adam and Eve have bellybuttons? – Kimberly W., age 7, Georgia

When God created the earth, were the trees fully grown, or were they baby trees? If they were full grown, did they have growth rings? – Chris J., age 11, California

How did all the dinosaurs fit on the ark? – Abby G., age 6, New Mexico

If you are like me, you are asked these sorts of questions by your children. And, maybe like me, you are still learning too? You want to be intentional in building a Biblical foundation and worldview. Enter The Answers Book for Kids, Volumes 1-4.

These question and answer books are aimed at an age six to 12 year-old-audience. Volume titles include:

Volume 1: 22 Questions from Kids on Creation and the Fall
Volume 2: 22 Questions from Kids on Dinosaurs and the Flood of Noah
Volume 3: 22 Questions from Kids on God and the Bible
Volume 4: 22 Questions from Kids on Sin, Salvation, and the Christian Life

Biblical references back up each answer. The volumes are available individually or as a set.

From the Answers in Genesis site: “Answers are important. If children aren’t given answers to their questions about the Bible and the history it reveals, they cannot defend their faith against a fallen world. The Answers Book for Kids series is a unique collection of question-answer books from Ken Ham and the creative team at Answers in Genesis that meet this need.”

How we use these in our home:

as morning quiet time study
to answer that bedtime question
to build Biblical knowledge

Ken Ham, is not only President/CEO of Answers in Genesis, he is also a popular keynote speaker at homeschool conventions. He tells parents in the introduction of the volumes that, “Charles Spurgeon once said, ‘The only way to keep chaff out of the child’s cup is to fill it brimful with good wheat.’ We need to be consistent and intentional as we fill the “cups” of children with the “good wheat” of God’s precious, holy Word.”

“I pray that all the children who will be influenced by this book, will one day turn to the Bible to find the most important answer – the life-giving answer – that eternal life comes through belief, trust, and faith in Jesus Christ alone.”

Looking for answers aimed at teens and adults? See The Answers Book 1, Answers Book 2, Answers Book 3 and the new Answers DVDs (for ages 12 and up). Middle and high schoolers will also enjoy a course in Answers Academy.

There is even an answers set available for the littlest ones: Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers.

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

Positive Action for Christ

Bible, Middle School 2 Responses »

Feb 222011

Reviewed Item: Positive Action for Christ—The Life of Christ

School Level: Middle School–High School

Product by: Positive Action for Christ

Product Description:

To many people Christ is merely a historical fact, rather than a living, personal reality. We know that Christ lived, and we know much about what He did; however, even we as Christians seldom experience His presence as we should.

The purpose of The Life of Christ from the Gospel of John is to make Jesus Christ real to your students. Our hope as you journey through this material is that your students will not only know Jesus more, but also love Him more.

—From the site, Positive Action for Christ

My Thoughts:

I was thrilled to get this study in the mail for review. I have been looking for an in-depth bible study which embodies historical and spiritual aspects for my family. I feel Positive Action for Christ managed to provide such a study. Not only are given ample historical and geographical information you are taken on a journey to truly meet Christ. I felt this study enhanced our love for the Lord and appreciation for the Word. The study is well organized and very interesting. The student text is beautiful in appearance on the inside and out. Each lesson is well written with exercises which challenge the student to seek truth from the Word. The teacher’s manual will give any parent regardless of biblical knowledge the confidence to teach and learn from the course. The teacher’s manual comes in a high quality three ring binder with information on each lesson along with a DVD with transparencies to enhance the lessons.

It has been my experience that either a study is based in historical fact and lacks the spiritual or based in the spiritual but lacks in history. This lesson encompasses both aspects so supplementation is not needed. The study fits nicely into any homeschool style. The doctrine is sound and not slanted toward any particular religion, denomination or school of thought.

Patricia St. John Books

Bible, Charlotte Mason, Elementary, Literature, Living books, Middle School 2 Responses »

Feb 042011

I love sharing great authors with you – authors that you can almost always assume will provide a wonderful living literature experience for you and your children. Patricia St. John is one of these authors.

Ms. St. John (1919-1993) was first an English missionary in Morocco where she worked in a medical mission trying to win the hearts of Muslim people for Christ. Second, she was the author of many books for children and young adults. Each book is not only a wonderful story, often filled with adventure, but interweaves Christian truths seamlessly as well.

No matter the book, each main character has at least one character issue to work through, whether that be selfishness, hatred, or loneliness, among others. The point of finding our Savior, the only One who can help us defeat our character flaws and lead us to a life everlasting is always the main point of the story, but is never the pounding point. In other words, the message is gentle and beautiful. And the characters always come out having learned that their lives are all about choices and how to choose the better part.

One of the books stands out as slightly different than the others because it’s a piece of Biblical historical fiction. Twice Freed is the story of Onesimus, the slave of Philemon, who learns throughout the story what real freedom means – freedom in Christ rather than freedom from slavery. Since it’s historical fiction, there are liberties taken in the storyline, but this is a very interesting viewpoint about a section of the Bible that we might otherwise not consider.

Her picture books (of which we’ve only read A Home for Virginia) are appropriate for children from 5-10, while the chapter books seem to be most appropriate for ages 8-14.

Patricia St. John’s books are currently in print through Kingsley Press. By clicking on the link, you will be able to see two pages full of Ms. St. John’s books available. All the books I have personally read and recommend are included as linked graphics in this post.

WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS OF LIVING LITERATURE?

-Written by Cindy, an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of three in Central KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her nature study curricula at Shining Dawn Books.

Illustrated Family Bible

Bible 2 Responses »

Jan 072011

Our family uses the Bible itself as our main Bible curriculum. Every few years, however, we pull out the Illustrated Family Bible. With its stunning, historically accurate illustrations and informative side panels, it always gives us a fresh view of all those familiar stories.

Currently we are going through this Bible for the third or fourth time as a family. (We’ve had it for almost a decade and a half, so we can’t quite remember.) Each time we read through it, we learn more about the background of the stories, and that helps us understand them more clearly. The children clearly find this Bible fascinating, and they are learning much about Biblical times, customs, and geography.

Most of the stories cover a two-page spread, complete with lavish, annotated illustrations. The words used are actually from the Bible, with chapter and verse marked, but only the ‘exciting bits’ are included. The illustrated side panels often include relevant photos of places, artwork, or archeological finds as well as cultural information. Seeing photos of a Jewish well gives extra meaning to the story of Jesus at the well, for example.

Not only are each of the stories illustrated, but each section begins with a few pages of background commentary, cultural explanations, and illustrations. These can be helpful, and we usually look at the pictures, but the children asked me not to read them this time. Other years I’ve read these pages out loud as well.

The Illustrated Family Bible approaches the Bible respectfully and takes it seriously. Nevertheless, there are a few things I don’t like. Occasionally the verses left out in this version of the Bible contain crucial information, subtly altering the meaning. That, I think, is inherent in the nature of such a book and is to be expected. Furthermore, some of the pictures are gory, although I can usually cover them discretely with my hand while I read the story. Finally, I do not appreciate the pictures used for Revelation; who are we to try to draw ‘the Son of Man’ in all his glory? And how can anyone even begin to portray the amazing events and symbolism of Revelation without unwittingly ‘adding to or subtracting from’ this book?

Even with these flaws, the Illustrated Family Bible has been a blessing to our family.

Disclosure: We have owned the Illustrated Family Bible for many years. I receive no compensation for my reviews and the opinions expressed are my own.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

365 Days of Celebration and Praise

Art, Bible, Encouragement, Hands On 4 Responses »

Jan 032011

It’s easy.

It’s done for you.

Those two criteria really appeal to me as a homeschool mother.

Julie Lavender has done all the work. Pull out her 365 Days of Celebration and Praise to start the day. It’s appropriate for all ages. A full year of family devotionals.

We all need an easy, stress-free way to add some fun to our homeschool day. We sometimes start with these Daily Devotions and Activities written by a homeschooler for homeschooling families. Or maybe we read it together at lunch time. Other times children pull it out on their own.

We celebrate birthdays, holidays. Why not every day? Included for each day:

Questions to discuss
Related activity – a craft, recipe or other simple, hands-on project
Curriculum Connection – suggested activity related to a school subject (e.g., for National Backyard Games Week – “What interjections did you use when you played your game outside? What is an interjection? Can you think of more interjections?”)
Verse to memorize
Prayer suggestion

Did you know March 1 is National Pig Day? Read Luke 15: 11-32 and discuss why you think the younger son took all he had and left… Who forgave the young man? Then make a pig bookmark if you like. All the instructions are included. Next, see how many baby animal names you know. Memorize Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Pray, asking God to help you forgive. Thank God for his forgiveness of sins.

National Fragrance Week? Clergy Appreciation Day? National Dessert Month? Basketball Season? Holy Humor Month? Golden Rule Week? Epiphany? Drinking Straw Day?

So take a bit of advice from December 30, Make-Up-Your-Mind Day, check out Julie Lavender’s resource. It’s available for $16.99 here. Learn, discuss, memorize and pray together as a family this year.

May God bless you as you make each day a holiday! ~ Julie Lavender

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

A Reason for Handwriting

Bible, Elementary, Handwriting, Language Arts, Writing No Responses »

Dec 102010

We started out this year with the intent to use a different curriculum for handwriting but, of course, life happens!

We ended up moving across country, leaving behind the majority of our home to be shipped at a later date. That means we left most of our curriculum as well! Basically starting from scratch, I stumbled across “A Reason for Handwriting”. I am so glad that I did!

We chose “A Reason for Handwriting, manuscript B”, which offers slightly smaller text than the traditional first grade books, technically book “B” is a second grade level book. I love that feature because it helps my son to really concentrate on what he is doing and it helps him develop better hand-eye coordination.

The book starts out with a review section to remind and reconnect, if necessary; then it jumps right into lesson plans. The lesson plans are easy to follow and already setup for each day’s worth of work. The lessons are short and the pages are colorful.

What I love the most is that the curriculum is primarily focused around Bible verses. The kids practice letters as well as whole words, which all tie into a bible verse. It reinforces neat, tidy penmanship, light reading along with easy memorizing of scripture!

A Reason for Handwriting is available as a set with a teachers guide and consumable student workbook, or as a single student workbook. We opted to just get the workbook which we are doing fine as a stand alone product. The set retails for $34.95; the individual workbook retails for $15.95. However, I have found the curriculum at discount on a few sites for a low $26.21 for the set and $11.96 individual.

Overall, I am really happy with the curriculum. My son loves to do the work and looks forward to learning new scripture verses as his lessons progress.

Games for Learning

Bible, Logic, Mathematics, Spelling 3 Responses »

Dec 062010

While browsing the Christian Home Educators of Kentucky Convention last year, I came across a booth with several games that looked exciting. The company, HL Games Limited, allowed me the opportunity to review three of those games.

All of them are appropriate for middle elementary children and older.

Amuse Amaze happens to be our favorite of the three, although all of them are fun. Your job is to meander your way through the game board collecting three of four target cards and reach the finish line before your opponents. In order to make a move, you have to go from space to space spelling words.

Even my slightly spelling challenged child enjoyed the game because being able to spell long words doesn’t necessarily get you any farther than steadily spelling smaller words.

The game is different every time you play since the board comes in squares that are put together in different orders each time you set up. Couple that with the removable white tiles (in the picture) changing each new game and you’ll never experience the same words twice. We love this game!

My 13 year old daughter and I have really enjoyed Beadecked. My son, although entirely capable of playing, feels like it’s too “girly” since beads are the topic. I disagree and don’t find it to be “girly” at all, but I can’t convince him otherwise.

There are six different ways to use the deck of cards, all of which enhance logical/mathematical thinking. Essentially, each of the game options require you to make bead matches of some type from card to card. That sounds easy, but the beads each have varying characteristics of shape, color and pattern – and you usually have to match two or more of the characteristics in order to complete the play.

For those of you who have played SET, this game is similar in that you have to really think through corresponding characteristics. Critical thinking can be very fun!

And finally, Go Mental SacraMental is a trivia game for learning and reviewing Bible knowledge.

Players take turns reading game cards to one another. On each game card there are four phrases having to do with something from the Bible. One of the phrases doesn’t belong. The player whose turn it is gets to move one space on the board if they can tell which phrase doesn’t belong. They get to move three more spaces if they can tell how the other three phrases are connected.

There is a Bible reference on the answer card if you wish to give your child an opportunity to answer the question with help from the Bible. Players can also give and take questions to move their playing piece ahead or send opponents backward on the board.

With 1,ooo questions, we won’t be repeating cards for quite some time!

What games are you playing?

-Written by Cindy, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and learn about her nature study curriculum at Shining Dawn Books.

The “Put On” Chart by Doorposts

Bible, Encouragement, Hands On 2 Responses »

Dec 032010

I picked up The “Put On” Chart from Doorposts at a homeschool convention one spring. It caught my eye because we enjoy so many of the Doorposts products in our home. Plus, I had been looking for a little something to help end the school year on a positive note. Now, I pull it out again.
This statement, in the lesson book’s introductory material, caught my attention:

“While we train our children to “take off” sinful behaviors, we must also lead them in “putting on” godly attitudes and actions. If we just focus on the “don’ts, they will most likely grow up to be adults who do not live a life of joy in Christ or truly glorify God. While setting an example with our own joyful obedience, we should pray that our chilren, like David, will say, “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8, NKJV)”

We’ve been learning the chart’s focal Bible verse, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:12-12

What is included? The “Put On” Chart kit comes with a laminated chart, a lesson book full of ideas and a boy and girl paper doll. The children get to dress the paper doll while learning each piece of the verse.

For example, we dressed the paper doll with the “gloves” of compassion (put yourself in someone else’s place. How do they feel? Can you help them feel better? Do it!) and the shoes of kindness (make yourself useful. What can you do to bless someone? Go and do it!)

The study focuses on what the Bible says about the following:

Compassion
Kindness
Humility
Meekness
Patience
Forbearance
Forgiveness
Love

What does it cost? $11.50 for the entire kit – laminated chart, study book and paper dolls.

From their site, “Does anyone in your household ever have trouble being patient? How about compassionate? Or forgiving? As much as we love the members of our own family, it seems like home is where our ability to truly love is put to the greatest test.” Read all about it, view sample pdf pages: Put On Chart from Doorposts.

And above all these put on love…

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.