His Treasure Seekers

25 CHRISTmas Books for Preschoolers

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Deanna

A few years ago we started a tradition of wrapping up a book each day of Advent leading up to Christmas, and I shared a list of books we used to go along with Truth in the Tinsel. Every year I’ve added a few new Christmas books to our collection (with more kids to open them), and this year we’ll be opening 2 books each day: one geared toward my preschoolers, and 1 for my older kids. So I thought it was about time I organized the books into two lists and shared them. (In other words, there are several repeats from the old list this time around, but the books with longer stories have been replaced with more preschool-friendly choices.)

Everywhere we go at Christmas our kids tend to be bombarded with messages about Santa and elves, so we try really hard to counter those with Christ-focused stories, songs, and decorations. These books are a reflection of our family’s choice to keep Jesus at the forefront of all our Christmas activities.

I’ve listed them in subject groups rather than the order I pass them out. I do tend to give most of the books about symbols early on so that the kids will recognize them and make the connection to Christ as we go through the season, but as a general rule I try to mix them up a bit so we don’t end up with all the stable/animal stories in a big clump. I just thought these groups would be more helpful for anyone not familiar with the books.

Books about Christmas Symbols

Jesus, Me and My Christmas Tree by Crystal Bowman (A little girl goes through various ornaments on her tree that relate to the Christmas story.)

J is for Jesus by Crystal Bowman (rhyme about the symbolism of the candy cane)

Christmas Angels by Crystal Bowman (rhyming story about angels in the Christmas story so children think of the Bible when they see angel decorations)

A Star for Jesus by Crystal Bowman (rhyming story about the Christmas star)

The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs (a story about a farmer and his wife who make a sacrifice that brings great joy. Bible verses throughout.)

Books Based on Songs

Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry, illustrated by Phil Boatwright (beautiful illustrations and accompanying Scripture verses)

We Three Kings traditional carol illustrated by Gennady Spirin (The pictures are probably more pleasing to adults, but I like the chance to expose my children to beautiful art.)

The Animals’ Christmas Carol illustrated by Helen Ward (beautiful pictures to go along with the medieval carol “The Friendly Beasts”)

Image result for the little drummer boy ezra jack keats

9.
The Little Drummer Boy illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats (a favorite song of ours, with pictures by the author of The Snowy Day)

10.

12 Days of Christmas beautifully illustrated by Laurel Long (in the right order, which is surprisingly hard to find!)

11.

Away in a Manger illustrated by Thomas Kinkade (all three verses, with paintings of both the manger scene and an old-fashioned village)

Books About the First Christmas

12.

This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotton (full of repetition and rhyme, similar to “This is the House That Jack Built”)

13.

Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck (simple rhymes about those present at Jesus’ birth)

14.

The Christmas Star by Marcus Pfister (beautiful watercolor and glitter illustrations by the author/illustrator of The Rainbow Fish)

15.

Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-Jones (full of excitement about the arrival of Jesus–I like to save this one for Christmas morning because it captures the joy when the wait is over)

16.

Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer (about a self-absorbed donkey who goes with the three kings to find Christ and realizes that he alone is worthy of praise)

17.

Baby Jesus is Born by Juliet David (Very simple retelling of the whole Christmas story, starting with the angel visiting Mary and ending with the family returning to Nazareth.)

18.

The Christmas Story: The Brick Bible for Kids by Brendan Powell Smith (I am not a fan of the Brick Bible in general, and I hesitated even to buy this because I didn’t want to support the anti-Christian author, but several trusted friends recommended it and I knew my boys especially would love it, so I decided to find a used copy for our family. If your kids are sensitive, be warned that it does include the part of the story where Herod orders the baby boys of Bethlehem killed.)

19.

Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell (about the animals in the stable when Jesus was born)

20.

The Animals’ Christmas Eve by Gale Wiersum (a counting book about the animals in the stable)

21.

Who is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate (about the animals getting ready to welcome baby Jesus to their stable)

22.

Bethlehem Night by Julie Stiegemeyer (story of the night Christ was born, told in rhyme–good fit for Christmas Eve)

Other Family Favorites

23.

Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins (An old Russian story about a woman who meets the wise men on their way to visit the Christ child.)

24.

Mouskin’s Christmas Eve by Edna Miller (classic story about a mouse who finds his way into a house at Christmastime and finds peace in the shelter of a manger scene)

25.

Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson (also about a little mouse exploring a manger scene, but a more detailed story)

If you have school-age kids, check out 25 CHRISTmas Picture Books for Older Children. I hope your family finds some new favorites to enjoy this Christmas!

(NOTE: As I’ve discovered new books, I’ve replaced some of the titles in the original post. I’m keeping them around for when I want to wrap up books for more kids each day, but these are currently my 25 favorites for preschool-age children.)

Posted in Holidays

“Home-Management” in the Little Years–A Hopeless Battle?

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Deanna

It’s been a while since I’ve posted for Mentoring Monday, but I really do want to finish this book, despite the challenges life has thrown my way recently. So here I am, diving back in.

Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 16 (part 2)

I’m trying to decided whether I love this chapter or hate it. Organization has always been one of my strengths, (though I have never been able to tame the clutter-beast, and I’ve almost given up trying), but having four small children has definitely turned managing my home into one battle after another.

Right now, I feel like I’m barely able to stay afloat. I have 4 baskets of laundry that have been sitting in various parts of the house waiting to get put away for days. (The big boys have actually taken care of theirs; this is just for the little ones, my husband and me. So there’s one victory.)

My Bible lies open in the bathroom, but I’ve only managed to get through 2 chapters this month. I spend time in the Word each day in our family devotions and in preparing to teach in children’s ministry, but my personal reading habit has fallen apart.

Our dining room table is covered with a board game that’s been in progress for days as well as stacks of books and stuff for a home improvement project I started but then abandoned when I hit a roadblock.

Sometimes it feels like my life is never going to be back in order. So when I read this passage on page 306, I probably should have felt encouraged, but one sentence reached out, grabbed me, and wouldn’t let go:

Life will always be unpredictable–your schedule will fall apart, homeschooling will occasionally grind to a halt, and the house will at times seem like someone detonated a megaton stuff-bomb inside your walls. If that puts your heart in conflict with the Lord, then no amount of organization, planning, or scheduling is going to make you the godly homeschooling mother that you envisioned becoming. If, though, you are trusting God and depending upon his grace, you can still be the mother you want to be, which includes managing your family and your home. If you are regularly seeking God, strengthening your faith in the Word, letting the Spirit control your attitude, and being as faithful as you know how to be, then you can be assured you are fulfilling your role as a mother and as a family manager. God is not asking any more of you than your faith and your faithfulness. (emphasis mine)

As I said, I suppose that as a whole this paragraph should be encouraging, but that sentence I put in bold is what killed it for me. It seems like such an impossible ideal. If only I could be doing all those things! If those are the bare minimums and I’m not even managing that, how on earth can I hope to every win this war against the chaos that threatens to overwhelm our home?

I keep telling myself to give it another 5 years (!) and it will no longer be quite such an impossible task. When I have an 11-year old, a 10-year old, an 8-year old, and a 6 year-old, even if we have more young children, things will be so different. In the last year my two oldest have become so capable of helping with a lot of things, and I feel like surely we must be on the rebound from the hardest point, when all we had were just lots of little ones.

Right? (Don’t tell me if I’m not.)

I look around at our very “lived-in” home and cling to the hope that I won’t always be tripping over blocks as I stumble across the house for the 4th time in the middle of the night to help who ever needs me (for bathroom trips, refilled water cups, or sick buckets, which all seem to be needed on a fairly regular basis, all in between feedings from the 1-year old who just can’t seem to sleep through the night without nursing at least once). I won’t always have to do a quick scan of the house so I can grab the toilet-training toddler’s underwear off the kitchen floor when I realize our extended family has stopped by. I won’t always be clinging to every last minute of nap time so I can have a moment to myself (which I rarely spend cleaning).

I want to be “regularly seeking God, strengthening [my] faith in the Word, letting the Spirit control [my] attitude, and being as faithful as [I] know how to be.” I really do. But in this season of life, that doesn’t look at all like I think it should. Like I want it to.

Thank you, Lord, for your grace.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.” I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Our Vision, Parenting Resources

The Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall (Book Review)

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Deanna

https://christianshelfesteem.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/null_9683.jpg

I recently was given chance to review The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving by Dandi Daley Mackall, and since our youngest son shares his name, I jumped at the chance to teach my children a little about the Nicholas of many years ago. I was pleasantly surprised at this sweet, simple story about the man whose legacy has become so entwined with modern celebrations of Christmas.

The book begins with a boy named Nick who is reluctantly taken shopping to find gifts for his brothers (though he’s hoping to have enough money to buy something for himself as well). While he’s shopping, he overhears the store Santa telling some children the story of St. Nicholas, who found great joy in using his wealth to give gifts to others. Before Nick goes home, he not only buys presents for his brothers but also uses the remainder of his money to buy toys for poor children.

It’s a sweet story, and there were many things I liked about it. Most of the details about St. Nicholas are based on traditional stories passed down about him (like his travels, the wealth he inherited from his parents, and his gift of dowries for three sisters who could not afford to get married). I loved the way Nicholas turned to God for guidance in a way that was very natural and not at all contrived.

That night, Nicholas talked things over with God. “Father, could this be the work you have for me?” As if in answer, the church bells rang. Nicholas remembered what his mother had said about the wise kings bringing gifts to baby Jesus. He thought of what his father said about Jesus being the greatest gift. What better time to give gifts than on Jesus’ birthday!

The illustrations by Richard Cowdrey are beautiful, but I was a little puzzled by the choice to make the pictures from St. Nicholas’ life look like they were set in the 1800’s. The scene with a fancy horse-drawn carriage and his father in a top hat looked like it belonged in a story set in the time of Charles Dickens rather than St. Nicholas, who lived about 300 years after Christ. Aside from this anachronism, however, I thought the illustrations added to the charm of the book. I especially liked the pages at the end when the story transitions back the the present, and you flip from a picture of Nicholas to one of Nick with an identical expression, capturing how the vision of giving had been passed on.

He could imagine how good it must have felt to secretly give his friends what they had wanted most. Nick had almost forgotten why people gave presents at Christmas. He wanted to feel that same joy of giving.

I thought this book did a great job of teaching an important lesson without sounding preachy. My children mostly enjoyed it because it was about two boys who shared a name with their little brother, but I am glad to have it as a part of our Christmas library to remind them of the joy that comes from focusing on giving gifts rather than receiving them.

BookLook disclaimer

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 14 (2014-15)

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Deanna

As I look back at this week I realize that what we didn’t do is almost as significant to me as what we did do, so I’m reflecting a little on some of the adjustments I’m going to be making to our curriculum/schedule.

Bible

This week I tried to get back into Bible Road Trip: Year Three (we’re on Mark), but I found myself dragging my feet and had to take a look at what was going on. I decided that it’s just not a great fit for us right now. There is so much that I love about this curriculum, but I think we’ll get a lot more out of it in a few years. We’ve been been trying the Lower Grammar lessons, but they’re still just a bit too advanced for Ian, and I’d rather use the preschool/Kindergarten level as part of a multi-age family Bible program than a stand alone curriculum.

I have a couple ideas for what we’ll do for our morning Bible times, but things may be hit and miss for a while, especially with the holidays coming up. We’re still going through Old Story New by Marty Machowski as a family in the evenings (this week we were on Week 7, which talks about the wedding feast at Cana and Jesus turning water into wine), so I’m trying not to feel like I’m neglecting anyone’s spiritual education too much.

(We also set aside Prudence and the Millers when vacation, sickness, and baby woes disrupted our schedule. We’re pretty close to the end, so I want to get back to that as well.)

Math

We had a field trip on Monday, but I really didn’t want to get behind in math, so we plowed through lessons 51-55 (Mathematics Enhancement Programme (Year 2) and just didn’t do any sort of extras. Ian seems to be catching on a little more, though he still gets confused sometimes when we’re adding double digit numbers. I’m not worried, however. He’s really close to getting it, and I think MEP’s spiral approach will do exactly what it’s designed to do. In a few months, I’m confident he will have a solid, lasting understanding of everything we’re working on now.

Literature/Ambleside Online

We finally got completely caught up with our reading from Ambleside Online, Year 1. (Yay!) When we read in Our Island Story about Hengist and Horst cutting a leather thong so long it encircled a large piece of land, Ian enjoyed cutting a paper in a spiral and seeing how the thinner we made the strip, the longer it ended up being.

History Cycle

We didn’t do anything in our history cycle besides reading chapters 9-12 in Our Little Athenian Cousin of Long Ago by Julia Darrow Cowles.

Science

Ever since he was very small, Ian has had a fascination with all things related to the human body, so I’ve been looking forward to the science I scheduled for this term. This week we started The Human Body, our second of the three books in God’s Design for Life.

We read through lessons 1-3 and did a couple of the suggested activities for Ian’s notebook. For lesson 1 Ian drew a self-portrait as he looked at his face in the mirror. I love the details he noticed (like freckles, various parts of his eyes, and his uvula). We read Psalm 138:13-18, and I pray that as we study the body this term, he will gain a new understanding that he really is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

The activity for Lesson 2 involved creating a “Body Wheel” that describes the various systems of the body. Most of the terms don’t mean much to Ian yet, but we read through all the descriptions just to start building familiarity.

For lesson 3 on cells, I decided to skip the suggested worksheet. Instead Ian enjoyed examining several new slides on our microscope. We also watched Bill Nye the Science Guy: Cells and went through pages 16-17 in The Usborne Human Body Sticker Book. Ian really likes sticker books and carefully put all the stickers in the correct places after I had read the pages to him.

Extras

The highlight of our week was definitely our field trip to Legoland on Monday. In addition to having fun on the rides and admiring the amazing Lego brick creations throughout the park, both boys really enjoyed the class we attended (Simple Machines 1). They worked through a book building specific models and then had a chance to use what they learned to create their own “ride.” I was impressed by the class and really glad we took the time to attend in the midst of a day of fun.

Upcoming Reviews

Our Schoolhouse Review Crew season is wrapping up, so while I may do a few book reviews over the next few months, that will be about it.

Posted in Ambleside Online

Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls DVD (Crew Review)

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Deanna

Imagine facing execution for teaching your children how to say the Lord’s prayer in the language you speak at home. As I watched Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls from New Liberty Videos, I learned that back in the Dark Ages, mothers faced this very threat. Though many Christians today have multiple Bibles on their shelves, we sometimes forget that most people who have followed God over the ages have not been so fortunate. The Scriptures are a treasure with a fascinating history, and this DVD offers viewers a glimpse at the Bible’s intriguing past.

What is it?

Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls ($19.95) contains video footage from 3 lectures. Contrary to what the title indicates, only the first segment is actually about the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, all three are about different topics related to the Bible, its history, and how it came to be passed on to us over the past few thousand years. Each segment is only about 20 minutes long, so while none of them go into great depth about their topics, they do provide enticing introductions that leave the viewer wanting to learn more. The format is simple, without flashy graphics, but the information is fascinating enough all on its own.

This DVD would be most interesting to teenagers and adults, so I didn’t watch it with my children (though they did sit with me as I watched the final segment and appeared to be paying attention). I watched each of the three segments separately since they are all on different topics.

1. Dead Sea Scrolls

In the first segment, Joel Lampe teaches all about the scrolls found at Qumran: the contents, the materials used in creating them, the languages used, as well as a bit about the geography and history of the region. Did you know that only about 25% of the writings found were from Scripture? The scrolls contained many other writings, but there were pieces found containing writing from every book of the Old Testament except Esther.

When I hear the word “scrolls,” I picture large pieces of parchment rolled up, but in actuality, the Dead Sea Scrolls consist of 19,000 pieces that scholars have had to carefully reassemble into scrolls. Lampe tells about the work that has been done on the scrolls since their discovery back in the late 1940’s. As technology has advanced, scholars have been able to learn more. For example, infrared technology has allowed them to study writing that was previously impossible to make out, and DNA technology has allowed them to match fragments of the same animal skin parchments rather than relying on visual clues alone to piece together this enormous puzzle.

2. Hebrew Word Pictures

The second segment on the DVD is lecture by Dr. Frank Seekins that provides a fascinating introduction to ancient Hebrew. He’ll have you reading several Hebrew words in minutes. Hebrew characters represent both sounds (like our alphabet) and pictures (like Chinese characters), so not only do they tell you how to pronounce the word, they also tell you about its meaning.

As he gets deeper into the meanings of the characters, he shows how truths of the gospel were foretold even in the creation of the Hebrew language long before Christ, as well as focusing on words that talk about the relationship between man and woman. Dr. Seekins is obviously passionate about what he studies, and anyone with an interest in learning about the Scriptures in the original language will finish this portion of the DVD hungry to learn more.

3. The Forbidden Book

The final lecture on Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls is about the history of the English Bible, taught by Dr. Craig Lampe. Starting back in the time of Constantine, Dr. Lampe traces the history of the Bible from the original Greek text. He tells of how the Bible was first translated into Latin, which eventually became the only legal language for the Bible, even when it was no longer spoken by most people. Through the work of men like Wycliffe, Erasmus, Luther, and Tyndale eventually the Scriptures were translated into other languages, allowing thousands to be blessed by the Word of God.

My Thoughts on Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls

I was eager to review this DVD because I love learning more about the Bible. The only thing that left me disappointed after watching it was that each segment was so short. I truly appreciated the passion each lecturer showed for his subject, and I felt that 20 minutes from each really only scratched the surface. I look forward to seeking out further resources to explore the topics further.

New Liberty Videos has many interesting titles available, and other members of the Crew got a chance to review different DVDs, so be sure to visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to find out about those!

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Middlebury Interactive Languages (Crew Review)

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Deanna

As someone who’s never managed to master a second language, I am always eager to try out new tools to help my children achieve what I have not. I think all children are fascinated by the idea of being able to communicate in a new language, and so mine were as excited as I was by the chance to review the first semester of Elementary Spanish 1: Grades K-2 from Middlebury Interactive Languages.

What is it?

Middlebury Interactive Languages offers online courses for students in Kindergarten all the way through high school in Spanish, French, German, and Chinese. Here are the courses they offer at each level:

The courses are semester-based, with the amount of lessons in each depending on the grade level. You can work at your own pace (as we did), or there is also an option to have the student work with a teacher state-certified teacher fluent in the language, which gives a set schedule. The teacher option is necessary if the student wants to receive credit for the course. (Middlebury Interactive is accredited as a virtual course provider.) The cost of each course is $119/semester without a teacher (add an additional $175 for a teacher, making the course $294 total) per student.

Ian has been working in the first semester of Spanish for grades K-2, which has 35 lessons grouped into 6 units:

Greetings
Numbers
Family
Colors
School
Review

Every unit (besides the review) consists of 6 lessons that contain multiple activities. Although directions are given in English, the rest of the lessons are almost entirely in Spanish. They use traditional stories and songs from Spanish-speaking countries to provide context for the vocabulary used in that unit, with various activities to allow students to practice what they are learning. Each lesson includes at least one opportunity for the student to practice speaking, so a microphone is necessary in order to complete these activities. (The built-in microphone in my laptop worked perfectly without me having to do anything to set it up.)

How We Used It

I used this primarily with Ian (6), but because we have my computer hooked up to our television, my little ones were able to enjoy the program as well. They mostly just watched Ian work through the different activities in each lesson, saying the phrases along with him. Occasionally Elijah (4) wanted to do a lesson too, so I would just show him how to go back through the activities Ian had already completed (which were now gray on the sidebar), but each student really needs their own account.

Ian was able to complete an entire lesson within 5-10 minutes. If we’d missed a lesson I occasionally had him do more than one in a day, but I found that it to be much more helpful to just have a little bit of exposure each day.

For the most part he was able to work independently. Each unit has a story to go with it, and the video is only in Spanish, so after Ian had watched it a few times I would pull up the translation and read through it with him to make sure he understood as much as possible, but that was really the only time I got involved.

What We Liked

The independence was one of my favorite things about the course. After a bit of initial instruction (which the program did a great job taking us through), Ian found it very easy to work through the lessons on his own. Since my own Spanish is limited, I need a program like Middlebury to expose my children to more of the language than I can share with them.

I was also very grateful for the scripts and translations available for each story. Although usually the pictures were enough to follow along, on the first story there was one part we just didn’t understand until I pulled up the English translation.

Ian didn’t dislike any of the activities, but the recording feature was probably his favorite part because he just loved hearing his voice as he played it back. I also really liked this feature it because I felt like it addressed the biggest difficulty I have had myself in learning new languages: moving beyond reading the words in my head and actually training my mouth to say them.

What Could Have Been Better for Our Family

We really enjoyed Middlebury Interactive Languages and I really don’t have any major complaints. There were a few minor things that I would have changed for our family:

I would have preferred to have the next activity load automatically once one was completed (though neither of my boys had any trouble just clicking their way through).
I understand that each lesson is focusing on key phrases, but I found it frustrating when it said, “Click on the ocelot to see what he said,” and then it only gave us a translation for the key phrase. I would have liked a complete translation with a way of focusing on the specific vocabulary being learned.
The calendar has the lessons scheduled one per day 5 days a week (even though Middlebury recommends only using it twice a week in K-2). Although we were still able to work on lessons whenever we wanted, I would have appreciated a way to schedule them for Ian according to the pace I had set for him (following their recommendation) rather then just having to tell him to ignore the calendar.

My Overall Impression

I really liked the way Middlebury Interactive Languages lessons were taught. While some of the material was review for Ian, it was presented differently than he has done it before, and there was still plenty for him to learn. I would recommend the program to anyone looking for a way to immerse their children in a foreign language.

That said, as the mom of a large family, I am more inclined to select resources that I can use with multiple students. Without some sort of family subscription I am unlikely to use the program beyond this semester, even though we all really enjoyed the lessons. If such an option were offered, we would enthusiastically return for more semesters with Middlebury Interactive Languages.

Connect with Middlebury Interactive Languages on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Middlebury-Interactive-Languages/141015515949753
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MiddInteractive
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/middinteractive/
Google +: https://plus.google.com/b/110371351490550861545/110371351490550861545/posts

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 13 (2014-15)

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Deanna

The emotional and physical toll of my miscarriage affected our whole week, especially when it came to school. We limped through and did manage to do something every day, but never even touched on our Bible lessons outside of family devotions in the evening. (What? Whatever happened to Bible first? What sort of priorities does that show? Believe me, I needed a lot of grace for myself.) The week flew by quickly, however, and here’s what we did.

Math

Math is the one subject I tend to stress about getting behind in, mostly because we started Year 2 of the Mathematics Enhancement Programme a few weeks after all our other subjects for first grade. Last year I had taken some time off from Year 1 when Ian was struggling, which meant we ended working on it all the way through our summer break and then into the first few weeks of this year. I’d really like to finish up Year 2 when we finish the rest of our school year, but that means we don’t have a lot of wiggle room.

This week Ian got through lessons 46-50. As I’ve said in the past few weeks, he’s starting to get frustrated by some of the concepts we’re working on, primarily adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers. To help him visualize the numbers he’s working with I tried having him use math blocks this week. It was really helpful for adding 10’s and 1’s, and I think we’ll keep using these until he’s better able to keep the place values straight in his mind.

Literature/Ambleside Online

We started term two of Ambleside Online, Year 1, which meant new poetry selections. This term we’re reading the poems of A. A. Milne. We started through When We Were Very Young this week, and if we have time in the next few months we’ll move onto Now We Are Six. (If we don’t get through both books during this term, I think I’ll save it for summertime because I don’t want to rush through these delightful poems.) I’ve owned copies of these books since my childhood, but I’ve only ever read a few scattered poems over the years. I really enjoyed getting into them this week, and they’re especially fun for my boys because the poems occasionally mention Christopher Robin.

History Cycle

This week for our study of ancient Greece we continued to read through Our Little Athenian Cousin of Long Ago by Julia Darrow Cowles. One day while I read, Ian worked through the drawing instructions for the Parthenon from Draw and Write Through History: Greece and Rome and added that to his history notebook.

Science

We finished up The World of Animals this week, reading about microscopic creatures like protists and bacteria, (which aren’t really considered animals, but neither are they plants, so this was as good a time as any to talk about them). It was a great week for getting out our microscope to look at both prepared slides and homemade ones with water from the stream at our local park.

Ian made a picture of a paramecium for his science notebook (although my fuzzy brain couldn’t remember where I had put my yarn, so he just drew the cilia rather than cutting little pieces of yarn as the book suggested).

Extras

This was our last week reviewing Middlebury Interactive Languages (Spanish K-2), so Ian completed a few more lessons. He has really enjoyed this program, so I intend to finish the rest of the units in the semester he’s working on before we go back to our Salsa lessons for Spanish.

We took school pictures one morning this week, and since that spoiled our regular schedule for the day I decided to take the kids to our local Children’s Museum. They’ve been begging to go back, and everyone enjoyed the current exhibit on space (as well as all our other favorite permanent exhibits).

Upcoming Reviews

We’re currently getting familiar with the following products. Watch for reviews soon!

Middlebury Interactive Languages (Spanish K-2)
Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls from New Liberty Videos
The Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall

Posted in Ambleside Online

Light in the Darkness of Miscarriage

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Deanna

Last week felt like the longest of my life. It started with the joy of a positive pregnancy test and the delightful anticipation of everything symbolized by that little pink line. I celebrated with my husband and our children, rejoicing over the new little life that was joining our family. My older boys started mentally trying to figure out exactly how long they’d have to wait to hold the new baby in their arms.

Then subsequent pregnancy tests showed a line that faded away to nothing, and by the end of the week, I had miscarried. Our sweet little bud was gone without ever having a chance to bloom. All the joy I had felt a few days before was washed away in a tsunami of grief that caught me completely off guard. Our culture tries to convince us that it’s not really a child dying when a pregnancy ends in such an early stage, but my mother’s heart just couldn’t accept that. So I let the tears flow, I mourned the loss of a precious baby I would never hold in my arms, and I looked for light in the darkness.

I know everyone mourns differently, but in case someone stumbles upon this post while facing a similar situation, I wanted to share a few of the things that helped me through those first few days of grief.

Leaning on family and friends

The night my miscarriage began, I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop crying. Finally I got up and emailed a few friends, telling them what had happened and asking them to pray for me. Even though I knew it would be hours before they read the message, I felt their support, and it was as though they were now helping carry my burden and letting me get the rest I needed.

When morning came, that support was felt in more practical ways. Someone brought us dinner that first night, and several others offered to do the same if we needed it in the days to come. My parents took our older boys to spend the night with them. Friends prayed for me across great distances and while giving me hugs at church on Sunday morning.

I think the most meaningful thing friends offered, however, was love for our baby. I had several friends who told me they loved our little one, and for me that was the most supportive thing I could hear. This wasn’t just some medical event; it was the death of our child. Knowing that other people loved that child too meant we didn’t have to carry the burden of mourning alone.

I hadn’t really announced my pregnancy yet, but only because we’d just found out about it a few days before. I’m sure we would have started telling people soon, and part of the reason I’ve always announced my pregnancies right away rather than waiting until after the first trimester is because I knew if we ever did lose a baby that I would need the support of those around me. I can’t imagine going through that pain alone.

Looking to those who have been there

I was so thankful for the support of all my friends, but knowing that several of them had experienced the loss of a child (either before or after birth) gave me strength. I’d seen many of them walk through their own grief, and knowing that God had brought them through it helped me trust that there was a way out of the darkness. I was so thankful to be able to share feelings of grief with others who were familiar with it, even though I know it makes no sense to many in our society who have believed the lie that somehow this little life was less precious than others that have had time to fully bloom.

As my little ones napped one day, I put on the episode of 19 Kids and Counting when the Duggars learned that their 20th child had died in the middle of the pregnancy. I watched and wept and let Michelle Duggar’s letter to Jubilee express some of the feelings I had trouble putting into words. Watching the Duggar family grieve helped me feel less alone as I worked through the jumble of emotions inside me.

Trusting in the Giver of Life

My true peace, however, comes not in the process of grieving but in the hope I have through faith in Jesus Christ. One night Eric pulled out a CD from Family Strategies on “How to Talk About Miscarriage.” I found it so encouraging. Rather than focusing on everything we’ll miss in not watching this child grow up, I found myself feeling blessed by the chance to play even a small role in ushering a new soul into eternity.

We’ve said that we’re willing to receive any blessing God chooses to give us, but we know they are not ours to cling to. Our children are really the Lord’s, and who am I to say where the best place is for this precious soul to dwell? I am thankful to have caught a glimpse of that quick flicker of life, and I look forward to someday rejoicing in heaven when I meet my child at last.

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job 1:21.

Posted in Personal

iWitness Books from Apologia (Crew Review)

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Deanna

I’m always on the lookout for kid-friendly resources to help my children learn about the Bible, so I jumped at the chance to review three books by Doug Powell from Apologia Educational Ministries: Old Testament iWitness, New Testament iWitness, and iWitness Biblical Archeology. These books are unlike any others I’ve come across, and it was a delight to get the chance to explore them.

About the books

What makes these 9″x6″ softcover books so unique is the way the information is presented on each page. Rather than separating the text and illustrations, Powell (an award-winning graphic designer with a Master’s degree in Christian Apologetics) has created beautiful full-color pages that integrate the text, making it appear as handwritten notes on separate scraps of paper, parchment, or the pages of books that are part of the pictures.

This creative presentation makes these books easily accessible for older children (reading level is about age 11 and up) while still being “meaty” enough for adults wanting to learn more about how the Bible as we know it came to exist. I have always had a fascination with the canon of Scripture and the history of the Bible, but in spite of all I’ve previously read on the subject, there was still plenty of information in these books that was new to me.

Each book sells for $14.00. Here’s a quick look at what they cover:

Old Testament iWitness

Old Testament iWitness tells the story of the Hebrew Scriptures:

the history of each book
the meticulous process the Jewish scribes used when making copies, ensuring that the original text was passed down over the centuries without change
comparison of the “Hebrew Bible” with the Old Testament used by Christians
what makes these books “inspired” and why are they included in the canon
the Old Testament in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Powell also discusses the writings of the inter-testamental period (between the last books to be written within the Old Testament canon and the books of the New Testament).

New Testament iWitness

New Testament iWitness is just as thorough in its coverage of the New Testament books. Much has been written in recent years about “other gospels” and early writings that are not included in the canon of Scripture. Powell goes back to when the individual books of the New Testament were written and discusses how they were used by the church in the first few centuries after Christ.

lists drawn up by historical church councils
criteria used by early Christians to determine canonicity
use in the writings of early church fathers
rejected books not included in the canon
how the New Testament books were copied over the ages
information about various manuscript types and how scholars study them

The book provides a fascinating look at how we have been given the New Testament as we know it today.

iWitness Biblical Archaeology

iWitness Biblical Archeology goes through the chronology of biblical history, discussing archeological evidence that relates to biblical figures, places, and events.

inscriptions about flood stories from various ancient civilizations
claims about finding Noah’s Ark
descriptions of Old Testament battles
copies of biblical manuscripts
artifacts from Jesus’ time
discussion about the Shroud of Turin

Powell covers all sorts of finds that would be of interest to anyone curious about archeology and how it relates to the Bible.

How We Used It

Ian and I started with Old Testament iWitness (although there’s no need to read them in any particular order). I read aloud to him during our morning Bible time and we worked through several pages each day (as long as his attention span allowed). Some of it was beyond his understanding, but at the same time I think it was a good introduction to learning about the canon of the Old Testament. He may not remember the terms “Septuagint” or “Apocrypha” next week, but now that he’s been exposed, I think he’ll notice them more the next time he hears the words. He already knew the books of the Old Testament, so he was able to understand the comparisons with the Hebrew Bible pretty well. We haven’t covered the inter-testamental period in history yet (though we discussed it a bit in our Bible lessons when we moved from the OT to the NT), so that part was new to him.

For this review I was expected to read through these books with Ian, and while that was my original intent, I wasn’t able to get through all of them with him. There was just too much information packed into these three books for me to get through with a 1st grader in 6 weeks. Once I realized we weren’t going to get through all three books together I decided to skip New Testament iWitness with Ian and just cover what we could out of iWitness Biblical Archeology.

I found iWitness Biblical Archeology to be a wonderful complement to our study of ancient history. He found the information about the epic of Gilgamesh interesting because we covered it in history earlier this year, and we’ve learned a lot about Egyptian chronology as a family so he was able to understand that as well. I will definitely be pulling this book out the next time our history cycle covers the biblical period. It is full of evidence for the truth of scripture and helps show children tangible evidence for what they read in the Bible.

Because I didn’t have time to read New Testament iWitness with Ian during our review period, I read through it on my own. I found it to be a faith-building study on the history of the New Testament. Powell does an excellent job of explaining why certain books are included and others are not. I especially appreciate his explanation of manuscript families and textual criticism, topics of great importance to me in considering which translation(s) to use with our family. I look forward to using it with Ian (and my other children) in the future.

My Overall Impression

Overall, I’d say at least half of the material was over Ian’s head as a 6-year old. The visual format kept his interest fairly well as I read out loud, but I know there was a lot he didn’t understand. However, that in no way detracts from my enthusiasm for these books. They may not be a great fit for first grade, but I know we will turn to them over and over again in the years to come.

Connect with Apologia on Social Media

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/apologiaworld
Twitter – https://twitter.com/apologiaworld
Google+ – https://plus.google.com/105053356034237782125/posts
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/apologia/

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 12 (2014-15)

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Deanna

This week looked a bit different for us than previous weeks. In addition to some planned changes, we ended up having several family matters that needed my attention, so things were rather irregular. (In other words we watched a lot of videos and didn’t manage to do any notebooking.) Here’s what we did manage to spend time on this week:

Bible

Somehow I forgot to take out my lesson plans for Bible Road Trip before the week started, and then when life happened I never got around to it. We read a couple stories from Matthew in 365 Great Bible Stories at the beginning of the week, but then our only other morning Bible time was watching Built Upon the Rock (from Nest Entertainment’s Animated Stories from the New Testament).

Math

Ian got through lessons 41-45 of Mathematics Enhancement Programme (Year 2) this week, but it wasn’t as easy for him as the previous lessons have been. Adding whole tens went fine, but now that he’s adding double digits including 5’s he’s having to think a bit more, which I’ve noticed affects his entire attitude. When everything is easy, he flies through the lessons, but as soon as just one part starts feeling challenging, he gets frustrated and starts to shut down. He has trouble focusing even on the easy parts, and it takes a lot longer to get through math each day.

Literature/Ambleside Online

This week we finished our first term of Ambleside Online, Year 1! I’ve been drooling over the AO curriculum for years, so it feels really good to have finally accomplished some of it! We’ve enjoyed all the reading, though Ian definitely had some favorites. We didn’t quite finish all the poems in A Child’s Garden of Verses, but we’re going to put in back on the shelf and move onto next term’s poetry selection anyway.

History Cycle

History is where I made the biggest intentional changes to the way we’ve been doing school. Mystery of History and Story of the World both go through history using a series of separate stories, but I wanted to try a slightly different approach for a while. Rather than discussing specific episodes in history, I want to help Ian develop a sense of the era.

So this week we began our study of Ancient Greece by reading Our Little Athenian Cousin of Long Ago by Julia Darrow Cowles, a classic novel about two boys in Athens. (It’s part of the original e-book bundle from Yesterday’s Classics.) Ian enjoyed it, asking for me to read more each day when I’d reached the end of a chapter. We talked about the Parthenon, the statue of Athena, and a bit about Greek culture. It also introduced him to some of the characters in Greek mythology, and I plan to read a few myths to him once we finish (hopefully next week).

We also watched 2 Episodes of Drive Thru History: “Ancient History: Greece” and “Ancient History: Athens and Paul” (also available through the TBN Roku channel).

Science

For some reason when I wrote out our schedule of science lessons for the year I didn’t have us finishing up our first of the three books in God’s Design for Life until next week, even though this is officially the end of our first term. This week we read through lessons 29-31 in The World of Animals. Because of our circumstances this week we weren’t able to do any extra projects, but the kids did enjoy watching Wild Kratts Season 1, Episode 5 “Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy.”

Extras

Ian did several more lessons in Middlebury Interactive Languages, and I was really thankful that he was able to do them independently, because otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten to Spanish at all this week.

Upcoming Reviews

We’re currently getting familiar with the following products. Watch for reviews soon!

Old Testament iWitness, New Testament iWitness, and iWitness Biblical Archeology by Doug Powell (from Apologia)
Middlebury Interactive Languages (Spanish K-2)
Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls from New Liberty Videos
The Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall

Posted in Ambleside Online

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Books about Christmas Symbols

Books Based on Songs

Books About the First Christmas

Other Family Favorites

Bible

Math

Literature/Ambleside Online

History Cycle

Science

Extras

Upcoming Reviews

What is it?

1. Dead Sea Scrolls

2. Hebrew Word Pictures

3. The Forbidden Book

My Thoughts on Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls

What is it?

How We Used It

What We Liked

What Could Have Been Better for Our Family

My Overall Impression

Connect with Middlebury Interactive Languages on Social Media

Math

Literature/Ambleside Online

History Cycle

Science

Extras

Upcoming Reviews

Leaning on family and friends

Looking to those who have been there

Trusting in the Giver of Life

About the books

Old Testament iWitness

New Testament iWitness

iWitness Biblical Archaeology

How We Used It

My Overall Impression

Connect with Apologia on Social Media

Bible

Math

Literature/Ambleside Online

History Cycle

Science

Extras

Upcoming Reviews

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