Category: Bible

28 days of bible and missions

9/12/2014

For the next 28 days we'll be learning from two books for our bible and missions focus on our schooling. Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred A. Martin and Bible Lessons for Juniors The Early Church by Andrew VanderVeer.

Bible Lessons for Juniors was published in 1959 and is KJV based.   It is going through the book of Acts and just talks about the bible. The process is to read the chapter of Acts, and then to read through a simplified version of the chapter and at the end there are a series of questions, T/F questions and fill in the blank along with a couple "thinking" questions. Sometimes the thinking questions are too vague for my son, but other times we get some good discussion out of them.     The lesson includes a song to sing and memory verse as well.   We haven't been doing that portion.   I must say how surprising I find how helpful it is to read through a chapter and then immediately after read a paraphrase of the same chapter. One picks up things immediately that first time one missed.   My son is finding it helpful in the answering of questions afterwards.

Missionary Stories with the Millers.   Just as the title suggests, this is a book filled with missionary stories.   The first one we read showed how God can keep us from showing fear even in the midst of grave danger.   This story made my boy sit up and ask questions.   How does that work mom?   Why did those bad people want them to be scared?   How did they not be scared mom?    Why did not being scared keep them safe mom? Why???    It prompted an excellent discussion.

Both books have 28 chapters, and have so far proven to be good fits for us.   Not sure what we'll do when they are done but we'll pick up something off our shelves.

Review: Get to Know Mary

9/9/2014

I've read quite a few of these books, written by Nancy I Sanders, now with my son, he's nine and he thoroughly enjoys them, often asking me questions as we go through, though with this book he seemed to pay little attention to the pictures they get include.

In this book you get know a bit more about Mary, or at least what women in Mary's day would have been like. You get to follow her life as she learns she will get pregnant and bear the son of God. Her joys and struggles of being a parent in the time of Christ.

It's a good book and well worth reading with your children.

What does it include?

A timeline.
Eyewitness accounts.
Good vocabulary list
Maps.
Numerous full colour pictures.
Vignettes of Bible Heroes as well as questions/facts you might find interesting.

This book is a full-colour biography that does a good job at introducing children to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Through the book you will find plenty of Scripture references.

My son's Opinion

"Good book. I liked the pictures of the money."

Product Details.
Product: Get to Know Mary. softcover.
Author: Nancy I Sanders
Publisher: Zondervan
Pages: 110
Age Range: 8-10 years old, though children younger or older might well enjoy them.
Reviewed for: Booksneeze.com

Tabs Open In My Browser

4/26/2014

Solomon's Portico from Bible History.   I can't remember why I looked this up, but I thought it interesting reading. History is just fascinating. :)

Oxford Owl.    A homeschooling friend recommended this site to me.    Oxford Owl is an award-winning free website with 250 FREE tablet-friendly eBooks and activities to help you support children’s learning.

Someone also recommended Imagination Station to me.    Science Studio Is an exhibit space at Imagination Station where you can explore science on your own terms. At our activity bench you can make slime, build rockets or look at bugs under microscopes.

a free frog resource book. Do you have frog-loving kids? If so, this unit is for them! Below you’ll find lots of links, videos and activities that will guide you and your children on a fun learning adventure about frogs and toads.

then there is sprouting tadpoles history memory cards, these are for ancient history.

Deliberate mom talking about Kidoodle TV. I signed up for it but never got a chance to really use the free trial. Sometimes that's how life goes.

Lighthouse Classical Academy talking about some favourite math books. I thought some looked interesting and wanted to keep the tab handy.

Here's a rather large book list you might find interesting. I did. :)

This post on gamifying your homeschool intrigued me.

bible copy work pages.

Lego for upper elementary. I want to do lego chemistry with my homeschool group.

Jesus and Lazarus.    Science with bible. A good thing this.

10 neat science experiments. I'll be putting this on my science page as well. :)

Life of Christ series.    This month on Coffee for the Soul we are going to do something a little different. We would love for you to join us as we chronologically cover the main events of the Life of Christ as accounted in the Book of John. We would love to have you join us as we learn about who Christ is and what He did for us

This Chocolate Sauce lesson intrigued me. I think it's missing something, but haven't quite figured that out yet....

A Child’s Book Of Art: Free Printable Discussion Questions.   You can actually use many of the questions to discuss the artwork in whichever books you own. In fact, using these questions will help teach you how to talk about art with your child whether you are looking at books or walking through an art museum.

and last but not least
the Visual Periodic Table. :)

Review: Philippians in 28 Weeks

4/21/2014

Memorize a book of the bible? Could it even be possible? How would this work? Can we manage it? Wouldn't it be cool if we could? All these thoughts ran through my head as I considered signing up for this review. And I have to tell you, I am happy that I did. :)

Product Information:

Vendor: Home School Adventure Co.
Product: Philippians in 28 Weeks (ESV)
Age Range: For read aloud and discussion as a family: ages 9-11. For ages 12 and up, also great for family discussion and/or parental/teacher guidance. High schoolers can do this on their own.
Price:Available in KJV and ESV print $28.95 ebook $14.95 memory cards alone $9.95

Other products being reviewed by the TOS Crew:
Philosophy Adventure
Mere Christianity Journal
The Wise Woman with Literary Analysis Journal Questions

Mom.. what does it mean "to preach Christ from envy and rivalry"?
Mom.... when it says Selfish Ambition... what does that mean?

For those questions (and others like it) I heartily recommend doing this bible curriculum with your children. I LOVE the questions. And I didn't get those questions the first week that I read from Philippians... I got them in week three... when we'd read it enough he was starting to say words with me. And that is when the questions started to come. Mom.. what does it mean. Mom.. why? Mom.. what happened? Mom, I don't understand.

I DID NOT anticipate that.

I figured you hear something once, you don't understand, you ask then.
I didn't expect the slowness of the questions. So it surprised me and totally delighted me. :) But when the questions started, they continued...and so one eight year old boy has a better understanding of the first chapter of Philippians.

And I say the FIRST chapter of Philippians.
I have to admit, I could not keep up the pace of the program. And that's one of the nice things about this program. We could not keep up the pace of learning 5-6 verses a week so we slowed it way down. We could manage two-three. So we'd do the copy work. We'd say the verses together. We sometimes could get a rhyme/rhythm/tune going which makes it easier to say and remember. We'd think about the verses, and we were aided in that thinking with questions provided.

That worked for us and that's what I like. We have the challenge ahead of us of seeing if we can learn Philippians all the way through, but in the meantime we are gaining more familiarity with the book. This is a GOOD thing. :)

So just what is Philippians in 28 weeks all about you ask?   Well, it's a program (I received it as an e-book) whereby you set out to learn Philippians (the whole book) in 28 weeks.   They come with nifty little scriptures cards (I have to admit, I found the print of them too small and needed to rewrite them) so you can carry the verses with you to learn... though after I expanded the text I got this brain storm and downloaded an ESV bible onto my phone and VOILA, even my boy could find the verses easily AND I could make it into a font size I could read easily!   TADA! I was so happy I had that brainstorm.    So now we could do it in the car as well. :)   With it comes sheets for doing bible copywork as you write out each verse. Have to admit.. my son DISLIKED this intensely. Oh my... the first time he did it he had a minor meltdown so one verse a every other day.. that worked for us. :) Prevent melt-downs and continue to learn... that's what it is all about.

Check off sheets, memorization aids, a log to help you remember the steps of read, reflect, repeat, recite, and to read through the entire book of Philippians every day.   You also need to retain those verses by saying what you know before you start the new verses.   Once again, I have to say.. I didn't read through the entire book of Philippians every day. We caught a lingering cold, so doing that much reading simply wasn't going to happen (sorry... we're just getting over it and it was a long three weeks).   But we did read the first chapter over and over again... really helps with the retention to do so eh? :)   But all kinds of little things like that aid in the recall of Philippians and I can say we have a much better understanding of it now. :)

Would I recommend this course?   Yes.   EVEN THOUGH we didn't quite work this out the way I had intended (with Dad taking an active part in the reading and memorization) ... I had failed to take into account memory issues that have lingered since his stroke four years ago. My bad.. sometimes I get ahead of myself that I forget to think that aspect of things through. I do think that if you have older children say... 9 years old and up it might be easier for them to work on memorizing it on their own, but my eight year old gave it a game try with me.. we worked on learning Philippians together... and we did manage to get a good portion of the first chapter of Philippians memorized. (We surprised dad). :) AND I'm glad that we did do it more together as it gave me a chance to be surprised by my son's questions.

Guess what! If you want to try this program with your children... you can until May 15 for 10% less! Isn't that great? Go to Home School Adventure Co. and check it out. :)

Anyways, I have given you my experiences with using this scripture memory system, we on the TOS crew have been reviewing a number of different items for the Home School Adventure Co.

Philosophy Adventure
Mere Christianity Journal
Philippians in 28 Weeks
The Wise Woman with Literary Analysis Journal Questions

Go check them out by clicking the image below. :)

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Egglo Entertainment: A Review

3/11/2014

Do you struggle with Easter and Easter Eggs and bunnies and candy and Christ and the resurrection and how they all get mixed up together? This review, on behalf of Egglo Entertainment, might be just what you need. :)

Product Information.

I received:
Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs
The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book)
The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book audio download)
Egglo Treasures Scripture Scrolls
The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure Program Guide
Vendor: Egglo Entertainment
Age Range: This product can be adapted to work with any age, but is ideal for roughly ages 4-13.
Price:
*Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs ($11.99) (sale $9.99)
*The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure ($12.99) (sale $9.99)
*The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book audio download) ($2.99)
*Egglo Treasures Scripture Scrolls ($4.29)
*The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure Program Guide ($14.99)

It was with great excitement that my son tore (literally) open the package from Egglo Entertainment, he'd been waiting days for them to arrive. He was so disappointed when he learned he needed to charge up the eggs before they could be used. (what a let down that was for him). But once they were charged up! FUN FUN!

This is the box the eggs came in. The box is well made. It would hold up well for storage if NOT opened by an eager "I don't have to be careful" boy child. :) The box comes with instructions on how to charge the eggs (lay them in the sun for a couple of hours). The eggs come in a variety of pastel colours and all colours fit together so some eggs can be all yellow, or they can be randomized.

I allowed my son to simply have fun with the eggs over the course of a couple of weeks. We planned to have an early Easter egg hunt with a fellow homeschooling family. Allowing him to play with them makes sharing that much easier. :) I found these glowing eggs in different places...a favourite hiding spot seemed to be my bed! :) Don't they show up nicely in a dark room?

Then came the time for the Easter Party. The children were stoked. We took time to talk about the real meaning of Easter and how it's not just about knowing the facts, but letting our hearts and actions be changed by what Christ did.

I attempted to read through the book with the children, but it was simply too long for eager children to sit through. Both their mom and I decided that a video would go over much much better when working with excitable children.

Listening to The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book audio download) is good, the narrator has an easy listening voice. I was able to do this with my son at home, but not at the party as I didn't bring it. :)

I learned that I am not highly skilled at taking pictures of children looking for glowing eggs in the dark. (I really tried but well.... since I'm not posting any pictures you can guess how well they didn't turn out). :) I did get this rather silly picture of the very happy youngsters showing off their winnings. :) LOOK!!!! :)

Reading the scrolls was a fun part of it. I thought it good to listen to the children..
"What does yours say?"
"I like that one! It fits."
"I can't read this, can you help me?" Oh.. I KNOW THAT WORD! "MOM! Listen to what this says!"
Not what I expected at all. I thought they would be pretty ho-hum about opening the scrolls, but the scrolls were a hit.

My goal is to share this with the youth director at the church that my son goes to Kids Club at. I think doing this as a large group could be a whole lot of fun. :) Doing it with one child isn't as fun, doing it with a group of children is more fun, doing it as a planned party at Kids Club? That would be a total hoot, even my boy thinks so. :) Since it comes with a list of ways you can use it, it makes it really easy to implement as well. It contains ideas for snacks and games, comprehension questions, tips for telling the bible story, print-outs to decorate your church’s space and coloring sheets. As well as containing posters and invitations for having your own Egglo themed Easter program.

Issue of Concern:

A couple of the scrolls came apart.
The book is a long read when you have excitable younglings listening.
the eggs don't glow well unless you have them under the right light for charging (I found bright sunlight worked best). But this gave me the chance to reinforce to my son how we needed to exposed to the best light as well (Christ) if we are to work to our full potential as well.
Another reviewer commented and I think it's so true.... shape these, or create a new product, that is in a different shape for use throughout the year. Don't just limit it to Easter! :)
shipping to Canada is not noted on the website, but is possible by direct contact to make arrangements.

My Final Thoughts?
Would I recommend you get Egglo Entertainment products for your household and/or church?

Yes. It's a novel idea, that works hard at helping children truly understand what Easter is all about. Children are very much pointed to the cross of Christ and that is what counts.

Social Media Links For Egglo Entertainment:

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/eggloeggs/egglo-easter-egg-hunts-about-jesus/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EggloEggs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EggloEggs
Instagram: http://instagram.com/eggloeggs
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EggloEggs
Google +: https://plus.google.com/113761975581466698158

Please do go and check out what other reviewers thought of Eggo Entertainment. :) There's bound to be all kinds of interesting pictures and ideas. Just click on the banner below.

Today's actions

2/27/2014

the lad started off doing Reading Kingdom before we had breakfast.
We moved from there to learning about 1st, 2nd and 3rd class levers through Supercharged Science.

We then learned what Migdal-oz means how it relates to God.

From there we moved on to Science and History which coincided well with each other today as both talked about the Chinese inventing gunpowder. The reasons varied... from seeking the elixir of eternal life or trying to make gold.

then we headed out to take a walk in our blustery weather. :)

Upon arrival at home the lad sat down to work on his math, and then relaxed for an hour before we needed to head out to the store for a bit. Cheques to deposit and all. :)

It's been a cold, blustery day but overall a very good day. :)
My headache is diminished over what it has been for which I am very grateful.

Reading, Constellations and more

2/26/2014

Today we got off to a late start with our schooling. I've been dealing with a headache for the past 10 days... doc tells me it's a particular type of migraine that is hard to get rid of. :) It causes dizziness which means headaches, your head ache with makes you dizzy. In time it will leave. Makes it slower getting going though.

Anyways, we read from the warriors over breakfast. The lad was able to recall facts well from previous reading we had done. Then upstairs to work on the names of Christ study that we are doing. Today we learned about Yahweh Shamma (i may have spelled that wrong). The Lord is There. The authors connected it with Immanuel... God with us which I thought was rather cool.

From there we moved on to doing Story of the World where we learned about the Grand Canal in China. Saved China (as a whole nation), cost to Sui Dynasty their leadership (high taxes, increased poverty, death, poor working conditions). I think it's amazing what they did... despite the cost to the people involved. Five million people, six years, 1200 miles I think. All of China now connected. Amazing!

Then we read from our science book and were inspired to make our own Constellation viewer. This was rather fun to do. :) We fit Reading Kingdom into the mix as well.

The lad then worked on his math ... doing it through IXL since by this time I'm running on empty and just need to lay my head down for a spell. We had lunch.... I did the easy chips and cheese thing, the lad had some pizza. We finished the day with the lad doing his 20 minutes of reading. Today his book was "Wood Frog".

All in all a nap did me a world of good afterwards and the lad had fun just relaxing with Skyrim for a while (he's learning to read some of the options on his own as well). :)

Review: Knowing God By Name

2/11/2014

My son and I are using this book as part of our bible study time. I am quite pleased with how much he is enjoying this study. We haven't finished it quite yet, but we've finished it enough for me to be able to give a review on it.

Product Details
Received: ebook version
Authors - Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith and Mary Southerland
Type: Religious Devotional, meant for women

My son and I are using this study as a basis for learning more about the Names of God.   As I read each chapter, written by one of the three authors, my son either stencils or uses letter print outs to put the name on a piece of wood we plan to laminate and then hang in our hall way. We put both the original language and the translation down. We expect to draw dotted blue lines to connect them to each other.     My son is very much enjoying this study.

The outline of the book is each week five names are talked about, with one day given for reflection on the previous five days.   40 names are talked about in total.    Some of the words used are different to me than I expected, but the names are fully explained, biblical references are given, and a brief story is told about how the meaning of that name became real in the life of the author.

It's a good book.   My son and I are not doing the reflection page. We just talk about each name as we do it.   He's learning much, as am I.

Would I recommend getting this book?   Definitely!    It's a good read and not expensive.    It gives a good basis for continuing your own study should you so desire.

What would I change?    More actual references to where the name is used throughout scripture. A linking of the name to Christ's work as well where applicable.   But as a devotional, it's one of the better ones I've come across. :)   And that fact that my son enjoys going through the book with me... how could I complain about that? :)

I reviewed this book on behest of Blogging for Books. I received the book in exchange for my honest review. Nothing more was expected of me. :)

Ancient of Days and science

2/5/2014

That's what my boy is working on right now, writing out the aramic for "ancient of days". The lad is enjoying this study which surprises me... as it's just me reading stuff to him about different names of Christ. Yet he listens intently and asks questions which I think is cool. :)

We received a review item in the mail yesterday. Amazing Science, we watched two episodes today and did one experiment.

The lad was suitably impressed as he learned about surface tension. :)

We did some book work and reading and we had a good day of homeschooling. It was good to get somethings done. :)

Devotional Time: Luke 9

1/8/2014

So I get a daily email from BibleStudyTools.

This mornings reading was from Luke 9:1-27; Genesis 15; Psalm 8

I've read from Luke 9 a lot throughout my life. I grew up in a Christian home and despite a difficult young adulthood, have remained true to the faith I was raised with. So when I read it this morning it was reminding myself of things I already knew until I came to this verses.

7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed, because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 But Herod said, "I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?" And he tried to see him.

click image to go source Online MInistries

I don't know why that grabbed my attention.
Possibly because in my email it had the title "Herod is perplexed by Jesus" and I never had that stick out before in any reading I had done before of this passage.

But it made me stop and think. Herod.. the man who tried to have Jesus killed a baby is perplexed by the excitement that Jesus is raising among the people. Some people thinking that Jesus was John ... and I can just see Herod going...but I had John beheaded, what are these people thinking?   And he's so intrigued that he tries to see Jesus Christ.   I don't know if he was successful, I'm presuming not.

Herod wanted to see Christ.

This shouldn't surprise me as much as it did.   We as believers are called to show Christ to the world. Christ came for everyone... even Herod.    And here I am, finding myself surprised, learning the Jesus was interesting enough for Herod to take notice of him in (what seems to me) a positive way. He's curious, interested, perplexed and wants to know more.

Isn't that how we should all be though?   Curious, interested and perplexed, wanting to know more about Christ?   Shouldn't we be inspiring those same thoughts in the those around us?

I am getting better at being open about my faith...it's been slow coming, I wasn't raised to be real open about what I believe, but I am getting better. God has been so gracious to me at showing me that talking about him isn't a scary deal and people aren't rejecting me if they aren't interested in Christ.    Reading these words, for some reason gives me more hope.   If Herod (a leader, not inclined toward the things of God) can be curious, interested and perplexed by Jesus, perhaps I can encourage others to be as well. :)

What do you think???     Who can you encourage to be curious, interested and/or perplexed by God and his son Jesus today?