A Look Back: Our Early Years of Homeschool Curriculum
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A look back at the early years of our homeschool curriculum.
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Homeschool High School Curriculum Choices
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Usually, I would have already rung the bell for the start of the new school year. With this being our last year, my sweet boy asked if he could wait a little longer to start. How could I deny a little more time for summer ramblings to the one who will be graduating next spring? It’s hard to think about my “little” boy about to enter adulthood, but he is and I am happy for him. I’m excited about some of the courses my son will be taking this year because they show him as growing into a fine young man.
Last year, we enjoyed just reading through the Old Testament and reading books by different preachers. We’ll be doing the same thing this year while reading through the New Testament.
Business Math is our study this year. While we’ve spent the last three years focusing on higher maths, it’s time to focus on real world math that is used in everyday life. I looked at several publishers comparing them with ACE and I’m still wondering why it's not called Consumer Math.
We will be working on English Composition from Saylor Academy. (We had a good experience last
it’s called business instead of consumer math. English year with their Astronomy.) Their Pre College English course teaches a great deal of note taking, so we’ll be hitting those sections up.
We didn’t get to Economics last year because I made the decision to pull from a very well known free
homeschool curriculum website for government. It was a huge mistake on my part because it didn’t turn out like I was hoping, so I had to buy the Government course from Abeka.
Discovery K12 Online Homeschool has this course. It’s free to sign up for an account and use their curriculum and has the lesson plans laid out for us. That’s a big plus for me.
As I mentioned earlier, my sweet boy is considering joining the Air Force. He’s thinking about the free college and hands on learning for airplane maintenance or possibly computers. He has a secret desire of rebuilding WWII era airplanes one day. What better way to fulfilling that dream than by joining the Air Force. I asked in a homeschool Facebook group about which book to buy. A wife to an airman recommended the ASVAB Premier 2017-2018 by Kaplan.
I'm sure you've noticed the free resources we'll be using. Now days, there are tons of free online resources for homeschoolers. Of all the years of home education, this will be our least expensive year even if I have to buy the Aerospace textbook.
You can see our previous curriculum choices HERE.
If you’re a homeschooling family do you have your curriculum chosen?
post contains affiliate links
Homeschool High School Curriculum Choices {Grade 12}
Bible
Last year, we enjoyed just reading through the Old Testament and reading books by different preachers. We’ll be doing the same thing this year while reading through the New Testament.
Math
Business Math is our study this year. While we’ve spent the last three years focusing on higher maths, it’s time to focus on real world math that is used in everyday life. I looked at several publishers comparing them with ACE and I’m still wondering why it's not called Consumer Math.
English
We will be working on English Composition from Saylor Academy. (We had a good experience last
it’s called business instead of consumer math. English year with their Astronomy.) Their Pre College English course teaches a great deal of note taking, so we’ll be hitting those sections up.
Science
My son loves the history of airplanes. In fact, he is considering joining the Air Force. Because of his love and future, he will be studying Aerospace. I was able to download the book for free because of the insisting of my student not wanting to deal with a big book. (I can always order the book later on if needed.)
Economics
We didn’t get to Economics last year because I made the decision to pull from a very well known free
homeschool curriculum website for government. It was a huge mistake on my part because it didn’t turn out like I was hoping, so I had to buy the Government course from Abeka.
Wilderness Survival
When Jamie went to survival camp several years ago and liked it, I knew I wanted to do something fun and exciting during his final year. A while back, I came across this website doing some research.
It uses the Boy Scouts Merit Badge Books. (You can download the pamphlet and workbook for the merit badges) For our needs, we’ll be using a few of the books along with what my husband has learned over the years. This is definitely a father and son course with momma joining in with a camera to record the experience.
HTML Coding
Discovery K12 Online Homeschool has this course. It’s free to sign up for an account and use their curriculum and has the lesson plans laid out for us. That’s a big plus for me.
ASVAB Prep
As I mentioned earlier, my sweet boy is considering joining the Air Force. He’s thinking about the free college and hands on learning for airplane maintenance or possibly computers. He has a secret desire of rebuilding WWII era airplanes one day. What better way to fulfilling that dream than by joining the Air Force. I asked in a homeschool Facebook group about which book to buy. A wife to an airman recommended the ASVAB Premier 2017-2018 by Kaplan.
I'm sure you've noticed the free resources we'll be using. Now days, there are tons of free online resources for homeschoolers. Of all the years of home education, this will be our least expensive year even if I have to buy the Aerospace textbook.
You can see our previous curriculum choices HERE.
If you’re a homeschooling family do you have your curriculum chosen?
Choosing a Creative Writing Curriculum
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When you have a reluctant writer, it’s hard to find encouragement and material to help them. Over the years, I’ve spent money on books that seemed to only cause more problems for my writer. I’ve even searched the internet for free story starters and watched videos of creative writing teachers hoping to bring about more confidence in my son. Nothing has worked for us until now; Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals.
Several years ago, I encouraged my son to write a Bible story we had finished studying. It was good, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to write it. After remembering what a fellow teacher (high school English) told me about writing, I backed off from being persuasive. Her advice was simple – Stop forcing him and focus on the grammar part of writing. You can’t have good results if the young person does not have a good grasp on the grammar side of things. Once they have the grammar down, helping them get their thoughts on paper is easy to teach. This is just what I did. I used several methods of teaching grammar so things would not be like beating a dead horse, getting old, and going nowhere.
For some, my writer would be behind in writing. But I disagree. While he might struggle with getting his thoughts on paper, when he does, his grammar is superb. While I would love for him to write and write, and write, he is not going to be that kind of writer. He is like me – don’t beat around the bush, say what I want and be done with it.
When I ordered the book Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals, I was a little skeptical because of past failures. But once I read through the lessons, I knew this was a book for us. Writing fictional stories based on stories found in the Bible was a wonderful idea. There is no teaching of rewriting the stories to take away the importance of each one. But to write and expand on what the Bible already shares adding nothing weird to the lesson of the story.
While there are only eight lessons in the book with either a one week per lesson or two weeks per lesson, we lengthened the time in working on a lesson. We’ve done this so we can do a thorough research on the different Bible verse portions with different versions so we can see a comparison.
Each lesson contains these parts:
Another thing I love are the questions asked in each section. What, Who, Where, When, How, Why during the researching part of the story. Each question asked causes the writer to think a little more deeply about what is going on.
In the Rough section, you’ll find the Outline section with conflict, exposition, incitation, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution and denouement. The descriptions of setting, characters, events and thoughts and reactions.
There are seven stories assigned and the last one is the writer’s choice:
Jesus casts the demons into the pigs, The Passover at the Temple, The Birth of Jesus, Noah, Joseph, The Feeding of the 5,000, and Jonah.
The guidance from Rand Hummel in In Their Sandals is just like the guidance he gives to young people every day. He truly has a heart to reach young people for the Lord and this book is evident of his love for them.
I love the help and encouragement my son has received from this book. The methods taught will definitely be used in our final year of our home education journey.
Positive Action for Christ even offers a free downloadable Teacher's Resource for Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals so you can get an idea of what is being taught in the book if you're a little skeptical like I was in the beginning.
In Their Sandals Student Manual
By Positive Action for Christ
How can studying the Bible help students to become better writers?
God's a master storyteller, and the Bible is the best story of all. This study challenges to students to dig into the Bible, read it, meditate on it, and experience it as if you were a character. Students will tackle creative writing exercises that help them learn to communicate clearly and concisely as they learn about how God has chosen to reveal Himself.
Students will:
120 pages, softcover.
Non-reproducible; consumable workbook.
Middle school and High School / Grades 6-12.
This post contains affiliate links.
Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals
Several years ago, I encouraged my son to write a Bible story we had finished studying. It was good, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to write it. After remembering what a fellow teacher (high school English) told me about writing, I backed off from being persuasive. Her advice was simple – Stop forcing him and focus on the grammar part of writing. You can’t have good results if the young person does not have a good grasp on the grammar side of things. Once they have the grammar down, helping them get their thoughts on paper is easy to teach. This is just what I did. I used several methods of teaching grammar so things would not be like beating a dead horse, getting old, and going nowhere.
For some, my writer would be behind in writing. But I disagree. While he might struggle with getting his thoughts on paper, when he does, his grammar is superb. While I would love for him to write and write, and write, he is not going to be that kind of writer. He is like me – don’t beat around the bush, say what I want and be done with it.
When I ordered the book Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals, I was a little skeptical because of past failures. But once I read through the lessons, I knew this was a book for us. Writing fictional stories based on stories found in the Bible was a wonderful idea. There is no teaching of rewriting the stories to take away the importance of each one. But to write and expand on what the Bible already shares adding nothing weird to the lesson of the story.
While there are only eight lessons in the book with either a one week per lesson or two weeks per lesson, we lengthened the time in working on a lesson. We’ve done this so we can do a thorough research on the different Bible verse portions with different versions so we can see a comparison.
Each lesson contains these parts:
- Research - read and research the story in the Bible
- Rough – roughing out the structure of the story
- Write – the first rough draft
- Apply – a short Bible study to help the writer to open their heart to the Bible
- Revise – the second and/or final draft of the story
- Tools of Grammar – little grammar reminders
Another thing I love are the questions asked in each section. What, Who, Where, When, How, Why during the researching part of the story. Each question asked causes the writer to think a little more deeply about what is going on.
In the Rough section, you’ll find the Outline section with conflict, exposition, incitation, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution and denouement. The descriptions of setting, characters, events and thoughts and reactions.
During the write section, there is a reminder, to pray and ask the Lord to help the writer while writing. As I mentioned the Apply section being a Bible study; I love this. What better way to learn what God has to say about a story the writer is already researching to write about.
There are seven stories assigned and the last one is the writer’s choice:
Jesus casts the demons into the pigs, The Passover at the Temple, The Birth of Jesus, Noah, Joseph, The Feeding of the 5,000, and Jonah.
The guidance from Rand Hummel in In Their Sandals is just like the guidance he gives to young people every day. He truly has a heart to reach young people for the Lord and this book is evident of his love for them.
I love the help and encouragement my son has received from this book. The methods taught will definitely be used in our final year of our home education journey.
Positive Action for Christ even offers a free downloadable Teacher's Resource for Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals so you can get an idea of what is being taught in the book if you're a little skeptical like I was in the beginning.
In Their Sandals Student Manual
By Positive Action for Christ
How can studying the Bible help students to become better writers?
God's a master storyteller, and the Bible is the best story of all. This study challenges to students to dig into the Bible, read it, meditate on it, and experience it as if you were a character. Students will tackle creative writing exercises that help them learn to communicate clearly and concisely as they learn about how God has chosen to reveal Himself.
Students will:
- Write eight stories based on events and characters from Scripture
- Read Scripture meditatively, with a mind to seek God's majesty in His Word, then share Him with others
- Research the historical and cultural context behind well-known Bible stories
- Approach writing systematically, with appropriate research, preparation, drafting, and revision
- Practice the disciplines of a good writer
- Build a basic literary vocabulary
- Understand the importance and use of certain grammar structures
120 pages, softcover.
Non-reproducible; consumable workbook.
Middle school and High School / Grades 6-12.
Homeschool High School Curriculum Choice {Grade 11}
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I let this year’s curriculum choice post sneak up on me. We started back to school in the middle of June after a six-week break and I’m glad to be back at it. This year is a little different for me because I didn’t have to spend very much on curriculum and we started back a little earlier than past years. It is planned for us to take off the whole month of December. It will be a month of playing catch up if needed because of our move.
This year we are doing something a little different. Along with our daily Bible reading, we will read books by some of our favorite pastors. Another thing we are doing is a creative writing course based on Bible stories. In Their Sandals by Rand Hummel combines writing and Bible study to encourage meditating on God and the Bible. My reluctant writer loves this book!
We're using Geometry by Teaching Textbooks . Since Jamie likes to work more than one lesson a day several days a week, we don’t start math until September.
This year we are focusing on composition. After several months of researching and reading reviews, I settled on Elements of Writing by James L. Kinneavy. I found an older pre-common core edition for you groaning, eye rolling mommas out there. We’ll be implementing Quizlet again for the ACT vocabulary again this year. Literature, I found the Grade Saver website. I purchased a month’s subscription and downloaded all the literature guides we will use this year and next. Jamie started the year with Of Mice and Men.
Jamie chose his science this year. He has always had a love for astronomy and after a year of Chemistry I agreed this year needs to be something he is interested in and loves. I dug around for several days and found a free Astronomy course in the legacy courses from Saylor Academy. This is a college level course, so if he doesn’t make it all the way through, the workload is more than enough for high school credit.
This is a required course here in Montana. I bought the textbook on Ebay, with shipping I paid less than $20 for the book. The book is an older edition from what Christian Light requires, but I’ve notated the differences. Jamie is doing well and he’s enjoying it. Since we’ll be moving soon, this course will help him with some of the changes we will make in our lives.
We are using Understanding the Constitution 10 Things Every Christian Should Know by David Gibbs. (I found a new older edition of the book and workbook on Ebay.)* I highly recommend the book for any American who cares about our constitutional rights. I’ve even learned a few things myself. We’re also using resources from American Heritage. For economics, we are using Economics Work & Prosperity from Abeka.
Jamie is planning on pursuing a degree in game design or game programming for college. For this type of degree, he needs to have a portfolio of what he has done. Living where we do with no access to any game designers/programmers or schools close by I had to search online. Garage Games has moved into creating a game development curriculum for schools. Homeschoolers can register for these also. I recently found this course so Jamie doesn’t have an opinion on the software yet.
This will be an elective. We will start out with the basics using Adobe Photoshop along with the hundreds of tutorials on YouTube. Once he has mastered the basics, we’ll be moving over to Photoshop Illustrator. I haven’t even mastered the basics, so he’ll probably teach me a thing or two about Photoshop.
We are using an online test prep from our library. I don’t want Jamie to find himself overwhelmed with so much work this year, so this is a two day a week study time.
That's it for our curriculum choice for the year. After Jamie spends enough time on the game design program, I'll let you know how he likes it and what he thinks.
If your a home education family, do you have our curriculum planned for the new year?
2016-2017 Curriculum Choice
This post contains affiliate links. You can read my disclosure.
Bible
This year we are doing something a little different. Along with our daily Bible reading, we will read books by some of our favorite pastors. Another thing we are doing is a creative writing course based on Bible stories. In Their Sandals by Rand Hummel combines writing and Bible study to encourage meditating on God and the Bible. My reluctant writer loves this book!
Math
We're using Geometry by Teaching Textbooks . Since Jamie likes to work more than one lesson a day several days a week, we don’t start math until September.
English
This year we are focusing on composition. After several months of researching and reading reviews, I settled on Elements of Writing by James L. Kinneavy. I found an older pre-common core edition for you groaning, eye rolling mommas out there. We’ll be implementing Quizlet again for the ACT vocabulary again this year. Literature, I found the Grade Saver website. I purchased a month’s subscription and downloaded all the literature guides we will use this year and next. Jamie started the year with Of Mice and Men.
Science
Jamie chose his science this year. He has always had a love for astronomy and after a year of Chemistry I agreed this year needs to be something he is interested in and loves. I dug around for several days and found a free Astronomy course in the legacy courses from Saylor Academy. This is a college level course, so if he doesn’t make it all the way through, the workload is more than enough for high school credit.
Agriculture
This is a required course here in Montana. I bought the textbook on Ebay, with shipping I paid less than $20 for the book. The book is an older edition from what Christian Light requires, but I’ve notated the differences. Jamie is doing well and he’s enjoying it. Since we’ll be moving soon, this course will help him with some of the changes we will make in our lives.
Government & Economics
We are using Understanding the Constitution 10 Things Every Christian Should Know by David Gibbs. (I found a new older edition of the book and workbook on Ebay.)* I highly recommend the book for any American who cares about our constitutional rights. I’ve even learned a few things myself. We’re also using resources from American Heritage. For economics, we are using Economics Work & Prosperity from Abeka.
Game Design
Jamie is planning on pursuing a degree in game design or game programming for college. For this type of degree, he needs to have a portfolio of what he has done. Living where we do with no access to any game designers/programmers or schools close by I had to search online. Garage Games has moved into creating a game development curriculum for schools. Homeschoolers can register for these also. I recently found this course so Jamie doesn’t have an opinion on the software yet.
Graphic Design
This will be an elective. We will start out with the basics using Adobe Photoshop along with the hundreds of tutorials on YouTube. Once he has mastered the basics, we’ll be moving over to Photoshop Illustrator. I haven’t even mastered the basics, so he’ll probably teach me a thing or two about Photoshop.
ACT Prep
We are using an online test prep from our library. I don’t want Jamie to find himself overwhelmed with so much work this year, so this is a two day a week study time.
That's it for our curriculum choice for the year. After Jamie spends enough time on the game design program, I'll let you know how he likes it and what he thinks.
If your a home education family, do you have our curriculum planned for the new year?
10th Grade Curriculum Choices
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This past month has flown by and we’ll be starting back to school in a few short weeks, July 6th to be exact. I wanted to start sooner, but I put off buying school books longer than I had planned. I finally got them ordered last Thursday. When we began this journey 11 years ago, I never thought I’d make it this far. It was our plans for me to return to teaching and Jamie to a high school, but the Lord’s plans were definitely different from what we wanted. I would not change a thing and I’m excited about our 10th Grade Curriculum Choices for 2015-2016.
When I made my High School Plans last year, I knew some of them would probably change, and they did. A couple of examples would be my son requested to not do sign language this year, but to go ahead and focus on German and he choose to not do Driver’s Ed but rather wait to get his learner’s permit at 16 and drive the required amount of hours and then take the driving test in 6 months. I think that was a wise choice on his part and honestly, my husband did not like the idea of solely turning his driving education over to someone else (which is required in MT).
BIBLE – we will be studying Baptist History as part of our Bible time this year. We are using The People Called Baptists by Michael Johnson as a spine along with The Collegiate Baptist History Workbook by James R. Beller. I have seen too many of my friends leave our belief because they did not know why we are Baptist and why we believe the way we do. I don’t Jamie to one day wonder and look elsewhere.
MATH – we will be working on Algebra 2 with Teaching Textbooks.
SCIENCE – This is hard for me this year because Dr. Jay Wile's Exploring Creation through Chemistry by Apologia was on the list. Since the book is no longer in print because of a newer revised edition not written by Wile, I have had problems tracking one down that is not used with a bunch of highlighting and writing in it. Although, Dr. Wile does have a new Chemistry book that is set to ship in August. Jamie's second choice was Advanced Biology - same problem. The third choice is Marine Biology. For this year, we'll be going with the Marine Biology and waiting another year for Chemistry. I’ll be ordering our lab kit 1 and lab kit 2 from Home Science Tools; they have never let me down on their kits and they have the cheapest prices around.
EDITED TO CHANGE:
SOCIAL STUDIES – United States History from Abeka is what we chose to do this year. We sent back our first choice because of some things we did not agree with that was included in the book. While Abeka has been around since the 70's and they are not as independent learning as I want, it is the company I always fall back on when a problem arises.
Language Arts – For Literature, we are using Lightning Literature again. We’ll be using the Early to Mid 19th Century American pack. We loved this curriculum last year and I’m expecting we’ll be just as happy this year. For Vocabulary, we went with Critical Thinking Word Roots 1B. We went with this book because Jamie and I both felt that the other program we used for many years became a “busy work” curriculum and he wasn’t getting anything from it. This year we are taking a break from an actual grammar curriculum and putting our focus on composition. Since grammar makes up writing, it will be covered in the process. We’re also not using a writing program since there is a lot of writing in our Literature, History, and Bible assignments.
Career/Technical – We will be typing up a storm this year with Typing.com. Be sure to sign up as a teacher, so your student can have their own account and you can keep up with their progress. I love that option.
PE/Health – Since we are required to do two years of one or the other, we are focusing on health and will be using ACE Health paces. Jamie is also cutting grass and helping some of the older ladies on our road with whatever they need. During the winter, he’ll be shoveling snow for one of them.
Fine Arts – While Jamie loves oil painting, he has decided to watercolor paint this year since there is LESS clean up and we’ll be using Jerry’s Artarama again. Jamie has also started violin lessons and doing a mighty fine job in the short amount of time that he has been working on this.
Foreign Language – This year we are talking German. We are using Duolingo to get started with. We'll also be implementing some of the Paul Joyce German Course if needed and I’m still wading through the links found at Study.com to see if there are any other free resources for German. We’ve also signed up with italki.com and I'll be working on finding a German tutor to help with our learning when it gets to that level.
Woodworking – Jamie loves working with wood and tools. This is right up my husband’s alley, so he’ll be in charge of all the teaching and creations that will be built. This will be our only elective for the year.
I still can't believe this is our ELEVENTH year of schooling at home! Are you in the planning mode for your school year? I'd love to hear about it.
This post contains affiliate links.
When I made my High School Plans last year, I knew some of them would probably change, and they did. A couple of examples would be my son requested to not do sign language this year, but to go ahead and focus on German and he choose to not do Driver’s Ed but rather wait to get his learner’s permit at 16 and drive the required amount of hours and then take the driving test in 6 months. I think that was a wise choice on his part and honestly, my husband did not like the idea of solely turning his driving education over to someone else (which is required in MT).
BIBLE – we will be studying Baptist History as part of our Bible time this year. We are using The People Called Baptists by Michael Johnson as a spine along with The Collegiate Baptist History Workbook by James R. Beller. I have seen too many of my friends leave our belief because they did not know why we are Baptist and why we believe the way we do. I don’t Jamie to one day wonder and look elsewhere.
MATH – we will be working on Algebra 2 with Teaching Textbooks.
SCIENCE – This is hard for me this year because Dr. Jay Wile's Exploring Creation through Chemistry by Apologia was on the list. Since the book is no longer in print because of a newer revised edition not written by Wile, I have had problems tracking one down that is not used with a bunch of highlighting and writing in it. Although, Dr. Wile does have a new Chemistry book that is set to ship in August. Jamie's second choice was Advanced Biology - same problem. The third choice is Marine Biology. For this year, we'll be going with the Marine Biology and waiting another year for Chemistry. I’ll be ordering our lab kit 1 and lab kit 2 from Home Science Tools; they have never let me down on their kits and they have the cheapest prices around.
EDITED TO CHANGE:
SOCIAL STUDIES – United States History from Abeka is what we chose to do this year. We sent back our first choice because of some things we did not agree with that was included in the book. While Abeka has been around since the 70's and they are not as independent learning as I want, it is the company I always fall back on when a problem arises.
Language Arts – For Literature, we are using Lightning Literature again. We’ll be using the Early to Mid 19th Century American pack. We loved this curriculum last year and I’m expecting we’ll be just as happy this year. For Vocabulary, we went with Critical Thinking Word Roots 1B. We went with this book because Jamie and I both felt that the other program we used for many years became a “busy work” curriculum and he wasn’t getting anything from it. This year we are taking a break from an actual grammar curriculum and putting our focus on composition. Since grammar makes up writing, it will be covered in the process. We’re also not using a writing program since there is a lot of writing in our Literature, History, and Bible assignments.
Career/Technical – We will be typing up a storm this year with Typing.com. Be sure to sign up as a teacher, so your student can have their own account and you can keep up with their progress. I love that option.
PE/Health – Since we are required to do two years of one or the other, we are focusing on health and will be using ACE Health paces. Jamie is also cutting grass and helping some of the older ladies on our road with whatever they need. During the winter, he’ll be shoveling snow for one of them.
Fine Arts – While Jamie loves oil painting, he has decided to watercolor paint this year since there is LESS clean up and we’ll be using Jerry’s Artarama again. Jamie has also started violin lessons and doing a mighty fine job in the short amount of time that he has been working on this.
Foreign Language – This year we are talking German. We are using Duolingo to get started with. We'll also be implementing some of the Paul Joyce German Course if needed and I’m still wading through the links found at Study.com to see if there are any other free resources for German. We’ve also signed up with italki.com and I'll be working on finding a German tutor to help with our learning when it gets to that level.
Woodworking – Jamie loves working with wood and tools. This is right up my husband’s alley, so he’ll be in charge of all the teaching and creations that will be built. This will be our only elective for the year.
I still can't believe this is our ELEVENTH year of schooling at home! Are you in the planning mode for your school year? I'd love to hear about it.
Conversations from the Garden a Review and Giveaway
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When I was asked to review {affiliate link} Conversations from the Garden: Forty Days to Build a Biblical Worldview by Marcia Harris Brim at Brimwood Press, I was excited. I knew I was not going to be disappointed since I've used other products from Brimwood Press.
Conversations from the Garden is based on Genesis chapters 1-3 and shows how everything throughout the scriptures are based on those chapters. Conversations is a Bible study guide, but without answers; you are going to have moments of thinking and conversations about each topic. While the recommended ages are for 10 and older, I believe many younger children will benefit from listening and conversing about the topics. It's never too early to start them out on a Biblical worldview.
The primary use of the book is for dinner table discussions or daily family devotions. However, it is written in a way where it can be used in Sunday schools, youth groups and Christian school classrooms. Don't be led to believe it is not for individual use, because it could very easily be used as a personal Bible study.
Some of the questions you will find in the book are:
• What does looking at the world teach us about what God is like?
• From the creation story, how do you know God is good?
• Who did God the Father relate to before He made Adam and Eve and the angels?
• Does history provide evidence that Satan is man's bitter enemy?
• Can you imagine Adam and Eve’s joy to touch the hand of their savior, to see Him face to face, to be free forever from Satan’s grasp?
You can read about why Conversations in the Garden was written HERE. There are now SAMPLE PAGES for this book on the website. I have also been told about a new PARENT GUIDE coming in October.
For my readers, I'm giving one of you my copy of Conversations from the Garden. There’s no hoop to jump through for this give away, all you need to do is leave me a comment about why you would like this book. I’ll choose the winner at noon (MT) on Friday, September 5th. Click the ENTER TO WIN button on the Rafflecopter app after you leave your comment.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Psst... have you liked Frog's Lilypad's FACEBOOK PAGE? If not, what are you waiting for?
The primary use of the book is for dinner table discussions or daily family devotions. However, it is written in a way where it can be used in Sunday schools, youth groups and Christian school classrooms. Don't be led to believe it is not for individual use, because it could very easily be used as a personal Bible study.
Some of the questions you will find in the book are:
• What does looking at the world teach us about what God is like?
• From the creation story, how do you know God is good?
• Who did God the Father relate to before He made Adam and Eve and the angels?
• Does history provide evidence that Satan is man's bitter enemy?
• Can you imagine Adam and Eve’s joy to touch the hand of their savior, to see Him face to face, to be free forever from Satan’s grasp?
You can read about why Conversations in the Garden was written HERE. There are now SAMPLE PAGES for this book on the website. I have also been told about a new PARENT GUIDE coming in October.
For my readers, I'm giving one of you my copy of Conversations from the Garden. There’s no hoop to jump through for this give away, all you need to do is leave me a comment about why you would like this book. I’ll choose the winner at noon (MT) on Friday, September 5th. Click the ENTER TO WIN button on the Rafflecopter app after you leave your comment.
*****NOW CLOSED*****
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Psst... have you liked Frog's Lilypad's FACEBOOK PAGE? If not, what are you waiting for?
Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism; a Review
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Every Christian home should be teaching their children to have a Christian worldview, not just leaving it up to the church. As a homeschooling mom, teaching my son to have a worldview through a Christian perspective was important to me. Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism digs in deep for a deeper learning without being too complicated.
I am way behind on posting this, but I wanted to really get into the book so I would know how to give my honest opinion.
affiliate links included
Now that we have been able to spend several weeks studying this curriculum non stop, I am amazed! For a memory refresher, I spent two days reviewing over A Young Historians Introduction to Worldview. Jamie was able to "teach" me what we had learned back at the end of May. The hands-on learning is eye opening and easily helps in understanding differences. You can read my review for A Young Historians Introduction to Worldview HERE.
I can not say enough about the Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism book. My heart and mind is still amazed at what I am relearning about my Christianity. This wonderful book is meaty and thought provoking while yet simple enough for a middle school child to use and learn from.
We are using the comparison charts that are found in the back of the book. I'm super excited about copies of the charts that have answers so I can help in getting the thought juices flowing. I made copies of each one and placed them in a notebook for easy use. Having Jamie write in his own words regarding what we have talked about has helped him in retaining what he has learned.
Learning about ancient cultures and how they worshiped is something that never really crossed my mind until now. Teaching Jamie how the days of the week were all named after a god or goddess and how the people spent each day worshiping a different god, could have been a little out of my comfort zone, but there was a enough information in the book to hit the nail on the head. We were able to do a little more online research to take what was given and spend extra time on the matter. Quite eye-opening for a fourteen year old!
In lesson four, Marcia wrote about how God is INCORRUPTABLE and because of this, we CAN STILL HAVE a RELATIONSHIP with Him. An A-M-A-Z-I-N-G point to teach children! This point is well written and easy to understand at any age.
Growing up in a Christian school, I was drilled theology questions and answers, but never was there a time when a teacher taught us why we believe what we do by using the Bible. All those verses that were included, were never once read or explained. Once we were in high school, I had friends begin questioning why we believed a certain way. Again, no teachers would give a good reason, other than we are the correct way in believing and we are not to question what we had been taught. As parents, it is OUR responsibility to make sure OUR children know why we have the beliefs we do. It should not be left up to someone else to guide your children spiritually, because they will encounter those who really do not know themselves.
If nothing else is bought to teach your children about worldview and their Christian beliefs, the Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism and Secret to the Scibe books are a must for every Christian family.
Again, I can not say enough about Brimwood Press Worldview Curriculum. It is definitely a keeper for me. Of all the books that have come through our home, this is one of the few that will stay.
**I was sent a free worldview bundle to review in return for my honest opinion. The links to the products are referral links and will cost you nothing if you choose to make a purchase.**
All American History
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I'm not sure how much my love for HISTORY shows, but I have an abundance of love for the subject. Whether it is Biblical, World, United States or even Family history, there is always something you can learn from it. We all know the statement about history repeating itself and some of us have seen it happen in our lifetime while many of us have read about it in the history books. Studying history is a necessity.
Last summer when I was deciding on a history curriculum for this year, I knew I wanted to do a year long American history study. There are several Christian based home school curricula on the market and after I read review on top of review, I decided on All American History. With AAH, you have two volumes; perfect for two years and depending on how you use the books, maybe more. During our homeschooling years, we used both volumes.
Volume 1 The Explorers to the Jacksonians.
Volume 2 The Civil War to the 21st Centrury
Volume 1 The Explorers to the Jacksonians.
Volume 2 The Civil War to the 21st Centrury
There are three books that make up All American History for each volume.
1. The Teacher's Guide ~ In this book you will find everything you need to make this a fun study. Activities based on what is being studied, games, answer keys, master copies of images and the student worksheets, and of course the book lists. These lists has been more valuable than gold to me this year. Because of these lists, we have been able to read some amazing books we probably would have missed without the lists. For each lesson you will also find some incredible information on certain subjects that is a little more detailed than in the reader.
2. The Student Reader ~ The book is not written like many history books ~ facts on top of facts needing to be memorized. The book is more like a story book; and that's a good thing.
There are 32 weeks of lessons in the book with some lessons being a little longer than others; those lessons can be studied longer than a week. This is something that we have done this year. Each lesson is broken down into three sections: the atmosphere, which is the setting of the events that took place; the event, the when, where and how that took place; the impact, a short run-down of major happenings in the chapter.
Within the first two weeks, I realized there was a good bit of bouncing around through the atmosphere and event sections. Because of this there was some confusion with the explorers in those chapters. I did a little more planning to keep this from happening throughout the year by using sticky note flags in these sections to be able to read only the atmosphere and impact of the one person/place at a time. Clear as mud? :)
3. The Student Workbook ~ It's a must! In this consumable book you will find notebooking style worksheets, review pages ( I used these as quizzes) maps, photos of historical people, and flags. There are also some additional, optional worksheets for students to use to help further their studies. I had my binding cut and placed the book in a three ring binder for easy removal.
As I mentioned earlier, the bouncing around and confusion in the atmosphere and event sections; that is the only thing I disliked about the reader but it can be easily remedied if you plan ahead. I love, love, love this curriculum; it is a fantastic, in depth study and put together set of books. You have everything you need at your finger tips. I can't wait for the fall so we can begin working on Volume 2.
For the younger lovers of history there is an All American History, Junior. From what I've read it is not quite as detailed as the regular volumes.
