Mar. 16, 2009 - Homeschool in the Woods New Testament Activity Pak
If you have spent any time on my blog then you will know that we do a lot of lapbooking. We enjoy it and my daughter begs to do them, if I don't have any on the schedule! The fact of why we like lapbooking is that I have noticed an increased amount of retintion in the subjects we study. When I was given the chance to review Homeschool in the Woods' New Testament Activity Pak it was a lapbooking mom's dream come true!
I was very surprised at the quality that went into this lapbook pak. The drawings look like something you would find in a museum. My daughter did say it was difficult for her to color all the images since there wasn't a lot of room to work in. If your child is older and has a lot of dexterity then it would be much easier for them to color in the tight spaces. She did enjoy doing it and seeing all the interactive pieces. Our usual lapbooks are made up of mini-books and not much interactive components but this was a wonderful change.
The lapbook will teach Biblical truths without watering anything down or taking away Biblical truths. All Scripture is taken from the NKJV, which makes it somewhat simpler for the little ones to understand without taking away the Bible's original context. This is a great way to drive home prophesies, fruit of the Spirit, the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension, Pentecost, Jesus' birth, Parables and other Biblical stories and truths.
The fact that the lapbook is interactive allows the child to come back time and time again to review Bible stories and history. The more the child enjoys making this work of art, the more they will keep on using it. The recommended grades is for 3rd through 8ith but my daughter who is newly 7 and doing 2nd grade work did just fine. I did put some help in cutting, as some activities were detailed and also in putting things together, like using brads. She though did most of it and enjoyed it.
I did have trouble with the pie book and when I emailed Amy Pak about this she ended up calling me to walk me through it. I did finally get it put together and once the book was done it made me feel very accomplished. The customer service I recieved to get this done was amazing. The download was easy. The pak comes with detailed directions and if you need more help don't hestitate to contact them. Also in this pak is a full color photo gallery on what activities should look like when they are completed (as in construction) and where they should go in the lapbook.
There is also "The New Testament Times" which is a scroll making activity that your child gets to write and illustrate their own stories from the New Testament times. By adding dowel rods and taping together the sheets of paper you end with a scroll! We have not completed this as it is a lot of writing and I didn't want to burn my daughter out on writing constantly. The other included activity is the Armor of God in which your child can add their picture or draw themselves in the armor of God in protecting themselves against the spiritual battles taking place.
Overall, this is a product worthy of the price and involvement to make it. You can buy a download version for $18.95 or buy a copy on CD for $19.95, either way you decide it's truly worth it. Your children could do this as a joint project or as a family project. Dad's could get involved to add something special to their devotional time with the children. There are so many ways you could use this, it makes it even more worth the investment.
