Are you looking for good books for your children that are wholesome, fun, and educational? After many years of struggling to find great books for my children I've decided to share the knowledge I have gained with you. I will only recommend books that I would read with my children or allow them to read on their own. If there is anything in a book that I feel would be objectionable to a Christian family I will tell you about it in my review. My goal is to help you find good books for your children, so visit My Book Reviews to see what I have recently reviewed. I will be adding reviews as time allows, so check back often or subscribe to my feed.
Mar. 19, 2008
Resurrection Eggs
Posted in Crafts for Fun
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This is not a new idea at all, but it is such a wonderful way to share the true Easter story with young children. I thought I would share this just in case someone had never heard of it before. Here is how it works. Place 12 plastic eggs in an empty egg carton. Number the eggs 1-12 (in order) with a permanent marker. Inside each egg place the following items and read the corresponding scriptures with your child: Egg 1: Leaf - John 12:12-13 “The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Egg 2: Perfume (on cotton ball) - John 12:3 “Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.” Egg 3: Silver coin - Matthew 26:14-16 “Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.” Egg 4: Cracker - Matthew 26:26-28 “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said “Take, eat: this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Egg 5: Feather - Matthew 26:33-34 “Peter declared to him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Egg 6: Purple cloth - John 19:1-3 “Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe; they came up to him, saying, ”Hail, King of the Jews!” Egg 7: Cross - John 19:16-18 “Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.” Egg 8: Sponge - John 19:28-30 “After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the scripture), “I thirst.” A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Egg 9: White cloth - John 19:40-42 “They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.” Egg 10: Spices - Mark 16:1-2 “And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen.” Egg 11: Stone - Mark 16:3-4 “And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back - it was very large.” Egg 12: Empty - Mark 16:5-6 “And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him.” If you are crafty you can even decoupage or otherwise decorate the outside of the egg carton. We are doing this with our 3-5 year old class tonight at church. The children will have this to keep at home as a reminder of the true story of Easter. I hope you enjoy doing this project with your children and grand-children. Blessings, Missy |
Mar. 12, 2008
Writing Strands on Sale AND My Plan for Getting School Books at a Discount
Posted in Homeschooling
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I'm looking at materials for school next year! I know it's a little early, but I get so excited about what is coming up that I can't help myself. One of the things that we are going to use with our curriculum next year is Writing Strands. We've never used this program before so I am excited about doing something new. For those who don't know: Writing Strands is available on CurrClick.com (formerly HomeschoolEStore.com). I just purchased mine for next year, and it was on sale ($15.16 as compared to $20.00 regular price). Now I don't have to wait for it or pay shipping charges, though I will have to print out the pages as we use them. I just thought this may be an option some of you would like. Here is the link to all the different products/levels: Writing Strands on CurrClick.com If you are like me you have to save every penny you can on school materials. It's just plain good stewardship to save as much as we can. I don't mind supporting My Father's World curriculum publishers as they donate part of their proceeds to Bible translations, so I do purchase some items from them each year. I don't purchase all of our curriculum through them however. I wanted to share with you something I'm going to try this year. Most every year I've spent the summer searching for used books on the internet. I've purchased through Ebay, online discount book sellers, used curriculum lists, and so on. What I find is that there is a tremendous amount of time involved, and the shipping charges are outrageous! With a slow dial-up connection it takes a lot of time. I've decided my time is more valuable to me than money, so I'm making a change this year. A few months ago I was in my local Books-a-Million store and signed up for their Educator's Card, which saves me 20% on school related purchases. The card was free and all I had to do was show my teacher ID card to prove I was a homeschooler. So, unless someone on the MFW curriculum exchange board offers their used curriculum to me at an awesome price I will launch the following plan: 1. Purchase all available titles, used in our curriculum, through Books-a-Million. 2. Purchase from the MFW website any titles not available through BAM. Here is the reason I will make some of my purchases through BAM. I can take my book list to my local BAM store and they will order the books for me if they are available in their system. When it comes in they won't charge me shipping charges, and I get a 20% discount by using my Educator's Card when I check out. I've already checked the BAM online store and they have quite a few of the titles we need. I'll still take my entire list into the store just in case there are other titles they can get for me that are not in the online store. (NOTE: The Educator's Card cannot be used in the online store - I checked.) No shipping charges, and a 20% discount should save me a lot of money. I hope this plan of action works without any un-forseen bumps in the road. I'll let you know if this doesn't work out as I plan. I hope your school year is going great! We are getting down to the last few months of school, and we've been so busy I've not had the time to post about what has been going on. I think we all have spring fever. The temp was supposed to be in the 70's today, but we've had a cool wind. Nevertheless, all the windows in the house are open. We're letting those sweet winds blow through and cleanse the air in the house. I read somewhere that the air in our homes is more toxic that the air outside. If that is the case then we cleansed the air today! Blessings, Missy |
Mar. 7, 2008
HomeschoolEstore Changes to CurrClick.com, Curriculum in a Click!
Posted in Homeschooling
 The Same great site and customer service … but better! Experience our improved previews of thousands of your favorite homeschool titles, easily and from the comfort of your own home! We are happy to announce the Grand Opening of CurrClick.com. Get 10% account credit on every purchase you make from March 10th-March 17th, add future purchases to your wish list, experience a more intuitive browsing experience that makes it easier to find what you’re looking for, send your wish list to friends and family members and find out what other people think about the curriculum you are considering, by reading our staff and customer reviews. CurrClick.com is the only eBook and audio site specializing in instantly downloadable Homeschool curriculum. At CurrClick, you can choose from thousands of homeschool titles from hundreds of your favorite publshers, cheaply and completely free of shipping costs. I can't wait to see what the new site will look like. If you've never used this resource for your educational needs give them a try. I think you will like the instant availability, and the prices are great! Blessings, Missy Are you good enough to get into heaven? Take the test to find out: http://www.wayofthemaster.com/goodperson.shtml |
Feb. 22, 2008
Excellence Awards
Posted in Blog Fun
 I have finally had time to finalize my choices for the Excellence Awards. Here are the winners: Missy at Daniel Academy Her blog always warms my heart! I know that I will find something of interest each time I visit. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I see beauty, and sometimes I'm greatly encouraged. I know she's already received this award, but I couldn't help giving it to her again. Her blog is a true blessing! VA Homeschool Mom for God I love the variety of this blog, and I love that she has a heart for helping those in need. I know this blogger from another internet setting, and she is a sweet Christian lady. She has recently begun a business selling unit studies that she writes too. I've seen samples and they look great, so go on over and check out her blog! My Life's Work I am awarding Lanie the Excellence Award because I love that she is so transparent with her life. It is refreshing to see someone who is not afraid to let others see that she sometimes struggles. We all struggle and sometimes we try to give the impression that we don't, so Lanie's honesty is refreshing and encouraging. Thanks Lanie for sharing your heart! Well, that's it! If you would like the button for your blog just take it from the top of the post. If you need help with it just let me know! Blessings, Missy |
Feb. 21, 2008
Developing a Love of Reading in Young Children
Posted in Homeschooling
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Sometimes reading can be the last thing on the minds of our children. There are so many other activities to keep them busy, that they don't often think of reading a book. So, I thought I would take this time to offer a suggestion for ways to encourage your young readers. Something we did (when the kids were very young) to encourage reading was to "build" a bookworm. I cut circles out of several different colors of construction paper for them (card stock is more durable though). I gave them some ideas for using one circle for making the head of the bookworm (i.e. pipe cleaner antennae...glue on wiggly eyes....fluffy ball noses, etc.), then we put their bookworm heads on the wall. Each time they read a book they wrote the name of the book on a construction paper circle and put it on the wall, thus building the body of the bookworm. That in itself was enough to encourage them to read because they each wanted to be the one to have the longest bookworm.
You could use this same approach, or modify it for older kids by using a chart or book list in their school notebook. You could also set a goal for the length of the bookworm, or a certain number of books to be read. Upon reaching that goal they could get a reward such as:
* coupons for a video rental from the library or video store
* a sweet treat they enjoy such as cinnamon rolls, bag of Skittles, etc.
* coupon for a certain amount of TV viewing
* money - this works really well if they are saving money for something they want
* let them accrue points that build up to an outing they enjoy such as a movie, theme park, hike or bike ride, skating, etc.
Knowing what your kids like best allows you to use those things to encourage them to read. Eventually they will grow to love reading, but may need a nudge to read something for pleasure if they get out of the habit. The greatest encouragement I've found for keeping them reading once they get hooked is to always have great books on hand. Going to the library and letting them choose 4 or 5 picture books, or a couple of beginning readers, or a chapter book for the week is a great way to keep them reading. If you know they have an interest in a certain topic, such as Titanic - which happens to be on the top of my son's list, then search the library card catalog to help them find appropriate books on that topic. By allowing them to choose books, and of course getting your approval before taking them home, will help keep them interested in reading. In the process they will learn more than you can imagine! So, encourage your kids to read a book! Blessings, Missy |