Hannah, 6, ready to jump in with the horses

Lydia, 8, learning about the horses

I don’t think I snapped a photo of this but one of the horses is a bit up in age. Sweetest horse! He was out in the yard just free ranging on some grass. Content as could be.  Children and animals running all over and the horse just munched his way around the yard.

Sam, 2, getting a tour of the land from the experienced farm hand

Hannah loved the goats and thinks we need one.

Sarah, 4, and Maxine.

I seriously wanted to bring Maxine home. She is a very old kitty who just wants to sit in your lap and not move. Sarah fell in love with Maxine. And it was amazing. Sarah was still and quiet for an extended period of time. If I could have found a way to sneak her home, Maxine would  be a part of our family. Sarah loved her!

Caleb, 10, and Sam, 2. The boys.

Lydia, 8, loving the tire swings.

Hannah, Sam and Lydia.

Caleb. I love this boy.

Sam ready to ride!

Wasn’t this a fun day?! I hated to see it end. Great fun and fellowship.

Bekah, 13. Yee haw.

Thank you to our dear friends!! It was a wonderful day!

(Just a note…we did enjoy fun fellowship with the children in this family. But as a respect of privacy, I kept photos posted to just our kiddos.)

Mary is a treasure. She is an amazing organizer, she has a delightful imagination and sense of humor that has me chuckling often. She is the best alarm clock; helping me to get up and get moving in the mornings. I really do love her for this. Really. I do.  Mary can turn anything from folding laundry to cleaning out the van in to fun.

For as long as I can remember, Mary has loved horses. While we were tossing around ideas for what she wanted to do for her birthday, I had a moment of sheer brilliance. We have friends who have horses and I was sure they would be delighted to have us crash their home and farm all for the sake of horse lovin’ gal’s 12th birthday. And I was right. Our friends so graciously set aside  a day in their busy life, so that Mary could make a dream come true.

Mary seems to be a natural on a horse. I wasn’t sure if she would be willing to come home. However, I think she is more determined than ever to have a horse of her own one day.

My Mary is such a  blessing to me. So hard to believe that she is 12 already. I blinked and she went from that cute little baby to a lovely young lady.

Mary, Happy Birthday!!! Love you bunches!

(We have more photos from the day at the farm. I’ll post them in a separate post. )

As Christian parents we should take very seriously our responsibility to teach and train our children in the studying, reading, memorizing and applying of God’s Word. Often this responsibility can be overwhelming and we are unsure how to effectively and thoroughly make God’s Word the center of our day. Judah Bible Curriculum is a resource that can aid you in teaching and instructing your child about the Bible.

Judah Bible Curriculum utilizes the principle approach. The principle approach refers to a philosophy of education whose content and methods are designed to build character in teacher and student capable of sustaining liberty. Judah Bible Curriculum’s purpose is to build Bible literacy and through that build Godly character into the student. Young people need to learn how to read God’s word, study it, research it and gain understanding that can then be applied personally and through that make a godly impact.

Judah Bible Curriculum uses the Bible as the textbook. No student workbooks to buy, no teachers manual to check for answers. You and your children will study God’s Word together. Just you and God’s Word. JBC does recommend “notebooking” . Whether it is older students taking notes, jotting down their thoughts as they read or a young child drawing a picture as a reference for what was studied, notebooking can be a valuable learning tool. JBC does not provide the “extras” for “notebooking” and such. This is up to the parent to round up the resources they would like to add. To effectively use JBC, you just need a Bible, concordance, commentaries and a Bible dictionary.

Judah Bible Curriculum is divided in to Five Themes:

• Creation
• The Plan of Redemption Begins
• Kingdom of Israel
• Kingdom of God
• Early Church

The themes are then broken down in to Bible Keys: Key Individuals, Key Events, Key Institutions and Key Documents. Each of these keys is used to help the student see the hand of God, the character of God and how He is moving in history. JBC takes your through the entire Bible each year; each year having different focuses on events and people.

Judah Bible Curriculum is more of a “teacher curriculum” or “teacher training tool” than a curriculum for the student. JBC is helping the parent know how to teach the Bible to their children.  So how does a lesson from JBC work?

Let’s take Lesson1. The weekly theme focus is Creation; you will spend a whole week working through the scripture selected: Genesis 1-2. First pray for guidance on how to study the passage. Read the focal text for the weekly theme. Have your “key sheets” ready for use.  Read the text again,fill out the key sheets. Now build on this study! This is the time to use the Bible dictionary, concordances and commentaries to really dig into the scripture. Check out the cross references and see how scripture will interpret scripture. Take notes, draw maps and create a timeline.

Everyone does this together; as a family. No matter the ages of your children, you can bring them together to study the Word. Naturally the older students are going to  be doing more in-depth studying, but the younger ones can gain so much from the discussion.

Our Thoughts on Judah Bible Curriculum:

We were  going through a weekly lesson and my children observe that, “um, don’t we already do Bible like this?

Yes, we do. Our children all listen to the weekly sermon and those old enough take notes. We study the sermon text through out the week, discussing it, checking cross references, listening to other messages, reading commentary.  We do choose to study verse by verse and not by “event’ or “topic”. We also don’t “notebook” for Bible study although they definitely could if they desired.  Since our family is already in the practice of family worship, JBC is not a necessary resource for us to have.

However, I think Judah Bible Curriculum can be a great tool for a family that is unsure how to implement Bible study in their home. I agree that Bible literacy and understanding the sovereignty of God and governing ourselves according to God’s word is crucial to pass along to our children. Judah Bible Curriculum can definitely aid the parent in that regard.

There are two ways to purchase Judah Bible Curriculum:

Hard Pack – $69 + $5 shipping : Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual, Elementary Notebook Ideas Booklet, Eight Lecture Teacher Training Seminars on CD.

Download – $44  gives you: Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual in e-book format; Elementary Notebook Ideas to view online or download; Eight Lecture Teacher Training Seminar to listen online or download.

There is a wealth of information at JudahBible.com and I would recommend browsing the site to get a good feel of the curriculum.  Watch a presentation, read about the philosophy and learn more about character and freedom.

Also stop by the Crew and see what other families had to say about Judah Bible Curriculum!

**Disclaimer: As a member of TOS Review Crew, I received a complimentary copy of the download version of this product. No compensation was made. The thoughts/opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Sam’s current favorite song is You are Holy. He is constantly singing while playing the “guitar”. Naturally, he will not sing for the camera.

After singing praises to the Lord, you may need a nap.

Words to You Are Holy

You are holy (You are holy)
You are mighty (You are mighty)
You are worthy (You are worthy)
Worthy of praise (Worthy of praise)

I will follow (I will follow)
I will listen (I will listen)
I will love You (I will love You)
All of my days (All of my days)

I will sing to (You are Lord of lords)
And worship (You are King of kings)
The King who (You’re the mighty God)
Is worthy (Lord of everything)
I will love and (You’re Emmanuel)
Adore Him (You’re the great I am)
And I will bow down (You’re the Prince of Peace)
Before Him (Who is the Lamb)
I will sing to (You’re the living God)
And worship (You’re my saving grace)
The King who (You will reign forever)
Is worthy (You are ancient of days)
I will love and (You are alpha, omega)
Adore Him (Beginning and end)
And I will bow down (You’re my Savior, Messiah)
Before Him (Redeemer and friend)

You’re my Prince of Peace
And I will live my life for You

God’s Great Covenant is a four part course that takes the student on a journey through the Old and New Testaments.  Instead of choosing a Bible story or event to focus on, God’s Great Covenant emphasizes the importance of a chronological, purposeful study of the whole Bible. Through this type of study, you are able to see how God has moved through His people over time and gain understanding of His covenant. God’s Great Covenant is taught from a covenantal and reformed theological perspective, and rooted in Scripture; just a fact to be aware of in case you are looking for a Bible curriculum without a reformed theological focus.

God’s Great Covenant: New Testament 1 is a course designed for 4th graders and up.  I chose to bring all my children together and we had fabulous discussion! For the course there is a student workbook, teacher’s text and mp3 audio available. GGC New Testament 1 covers the four Gospels; bringing them together to be studied and understood. The course begins with an Introduction sections and will take several days to work through. So much information that really helps create a clear picture of where God’s people are at when the Gospel begins. The Introduction is very helpful if you have not covered the Old Testament.

There are several introductions: Historical/Political, Chronological, Geographical, Religious and Daily Life.  As we studied the introductions it was refreshing to see how much my children were familiar with and enlightening on what we all learned together!

After the introductions New Testament 1 is broken up into four units; each unit contains 9 chapters which include a review of what has been learned. Each chapter has focus texts from the Gospels; pulling parallel text together for a full picture of what is being studied. A memory passage is suggested and key facts are provided. After the reading, there are review worksheets to aid in retention of the material that includes a “think about it” question to help the student apply the Scripture personally.

The teacher text provides the same information as the student workbook but has added in-depths notes for the teacher to use in discussion or even older students could read on their own. The in-depth notes are a wonderful resource of information. God’s Great Covenant: New Testament 1 is a thorough, meaningful Bible study.  It also provides answers to the review worksheets.

In the past, I have not been impressed with various Bible curricula. Either it has been simplified or didn’t match our theological perspective. Classical Academic Press recognizes the ability of our children to study and learn and it shows in God’s Great Covenant. My children and I have had fabulous discussions as we are working through this course. I think that it has worked well to bring everyone together for this study but would have no qualms about handing the teacher’s text to my older children for independent study.

The mp3 audio files were not used for our family study time but work great for the younger ones to listen to during quiet time. The audio files would also be helpful for students who struggle with reading and could better focus having the text read.

One aspect of God’s Great Covenant: New Testament 1 was an issue for our family. The student text is meant to be consumable so copies can not be made of the review worksheets. Each student would need their own text if the review portions were used. Due to our family circumstances, we could not purchase student workbooks for each child. Classical Academic Press publishes excellent products and they are worth the pricing; it just wouldn’t be allowable for our family. We worked around the issue by having family discussion which is our preference.

God’s Great Covenant: New Testament 1 can be purchased as a bundle or the each resource can be purchased individually.

Student Workbook: $26.95

Teacher’s Edition: $29.95

MP3 Audio Files: $9.95

Bundle Option containing all 3 items: $56.95

Take a moment to check out God’s Great Covenant: New Testament 1 and the other products at Classical Academic Press!

Also other TOS crew members have their thoughts to share!

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Review Crew, I received a complimentary copy of this product for the purpose of review. No compensation was made. The thoughts/opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Bubbles!

I have a schedule of upcoming blog posts (and I am behind) but I really wanted to share a couple of cute pics from today. Then I will return to the normal blogging schedule.

The three oldest girls were at a father/daughter retreat for the day so we decided to goof off and enjoy some bubbles.

Not everyone was impressed with the bubbles. We are working through some issues he is having with the great outdoors. Bubbles did not aid in this endeavor.

Sarah loved the bubbles. And the camera. Ready for the many faces of Sarah?

She cracks me up.

I think that was suppose to be a mad face? Giggle.

Adorable.

And Caleb, such a good big brother, pushed Sam around to keep him content.

And he blew bubbles so the girls could chase them.

Simple pleasures!

Little Miss Martha turned 4 months old on April 12th. There are people in my house who think she is growing up just a bit too fast. I agree!!

Martha is around 13/14lbs and wearing 3-6 months clothes. Simple put…perfect!

I was reminded that I was late in posting her 4 month update. In my defense, taking these pictures can be challenging. Other people keep jumping into the pictures.

But such cute little creatures jumping in the shot! This leaves no doubt that Martha is deeply treasured by all her siblings!

Martha loves to share her smiles. Ticklish? Not so far. Many attempts have been made to tickle Martha and get her laughing, but all have failed. She takes after her daddy.

Martha loves to talk to her daddy. As soon as he looks at her she starts to chat away. Always a very serious conversation. She is also making a lovely “mmmmmm” sound. I think she is contemplating attacking my chocolate.

And at four months, Martha’s thoughts on structure and design is highly sought after.

Sucking on two fingers always helps when in deep thought!

Martha Ann is such a sweet blessing!

Happy 4 months, Goose!

After much thought and prayer, I came up with a game plan. They younger students would just enjoy nature, reading books about different science topics and a fun experiment now and then. Once my student was a solid reader we would add in a science course and add in living books as desired. What science course could I use for my 4-6th graders? Bright Ideas Press has a wonderful resource that is working so well!

Over the past couple of years, I have reviewed other  products from Bright Ideas Press. (Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers, WonderMaps) I have always been pleased with a curriculum/product that meets my needs and my student’s needs, is user friendly, and affordable. BIP has always treated me with excellent customer service when needed. When the review possibility for Christian Kid’s Explore Science became available, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. After talking with my daughter that was in need of a science course, we went with CKE Chemistry.

CKE: Chemistry is designed for grades 4-8 but can easily be adapted for studying with multiple ages. This is clearly a Christian course as Scripture is seen throughout the lessons always keeping the focus on the Creator. There are 30 lessons, 5 units each, that cover topics such as: Chemistry Tools, Atoms, Chemical Bonds, Compounds and more. You can see a full Table of Contents.

In each lesson there is Teaching Time which gives information on the topic being studied. Along the side of the text, vocabulary and other information is listed in the margins. The lesson wraps up with a Review It section to make sure the student understood the main points. Then you reach the Hands On portion which always makes for a fun morning in our home. After the Hands On, there are some questions to help us think over what we learned during our “experiment”.  Unit review and coloring pages are also included. If using the course with younger students, the coloring pages are a great way to keep little hands busy and minds focused!

The 2nd edition of CKE: Chemistry now comes with a resource CD. This wonderful resource makes utilizing this curriculum so easy! The resource CD contains: Reproducibles from the lessons (coloring pages, review questions, etc) , material lists, supplemental reading list (love this one!) and  even lesson plans.

Even though my daughter is using this course independently, we still can utilize the lesson plan to help her pace herself through the course and to make sure she doesn’t forget important aspects like vocabulary in each lesson. As a book loving family, adding in some supplemental reading is always high on our list so I was pleased to see this feature on the resource CD.

My daughter is doing well working through this course, learning much about chemistry and not held back by her science challenged mom. I was so impressed with CKE: Chemistry that I am hoping to get some of the other CKE books to use as well. Bright Ideas Press gets another thumbs up from us! Easy to understand and implement, affordable, Biblical worldview and from a company that was started by homeschoolers? Definitely worth taking a moment or two to check out Christian Kids Explore: Chemistry and the other products BIP has available!

CKE: Chemistry – 2nd Edition with Resource CD can be purchased for $39.95! The resource CD makes this product non-consumable so a great price for a family with multiple student!

Swing by and see what other Crew Members are saying about Christian Kids Explore..Biology, Chemistry, Physics…

**Disclaimer – As a member of TOS Review Crew, I received a complimentary copy of this product for review purposes. No compensation was made. The thoughts/opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Sam..on a mission to the swings

Finally, I gave in and went the way of digital photography. And I love it. I admit it. It was a good change. I love being able to take 100 pictures and not worry about running out of film. I love being able to hand the camera to my children and letting them take a shot or two. No worries! We can delete any bad shots and keep taking pictures!

Caleb being a big brother and keeping a tired Sam occupied

There is a problem. Editing software. We can blur, smudge, brighten, crop our way to perfection. Guess what? Life isn’t perfect. And my pictures aren’t either. Once I cropped out the pile of laundry on the couch or the messy counter in the kitchen. But, who cares? That’s my life! Constant laundry. Constant cooking in the kitchen.

Goofy kids!

I want my children to look back at the photos and share some laughs. Laugh at the little sister that always popped up in a picture. Chuckle at spying a Dr. Pepper bottle at the edge of a picture. Or smile at the kiddo whose hair never seemed to be combed. Some of the most treasured moments could be edited out because they aren’t perfect. But they are real. And special.

Yep. They are mine.

So on Sunday, I caught a few special moments, some silliness and fun but most of all I captured beautiful memories. Imperfect, real memories.

Sarah and Me

Since this is my blog and I have freedom of expression, here are a few more…

We had reached a point in our homeschool where we had finished up a year of study with a curriculum. I was really torn on moving forward with it for another year. After much thought and prayer, I decided I would create my own course of study for history. And then I had the opportunity to review TruthQuest History. God’s timing is perfect,yes? I was thrilled to choose the Age of Revolution II guide. It was almost exactly where we need to pick up in history!

Age of Revolution II 1800-1865

Taken from the TruthQuest Website:

TruthQuest History is a deep and rich literature-based history study…but with a difference. You will not learn the story of mankind; you will learn the lovestory of mankind. You will not focus on the rise and fall of human civilizations; you will focus on the arrow-straight line of God’s unchanging existence, power, love, truth, and plan for civilization. You will not simply ‘meet the culture’ or ‘get the facts;’ you will probe the truths of history so deeply that your students will be equipped to change their world!

The Age of Revolution II might be mistaken for a lovely booklist but that would be such a disservice to this resource! In this guide, this period of time is divided by significant events and important people. For each section commentary is given to help the student (teacher) pull the previous studies in line with what is up ahead, to offer reminders to see and think about how God’s hand is moving and what that means for that time and for now.  ThinkWrite questions are offered with each major section and can serve as great “writing prompts” for the student or a starting point for some in depth family discussions.

Family discussions are an important part of what I desire our day to hold. With children ranging in ages from baby to teenager, I love having the ability to bring us all together and to share in our studies. While that doesn’t work so well in math, it is attainable with history! The Age of Revolution II guide is designed for grades 5-12. However, book suggestions are included for the elementary years. (If your family just has younger learners right now, TruthQuest has American History guides just for them.) While my older daughter may be reading How Should We Then Live and my little ones are cuddled up with a picture book, we are all learning and studying the same part of history. It can make for lively discussion around the dinner table. Maybe more like a race to see who can tell daddy the most information first!

In the Age to Revolution II and other guides, several types of books are suggested. Spine books that provide a steady course as you travel through history. More in-depth, focused books on a particular person or events and even subtopics are provided. Mrs. Miller also includes activity books and movies when applicable.

I know that some will look at the TruthQuest Guides and think “That will never work for me!” , “Why doesn’t it come with a schedule?” or “I can’t buy all those books!” It can seem overwhelming at first glance. Take a deep breath. Here is how I make it work for me:

For me. Very important words. What I enjoy doing is reading a core or spine book aloud to everyone. We are a read aloud family so this flows along with how we spend our time. While I’m read aloud they may be drawing pictures, writing, building with Legos or knitting. I learned early on that if you keep the hands busy, the mind stays engaged so well. Once I’m done with our read aloud, the independent readers will have their reading assignments and can go about their day. Throughout the day I can sit with my younger ones and share some picture books on our topic or person so they are learning as well. (It is not surprising to catch my older ones listening in or reading the picture books on their own. There are some fabulous picture books!)

To enhance our reading, I have the children do other activities as well. I assign them to pick a person or event to write about that week. We may use the Think Write for the writing assignment or just discussion. Some will just narrate to me what they have read or draw a picture of something that they found interesting. It is sometimes helpful to have the older ones search Scripture for issues we see occurring in history.

A schedule/lesson plan isn’t provided so we move at our own pace and I don’t have to feel guilty for spending two weeks studying Madison and only a few days on Lincoln.  I love having flexibility with our learning. It is one of the beauties in homeschooling! as we work through the guide I don’t even attempt to utilize all the books suggested. I am a faithful patron of our local library. While I sometimes can’t find as many books as I desired or just the one I wanted, I usually find just what we need.  There is no way our budget would allow for purchasing a huge bundle of books and it has not been an issue with Age of Revolution II.

Key Thoughts on Why TruthQuest May or May Not Be For You:

*Christian Perspective - this curricula is written clearly from a strong Christian perspective. The purpose behind TruthQuest is to see how God’s hand has moved through History.

*Learning is mainly through living books. By reading a through living books, we learn so much. You can choose to incorporate other methods such as notebooking, geography, timelines, writing, etc but at the core, TruthQuest is about using literature to bring about understanding.

*No Schedule or Lesson Plan. If you like to check off little boxes you will have to make your own. While TruthQuest.com offers suggestions on how to “plan out” a guide, it is completely up to the discretion of each family how they work through the guide and how long it takes.

*Conversational Commentary. Throughout the Age of Revolution II guide, Mrs. Miller’s commentary may come across as “too relaxed” or “simplified”. She is writing to the student and she is aiming it at various grade levels. I don’t care for books that “dumb down” the information for children. By no means, do I think Mrs. Miller has over simplified the information. It is just in a more casual tone. At times, I may chose to summarize it in my own words.

*Supports/encourages family learning. While you could definitely keep your children separate and learning on their own cycle of history, TruthQuest is definitely a curriculum that can work for a wide variety of ages and learning abilities. If you are looking to study history as a family, then check out TruthQuest.

Age of Revolution II is available in two formats.

Print copy -  $29.95

PDF copy – $24.95

Interested?  Take a look at a sample lesson, table of contents and spine information. Be sure to check out FAQ , How to Choose and Families Share for some great information on using TruthQuest.

TOS Crew members reviewed various guides. So if Age of Revolution II (1800-1865) isn’t the guide you need, check out what others are using!

Disclaimer: As a meber of TOS Review crew, I received a complimentary PDF copy of this product for the purpose of review. No compensation was made. The opinion/thoughts expressed in this post are my own.