by Donna | Nov 13, 2010
I have posted about this book before, but wanted to bring it to your attention again. I started reading Grandpa’s Box again to the kids this week. We are reading one chapter a day after breakfast. It is not really a holiday book, but a retelling of the story of redemption…a story that takes you through the Bible, looks at the battle being waged, and how the victory has already been won.
I just love this book. Every chapter talks about how at some point in history it seemed that Satan was going to win…circumstances seemed hopeless…but God was in control and His will was accomplished in miraculous ways.
Don’t we need this same message today? I know I need to be reminded, and my kids need to be reminded, that even though our current circumstances may seem hopeless (whether in our own family, in our town, in the U.S., in our world)…GOD IS IN CONTROL! We don’t have to fear…the battle has already been won!
If you have a chance to get a copy of this book, I highly recommend it! After we read it last year about this time, I decided we would read it once every year…it is THAT good!
Grandpa’s Box is a book you will pull out again and again!
(In case the link doesn’t come through, the url for this book at Amazon is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087552866X?ie=UTF8&tag=grahamfamilym-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=087552866X )
Happy reading!
Shari Graham
Graham Family Ministries
Website: https://www.school4jesus.com/
Sheri’s Blog: www.school4jesus.com/sheris-blog
Our Book Shop: www.school4jesus.com/store
by Donna | Nov 11, 2010
Yesterday I challenged families to include biographies in your parenting. Obviously, reading biographies together is an intimate, life-affecting way to introduce awesome heroes to your children. However, do not overlook audio and video as avenues for learning about Christian and historical heroes.
I have a lengthy list of books, audios, and videos coming soon. (Our missionary daughter will be working on it in between Papua New Guinea and Ethiopia!) In the meantime, I wanted to give you a link to something that looks like “the best thing since sliced bread”!
At the link below (My Audio School), for a small yearly fee, you can have literally hundreds of audio downloads out your fingertips. If it is Thanksgiving, you can download Thanksgiving books. If you are focusing on diligence in your home, you can get books about godly people who exhibited diligence, such as George Washington Carver. Check out the site—browse the titles—and see if this is something that would enrich your home—and your introducing of godly and historical heroes to your kids.
https://www.myaudioschool.com/
by Donna | Nov 10, 2010
One of the things that we have done nearly every school day ever since Joshua was three or four was to read from biographies. Now, on days that we do not get to read together, the boys often listen to audio biographies or stories of great people. With many people out there today that kids idolize who are less than worthy to be idolized, I can’t say enough about including biographies in your life. Today and tomorrow I will introduce you to some resources to help you implement biographies in your life.
To begin with, if you do not read biographies (or anything much) together as a family, you will want to start with exciting and short ones. We often read entire short biographies (i.e. 100-150 pages that maybe take six hours aloud) over a period of time, but you might do better starting out with biographical compilations rather than full length biographies.
Who to read about? We love godly heroes (Jim Elliot, William Borden, Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham, Joni Ereckson Tada, Brother Andrew, Amy Carmichael, Corrie ten Boom, Mary Slessor, Gladys Aylward, etc.). We also love heroes of history. We are currently reading people from the Civil War era, including Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, and Clara Barton. (When my older kids were little, their two cats were named Clara and Florence after Clara Barton and Florence Nightengale!)
You can also use dvd’s to introduce your family to heroic people. True life movies are a good way to get your kids interested in people who did great things (like “The Hiding Place” about Corrie ten Boom) or “Cross and the Switchblade” about Nicky Cruz). Animated movies/programs are excellent for introducing little kids to heroic characters. Our favorites are NEST. (See link below.)
As for audios, Adventures in Oddysey has radio programs that are just historical in nature (i.e. volume of nothing but historic people and events) as well as ones that are just Bible characters. Talk about a fun family way to learn about godly people and heroic deeds! (Great for car trips!)
You don’t have to be a homeschooler to teach your children via godly heroes. Make your “mandatory three or four dinners together” end with a chapter out of a biography. Or use audio biographies (or Adventures in Oddysey historical or Bible programs) while you are cleaning dinner together. Make a Sunday reading hour in which you read a short biography about a godly hero and discuss it.
Tomorrow I will gather some links and resources of dvd’s, audios, and biographical compilations to get you started! Have fun expanding your kids’ heroes while reading, listening, and watching together!
by Donna | Nov 7, 2010
Our friends at Graham Family Ministries recently published a list of free audio books—and the Reishes LOVE audio books. In the past three weeks, Josiah (15) and Jacob (12) have listened to no fewer than eighteen full length Sugar Creek Gang books on cd! Yep, we love audio books!
I have not used the links below, but Sherry always sends great stuff, so I’m sure there is something there for everybody. Happy listening!
Books Should Be Free – https://www.booksshouldbefree.com/
Free Classic Audio Books – https://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/
Audio Treasure – https://audiotreasure.com/
Free Christian Audio Books – https://www.freechristianaudiobooks.com/
Lit2Go – https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/
ReadPrint – https://www.readprint.com/
Many Books – https://manybooks.net/
Storynory – https://storynory.com/
Classic Book Library – https://classicbook.info/
by Donna | Oct 25, 2010
One of the things that I have utilized more and more for my children in the past five years or so is educational dvd’s. I used to be extremely strict about kids “watching” things during the day. And I still am when it comes to entertainment videos. We have always taught our children that the day is for work and learning; and evenings (if our work is finished and we have time) can be used for relaxation. However, I have been using a huge library system in a nearby city (Fort Wayne, Indiana) and have been loving all of the educational videos they have.
I use them in different ways—assign two per week for Jakie for school; assign the boys to watch one any day that I am going to be gone much; let them choose to watch one during the day if their work is finished; etc.
I will share some that we have enjoyed below:
Elementary or younger kids—I have three favorites here, though there are many others such as Reading Rainbow, historical animated ones, etc.:
1. Magic Schoolbus—these are pure genius, in my opinion (as are the books). Kids are entertained while learning a ton. They are recommended for ages four to eight, but it is rare for my eleven year old to be watching one that one of us “olders” doesn’t stop to watch a bit too! Check them out at https://store.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchEndecaCmd?storeId=10052&searchTerm=magic+school+bus+dvd&catalogId=10051
2. Answers in Genesis creation science dvds for kids—I have reviewed Answers in Genesis materials earlier this year, but in addition to their outstanding books, they have awesome children’s dvds and lectures for older students. (What child doesn’t love to learn about dinosaurs??) I have reviewed these earlier this year as well. This is my number one educational video choice for three to ten year olds—Bible, history, etc. Extremely well done. I especially recommend the “Children’s DVD Pack.” https://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/catalog/57-Years-Old,188.aspxNEST
3. NEST videos–see older post about this:
Middlers and older:
1. Answers in Genesis lectures and dvd’s—Your older kids will love Ken Ham’s accent—but it’s the content that you will be thrilled that they are getting. Answers in Genesis dvds can help you counteract all of the “evolution” teaching and references that abound. All dvds for this age: https://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/catalog/1214-Years-Old,190.aspx Ken Ham lectures: https://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/Answers-with-Ken-Ham-12-part-DVD-series,4722,229.aspx
2. Drive Through History— Extremely interesting way to learn more about US history! https://www.drivethruhistory.com/
3. Modern Marvels—the boys have recently gotten hooked on these programs (which I think are on television as well). Our library has a lot of these, and since they are educational, they are available for the same length of time as a book, so we always have several on our shelves for the boys to choose from when they want to watch something educational. https://shop.history.com/?v=history_show_modern-marvels
by Donna | Oct 11, 2010
Our family ministry and publishing company publishes (and my older kids and I write) language arts and composition books for homeschools and Christian schools. One of our product lines is “Character Quality Language Arts,” a complete language arts program for second through twelfth grade students. In this program, we have a vocabulary section entitled “Definition Dissection” in which we teach students to figure out vocabulary and comprehend text better through six comprehension techniques (known as “Definition Dissections”).
To make a long story short, some chapters of our Teacher’s Guide for this program are available at our website, and, in particular, the vocabulary packet that goes with the program is available there for free.
I wanted to list it on this blog as many students are preparing for SAT and ACT exams this time of year—and the Definition Dissection packet is excellent preparation for the vocabulary and comprehension sections.
Feel free to print this document off and use it with your kids—work through all six strategies to help your kids learn how to unlock unfamiliar words and difficult text.
You can view this document along with several others in our CQLA Teacher’s Guide.
