Posted by Cindy on November 24, 2010
Another field trip bites the dust. More than a simple field trip, though, this one was life changing! The National Missionary Convention was held this past weekend in Lexington, and because our church registered, we were able to attend for free. You know me and field trips, I wasn’t about to pass up a free ticket into such an exciting event. Little did I know that I would come home with a such a rejuvenated Spirit and a renewed heart for missions.
Tens of workshop choices and hundreds of missions booths left us both filled up and worn out at the same time. We were filled up with such a passion, vision and resolve, yet worn out by the fact of our continual fight against the devil in this world. The two workshops I chose to attend were about our battles with eastern religion quietly finding its way into Christianity, and the fight against the huge and devastating pornography/s*x trafficking business.
One thing was so evident – in each workshop, at every booth and in every face – everyone knew without a doubt that God is on our side and we will not lose in the end! Praise God!
We had such an amazing time Friday that we took my husband back on Sunday for their closing worship service. An awe-inspiring message by Barry Cameron and wonderful concert by the Martin’s were only topped as we witnessed over a hundred people come before God to dedicate their lives to the mission field!
Even if God never calls me to go into what most people would consider the mission field, I know He can (and does) still use me mightily here in my own community and in my own family. Join with me in praying for ourselves as missionaries – either at home or abroad. Pray for missionaries who are in areas of our world where they might be in danger. Pray that God will raise up an army of missionaries to take His Word into the world to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
Downtown Lexington with Rupp Arena in the background
A view from one of the very busy vendor halls
A missionary to Native Americans sharing the culture with us
One of many booths from missions our family or our church have supported
The coolest find - waterproof Bibles!
The Martin's singing at the Sunday worship service
Posted by Cindy on April 30, 2010
Classical Academic Press was so kind to offer me their God’s Great Covenant: Old Testament 2 Bible curriculum for review. I could’ve chosen the first in the series, Old Testament 1, but decided on the second book because it covers the Bible from Samuel to Malachi. I don’t know about you, but I don’t find too many Bible curricula covering that period of the Bible from start to finish.
We’re already several lessons in and I just couldn’t wait to give this product the thumbs up!
Anyone who knows my teaching style knows that I appreciate historical sequence. It makes sense to me that Bible history and world history are taught in chronological order so that connections can be made and mental pictures drawn. I’ve completed many varied Bible curricula and historical fiction books that teach Genesis through Moses fairly well, but I have yet to find something really good for the times following Israel entering the Promised Land.
Up until now, the main product we used was The Child’s Story Bible
by Catherine Vos along with The Victor Journey Through the Bible
. Both are awesome, by the way! But, God’s Great Covenant: Old Testament 2 has given me the workbook study feel that I was looking for.
(Yes, I know, most of the time you hear me say I DON’T want a workbook! Remember that I find value in all sorts of education – even workbooks within reason. And we have never completed anything “workbook-like” with this section of the Bible, so it was time. 
)
Student Key Facts Page
Here’s a quick overview of of God’s Great Covenant: Old Testament 2
- It’s written for children 3rd grade or older.
- It comes with a Student Notebook and a Teacher’s Guide. The Teacher’s Guide includes everything just the same as the Student Notebook with additional teaching notes and answer keys. The additional notes are very helpful and there are plenty of places for you to keep your own notes, too.
- Lessons move along chronologically.
- Each lesson includes a nice-sized synopsis of the Bible text (2-3 pages), or you can choose to read directly from the Bible – the references are included.
- Each lesson includes a key Bible verse, key facts & vocabulary that you will need to know about the lesson, and a key question to consider about the lesson.
- After reading through the lesson and the things mentioned in the bullet above, 2-4 worksheets follow that help your child review the material learned. From the Bible reference and the key facts/vocabulary page, several small sections of questions and fun games are derived. Your child will complete fill-in-the-blank activities, matching, multiple choice, mazes and word games. The worksheets always end with a short activity for your child to look up additional verses in the Bible that relate somehow to the Bible lesson.
Student Workbook Page
The back of the book provides lots of wonderful helps and charts for you and your child. You’ll find:
- A Memory Verse Summary for each of the five units, which you can choose to copy and post if you like.
- A Pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament guide that makes connections about how the Old Testament was continually pointing to the need for and the coming of Jesus as our Savior.
- Two charts that help you understand the Psalms and Proverbs.
- Charts showing the Kings and Prophets.
- A brief summary about the time period between the Old and New Testaments.
- A thorough glossary.
- Four very clear and helpful gray-scale maps.
- Two additional pages of review worksheets for each lesson should you choose to use them.
Teacher's Guide Page
Five units each have 6-7 lessons. The lessons are meant to take one week each to complete, but we were able to complete most in 1-2 days. If you take your time with the book, it can last an entire school year. (I don’t meander around with much. 
) Lesson units include:
- The Early Kingdom…The God Who Anoints
- The Glorious Kingdom…The God Who Blesses
- The Divided Kingdom…The God Who Reigns
- The Remnant Kingdom…The God Who Judges
- The Exiled Nation…The God Who Rescues
You will need one workbook per child since there are no rights given to copy the pages within your homeschool. Oh, and I’m still using The Victor Journey Through the Bible alongside this study. It goes along perfectly with the lessons and gives an extra visual understanding that I feel is important for cementing the information. Quite simply, we read the God’s Great Covenant lesson then open The Victor Journey Through the Bible book to see if there is anything we might like to see or read. It only adds a couple of extra minutes to the lessons.
My children have enjoyed our Bible time as they look forward to the “fun pages”. See what can happen when you limit workbook time? Your children start to call them fun pages!
Posted by Cindy on February 16, 2010
Boys are curious creatures if you ask me. One day I think I’ve got mothering boys down, and the next day I realize I have no clue! They want different things than girls – they need different things than girls. One thing I’ve seen in both of my boys, as compared to my daughter, is the need for independence. They both want to do things their way, feel like they’ve made the decisions and done the work, and feel as if their efforts have reaped wonderful fruit.
The problem – they aren’t quite ready for all this independence yet…
This is the start of a review I wrote at The Curriculum Choice. Click here to read the entire review.
Posted by Cindy on August 11, 2009
On Sunday nights at church, I teach a Kidz Group class for children in 1-5th grades. Right now, I have only little boys in the class. What better way to catch their attention than to talk about dinosaurs! Dinosaurs and church?? Of course! Dinosaurs are a great topic for teaching the authority of the Bible as compared to evolutionary teaching. And for children, dinosaurs are one of the biggest “hooks” public schools use to disprove Biblical authority.
Just how do you educate yourself on the truth of the Bible vs. what the evolutionary world believes? It’s really as simple as children’s books! There are so many wonderful children’s books available now that teach Creation vs. evolution. And not only do they educate your children, they educate you as well! I’ll include just a few dinosaur themed books here and if you’re interested in me posting more wonderful creation-based children’s books, just let me know.
Some of these are more in-depth than others. If you’re hoping for a simpler book, I would suggest What Ever Happened To Dinosaurs or D is for Dinosaurs. The others are more detailed and best suited for upper elementary and above.
