Book Review – The Organized HomeSchooler

As the principal of the “School of Smooches,” I’m always interested in learning different ways to encourage both my wife and my children in their academic activities.  Even though it’s my wife who does 99.9% of the teaching (and more than earns her title of Director of Family Operations), I try to be on the lookout for ways in which I can help.  When I received Vicki Caruana’s book The Organized Home Schooler from Crossway’s Home School Book Review program, I was very interested in learning how we could be more organized.

In her book, Caruana goes over the importance of organization.  She points out areas where organization could be of benefit such as Thoughts (ch.3), Time (ch.4), Space (ch.5) Supplies and Materials (ch.6),  Paperwork (ch.7) and Family (ch.8).  The chapters dealing with supplies and paperwork contained the most practical information , offering advice on how best to file away your school items.  She offers good suggestions on keeping the organizational system simple (K.I.S.S.) and making sure to involve everyone.  If everyone isn’t on board, the system won’t be as effective.

Sadly, this is the extent of worthwhile nuggets from the book.  The vast majority of the book is spent trying to convince the reader of the importance of an organizational system and comparatively little amount of space actually being organized.  As I read through the book, I felt like saying “Ok, I get it.  You think organization is important.  Now where is the practical advice?”

The worst part of the book, however, was not the browbeating of “you need to be organized” but rather the spiritual implications the author made of NOT being organized and the complete misapplications of Scripture (such as her comments on Proverbs 31) in order to defend her view of organization.  According to this author, an individual who is “anxious, confused, full of despair, fearful, [and] even angry…[is] experiencing the consequences of a disorderly life.” (p.18)  Further, in one of the end-of-chapter Check Lists, Caruana states: “I realize that my children and the success of their homeschool experience depends upon my level of organization.” (p.20)  Caruana ties disorganization together with unbelief and simply not trusting God.  Still further, Caruana gives a list of reasons why someone might not be as organized as they could be in their schedules and in response to these reasons states, “If any of these statements or others like them describe your reaction to the word schedule, I suggest you prayerfully consider your motives for saying them.” (p.48)  Even a person’s choice of “escape” is targeted by Caruana’s misinterpretation of Jesus’ invitation to “come to me and I will give you rest.”  She says, “God asks that we come to Him for rest—not to television or the Internet or even a good book.  This isn’t to say that these things are off-limits, but don’t use them as an escape.  God is our refuge and strength.  When we choose to ‘veg out,’ we leave room for the enemy to corrupt our thinking.  So as you look to rejuvenate, focus on the things above by going to God’s Word.”  (p.108)  Trite comments like these abound throughout the book that the author does not expound on or explain just what this is supposed to look like.  Apparently, the organized homeschooler should only find “rejuvenation” in reading his or her Bible and praying, a concept that I find nowhere in Scripture.

Ultimately, while the book has a few things of value, they are so wrapped up in a warped view of Scripture as to not be worth the time trying to sift them out.  Many homeschool teachers are perhaps so stressed out about having the perfect schooling system, that for them to read this book that ties their spirituality to their lack of organization would certainly do more harm than good.  A much better book on homeschooling would be “Homeschooling for the Rest of Us” by Sonya Haskins.  (1/5 stars)

(Thanks to Crossway’s Homeschool Book Review program for providing a review copy of this book.)

Book Review – The Church History ABCs

Children’s books on church history are rare, good ones even rarer and ones that can appeal to all ages rarer still.  The Church History ABCs by Stephen J. Nichols and Ned Bustard is a children’s book that certainly falls into the latter category.  You would think that a book about church history would be geared towards older children and a book about ABCs would be to kindergarten-age children.  How then does Nichols and Bustard manage to quite successfully marry the two concepts?

Each letter of the alphabet features a prominent figure from the history of the church.  There are the more well-known ones such as Calvin, Edwards and Spurgeon.  But there are also some not-so-well-known people like John Donne, Hippolytus (“Let’s get one thing straight, my name is Hippolytus, not hippopotamus”), Tertullian, Vivaldi and Florence Young.  Each person is accompanied by a brief informational snippet about that particular person, written from his or her perspective.

The beauty of each letter/person is that every piece of information can stand on its own depending on the age of the children.  For instance: “’A’ is for apricot, apple and Augustine – Africa’s ancient bishop.”  That alone is enough to teach a younger student to associate a letter with a name as well as other common items such as an apple.  For the student that is a little older, the biographical information can be included.  For the more curious/able student desiring to know more, there is still further information about each person at the end of the book.

The real fun part, however, is in the illustrations and can probably be turned into a game of sorts.  Hidden in each illustration are clues about that person that will be answered either in the brief biographical sketch on the same page or in the fuller paragraphs at the end of the book.  For example, “A” is for apricot and apple, but why is there a pear on Augustine’s page?  What’s up with the heart John Calvin is holding?  Why on earth is Jonathan Edwards wearing an Indian headdress and eating chocolate?  Why is Spurgeon holding a sword and a trowel?  The subtleties in each illustration make discovering more “secrets” about that person all the more interesting.  (And don’t think we didn’t notice the cigars in Spurgeon’s pocket!)

This is an excellent resource for children of all ages to learn about great people God has used down through church history.  I’d give this book 6 out of 5 stars if I could.

(Thanks to Crossway’s Homeschool Book Review Program for the opportunity to read and review this book.)

Book Review – Homeschooling for the Rest of Us

I was homeschooled for the vast majority of my 12 years of school.  But it wasn’t until my wife and I started homeschooling our own children that I realized just how stressful it can be.  To put it simply enough, homeschooling can be intimidating.  This is a fitting point for me to stop and give a huge “thank you” to my parents for sticking it out.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

It’s fairly intimidating to know that you are responsible for your children’s education, and not just in the sense of making sure they do their homework before school the next day.  It’s knowing that you have to actually find the material they’ll need to study and then teach it to them.   With all the decisions that need to be made – what curriculum, if any, should we use? should we do school four days or five days of the week? what if we just can’t handle it? – making the decision to homeschool your children is an incredibly daunting prospect.

Sonya Haskins has written a very helpful and insightful little book, Homeschooling for the Rest of Us. The subtitle is a good indicator of what to expect: How Your One-of-a-Kind Family Can Make Homeschooling and Real Life Work. The key emphasis here is the “real life” part and is perhaps the best part about the book.  Haskins points out the stress that many families experience of living up to other’s – and sometimes even our own – unreasonable expectations of perfection.  Expectations like: our children must be the smartest kids in town, must be able to read by age 2, finished all literary classics by age 10, & understanding and calculating quantum physics by age 14 – all the while with a perfect, spotlessly clean house.  Instead of focusing on such unrealistic expectations, Haskins encourages the homeschooling family (or prospective homeschooling family) to first and most importantly develop positive parent-child relationships.  She also addresses the topic of routines, academics, extracurricular activities, and the seemingly all-pervasive concern of socialization.

Perhaps the one minor negative point worth mentioning are the sidebar quotes with letters other homeschooling families have written to Haskins.  While some readers might benefit from these, overall I found them distracting and not adding much at all to what Haskins had already said.  But on the other hand, my wife said this is one of the things she liked the most about book, reading about other families’ experiences.

I was very encouraged by Haskins down-to-earth approach.  As I read, I found myself reading bits and pieces to my wife until I finally said, “You should just read the book for yourself.  It’s quite good!”  She is over halfway through and completely agrees with my recommendation.  I am glad that we read this book close to the beginning of our homeschooling journey, receiving the benefit of Haskins wisdom.

(Thanks to Bethany House for providing a copy of this book for review purposes.)

Book Review – Mighty Acts of God

With the abundance of children’s Bibles and Bible story books, many of these books focus on the stories as wise lessons in morality.  A few highlight the overarching theme of redemption in Scripture.  But even fewer books focus on what each of these stories teach about the author of the book, God himself.  In Mighty Acts of God, Starr Meade attempts to take well known stories of the Bible and emphasize what each one teaches us about an attribute or characteristic of God.

Each story is roughly three, sometimes four pages long and is accompanied by colorful illustrations picturing what is happening in the story.  The stories are interpreted through the lens of reformed theology, each one containing a colored summary statement of that particular teaching.  At the end of each story is a box titled “As for me and my house” that gives parents ideas for further discussion with their children.

Perhaps the most helpful feature of the book is in the title of each story.  Each story opens with the title and then a subheading telling what we should expect to learn about God from that story.  It’s helpful knowing what to look for in a story from the start and watch for evidences of the main point.  For example, the story of God calling Abraham is subtitled “God Chooses People to Belong to Him;” the story of Jonah is subtitled “God’s Power to Save Has No Limits;” the story of how Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind is subtitled “God is the Supreme King over All Kings;” and the story of Paul’s conversion is subtitled “God Conquers His Enemies by His Grace.”

While the book’s target audience is elementary school-age children between four and ten, the book seems a little heady for the younger end of that spectrum.  Even though all children are different in their levels of understanding and comprehension, in general I definitely think this book is better suited to older children, perhaps ages 7 through 10.

In a market surrounded by man-centered tales of morality and sage advice, the concept of the book is needed and refreshing.  With this book, children can learn to look for what Bible stories teach about God himself rather than what earthly examples to follow in order to be good.  I would recommend this book.

(Thanks to Crossway for providing a copy of this book for review through their Homeschool Book Review Program.)

Blog Tour – I Love God’s Green Earth

Part of parenting is wanting to see your children grow in understanding, maturity and responsibility in how they deal not only with those around them but the things around them too.  We teach them to take care of their toys in order to get the longest life and enjoyment out of the toy.  The same is true for the world around us.  We want them to be responsible by not littering, helping to clean things up, etc.

In I Love God’s Green Earth, Michael & Caroline Carroll seek to teach about God’s creation and how to take care of it.  In 90 short “devotionals” they discuss things like how various parts of the earth work together, how natural disasters change the environment, how different sources of energy can be used, and concerns over animals that are facing extinction.  Each “devotion” includes a Scripture reference and application along with fun facts about nature, various activities that children can do and a few jokes thrown in for good measure.

The Carrolls do a great job of presenting various facts about Earth in a way that is simple and understandable to readers in the suggested 9-12 reading age.  They present many different aspects of taking care of Earth while not coming across as sounding environmentally “preachy.”  I especially appreciated the emphasis captured in the following paragraph:

“When some people do things for the environment, it is because they love the Earth.  This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not the whole story.  When Christians take care of God’s creation, we have an extra good reason: we do it out of love for our Father in heaven—the one ‘who made heaven and earth.’” (p.11)

The book seems to fit more into the category of daily science readings than “devotions” in the spiritual sense of the word.  While there are Scripture passages at the beginning of each reading and an application made, the applications often seem stretched beyond what the passage is saying.  But overall the book shows the importance of caring for the world around us all while giving great lessons in science.  I Love God’s Green Earth would make an excellent book to use for science lessons, especially for homeschooling families.

(Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for providing a review copy of this book.)

Book Review – The Big Picture Story Bible

Grasping the continuity of the Bible is difficult, even for adults.  It’s easy to read it as many separate stories, each one written to reveal something about God but not necessarily connected to one another.  But to view the Bible like this is to miss the “big picture,” the story line that is hidden in the pages, waiting to be discovered.  That story line is the Christ-centered story of redemption.

In The Big Picture Story Bible, David Helm and Gail Schoonmaker simply yet superbly tie together the major stories of the Bible and show how each of these stories continually point to the fulfillment of God’s promise of redemption.  The book begins with creation and the Fall, showing how Adam and Eve, who were once joyful in the fellowship of God, disobeyed.  But, even from the very beginning, “God gave Adam and Eve a hint that he would not always be angry with them.  God promised that one day someone would come and crush Satan’s power over people. But that day was a long way off.” (pp.48-49) Through the stories of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, the prophets and other, we continually read the reminders of God’s promise.  By the time you get to the New Testament, there’s a great expectation that surely something is going to happen and soon!  “What a very big day! What God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David had arrived in the birth of Jesus!” (p.256-257).  The book tells of Jesus’ ministry, his death, burial and resurrection.  It closes with another promise that Jesus would return again and that “God’s forever people will one day live in God’s forever place under God’s forever rule.” (p.450)

David Helm and Gail Schoonmaker take what is often simply told as individual Sunday School stories and writes the story of the Bible in such a way as to make it accessible to children. Each page is filled with colorful drawings that beautifully, yet simply illustrate what is happening.  The book does take a few liberties in describing some situations, like giving the background for why Caesar decided to count all the people in his kingdom.  Additionally, many details about Biblical events or stories are not covered, but are briefly mentioned, if at all.  But keep in mind that the purpose of this story Bible is to look at the big picture and, as a result, many smaller details or stories may not be mentioned.

Every family with young children should have a copy of this story Bible.  It certainly gave me a great reminder of how the Bible all fits together.  The Big Picture Story Bible is an excellent way to teach how the whole Bible is about God, how each story builds to the coming of Jesus and how even today, we wait for the final chapter to be written in the story of redemption.

(A huge “Thank you” to Crossway for providing a copy of this book for review through their Homeschool Book Review Program.)

Schooling for the birds

One of the nice things about homeschooling is that you get to do all kinds of cool projects or illustrations with your kids.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We study science in the evenings and lately we’ve been reading about birds. Now, generally birds are, well – they’re boring. No offense to all you feathered fowl out there, but you don’t really lead lives of mystery and intrigue.  At least, that’s what I used to think until I actually started reading about them with the munchkins.  But we’ve learned so many different things about birds, many of which are actually quite interesting.

For instance, Black Herons makes an umbrella shape with its wings, shading the water it wades in to help it look for fish.  (This is the bird of the “Nighttime, daytime!” infamy.  If you don’t know what I mean, check out this video. It’s hilarious.)  Flamingos aren’t born pink, but get this color from a natural chemical in its food.  In general, most female birds are a drab color to help camouflage it and protect it and her young from hunters.  A female Cuckoo will lay an egg in a Reed Warbler’s nest after dropping one of the Warbler’s eggs out.  When the Cuckoo chick hatches before the other eggs, it will shove the Warbler’s eggs out of the nest, even while still blind and naked.  The Reed Warbler feeds and takes care of the Cuckoo chick, thinking that the chick is its own, even when the chick outgrows the adult Warbler.  An owl can turn its head in almost any direction, even upside down!  And then of course there’s the many various and beautiful kinds of Birds of Paradise (like the neon smiley face one).

We’ve had a lot of fun illustrating various things about birds.  The kids curled up in a ball on the floor, pretended to “hatch” and then follow the first moving thing that they saw to learn about how goslings “imprint.”  We tried eating “fish” (a.k.a. marsh mellows) upside down like a flamingo.  We tried tossing up our fish and catching it in our mouths like a Snake Bird.  We tried flapping our wings in a figure eight movement like a hummingbird.  And we saw how much water a Pelican can hold in its pouch.  The videos below lets you join our class for this special project.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!