Reviewing T is for Tree: A Bible ABC from Reformed Free Publishing Association

Our children were very excited when T is for Tree: A Bible ABC by Connie L. Meyer from Reformed Free Publishing Association arrived in the mail. They love reading books and we love reading books grounded in faith to them. With our very first glance, we could tell this was a beautiful and unique ABC storybook.

From the back of T is for Tree: A Bible ABC:
"This alphabet book is a collection of Bible passages, short rhymes, and detailed illustrations designed to teach young children of their heavenly Father's almighty power and his faithfulness to fulfill the promises he makes to them as children of his covenant. Use this book to instruct your children in the truths of salvation for all of God's people and especially his littlest lambs."

Each letter of the alphabet features a short rhyme and a quote from the Bible along with a main illustration and a border that enhances the illustration. Personally, I really like the border illustrations as they can lead to so many wonderful conversations with children. For example, on the "B is for Bow" page, you and your child can point out all the different types of animals that might have traveled on Noah's Ark. From a badger to a newt, there is quite a variety of animals depicted.

Another page that contains a border illustration that I really like is that of "Q is for Quails." The repeating scrollwork reminds me of the wind mentioned in both the rhyme and the Bible quote from Numbers 11:31.

How We Use T is for Tree: A Bible ABC 

You might think this is obvious – we read it to our children – but in fact I used it to help create some crafts for our children. So in addition to reading it before nap-time and bedtime, we made several crafts based upon the images and ideas presented by the author, Connie L. Meyer.

K is for King 

This page shares a quote from Proverbs 21:1. Our children created their own letter K's with a crown fit for a king.

C is for Clouds 

This page provides an excellent opportunity to talk about God's mercy with a quote from Psalms. I copied out the rhyme from the book onto separate clouds and required our children to use their memory to put them in the correct order. After their pictures dried, I hung them up in our kitchen. I have overheard our son reading the clouds many times and this makes me very happy. He is learning about God every time he reads the rhyme! 

A is for Ants 

The very first page of the book provides families with the opportunity to discuss how God has given us the ability to be great even if we are small (like ants). I drew three oval-like shapes for the head, abdomen, and thorax of the ant. Then, I wrote the three lines of the rhyme on those pieces. Our children then glued the pieces in the proper order.

P is for Paths 

What a wonderful reminder for our children – to "pray for God to lead us." So important to walk on His path. For this page, I wrote down the rhyme on one set of stepping stones and the Bible quote on a second set. Our son and daughter had to follow along with the book and put them in the correct order.

What We Love 

One of my favorite parts of T is for Tree: A Bible ABC is the inclusion of the direct quotes from the Bible. It provides a perfect opportunity to introduce scripture and memorization of scripture to smaller children.

The quality of the book is wonderful. Unfortunately, our mail sometimes takes a beating en route and T is for Tree: A Bible ABC arrived in a package a bit beat up but the book was fine in its wrappings. The book has a very sturdy feel to it and the pages are quite thick (which should prevent any tears from our eager three-year-old). And when I first opened the book, it had that new book smell! All these details make me very happy to have T is for Tree: A Bible ABC from Reformed Free Publishing Association sitting on our bookshelf.

Our four-year-old son said his favorite page is "N is for Nest" while our daughter is in love with "S is for Stars." When we were reading the book last night, our daughter kept asking if we could do more crafts with each letter of the alphabet. For me that is a huge win in my book. It means she really likes T is for Tree: A Bible ABC.

We also found out the hard way that a little bit of water will not harm the book. I am not recommending spilling your drink on it but it survived sitting on a damp spot on our dining room table for about 15 minutes.

I find the only problem I have with T is for Tree: A Bible ABC is that due to its length it is difficult to read the entire book in one sitting. Our family read a few pages each time we picked up the book. One could read just the part that lists "P is for Paths" or "Q is for Quails" or even add the rhyme into a full reading of the book in one sitting. Our son though wasn't letting me skip any part of the book. He wanted to hear the rhyme and the Bible quote on each page which made it a lengthy read.

I would recommend T is for Tree: A Bible ABC by Connie L. Meyer to Christian families with children as young as two. While younger children would need parents to read the book to them, older children would be able to read it themselves. I think older children would also enjoy the illustrations. Personally, I know I have also found inspiration for Bible Journaling from some of the illustrations and quotation choices. 

For more information about Reformed Free Publishing Association please visit the following sites:

Website - Facebook - Twitter 

To read more from other members of the Homeschool Review Crew, please visit:

Journaling through the Bible: Thoughts of Peace

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

This past week I borrowed my daughter's new stamp set for my journaling attempts. I was also inspired by some of the quotes in David Jeremiah's God Loves You. 

And I started using my new journaling book that I got with some birthday money. And promptly spelling the third word wrong. Glad I wasn't doing this in my Bible but instead in a sketchbook. 

I linked up with the following blog(s):

B is for Bastet (Blogging through the Alphabet)

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

For the new "Blogging through the Alphabet" series, I thought I would focus upon a subject that I really love: History! In this post, I will share information and facts about Bastet. I will explore a different place, person, or historical event in history each week. I hope you will join me on the journey!

One of my greatest interests in history is Ancient Egypt. My love of Egyptology started with my Grandpop and Mom sharing their own love of it with me when I was young. My Grandpop would sit for hours in the dining room pouring over history books which included a collection of World War II and Egyptology books. Though Grandpop is now gone, I am happy to say that – between my own bookshelves and my mom's – we have kept all of his Egyptian History books.

Besides the pyramids, one of the things most people remember about Egypt is their worship of many different gods and goddesses. They had gods for almost every aspect of life – sky, childbirth, war, afterlife, judgement, and storms. Many of the these gods were represented as both a human and animal (or animal-headed human).

One of my favorite Egyptian goddesses to read about is Bastet. This is probably due to the fact that she is often represented as a cat. Her statues are often sleek cats made of bronze adorned with jewelry.

We can learn more about the temple, cult, and festival associated with Bastet by studying the town of Bubastis, which housed the Temple of Bastet, anf by reading the account of Herodotus, a Greek historian. He visited Bubastis in the 5th century BC and wrote of the town and the festival in which boats of men and women celebrated with castanets and flutes.

© Ulisse | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

Bastet may have been a local god but she was still important as she was regarded as a daughter of the sun-god. She went through many different incarnations from being shown with the head of a lion to finally being depicted as a domesticated cat. She was also honored as the mother of kings and was even listed in one of the spells in the Pyramid Texts: "My mother Bastet has nursed me."

There were also a number of cat cemeteries associated with Bastet. Mummified cats and bronze statues of Bastet could be found in the underground cemeteries as well as many fake mummified cats that have made their way to museums and private collections.

One of the activities I did when teaching about Ancient Egypt in a World History High School class was having my students create their own Egyptian gods or goddesses. I presented them with a selection of toy animals and a worksheet with questions that would guide them to thinking about what aspect of life their new Egyptian god would aid or control. They loved the creativity this allowed them. (Here is a link to a modified version of the worksheet my students used: Egyptian Gods and Goddesses.)

There are so many wonderful places, times, people, and events in history. I look forward to sharing more with you each week.

I linked up with the following blog(s):

Wordless Wednesday: Roadside America

Please excuse my using older photographs from a trip to Roadside America but I was recently reorganizing my online photos and rediscovered them. We are actually hoping to make a return visit this summer so our son can see it now that he is older and our daughter can see it for the first time. 

Update 2021: Sadly Roadside America has closed its doors and over the past several months has sold and auctioned its property. 

I joined up with the following blog(s): 

Reviewing MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS from PandaParents

Our family is reviewing MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS from PandaParents. We decided to primarily use the program with our daughter who turned three in mid-April. There is one course per month where children will read, watch, and create as they "discover the world with M.E.S.S.Y. Learning." We are reviewing an electronic version of their program so we have printed the necessary materials.

Each course has the same components

• Read the story
• Watch the story 
• Activity-time – using the workbook to create and learn

The activities included are meant to "build complex brain functions and fine motor skills" through the following: 

1. Story recall and thinking activities 
2. Reading, writing, and tracing 
3. Sequence and matching games
4. Counting, math, and writing numbers
5. Completing patterns, sorting colors, and shapes 

How We Are Using MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS

Our daughter has been eagerly asking each day to work on her 'school work' for her "bear program" as she calls it, like her older brother. We started out using the Christmas-themed book, videos, and workbook. This set focused upon the letter "J" - A Jolly Jingling Journey.

The book, which we read on our tablet, A Jolly Jingling Journey actually contains two stories: A Jubilant Surprise and An Epic Journey both featuring Davy, his pets, and Santa. In the first story, A Jubilant Surprise, Davy dreams of going to the North Pole and following signs to reach Santa's cabin. On the journey, children are introduced to a variety of words that start with the letter J such as jingle, jolly, Jet, jubilant, joyfully, and jump. In An Epic Journey, Davy and Santa travel to find the missing reindeer.

You can see a preview of the book here:

After reading the story, we watched the two videos that accompanied this lesson. In the first video, children are introduced to a Juggler who juggles candy canes that look like the letter "J." The second video is a retelling of the book – A Jolly Jingling Journey – and includes some of the activities that children will complete in the workbook such as the counting the reindeer.

Between reading the book and watching the videos, our daughter and I worked on the pages in the workbook. We did not work through it in order. Instead, I skipped around to try to do activities I felt she could do more easily at first and then we tried completing some of the worksheets that would be more difficult for a young three-year-old.







In the accompanying video, I flip through some of her completed worksheets for A Jolly Jingling Journey workbook.

We have also started working our way through a second month's lessons that focus upon Scotty the Skunk and the letter "S." In this story, our daughter followed the journey of Scotty as he searches for a quiet home during the four seasons.

Some of the "S" words in addition to skunk that are used include scare, snow, smile, spring, splendid, and storm. The story enabled us to have a conversation about summer storms and lightning as poor Scotty is sleeping under a tree when it is struck by lightning and thunder wakes him with a loud boom.

Included in the Scotty Hears a Sound a Scary Sound workbook are similar activities to those in the A Jolly Jingling Journey workbook such as pages that address recall of the story and practicing tracing the letter. Another focus is the idea of home or habitat as Scotty spends the story looking for a safe place to live.

Another fun activity included in the Scotty Hears a Sound a Scary Sound workbook is a sailboat craft. Our daughter had a lot of fun using the various materials I gathered for her to build her own sailboat out of 2 triangles and a trapezoid.

In this video, I flip through some of the pages our three-year-old and four-year-old completed in the Scotty Hears a Sound a Scary Sound workbook.

What We Like 

Our daughter enjoys the videos immensely. In fact, as I was downloading and playing them for the first time, she came running over to see what was on my laptop. The sound really caught her attention. She loves talking about the different characters in them.

She also loves completing the worksheets from the workbook that accompany the book and video. We are using the two pages in the front of the book (the stickers) for some of the worksheets. She loves cutting and pasting the pictures and numbers. I think this is actually a bonus over the fact that we do not have the printed workbooks.

Everyday she asks me when she can work on her "bear program" or PandaParents. (She calls it both names interchangeably.) She loves that she can use our tablet to watch the videos and read the books.

We all like the:

• Colorful videos 
• Variety of activities through the workbook 
• Theme for each month's lesson 
• Inclusion of a variety of subjects - math, reading, writing, art, and science
• The flexibility that allows me to continue the lesson ideas beyond the worksheets provided 

Continuing a lesson on patterns from A Jolly Jingling Journey

Our Reservations  

The downside to not have the printed workbooks or storybooks is that we need to print everything or read it on the computer or tablet. The workbook and storybook are very colorful so if we were to print them in full color, we would use a lot of ink.

One of the pages from A Jolly Jingling Journey workbook

Even though the art style is not something I would gravitate to myself, our three-year-old daughter and four-year-old son are enjoying the videos, storybooks, and workbooks. I have to remind myself that my children and I will like different things and that is okay. So that is one lesson as a parent that I am taking away from reviewing PandaParents for myself.

• Need to print items ourselves – we lack a color printer so everything is black and white 
• Artwork is not necessarily my preferred style 
• Our daughter seemed to complete the workbook very quickly 
• No explicit directions to the parents – and I am someone who loves directions! 
• Portrayal of snakes as sneaky and scary – we love all reptiles in our house and I do not like perpetuating the myth that snakes are bad animals 

Our daughter is looking forward to completing Scotty Skunk Hears a Scary Sound and starting on Mommy's Baby lessons.

You can read more reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew!