Journaling through the Bible: Listen to the Teaching of God

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Sometimes I feel that life has a way of encouraging me in the most unusual ways. I had previously marked off pages 824-825 in my NKJV Beautiful Word Bible from Zondervan with an index card for some reason. There were no notes on the pages. So, I am unsure what verse was speaking to me. Why did I put an index card at this point in my Bible?

When I was seeking wisdom and guidance because something was troubling me, I turned to these pages – finding the index card. Isaiah 28 was speaking to me. The one heading in particular – "Listen to the Teaching of God" – jumped out at me. Wow! This is what I needed and wanted. I wanted to listen to the teaching of God. I craved His advice and wisdom.

Just what was wrong? I have come to a point where I questioned what movies I want to watch at this point in my life. I have already begun veering away from horror movies (not that I was really interested in movies with lots of blood and gore) and other R-rated movies just by my own choice but now even movies I thought were okay were troubling me. So much inappropriate symbolism that I had previously not seen, had not understood, or had ignored until my eyes were opened. I have to stop and think what DVDs do I want to get rid of off my shelves? What does God want me to do? What does God want to direct me to do?

"Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my speech.
Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow the black cummin
And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows,
The barley in the appointed place,
And the spelt in its place?
For He instructs him in right judgment,
His God teaches him."

Isaiah 28: 23-26

The verses are also about a plowman but God gives us all advice. I do not think this advice is meant just for a farmer. I need to prepare my own soul. God will instruct me in right judgment. So while it hurts that I am discovering the dark side of entertainment, I know that I will be better for letting go and moving away from works that focus upon evil.

Book Club: Dear Mr. Washington

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If you are looking for a fun book to read to your children about George Washington, the painting of his most famous portrait by Gilbert Stuart, and manners, look no further than Dear Mr. Washington written by Lynn Cullen and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter.

The story tells the fictional account of how George Washington smiled for his portrait sitting by Gilbert Stuart. Three of Stuart's children and the dog and cat act poorly while Washington visits for his painting causing great aggravation to Stuart and his wife. Washington sends a book of manners to the children. Dear Mr. Washington contains several of these rules (ten to be exact). The book that Dear Mr. Washington references is Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, which Washington copied out himself as a boy.

Rules According to George Washington

Reviewing the rules provides a great opportunity to review rules and good manners with your own children.

1. Not showing off
2. Not running
3. Do not stuff your mouth
4. Do not chew your nails
5. Do not try to know others' business
6. Do not laugh at another's misfortune

You can read the entire book by George Washington on Gutenberg.org or purchase a copy for your family. If you want to hand a few out in your house, please find three here.

Over the years, our family has studied George Washington a number of times, created a hat fit for the General, and visited Washington Crossing State Park. If you want to learn more about George Washington, I also wrote a Blogging Through the Alphabet post.

Timeline

A great way to learn more about someone is to create a timeline of important events in their life. Depending upon the age of your children, they may want to include more or less details. I created a very simple template to create a timeline of the life of George Washington or even the painter, Gilbert Stuart. Click Here!

Create a Portrait 

Have your children create a portrait of a member of the family, a pet, or their favorite plush just like Gilbert Stuart created of George Washington. Perhaps they won't have as many distractions as there were in the book!

Book Club: Book Review of Jesus Rose for Me

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Jesus Rose for Me: The True Story of Easter is a beautiful board book detailing the events in Jesus' life from his entry into Jerusalem to his Resurrection. Jared Kennedy's text is large and jumps out amidst clear and colorful illustrations by Trish Mahoney.

Our four-year-old daughter really enjoyed reading about the people welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem and praising Him as their king. With the illustrations of the Pharisees, she easily understood that they were jealous of Jesus and did not praise him.

The board book could be divided into four sections or chapters:

• Jesus Rides into Jerusalem 
• Jesus' Last Supper
• Jesus' Dies for Us
• Jesus Lives

At the start of each section, the scriptural references are listed. This is helpful if you wish to read the Bible with your children. I appreciate this detail so we can take the story back to its heart – the Bible. 

Both our daughter and six-year-old son were intrigued by the illustrations and throughout Jesus Rose for Me they related to the different parts as they recalled precious Bible lessons. I really love books that bring things together for our children.

I love how Kennedy brought the whole story together reminding readers at the end that "Jesus rose for me!" What a fantastic message for our children. The true story of Easter readily explains that Jesus is more powerful than death. As a Beginner's Gospel Story Book for ages three to seven, Jesus Rose for Me really presents the Resurrection of Jesus beautifully. 

I would recommend Jesus Rose for Me to families looking for more than just jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. It is a beautiful board book that shows just who Jesus was through His last week. I can easily see us reading it all year long.

Finding The Fun in Homeschooling: Adding a Puzzle into your Chemistry Course

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this puzzle from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Our family had the opportunity to review a new item from Timberdoodle – 1000-Piece Periodic Table Puzzle. This year, our teen studied chemistry in our homeschool so I thought this puzzle would be a great way to spend time together as a family and review what our son had learned in his course.

The Periodic Table of the Elements Puzzle is made in the United States from recycled materials. When you are finished, it will measure 24" by 30". The pieces are die-cut. So, they do fit together smoothly. When you open the box, you will find a poster that shows you exactly what the puzzle will look like when completed and a plastic bag containing the 1,000 puzzle pieces.

All the pieces were in the bag! I know sometimes pieces can be missing with puzzles but not in this case.

We took turns passing around the poster as we were putting together the puzzle.

It took our family of five about two to three hours to put the puzzle together. For most of the time it was myself and our teen working on the puzzle with our six-year-old and four-year-old helping (they were trying to organize puzzle pieces by color). By the mid-way point, my husband joined in to help us and he took over putting together the title (Periodic Table of the Elements) which I was struggling with due to the fact that I could not figure out which way was up on the letters. I then progressed to working on the left side of the puzzle, while our teen continued putting together the entire bottom of the puzzle.

How Could One Use the Puzzle in Their Homeschool? 

Why include a puzzle in your homeschool day? I think there are a number of ways in which you could use this great puzzle that is part of the curriculum offered by Timberdoodle.

I can easily see students who are studying chemistry using the puzzle at the beginning of the semester as an overview to the periodic table. As they complete the puzzle, they will be able to get an introduction to all the new things they will be learning.

What happens when something you had planned as part of your chemistry curriculum goes wrong? When a chemistry experiment does not go as planned, this might be a nice way to regroup and have fun. You can even ask your child to work on the puzzle while you try to 'fix' the experiment or get together the supplies you need to try again.

Sometimes you think you have all the supplies at hand but you don't. If you can't find the materials you need for an experiment, working on the puzzle together would be a fun way to spend the time you allotted to science that homeschool day.

At the end of the course, the puzzle is a perfect review. This is really how we used the puzzle with our homeschooling teen. He had already completed his requirements for chemistry this year. So, this puzzle was a really nice way for me to see that he had learned a lot more than was seen through notes, quizzes, and tests.

All three kids putting in the last piece to the puzzle.

What Do We Think? 

I would recommend the Periodic Table of the Elements Puzzle to homeschooling families whether or not your children are studying chemistry. It is an interesting puzzle and I admit to wanting to learn more about the elements after having completed the puzzle with my family. Even our younger children, who have never completed a puzzle of this size, enjoyed the experience.

I think it is a well-manufactured puzzle. I think it will last through many adventures of putting it together and then taking it apart for the next time. My only problem with trying to put it together was with the spaces where there was a lot of white space (like the text: Periodic Table of Elements) but my husband easily took that part over for me. Once I started working on the elements I found it a challenge but not an overly difficult one.

This was the part of the puzzle I was struggling with so I was very happy when my husband took it over.

I love how each piece had a picture example with a small explanation.

Our teen's thoughts: "I enjoyed putting it together. One should probably be at least 10 to complete it, as it is quite large. The different colors made it easy to figure out which pieces went where and the symbols for each element also made it easier."

Timberdoodle includes great products as part of their curriculum kits and this puzzle is just one of the many awesome resources available to homeschooling families. I highly recommend checking out Timberdoodle and the 1000-Piece Periodic Table Puzzle.

Creating Magic with Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you. 

This homeschool year, our first grader is studying astronomy. So, we were very excited to add in some fun and creativity with Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos. We had the opportunity to review this product thanks to Timberdoodle. They offer curriculum kits which contain a variety of learning materials including puzzles, games, and arts and crafts. 

If you are looking for an arts and crafts activity that does not require anything outside of the box that it arrives in, then the Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos kit might be a good fit for your family. Everything you need is provided in the box. 

What Do You Get? 

The Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos kit is packaged in a sturdy box (that is a little difficult to open) and contains the following:

• One instructions page

• Eight sheets with stars, planets, rocket ships, alien ships, and more to create your designs 

• Ten foil sheets (2 purple, 2 gold, 3 red stars, 3 silver stars) 

• Twelve sheets with the start of a design printed on them

• A small folder in which you can keep the images and foil

How Did We Use Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos in Our Homeschool? 

With it being spring break week for us, the Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos kit was a nice way to still talk about our astronomy course while having fun. After breakfast, I sat down with our six-year-old first grader to begin creating his first images using the 'magic glue' and 'magic transfer' process to create 'magic' pictures. We laid everything out on the table to see what was contained in the kit and what his options were for creating pictures. 

After a slight hiccup (I was confused a bit by the instructions), our son created two fun pictures in about 30-45 minutes. He examined the four different options as bases for his creations and then began looking through the eight sheets to pick which images he wanted to transfer onto his picture. There are a great number of options from a variety of stars, rocket ships, planets, and astronauts. 

After picking which image to transfer, I separated it from the sheet (they are perforated and quite easy to separate). He then transferred the image. Next he picked the color foil he wished to use and I pressed the foil onto his picture. 

What Did We Think? 

The materials are all well-made and very intriguing to use to create scenes set in the cosmos. I was a bit frustrated with the instructions because they contain no text. Personally, I need text to help me figure out how to do things. So, I am sad to say I messed up the first image that our son wanted to use because I did not understand that you needed to place the plastic part onto the picture.

Picking out which shapes to use.

Our six-year-old son really enjoyed the creativity that the Artistic Patch kit afforded him. He was able to pick from eight different sheets of a variety of images to create his final picture. He said that you can see the shape under the clear plastic and see how it changes as the shape becomes attached to the paper. He said he liked the actual transferring of the images. He felt that because you had to transfer the images using the 'magic glue' it was more of a craft than just putting stickers onto a page.

I also like the fact that the kit is not just stickers. The finished product looks so nice since you use the foil pages to make the image appear. My only concern is that as we use more and more of the foil, I am afraid that it will be difficult to finish out the pictures. Will we have enough foil left?

Even with my concern and initial problem, I would recommend the Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos kit to families who are looking for a fun piece to add to their homeschool day. As the product is for ages 6 to 10, I think that elementary school-aged children will have a fun time using it. A six-year-old could do it by themselves but they might make some mistakes while older children could do it all by themselves quite easily.

The Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos is a fun inclusion in the First Grade Timberdoodle Curriculum Kit.