Our Birthday Boy

Tell me,  how did we go from this...

to this?

Happy 6th Birthday CJ! 

We love you and are so blessed to have you in our lives!

TOS Crew Review- Daily Dilemmas

 
    Christianity Cove is a wonderful publishing company that offers curriculum for Sunday Schools as well as home use, Bible games, crafts and more.  Recently we were given the opportunity to review Daily Dilemmas- 26 True-to-Life Devotions for Kids aimed at children ages 6-12.  These devotions cover what the publisher considers the 26 most common moral issues that kids face today.  The downloadable e-book is available for $29.00 and has a 60 day money back guarantee..    

Each devotion is divided into four parts.  First is the "scenario" that you read like a short story to your child.  Secondly, there are related scripture that you can look up.  Next comes a list of four possible scenarios for your child to rank from most appropriate Christian response to the least appropriate.  Lastly, there is a reflections section at the end of the book that helps guide a parent in initiating further discussion and guiding to the proper choice.  It talks about the pros and cons of each answer and then backs up with scripture why they think their particular first choice is the best.  This section is really intended to be read by the parent as a guide, but we ended up reading much of it to the kids, as it had a lot of details and continually referenced the bible.


 

 

The whys of devotions-

Devotions allow kids to experience moral dilemmas in a safe, secure environment, think about the "right" thing to do, and receive guidance from an experienced teacher or parent.

So when that challenging situation pops up in real life, they know exactly how to respond in a way that's consistent with their Christian values. (from the website)

 

I just had to include the above quote from the publisher because I think it sums up our need for devotions of this manner.  When we can teach our children not only what we believe, but also why we believe it and then EQUIP them to apply those beliefs to their every day life, then I think we are walking in the right direction. 

What we did and what we thought- 

Because our family already has a nightly family devotion time, this was super easy to add to our evening.  Each night my husband would read the scenario and the choices available.  Then each child would decide which one they thought was the "most appropriate Christian response."  Then, the heat was on!  Yes, it usually led to quite some heated and often lengthy discussions about what one should do versus what one would really want to do.  I will have to say, we did not always agree with the answers the publisher led you to.  Actually it wasn't that we disagreed, but there always seemed to be so much more you could add- and our kids always wanted to add the what ifs and what abouts!  I think at times it irritated them that our family had different ideas, but as we tried to point out to them, it WAS generating thought and allowing us as a family to decide how we felt and discuss what we believed and why.  That is, after all, the point of such a devotion book, after all!  I would have liked to have seen another label other than "the most Christian response", but that is just me splitting hairs about labels, I am sure.

 

One of the strong points of this book is that each scenario listed in the table of contents tells what situation it covers such as honesty, friendship, loyalty, responsibility and more.  I especially like this because I can see choosing to use a particular  devotion that may be applicable to a current situation in your child's life or focusing on a specific character trait you are trying to teach.  Another thing I really liked was that at the end of the book all of the scripture referenced are listed alphabetically by the books of the Bible.  After our current bible memory list, we are going to use this list for our family scripture memory work.   It is a pretty exhaustive list of verses that are very meaningful to kids at this age.

 

Our Bottom Line-

I think my kids had a hard time engaging in some of the scenarios because many were centered around public school life, I do think we benefited from the discussions many of the scenarios raised.  If you are looking for a place to start with family devotions and have kids in the 6-12 year old range, this may be a good way to get started.

 

 

   

Fun Friday- My First Born

Our first born. A pretty special girl.  Perfectionist, devoted, loving.  The child who cooks, cleans, encourages us to be healthier and encourages us to seek God with all our hearts.  Not the easiest toddler, but the easiest teen!  And now a college student excelling in all she does.  Yep, she is pretty special!

Where were you born?
First, I do not deserve the words mom wrote about me. Second, I was born in M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i.

What do you like about being the first born?
I had to think about this one.  I always wanted an older brother. =) I guess the opportunity to invest in my sibling and others.

How do you feel about your siblings getting to do things you were not allowed to do?  Go on,  just get it out of your system now! ;)
I think...I feel a wee bit...aggravated.  And yet, sorry for them.  For example, I was not allowed to watch the tv show "Arther" or drink soft drinks.  Colby does both.  (note from mom- He only does so on special occasions out, girlie!)  Poor child, corroding his mind...

What is your pet peeve?
Living in a dorm has revealed that I have more pet peeves then I had previously realized. (rest assured, I keep them to myself).  I think my biggest pet peeve is when people leave the sink a mess after using it.  Because then I feel compelled to clean it.

What is one of your favorite family memories?
I have no idea.  Seriously.  I guess any time the whole family is together, laughing and having fun.

Lest you think she is always serious! ;)
She is a pretty good nerf shot!

What is your favorite book besides the Bible?  And yes, just one!
The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom.  Hands down.  Every time I read it I am convicted of something new, or struck by an aspect of God's grace that I never considered.

What do you look for in a friend?
I do not know know that I look for friends, God seems to bring them to me and say "This one is for you."  But I find that my truest and closest friends are the ones who challenge me, seek the Lord and encourage me to do the same.  They aren't perfect, and neither am I.  We go through ups and downs, but my true friends love me anyway.  (And most of them
have a pretty good sense of humor.)

What is your favorite scripture?
That is not a good question, mom.  I do not have a favorite verse, it is impossible to choose. 

What led you to a Christian college?
God.  And I felt that it would be foolish of me, when offered the opportunity to spend several years learning about the Lord from professors who know Him personally and are committed to teaching truth, to turn it down. Where else can I acquire such a knowledge of the things of God and deepen my relationship with Him?  Not at a secular university.

What surprised you most about college?
The sheer amount of stress it causes me.  I know not everyone feels that way about college, but it stresses me out.  Sure I have fun sometimes, but mostly I am stressed.  Just my personality and need for excellence.  Needless to say, God and I chat about that often.

What do you miss most since going away?  Other than your amazing mom, of course.
The interaction with my family, and being understood.  It is always sad when I quote movie lines and no one quotes the appropriate line back (shout out to my Riley, who is amazing).  I did choose to go to a fabulous college that is slightly more conservative than I am, so I miss my music. =)

Give me three words to describe yourself.  Just three, please.
Christian.  Pioneer.  Ashton.

Anything else you want to tell us?  Now's  your chance...
I encourage you to seek the Lord, and to be open to His leading in your life.  My relationship with Him is the single most important thing in my life.  Do you have a relationship with Him?  If not, mom or I would love to talk to you about it.

I have been told that I am being too wordy, so I will stop now. =)
 -Ashton, or αστον  (my name in Koine ((Biblical)) Greek. Greek may or may not have((ok, it did)) contributed to the stress I talked about up there.)

Pop on over to read about our second princess!

TOS CREW Review- Math Mammoth

 

I have been using the same two math programs with my kids for the past 15 years.  Seriously!  So I have to tell you I got excited when Math Mammoth allowed us to review their Math Mammoth Grade 1 Complete Curriculum for CJ.  Sometimes you just need something different to jump start your learning.  Guess what?  I was not disappointed.

Math Mammoth actually offers several different options for learning.  Their Light Blue series, which we reviewed, is a complete curriculum for grades 1-6 .  Other books that they offer vary in ages and skills.   Each Light Blue series grade comes with two downloadable workbooks (over 250 pages of lessons), a worksheet generator, and tests and answer keys and bonus Soft-pack.   The first grade level covers addition and subtraction, whole numbers and placement up to 100, measuring length, geometric shapes, telling time and counting coins.  Living outside the United States?  An amazing bonus is that when you study coins in grades 1-3 there are pages covering Canadian, British, European, and Australian currencies as well.  How cool is that?  Also, instead of a spiral teaching style, Math Mammoth is mastery based, each chapter devoted to a particular concept, giving your child the opportunity to concentrate on the skill being taught.

How it works-

The 1st grade complete curriculum begins with a short Kindergarten review.  It quickly reviews skills like same and different, position words, writing numbers, counting and colors and shapes.  Then the 1st grade chapters begin.  Because these are considered "worktexts" there is not a separate teacher's guide.  Instead,  each chapter starts with an introduction and overview of what that chapter is about, along with helpful teaching hints, game ideas and suggested Internet resources.   The worktext pages are pretty self explanatory, but if there is any teaching that needs to be done, the explanation is right there on the page to be read and taught by you the parent.  Additionsl materials that Math Mammoth suggests you have in advance are a 100 bead abacus, a ruler and an analog clock.

What we did and what we liked-

 Because we had just recently finished Kindergarten with CJ, this review came at the perfect time to introduce 1st grade material to him.  I downloaded and printed out the first worktext and then for ease of use, bound it. There is no set recommended amount of pages to be done in each sitting, so we aimed for at least two pages each day.  I did find that occasionally a lesson was rather long and then we broke it up, but CJ has just finished Kindergarten so I think that once he has a few more months on him, this will not be an issue.   One of the things I really enjoyed about this curriculum was the range of activities and types of problems.  While it provides the needed repetition with a skill, it does so in different ways, thus allowing the student not to get bored.  Word problems are included at this level, as are "mental math", two skills that I know from experience are valuable to learn at an early age.  The worktext pages include colorful pictures and engaging problems that held CJ's interest and he seemed to look forward to our daily math time.
 

 

Costs-

For a year's worth of lessons, I am amazed at the cost of this program.  The full 1st grade down loadable program costs $34.00.  You can also buy the workbooks on CD or in printed form.   In addition, you may order the two worktexts for each grade separately if you are beginning in the middle of a year.

 

Don't know where to start?  Have your child take one of the placement tests and go from there!  Whether you need a complete math curriculum or just worksheets based on grade or even topic, I do not think you will be disappointed with Math Mammoth!

 

  Fellow CREW members had the opportunity to review Math Mammoth's other products and different grade levels.  I encourage you to check out the reviews!    

Conquering the Summer Bucket List

You may recall that we joined The Happy Family Movement and created our own Summer Bucket List.  With our move only 15 days away, we decided it was be deliberate or miss out on the fun.  We even decided how to document our progress.

Each item on our list is now highlighted on a 8x12 piece of paper to be displayed in our house.  (that part will have to wait 2 weeks)  Then, once a bucket list item is complete we will add a picture or two to that "banner" thus preserving the memories and giving us a visual of what we have accomplished.

Since we are moving to South Dakota, did I mention in under THREE weeks, we decided we better get started with our beach trip!  Can I confess that though my hubby and I both grew up in North Carolina and spent TONS of time at the beach, we had never gone to the Outer Banks?  I know, pitiful!  So with the help of some wonderful friends that loaned us their beach house for three nights, we were off.

SO. MUCH. FUN!

all pictures taken by ALP!

Really!  We could not have asked for better weather and as a bonus the Wright Brother's Memorial was practically right across the street so we got to take the kids there one afternoon as well.  Bonus!

There's a lesson for you...you never know when one bucket list item will lead to a surprise another one.

we'll put a little pin beside each completed item!