CHRISTEPHI

Every year we add at least one new book to our Christmas book collection.  This year it was this book, M is for Manger , by Crystal Bowman and Teri McKinley. It's almost too young for my kids, but then, are you ever really too old for sweet rhymes and gorgeous illustrations? About the Book Travel through the alphabet with this beautiful rhyming storybook that tells the story of Jesus’ birth. Begin with the angel who tells Mary that she is God’s chosen vessel and follow along until you reach the zillions of stars that paled in comparison to the star that announced the birthplace of the newborn King. Beautifully illustrated and written, this book will be a classic for parents to read to their children every Christmas season. M is for Manger Written by  Crystal Bowman and Teri McKinley Illustrated by Claire Keay ISBN:  978-1496401953 Publisher:  Tyndale House Publishers 64 pages What I Thought M is for Manger is a very sweet book fo...

It has been a very long time since I read a book for pleasure.  I read with the kids, I read for the kids (i.e. parenting & homeschooling books), but rarely a book for pleasure.  In fact, the last time I did was (oh, this is embarrassing) about a year ago when I read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. So when I got the chance to read a Christian fantasy novel for review, I decided it was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up. I didn't realize it when I first started, but Beneath the Forsaken City is actually Book Two in the Song of Seare series.  Having not read the first book, Oath of the Brotherhood , didn't slow me down a bit.  I was able to jump straight into the story and follow along without any trouble.  Although clearly I might have had a better understanding of the characters had I spent time with them in the first book. About the Book A Storm on the Horizon. A Brotherhood Scattered.   Conor and Aine have barely escaped...

My daughter is nothing like me.  Her personality is her very own!  Even her taste in books differs greatly from mine.  When I was her age, I didn’t care a fig for non-fiction books.  I specifically remember looking at the Children’s Non-fiction Section at the public library and thinking how boring it was.  (I did, however, borrow every Alexander Key book the library had over and over and over again). Miss M, on the other hand, shows no discriminatory tendencies toward non-fiction.  In fact, she adores the  Who Was...  series of books and has asked for specific titles on more than one occasion.  Rosa Parks, Helen Keller, Martin Luther King, Jr., even J.K. Rowling!  So when I had a chance to review  Jesus  from the Get to Know series by Nancy I. Sanders, I just knew it would be a hit! About the Book "Jesus  - part of the Get to Know series - is a unique biography about Jesus, the Son of God. Focusing on th...

This time of year many people begin to celebrate the Advent of the Christ.  My kids love the activities, the calendar, the Christmas books, and the pageantry of it all. But yesterday I asked them why we celebrate Advent. Why is Christmas different from any other famous person's birthday? And what  was  the message the angels gave to the shepherds anyway? Our celebration of Advent is the simulation of the waiting, the longing for, the intense anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.  Christmas is more than just "Happy Birthday, Jesus." It's the fulfillment of that long-ago promise by God to send the Seed, a Savior to the world.  The angels didn't say, "Dudes, check out the cute tyke that was born tonight!"  No, they announced: Unto you is born this day a Savior, the Messiah, the Lord ! Babies are born every day of the year, but this was a special birth. This was the birth of the long-awaited Seed promised to Adam, the Messiah who cam...

Okay, let's cut to the chase on this one. This book is AWESOME! I love it. You will too. So go buy it! The end. What? You think I should tell you why it's so awesome? Okay, fine. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. It's based on Scripture. It has the most gorgeous illustrations. I'm a total sucker for books with excellent artwork. It is meant to be shared by parent and child. Cuddle time! It helps little kids learn their ABCs. Each page has a picture of God's creation that begins with the letter featured on that page. The name of the plant or animal pictured does not appear anywhere on the page, leaving room for the reader's intelligence. I've been known to hug books that treat their readers as intelligent beings. The creature from the previous page can be seen in the background of the next page. I adore details like that! It helps kids identify both the capital and lowercase forms of each l...

As a child it never occurred to me to ask deep questions about life and God and the Universe. I was content to marvel at Nature and appreciate its beauty without asking many questions about how things worked or where they came from. So when my six-year-old comes asking questions like: "Why am I here? What am I here for? How do I know I am really me?" I'm completely flabbergasted! When she recently began asking questions about how we know there really is a God, I pulled out a brand new book from Apologia Press called How Do We Know God Is Really There? How Do We Know God Is Really There? Written by Melissa Cain Travis Illustrated by Christopher Voss Published by Apologia Press ISBN: 978-1-935495-96-3 Price: $16.00 Sample pages This wonderful book by Melissa Cain Travis is designed to answer the question of God's existence in a way even small children can understand. It is the first in a new series of picture books that will introduce kids to the answers to import...

What is Ooka Island? Ooka Island is an adventurous computer game that teaches early literacy to kids from Pre-K to 2nd grade.  It's fun and engaging without making any sacrifices on the academic side of things. "Upon arrival on Ooka Island, children customize their own online avatar and embark on a compelling 3D hero-mission to save the Ooka Elves! As young learners follow the Ooka Island Adventure, they travel on their own unique path created by Ooka Island's READirect learning algorithm.  This ensures that they are on the fastest track to reading success!" A Bit of Backstory Ooka Island is based on the work of Dr. Kay MacPhee who developed a successful program for struggling and reluctant readers in the 1990s.  Her program, then known as SpellRead, was the subject of many intensive studies because of its effectiveness, but it was quite expensive.  It became an exclusive product for either the poorest of the poor (by way of government sub...

The motto of our homeschool is: " Learning to Love to Learn ."  One of my overarching goals as a homeschool mom is to teach my kids  how  to learn. I believe that if they know how to acquire and retain information, they will be able to do anything they set their hearts on, both as children and as adults. Veteran homeschool mom Debra Bell believes this too and that is one of the reasons she created The Ultimate Homeschool Planning System.  The Ultimate Homeschool Planning System is more than just a planner , it's a SYSTEM.  There's the mom's planner, the teen planner, and a younger student planner.  The system is designed to grow with your students, teaching them to take on more and more responsibility for their daily/weekly planning, scheduling, and time management.  As early as 3rd grade, students can keep a little checklist for each day detailing what they need to get done.  By the time they're in 5th grade they're able to b...