Bible Blueprints (Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Last year we shared about Bible Breakdowns from Teach Sunday School, and this year we are excited to share about their new product, Bible Blueprints. The Bible Blueprints are divided into Old Testament and New Testament.

What Are Bible Blueprints?

With-in the Old and New Testament sets, each page covers one book of the Bible. The page includes important information such as:

  • When it was written
  • Time period covered
  • Type of book
  • Number of chapters
  • Author

There is also a short one-paragraph overview of what that book covers.

Below that information is a guideline or blueprint of what is in the book, which breaks it down into more significant information sections. For example, 1 Corinthians is divided into three sections: Quarrelling and Resolutions, Advice on Eliminating the Sins of the Church, and Explaining the Spiritual Gifts. The author then goes on to give an explanation and overview under each of those headings.

How Can You Use Bible Blueprints?

These could be great to use in your homeschool to help students get a better understanding of the sequence and flow of the Bible. Sometimes students have difficulty understanding how it all fits together, and these pages can help them see it more in the big picture.

The Blueprints are also an excellent resource for your Bible study. You can use them before you dig into a particular book of the Bible to help you get a bit of context (what type of book, who wrote it, and when it was written) as well as an overview of what will be covered in the book.

I could also see them being a lot of fun used in a trivia or Jeopardy-style game with your students. They could help them memorize the authors, the location in the Bible, timeframes, etc., and then answer trivia questions about that information.

Teach Sunday School

Our Thoughts

We thought this was a great resource. I appreciated how it included the background information at the top to help you better understand the context of the book.

The layout was simple and easy to read while still being visually appealing. The use of different colors helped to make it easier to read.

I think Bible Blueprints would make a great Bible resource for any family, and anyone old enough to read could use them.

I encourage you to click on the graphic below to check out what other Crew Families thought about this resource.

Bible Overview

NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers Review

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

This review is a little different than many of the reviews that I share on the blog. Instead of reviewing a curriculum or book series, we are examining a particular translation and the formatting and information included in the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers from Zondervan.

I want to be upfront that I have been reading and studying the Bible since my childhood, I am very familiar with the Bible, but I also do not claim to be a Bible scholar. This review is my opinion as a Christian and a mother. It is also important to note that we hold the Bible in high esteem in our home and consider it the holy and inerrant word of God.

Layout and Formatting of the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers

The paperback version of the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers that I received to review is a full-color book that includes a bright and lively cover that both of my young sons found interesting.

The bulk of the print was black, but headings, chapter numbers, and other information were in different colors. I thought this was very helpful for teaching a new reader how to navigate the Bible. Colorful sections are included throughout the Bible with additional information, illustrations, and thoughts.

The beginning of each book of the Bible has a page that gives information about who wrote the book, when it was written, important events, etc. In addition, there are full-color pages sprinkled throughout with important information, such as a list of the Old Testament prophets, a list of the disciples, and a timeline of the life of Christ with scripture references.

Thoughts on the NIrV translation

When I looked over this translation and compared it with the translations that we traditionally use, I felt like it was a reasonably accurate translation of the Bible. There were times when I felt that other translations were more precise because of the more complicated language. However, I did not think that this translation for inaccurate or false.

The wording was similar to the New International Version (NIV), but many sentences were shorter, and simpler language was used. It was very appropriate for a beginning reader but not as precise as I would want for a study Bible.

How We Used the NIrV Adventure Bible for Young Readers

I decided to review this edition of the Bible because I have a seven-year-old who is just learning to read, and I thought it might be a good fit for him. He is not to the point in his reading that he could read the Bible independently.

The NIrV is on the third-grade reading level, and my son has an early second-grade reading level. 

He enjoyed spending some time looking over the Bible, looking at the pictures, and decoding what he could. We also used this Bible when we looked up verses in conjunction with his Bible curriculum.

Since he is a very early reader, he still needed help with some of the words, but he could be much more successful at reading this translation than some of the other translations.

Zondervan

Opinions of the NIrV Adventure Bible

Overall, I think that this is an excellent translation for younger readers, and I am excited to use it with my young sons over the next several years. I believe it is the perfect bridge between children’s Bibles, which are often more of a collection of Bible stories and a more traditional translation.

In our home, I will have my beginning readers use it to allow them to start reading scripture for themselves and following along with our family studies. However, it will not replace the translations we prefer for teen and adult Bible study.

Be sure to take a look at the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers and click on the graphic below to see what other Review Crew families thought!

Read the Latest Kids Bible With Your Children

The Wonder of Creation (Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

We received The Wonder of Creation: 100 More Devotions About God and Science from Indescribable Kids for our review. The day it arrived in the mail, my seven-year-old immediately spotted it and asked me to read it to him. He loved the bright, colorful cover and inviting pictures. I decided to read it with both the seven-year-old and my three-year-old (who turned four during this review).

What is The Wonder of Creation?

The Wonder of Creation is a devotional book by Louie Giglio and Tama Fortner and illustrated by Nicola Anderson. It is a beautiful hardcover book that includes 100 short devotionals, each covering a two-page spread in the book. In addition to the colorful cover, there are bright and engaging pictures throughout the book.

I appreciated that the book included an attached ribbon bookmark that helped us keep our place each night. There is a table of contents and an index to find a specific devotion instead of going through the book in order.

Each devotional includes a Bible verse, a devotional thought that ties something from creation into God, and some fun scientific information. For example, one of the devotionals talks about snowflakes and light reflections, and then it talks about how we should reflect the light of God’s love.

What Did We Think About the Wonder of Creation?

My boys loved listening to me read these each night. They would remind me we needed to read, bring me the book, and climb into the recliner with me. They enjoyed all of the incredible science facts and seeing the pictures.

I thought this book was a great way to help children internalize the connection between God and science. God created science, and it points us back to him instead of the worldly view that science is against the Bible.

I think it is important to note that this is not a Bible study, and I do not believe it should replace regular Bible study. It ties in the Bible and biblical concepts but does not study scripture.

Who Would You Recommend Use the Book?

This book is excellent for Christian families with children through preschool through early elementary years. The devotionals are short enough to keep the attention of younger children, and it helps them start understanding science from a Biblical worldview.

We used it as part of our bedtime routine, but it could be a great addition to morning time. Parents could also use it as a part of science by finding the devotions that relate to your topic of study.

While we enjoyed reading and discussing it together, students who can read well could easily use it independently.

Overall, we thought that  The Wonder of Creation: 100 More Devotions About God and Science did not replace our Bible study but provided a fun read and a great supplement.

I highly encourage you to click the graphic below and see what other families thought and how they used the book.

Marvel

The Bible Memory App Review

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Introduction

I might lose some of you, but I have never been a fan of doing lots of random memorization. While I want my children to understand history, science, etc., we do not spend much time memorizing dates and random facts.

The big exception to that in our home is scripture because I believe that memorizing scripture is hugely beneficial to all of us. When my children were younger, we sang songs and did memory verse games.

My fifteen-year-old understands the importance of Bible memorization but is no longer enjoying the songs and activities. Thus I was very excited to try out The Bible Memory App – Bible Memory PRO from BibleMemory.com.

Bible Memory App for Homeschoolers

What is The Bible Memory App?

The Bible Memory App – Bible Memory PRO is a program that works on a computer, phone, or other mobile devices to assist with Bible memory. The membership includes up to four family accounts.

When you log into your plan, you can choose which verses and which version of the Bible you would like to work on memorizing.

There are three steps for each verse in the memory app. First, you are given each word and type either the whole word or the first letter of each word (depending on how you have your settings).

Next, you are given every other word, and you have to fill in the blanks. Finally, you have a blank screen, and you have to type the complete verse (or the first letters of each word).

You can work through those as many times as you need, and you can work on as many different verses as desired.

You earn points and badges as you practice and work through the verses. While that part was not a big deal to me, it can be very motivational for many students. You could even have it be a competition between family members.

Memorize Bible Verses with BibleMemory.com

How We Used Bible Memory

When we received  The Bible Memory App – Bible Memory PRO, I set up accounts for myself and my two teenagers.

We were getting ready to start memorizing a selection of verses from Ephesians about the armor of God. So, I set up those verses to learn first. Once they were set up, my teenagers could practice at whatever time was convenient.

It is important to note that each family member could work on different verses.

I was able to put the app on my phone and have access to it on the computer. The program saved my work from each platform, so I had no problem using both interchangeably.

What We Thought About Bible Memory

We enjoyed the program. I thought it was a quick and easy way to work on scripture memory. I also really appreciated that it was also good typing practice.

My daughter chose to do extra verses on her account to help memorize verses she was doing with her American Heritage Girls troop. While she is pretty good at scripture memory on her own, she enjoyed the program and thought it made the memory work faster and more fun.

The one thing I would change is that I wish you could see progress on the other accounts from the parent’s account. In order to see progress for my children, I had to log out as me and log in as them. This was not a huge problem, but something I hope they consider later.

The price of this program is very affordable, at only $9.99 for the license.

Conclusions

We enjoyed BibleMemory.com. It is a great way to help older children, teens, and adults memorize scripture. It is affordable and easy to use, and we will continue to use it as a family to aid our scripture memorization.

Be sure to click on the graphic below to see how other reviewers used BibleMemory.com.

Memorize Bible Verses in Your Homeschool with BibleMemory.com

A Christmas Journey and Activity Book (Review)

*I received a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I am not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this according to FTC regulations.*

We often use a Jesse Tree style Advent plan with the children in December but I wanted to change it up a bit this year.  I was blessed to receive a copy of Kayla Jarmon’s A Christmas Journey  with the accompanying activity book to review.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

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We read the book together (it has nine chapters and discussion questions for each chapter) over the course of a couple of days. If my children had gotten their way, it would have all been read in one session! They were really enjoying the story of dog, deer, opossum, and all of their woodland friends. The story was written in rhyming verse with cute illustrations sprinkled throughout the pages. While it is a fictitious story of how woodlands creatures help a lost dog find its new owner for Christmas, it teaches real lessons about friendship, doing the right thing, and working together.  I would recommend it for preschool and elementary-age children but my middle school children enjoyed listening along as I read it aloud.

inside book

The activity book consists of 24 days of activities, with each one having a short devotional thought, a scripture, a Christmas song suggestion, and a family activity. For example, day six talks about faith and then gives several scripture readings, including Acts 7 and 1 Corinthians 15. The song for that day is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and the activity is to take turns leading family members blindfolded around the house. This gives a simple demonstration of faith, as they must follow the directions in faith.  The website provides links to the song’s lyrics as well as other resources to help with the activities.

cookies

We continue working through the activity book, but the children enjoy it! We have made paper chains and angel wings. We did a cookie experiment with salt and sugar and are working on friendship bread. Each day discusses a new topic, including faith, forgiveness, God’s Sovereignty, and more.

Overall, this is a simple but engaging way to do our Advent study this year. We spend about twenty to thirty minutes a day working on it as a family.  I highly encourage you to check it out at Kayla Jarmon’s website or Amazon.

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When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

God is Better Than Trucks (Picture Book Review)

God is Better than Trucks  sounded like the perfect book title for my son. This alphabetical picture book is written by Sarah Reju and published by Christian Focus. The overarching message of this book is, “Trucks are powerful, big and fun! BUT GOD IS BETTER THAN TRUCKS!”

This hard-cover picture book includes fun and colorful illustrations on each page. It is an alphabetical book that features a different mode of transportation for each letter. Each letter also included a Bible verse that correlates to that page. The text of the book shares what is wonderful about each mode of transportation but then reiterates that God is better than each of those things.

PINTEREST TRUCKS

For example, for the letter ‘U’ they showed an underwater submarine. The text for that page was, ” THE UNDERWATER SUBMARINE explores a mile DEEP, but God made the whole ocean. God is better than UNDERWATER SUBMARINES!”  Then they shared ” The sea is his, for he made it…” Psalm 95:5 as the verse for that page.

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I read this book several times with my five-year-old son, who really enjoyed the pictures. By the end of the book he could say the last line of each letter, ” God is better than …” One of the pages featured and ice cream truck handing out ice cream at the beach.  He said that was his favorite page because he loves ice cream.

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This book is great for young children ages birth to six or seven. The younger children will enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to it being read aloud. Many children on the older end of that range are fascinated by various cars, trucks, and trains and may enjoy reading about the different types. In addition to using it as a read aloud book, you could pick a page to focus on each week and memorize the scripture and maybe find out more about that type of transportation.

In addition to God is Better than Trucks, the Review Crew had the opportunity to review a variety of different books from Christian Focus. These included another picture book, God is Better than Princesses. Some families also reviewed a biography of Elizabeth Prentiss and Big Bible Science. which are for older children. Be sure to check out their website and use the link below to check out reviews from the other Crew members!

Big Bible Science, Elizabeth Prentiss, God is Better than Princesses,  God is Better than Trucks. {Christian Focus Reviews}Crew Disclaimer

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When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” ( Review)

drive thru history picture 2

Our family does not watch a lot of television or movies. While each week is different, on a given week our television is not normally on more than once or twice and it is not unusual to go an entire week without turning it on at all. Since we watch so little television, I like to make sure that what we do watch is very high quality entertainment or educational material.  Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” is one of those programs that fits the bill of both educational and entertaining. Drive Thru History® is a company that we have come to love and trust and this newest production is no different.

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These DVDs could easily be assigned as schoolwork to coordinate with your Bible and/or history studies. However, my children love them and ask to watch them in their free time. Dave Stotts is funny or ‘punny’ as my children like to say but also does a great job providing an amazing amount of Biblical and historical knowledge in each episode.

Last year we were blessed with the opportunity to review Drive Thru History®: The Gospels as a part of Drive Thru History Adventures. When the opportunity came to review Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” , I knew it would be a great chance to continue with our studies. This time instead of getting the online subscription, we received the DVDs and study guide that are ours to keep and revisit as we wish.

Drive Thru History picture

Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” is an 18 episode series on three DVDs.  In each episode, the host, Dave Stotts, goes on site to learn and teach. Being able to see the actual locations where Biblical events took place really helps make them real to my children. They know that Athens, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Malta are all real locations but it can be so hard to conceptualize. This allowed them to see what they look like today, see the historic sites, and visualize what it might have been like in the days of Paul.

 

In this series, we start at Pentecost and follow along as Saul becomes Paul. Then we follow Paul through his missionary journeys. The final disk includes the martyrdom of Paul and Peter as well as John on the Island of Patmos and the book of Revelation.

We have been going through the episodes together as a family and using the included study guide to help facilitate our discussions afterwards. The study guide is a great resource and is conveniently located inside the DVD case. The study guide includes beautiful pictures, a summary and discussion questions (and answers) for each episode, and Bible readings for each episode. Since we watched the episodes together, I generally did not need the answers to the discussion questions, but they would be really helpful if you were having your child go through the series independently.

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The VW that my son liked so much!

I love how he drives to all the different places that Paul visited and lets us see them. I also like all the different cars he drives.  My favorite car was the VW Beetle.  Matthew, Age 12

We watched two of the discs during our review period look forward to finishing the last disc over the next few weeks. Each episode is just under 30 minutes, includes a short review of the last episode and then moves forward in the story of the New Testament. My children would have binge watched all of them if I had allowed it, but we felt that this program was best utilized by watching one episode at a time and discussing it together before we moved on to the next episode.

 

Included in each episode was the relevant scripture, a video or retelling of that part of the story, and the sights and information about the modern day place. For example, in one episode we heard a reading from Acts 27 and saw the story of Paul’s shipwreck on the Island of Malta. We then were able to see what modern day Malta looks like. They also included maps with most episodes to help you understand the geography of the locations that he was visiting in that episode.

I recommend Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” for any family that is looking to learn more about the Bible or wants a fun and entertaining series to watch together. We watched with children ranging from 4-12 and they all enjoyed it, but I would say it is probably best for upper elementary through adult to get the full understanding. This is a great addition to your home school curriculum or your family Bible study time. You can also check our my review of their Drive Thru History ® Adventures program.  For more information on how other Homeschool Review Crew families used Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” click the link below.

 

Drive Thru History® Crew Disclaimer

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When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women (review)

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If you have a teenage daughter, this review of Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women by Zondervan is for you! This beautiful hardcover devotional book is as powerful on the inside as it is beautiful on the outside and I am excited to share this resource with you.

When I started reviewing this book, I was looking at it from the perspective of the mother of a ten year old daughter. As I read the devotional I came to two conclusions. My first conclusion was that this was a well done devotional that would be great for a mother and teenage daughter to work through together. The second, was that my daughter was not quite ready for some of the content and so I am putting it up for a year or two before we work through it together.

The devotional is laid out with 365 devotions to take you through the entire year.  Each day consists of a small scripture verse, a devotional thought, and a bit of journaling space at the bottom of the page for your notes and thoughts.  While I wish that the scripture verses had been longer to give more context, that is easily remedied by reading the scripture in your Bible.

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One thing I really like is that many of the devotions go in a series by following through an entire story of scripture. For example, one series is from day 213 to day 227. On those days the reading is in 1 Samuel chapter 25 focusing on Abigail who was Nabal’s wife. I love how it focused on various women in the Bible to help a teenage girl see how God used women and continues to use women to do amazing things for the kingdom of God. I think it handled subject of women in ministry well by explaining that each person can use their gifts even if not behind a pulpit.

You may be wondering why if I enjoyed it so much I put it aside for another year or two before going through it with my daughter. I should mention that my daughter is still a bit younger than the recommended age but I was hoping she was ready. However, since it does address the topic of sex and adultery in several of the devotions I did not feel my daughter was ready for this book yet.  The topics were handled well and appropriately but I would not recommend them for a girl who did not yet know about sex unless you were going to read it with them and were ready to have that conversation and offer explanations.

Overall, I do recommend Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women for teenage girls. It is simple enough for them to do on their own but I think it would be a great mother-daughter devotional time. You can sit down for a few minutes each day with a warm drink and read through it together; drawing closer to each other as you draw near to God. I encourage you to check out the other Review Crew reviews below to see how they used the devotional and what those with older girls felt about the devotional.

Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women {Zondervan Review}Crew Disclaimer

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When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

 

Be Still and Be Present: Week 1

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Welcome to week one of the ‘Be Still and Be Present’ challenge. I am so excited for us to take this journey together. I didn’t do this challenge because I have it all together, but because I felt that I needed to work on these things as well. I am excited to see what God can do in my heart and my life through this challenge. I will be praying each day for all of you that are participating with me in the challenge.

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‘Be Still’

This week I chose John 14:27 as my focus verse. Many times throughout the Bible we hear about God’s peace. I want to remember that God is not a God of overwhelm and rest in his peace this week. My goal is to memorize this verse by the end of the week and use it to remind myself when the season gets hectic.

In addition to my focus verse, I am going to be working my way through the advent reading plan from Not Consumed and coloring or journaling either in the Max Lucado Christmas Coloring book or in my Beautiful Word Coloring Bible. You can use whatever Bible or materials you have available to complete this challenge. I choose to use a coloring Bible because the act of coloring the pictures and words helps me to slow my brain down and really focus on God’s word. If I am just reading and trying to sit quietly, my brain has a tendency to wander. I found my coloring book (and one for my 10 year old) at Ollies for only .99. If you do not have an Ollies there are some other options on Amazon.  Another good free option for your study plan is to use these Names of Jesus printables and verses and study through the various Biblical names of Jesus.

Another resource that I want to share with you are Bible apps. If you do not have a Bible or if you find it more convenient to read from your phone or device the  YouVersion Bible App is a great free app. It offers a wide variety of translations which can be very beneficial when you are studying a particular passage of scripture. While I find that I focus best while I am coloring or journaling, I know others that like to listen to the Bible while they are driving or maybe while out in nature or taking a walk. The Daily Audio Bible App is only .99 for Kindle and free for Android. This app reads through the Bible in a year.

‘Be Present’

I often hear people talking about how important family is during the holiday season, but I know that in reality I often neglect the focused time with my family because of the hustle and bustle. We spend lots of time together doing school, going from place to place, crossing tasks of the to-do list, but we don’t always slow down and just spend time together. I encourage you to spend at least 30 minutes a day being present with those that mean the most to you. Some of you will need to spend that time focused on your children, others may feel you have been neglecting time with your husband. I am hoping to be more mindful of time with both my children and my husband over the next month.

This time does not have to be an elaborate activity, costs lots of money, or even be something new and exciting. The goal is simply to spend time being fully present with those you love. My daughter and I recently started working through a Christmas coloring book together. We can sit at the kitchen table and spend 15 or 20 minutes coloring and chatting together. This is relaxing for me and it is encouraging for her.  You could take a walk with your children or your husband, build Legos with your children, color a picture, or make a Christmas craft.  One of our favorite ways to connect is to pour mugs of hot cider or cocoa and gather on the couch for me to read a book. We also enjoy playing ‘Would You Rather ‘ type games.

I have included a downloadable sheet that will allow you to plan each week’s devotional time and your ‘Be Present’ activities as well as a sheet where you can check them off as you complete each day. Some of you may prefer to take each day as it comes, especially with the ‘Be Present’ activities and if that works for you that it totally fine. In my life I have found that having it planned out makes it more likely that it will actually happen so I plan to sit down each week and plan out a flexible list of activities.

Please share with me in the comments some fun activities or great devotional tools that you have and I look forward to hearing how this challenge is effecting your life.

Be Still and Be Present planning

Be Present Check List

Be Still Check List

 

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When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Forensic Faith For Kids ( Review)

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*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

Forensic Faith for Kids by David C Cook was a fun review! We read a chapter in the book each morning during our morning time and most nights we would watch the videos on the Case Makers Academy website that go along with each chapter.

We really enjoyed this book. It had parts that were really fun and lighthearted but yet really taught valuable lessons. In the words of my twelve year old son, “I like how they include the Bible verses but it doesn’t sound like they are preaching.”  The book taught some really important lessons about the Bible and faith but in an engaging format. The book was written from a second person point of view. This really resonated with my daughter who said, ” I like how it feels like you are there solving the cases.”

The main characters of the book are a group of friends in a Junior Detective Academy learning about investigations. As part of their program they were working on two cases. One involved a ‘found’ puppy and the other was the evidence for Christianity and who Jesus claimed to be. This is the third book in this series (though the first one I have had the opportunity to read). The students had a friend who was questioning whether or not Jesus even claimed to be the Son of God. The detective helped them understand how they could research and investigate to help him answer that question.

Forensic

On the sidelines of the pages were some additional components that added a lot of value to our experience in reading this book. There were ‘Dig Deep’ features which reminded you about activities and features on the website that related to the lessons learned in that chapter. There were ‘CSI Assignments’ where you went to the Bible and read a verse/s and then filled in the blanks and answered a discussion question. This was great for bringing out scriptural lessons in real life applications.

There were also ‘Detective Definitions’ where they explained some of the more technical terms used by the police detectives. For example, the words forensic and evidence. Finally, sprinkled throughout the book were sections titled, A Tool For Your Detective Bag. Those sections focused on lessons the reader could learn from the case such as “Accept Your Duty, Take Your Place, and Know and Help Your Listeners.”

The Case Makers Academy  had short five to ten minute videos that discussed each chapter. In addition there were worksheets that could be printed and completed. These included crossword puzzles, drawing worksheets, a detective notebook and even a leaders guide. The leaders guide gave great question to ask about the chapter, a summary, and connected to the adult books that correlate to the series. While I used this just with two of my own children (three if you count the four year old listening to find out more about the missing dog), it would also be a great study for a youth group or middle school small group. I intend to show the book to our youth minister at church as a possible tool for working with the youth group.

Don’t forget to check out all of the other Review Crew reviews below and then purchase your own copy of Forensic Faith for Kids! be sure to tell us in the comments how you think you could use this in your home school, family, or youth group.

 

Forensic Faith for Kids {David C Cook  and  Case Makers Academy Reviews}Crew Disclaimer

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