I is for If You Give A Mouse A Cookie…

I struggled a bit with books for the letter I. There were not any that jumped out at me at first and then I was looking at my son’s book shelf and thought of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and the others in the series by Laura Numeroff. This series is perfect for read aloud time! I am even thinking about using them for a special ‘tea party’ featuring some of the foods from the books.

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If you have not seen these books, the premise of the book is that if you give a mouse a cookie he will want a glass of milk, and he will need a straw, and on and on it goes. It is a cute little book that is lots of fun to read with young children. The patterned language allows them to quickly pick it up and begin to help you ‘read’ it even when they are not yet actually reading. Other books in the series feature pig, moose, and other animals and their adventures. The illustrations by Felicia Bond are absolutely adorable.

There is even a free movie series made about the books on Amazon Prime. I have not seen all of these but we enjoyed the Christmas Cookie episode. There have also been cute poems and memes made using the same language pattern, such as this If You Give A Mom a Muffin example.

These are simple fun reads that are great for preschool and elementary age students. Have you tried this series? Which one is your favorite?

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Schoolhouse Teachers is also offering a great sale! If you want to give it a try, your first month is only $1 or you can get an entire year for $111. My daughter is getting ready to use a photography class from our subscription to help her learn more about her new (to her) camera.

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Exploring Hobbies on a Time and Money Budget

When it comes to hobbies you might call my children, ‘jacks of all trades’. They love learning new things and tend to prefer to dabble in multiple hobbies rather than focus on one thing in particular. In many ways I think this is a blessing and a very positive experience for them. It helps to make them well rounded, prepares them for many situations, and allows them to try out a bunch of different things to see what they enjoy. However, if we are not careful, it could get quite expensive and time consuming to keep so many different plates spinning.

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In order to balance our desire for them to have many experiences with the need to manage our time and money wisely, we have found a few programs that balance those concepts.

One key to managing our time wisely is that we do several hobbies together as a family. This keeps us from having to go in several different directions at once and allows that hobby time to also be quality family time. For example, our family is interested in history and more specifically Colonial and Revolutionary War era American history. We love to take day trips to various historic sites and learn about history but even more, we enjoy being a part of living history events. We volunteer with our local historic site, Tryon Palace, and participate in various events. The children love to dress up in colonial attire and teach others about history. We love that they are learning and we get to spend time together as a family.

Another way we have found to help use our time wisely is to find programs that can be done at home. This minimizes travel time and allows various children to be working on different projects at one time. This helps us to be able to have them each work on hobbies that they enjoy without making me feel like I am spending my days running them from one practice to another.

For their interest in art, we use the You Are An Artist Chalk Pastel classes. These are recorded art lessons that use either chalk pastels or acrylics (new) to help with a variety of beautiful artwork. I love that we can fit in their desire for more art with a teacher that can help them, without ever needing to leave our home. The lessons typically take us about 20 minutes. These also meet our criteria for using money wisely because the supplies are very inexpensive and by utilizing the Clubhouse you have access to a wide variety of lessons for everyone in the family for one low monthly price. If I were paying for in person lessons, I would only get one short lesson per month for one student for the price I am paying to get as many lessons as they want to take for all three of my students (the 4th is only a year old so no art lessons yet).

Music has never been my gift but both of my children expressed interest. Years ago my son tried guitar lessons but the drive back and forth got to be difficult with the other small children. I also had to entertain them in the car while we waited for him and that was no fun. Eventually we stopped lessons. However, this past year I found a solution to their interest in music. My son is working through a subscription to Guitar360 Method. Since it is a lifetime subscription, he can take his time and work at his own pace. He works on it when he has time and interest. My daughter and just recently my 5-year-old son, are taking violin lessons through Practice Monkeys. There program is also online but is different in the fact that they can go online Monday through Thursday at their appointed times and take part in a fifteen minute lesson along with other students of their same level. This allows the teacher to offer feedback and them to ask questions. If we cannot make it to the live online class, we have access to the replay so that they can still practice. This has been a really great fit for my daughter. I’m still not sure how my son will do at his young age, but as it is a family subscription, I felt I did not have anything to lose by letting him try.

A boy and his pig!

My children enjoy being outdoors, working in the garden and with our animals. We have chickens, ducks, and bees that we keep year round but they wanted some experience with other animals. We were already involved in 4-H which is a great program that offers a variety of opportunities from science, art, public speaking, and more. Through 4-H we have connected with various chicken and livestock shows for them to begin growing their knowledge in those areas. 4-H has programs in place to help children of set the costs of raising and showing the animals to make it more accessible to all children. They even have programs to help students who want to raise animals but do not have the space to do so. We have found 4-H to be a great way for our children to explore a variety of different topics with minimal cost. The other benefit is that all of my children from 5-18 can do this together.

Finally, my secret weapon, our annual subscription to SchoolhouseTeachers.com. Schoolhouse Teachers offers over 400 different courses. Many of these are more standard core classes, such as English and math, but they also offer a huge number of electives that can help your child explore various hobbies. I love these because when my child shows an interest in something, I can give them resources without any added expense or commitment. If they enjoy it they can keep working further, if the interest fizzles out, they can move on without the worry of wasted money.

For example, my daughter recently spent $25 to buy herself a digital camera at a yard sale. She is really enjoying taking point and click pictures with it but wants to learn more about the different settings and how to take better pictures. This month was super busy for us but next month she is going to begin working through one of the photography courses that they offer. I could also have them take the homesteading course (or selected lessons from the course) to help them with their animal and gardening projects. This summer I am hoping that they can work through a few lessons in the heritage crafts course to add to their knowledge and skills when we do living history events. There are so many different options for various electives, music classes, and art classes. They are all included in a single family membership (either monthly or annually), you can start and stop them at any time, pick and choose from the lessons as needed. I love the flexibility to offer my children a virtual ‘buffet’ of learning opportunities to allow them to explore their interests without breaking the bank or becoming a full time chauffeur.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to offer my children a wide variety or experiences to allow them to explore their interests and gain new skills without busting our budget or wasting all of our family time. I hope that this gives you some ideas. I would love for you to share with me in the comments about what you use to help your children pursue their hobbies.

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Stopmotion Explosion: Stop Motion Animation Kit (Review)

Sometimes my children complain about school work, but other times they beg to be able to work on it! I am so glad I took the opportunity to review the Stop Motion Animation Kit by Stopmotion Explosion because my son has loved it. He begs to have more time to work on videos and has multiple videos planned out that he wants to create. I expect that it will be a big project for him this summer when we have a bit more free time.

Since this was not a subject that I require in our home school, I asked my son if he was interested before agreeing to the review. It seemed like a really good fit, because it was a way for him to combine his love of all things Lego with a new found interest in videography.

I expected to have to help him get everything set up and figure out how to use the program and the camera, but he took it out and had it set up in just a short time. The Stop Motion Animation Kit includes a 1080p HD video camera with internal microphone, the Stopmotion Explosion book, and the animation software.

Once my son had everything set up he quickly worked on a short video just to get the hang of taking pictures and putting it all together. Then I gave him a specific assignment for this next project. I wanted him to combine his history lesson for the week with a stop motion video. We were working on Assyrian siege towers and so he decided to do a video of the modernization of an Assyrian siege tower and the tower knocking down a wall.

He was able to get all of the video shots (over 2,000) done without any problems but was having some difficulty uploading them into the software for editing and adding sound. I e-mailed customer service and was pleasantly surprised and the rapid response. They were exceptionally helpful. Once we realized that he had a corrupt photo file, we were able to delete that one file and get it all working.

Next, he added title screens and sound effects. The Stopmotion Explosion book has an excellent chapter that explains how to edit and add sound effects. My son learned the hard way that its best to read it before trying to make changes. He did not read it at first and made a mistake that lost all of his changes. Once he read, he understood what he had done and was able to do it correctly next time.

The Stopmotion Explosion book was an excellent resource. It was laid out with each step being a different chapter. It was easy to read and understand and did not have to be read all the way through to be helpful. My son was able to read the chapters that he needed as he worked through the project. For example, one chapter is dedicated to lighting, and other to sound. The chapters on video editing and Sound were particularly helpful as he finished up his project. The book also gives links to video tutorials with more information on certain subjects.

This was a well laid out and easy to follow way to learn the art of stop motion animation. The book and video tutorials were thorough enough to take someone that had never done stop motion and teach them how to make movies with many great features.

All in all, I highly recommend this kit and I’m so glad we gave it a try. If you are looking for a way to add some fun to your homeschool this might be your answer. You could have a child make videos about the books they are reading, the history they are learning or even their science. It can of course also just be a fun hobby, they can make videos about anything. For a middle grades student it is laid out in such a way that as long as they read the book, they should be able to work with the program fairly independently. With the exception of a computer and whatever they want to use in the video (we did Legos and Popsicle sticks) everything they need is included in the kit. This would make a great birthday gift or a way to keep the learning going through the summer. Check out the Stop Motion Animation Kit and don’t forget to click below to see the videos and reviews done by the other Crew members.

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50+ Reasons to Be Thankful for Homeschool!

I am so thankful for the opportunity and the blessing of homeschooling my children. However, like any family we also have our tough days. We have the days I feel like I can’t do it all. We have the days where the children are fighting with each other. We have days where decimals seem like they are going to get the best of us. On those days I find that it is so very beneficial to remember all the reasons that I am thankful we homeschool.

Our family has many reasons, including wanting to put God first in our lives, teaching true American history, family time, and the time freedom. I asked homeschool moms on my Facebook page and in our Schoolin’ Swag Facebook group to share with me the reasons they were thankful to homeschool. Some of them I have shared word for word and others I combined because multiple moms shared similar reasons. It is my prayer that when you are having a tough day or if you are considering making the switch to homeschooling, that these reasons would be an encouragement to you.

Take a few minutes with a hot cup of coffee or a cold drink of lemonade (or my personal favorite chocolate milk), read over this list and reflect on all the reasons to be thankful we can homeschool our children. If you have other reasons, I would love to have you share them with me in the comments.

Witness every ‘first’
Flexibility
To raise them according to God’s word.
I love spending time with my kids.
Fun field trips
Learning more about life on a daily basis.
I’m thankful my husband & I get to be a bigger influence in our children’s lives than strangers who don’t share our family’s values. ❤️
No more bullying at school.
One big blessing(among so many) is seeing how close my children are to each other.
I’m thankful for the time to get to really know them.
I’m thankful for being able to cater to each individual way my child learns.
I’m thankful I was able to instill a love of reading in two kiddos.
I’m getting to build a strong relationship with my son.
He learns at his pace, not the systems pace!
I was glad I had spent EVERY MINUTE of him in his childhood ~ IT GOES SO FAST! (From a mom whose oldest is in college)
I love the fact that we can school outside when the weather is appropriate.
We can also school year round and take vacation days when we want to, not when scheduled for us.
As homeschoolers my children have learned to get along with people of all ages.
I don’t have a bunch of unteaching to do like I would have to if they attended school
I can teach them the whole American history story.
I can teach them what the Bible has to say in regards to science, philosophy, humanity, religions, etc.
Kids can spend more time studying in detail the subjects they are interested in.
“It means when my 13-year-old son told me he would finish his project in a fortnight his comment had everything to do with the great books he’s reading and nothing to do with a video game.“
The life learning that happens.
The uniqueness of my children’s personalities was allowed to blossom.
They get more sleep and more unstructured time.
” As a mom of 6 with Multiple Sclerosis I couldn’t imagine schooling my kids in any other way. It provides the freedom we need, while we figure out structure with flexibility.”
It is awesome to learn new things together.
Have time for “extra” things like starting a garden together.
We can read books together on topics that aren’t typically school subjects.
They can learn to handle firearms and shoot safely without punishment for having a firearm.
Siblings in different grades can learn together rather than rarely seeing each other throughout the day.
We can take vacations as a family without working around school schedules.
We have greater flexibility in scheduling medical and dental appointments.
An older student can tutor a younger friend in a subject during a regular school day.
We have a school holiday on birthdays.
Early risers can start school while others are sleeping.
We can eat breakfast together at a decent hour.
We wanted our children to know us.
We can go on nature walks together and notice details of the world around us.
We can have long conversations about things that are side bars of a lesson and wind up having a completely unexpected lesson.
All the coffee and like minded mommas out there.
I’ve been learning all these years! I’m smarter now than I was 21 years ago when we started hs’ing
I love that we can learn so many subjects from a Christian worldview and really discuss what we are learning.
I love that when my child doesn’t understand a concept in math, we can stop and really focus on hands-on learning for as long as we need to until he gets it.
I know they are safe (where they are, what they’re doing, who they’re with, no peer pressure).
A hike in the mountains, baking cookies, building a fort, growing a garden, etc can be packed with lessons you can’t learn in a book.
Mornings are less stressful.
I don’t want my kids to fall through the cracks of the education system.
We can let them have a say in their education.
I’m grateful for how it’s forced my family into deeper relationship, better communication, and more learning for all of us! -Beth of Fit2B

Be encouraged today that this hard work you are doing is totally worth the hard work and the difficult days! You are not alone and it does get easier.

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Schoolhouse Teachers is also offering a great sale! I

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Nature Study: Birds

Spring is such a fun time to study birds. My four-year-old son was quite interested in the fall and early winter, but we did not see very many birds, as we would go for walks. He even put out a bird feeder but saw no birds eating at the feeder over the winter. However, now that spring has arrived, he is seeing a variety of birds at the feeder and in the yard each morning.

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Every day since the weather started warming up, we have had cardinals, wrens, finches, and robins in the yard. One day last week, we had a yellow bird that I thought I had never seen before. Once we identified it in the bird guide, we realized that we had seen it before, but it is only bright yellow during the spring mating season.

These birds have been an exciting way for our family to learn together. My older children can teach my four-year-old the names of the birds that we recognize already, and together we can look up the ones that we do not know. We discuss colors and sizes with the younger ones and the older children are learning more about details, migration patterns, and identifying the birds that are not as commonly known.

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In addition to the birds in our yard, we have enjoyed taking walks down our road to see the various birds along the way. We also hike local trails to see if we can find different birds. We’ve even seen bald eagles on a few occasions. This can be a bit of a challenge with the children as they often scare the birds away before we can get close, but sometimes we get to spot some really interesting birds and they always have a good time.

To help my older children expand their knowledge and improve their nature journals, we have been doing a course of chalk pastel bird lessons for our art class. Then having them take those skills and do their own pictures of birds that they see in the yard or on our hikes. Once they have drawn the pictures they identify the bird in the bird book and write several facts about the bird. These have been some of their best journal entries.

One of the things that is so great about using birds for nature study is that they are readily available and it does not take a lot of specialized equipment to watch them. You can see them without any equipment and if needed identify them on the computer. I did find that there were a few inexpensive items that have made our bird study easier and more productive. We love having a bird guide because then my children can take it with us on hikes or use it at home and identify the birds they find. We love having a bird feeder in the yard to attract more birds. They are many inexpensive feeders and it is also a benefit to the birds. You can even make your own using a pine cone, peanut butter and bird seed or a pipe cleaner strung with cheerios. I have included a list of a few of these great resources below.

I would love to hear about what birds you are finding in your area this spring? Do you have a favorite bird book or resource?

Bird Study Resources:

Peterson First Guide to Birds (small but quality and easy to carry on hikes and easy for children to use.)

Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (this is a thicker book that we keep in our kitchen for identifying the birds in our yard)

Clear Window Bird Feeder (This is so much fun for getting an up-close look at the birds. We enjoy having the birds ‘join us’ while we eat our breakfast inside and can watch them eat their breakfast.)

Binoculars (These are not required to see birds but can be helpful if the birds are further away.)

Bird Chalk Pastel Lessons (Such a great way to expand your study of birds and also to improve nature journals.)

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Deals and Freebies

Free Makeover Your Morning 5-Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

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Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

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Counting, it’s in the Cards: Math Lessons From Card Games

My four year old had little desire to learn his numbers. He knew how to count but was not interested in being able to recognize written numbers. I had not pushed the issue as I knew that it would be far easier to teach it when the time was right and he was ready. Little did I know that the job would be outsourced and I wouldn’t even have to teach him. No, I didn’t send him to school, I let him play card games.

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In January, my daughter learned to play a game called Dutch Blitz from some Amish friends from Ohio who were here doing volunteer work. She really loved the game and the girls were kind enough to mail her a set of cards so that she could continue to play. She began playing several times a week with most of the different volunteer groups that stayed at our church. In my mind I thought it was a great chance for to get to know other people, but I never thought about what my four year old was learning. He wanted to be able to play with his older sister and the other volunteers and so he watched the games, played with help, and very quickly learned to recognize the numbers so that he could play on his own. They have enjoyed it so much my husband found them an expansion pack so that they can include more people.

cards

In March, a dear couple who my children have come to love, came back to North Carolina for their third volunteer trip. In addition to playing Dutch Blitz they taught the kids how to play Diamonds Rule. They could not believe how much better the four year old was with his numbers than when they had been here in January. He learned to play Diamonds Rule and could quickly recognize where each number needed to be placed in the stacks. This was a simple game played with a standard deck of cards. In this game, he had to be able to put down the right card at the top or bottom of a stack in numerical order.

He now knows his numbers 0-9 and I never had to actually teach them. When he came to a math lesson a few weeks ago in a curriculum that we were reviewing, that taught the numbers, he proudly told me that he already knew those numbers.

There are many other games that can teach math concepts. Think about using the card game War for practicing greater than and less than or the card game 21 for addition skills. Games often help motivate children to want to learn those concepts to participate in the game. What games have you used intentionally or unintentionally to teach math skills?

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Happy Birthday Joseph: A Dr. Seuss Themed Birthday Party

My youngest son was born near the end of February but when we looked at family schedules, we needed to wait and do his party on the first Saturday in March. I scheduled his party and then realized that the date coincided with Dr. Seuss’s birthday. I decided not to let that coincidence go to waste and set out to plan a fun but simple themed party.

There are hundreds of ideas for a Dr. Seuss-themed birthday party on the internet, so I had plenty to choose from. Then my older children got involved and started adding ideas of their own. Together we came up with some fun, easy, and inexpensive ways to turn the birthday party into a Dr. Seuss extravaganza.

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I spent a mere $14 at the Dollar Tree for decorations, and the only other expense was food (around $50 for 30 guests). We utilized the Dr. Seuss books that we already had, along with the bright red, blue, and white decorations from Dollar Tree. This kept it simple and made a big impact. I focused on decorating the food table and the area where the high chair was set up for the baby and his smash cake. We also chose mostly foods that could be prepared the day before to keep stress levels low and allow me to be able to enjoy the party.

I adapted Lindi Haw’s idea of using a Dr. Seuss book as a guest book. I had each of our guests write in the cover of Oh The Thinks You Can Think!. I am very excited to have that keepsake for him when he gets older.

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When we were thinking about themed snacks, we immediately thought of green eggs and ham. We simply made our regular deviled eggs and added a bit of natural blue food dye to make them green. I added a bit of ham to the serving tray, and it was done.

Next,came a series of Cat in the Hat snacks. We found several ideas over at Mighty Moms and then added one of our own. We made Jello Stacks and strawberry and banana stacks from ideas we found there. Then we also added tomato and mozzarella skewers. I simply cut up some fresh mozzarella and alternated it with cherry tomatoes on the skewers. We also got our idea for ‘roast beast sandwiches’ from that blog.

My children thought it would be great fun to have Truffula trees and came up with two different ideas. First, they had broccoli with dip as trees, and then, my daughter created a ‘forest’ of Truffula trees using lollipops, an egg carton, and a bit of green tissue paper. She covered the large egg carton with green paper to give her a base and then simply poked holes and stuck the lollipops through the holes. We also had colored goldfish in honor of One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and my daughter decorated cheese sticks to resemble the Cat in the Hat.

We can’t forget the cakes! We had a small smash cake for my son that my daughter topped with whipped cream and used blueberries to make a “1”. Then, for everyone else, my mom made her special strawberry cake, and my daughter used strawberries to decorate the top like ‘Cat in the Hat’.

While the party was for a one year who did not really care about crafts, my eleven-year-old daughter thought it would be lots of fun to do themed crafts with the other young children. So she set up a station outside where they could do a hand painting activity and decorate their own ‘Cat in the Hat’ hats.

Overall, I thought the party was a great success. We were able to decorate in just a few minutes, the snacks were fun but simple, and everyone had a good time. These ideas are great for a birthday party or to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday. What are your favorite birthday party themes?

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Through The Year in Foot Prints: March

Dr. Seuss’s birthday was March 2nd. We always enjoy celebrating Dr. Seuss and reading on that day. This year was extra special because it happened to also fall on the day we had planned to celebrate my youngest son’s birthday. While my daughter was looking for fun craft ideas she came across some ideas for using hands to make fish representing One Fish Two Fish.

Footprints march

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I decided that using Joseph’s feet and making his monthly footprint art into fish would also be fun. So we printed out a fish bowl template. Then we dipped one foot into red paint and placed it on the fish bowl. Next, I did the other foot in blue paint and placed it on the fish bowl.

Then we washed his feet off with a baby wipe and allowed the paint to dry. Once the paint dried we added a quick mouth and eyes with a black sharpie marker and cut the fish bowl out.

One thing I will note, is that if you were going to do this craft with children who had bigger hands or feet you would want to choose a different fish bowl. I would try to find one that was landscape and not vertical to allow more room.

This was an easy and fun craft and I look forward to adding it into our collection and watching his feet grow throughout the year. I hope you enjoy this craft. I would love for you to share your finished projects or ideas with us!

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Supplies:

White Cardstock

Red and Blue Paint

Markers

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Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

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What’s Coming Up in March?

For such a short month, February was jam-packed! Elizabeth got her 4H goat, we did our Trail Life and AHG Pinewood Derby, wrapped up our Junior Historians projects, and stayed busy with a variety of events and activities.

On a personal note, I finished reading two more books! Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson was a great read. Sarah shares her thoughts and ideas about reading, it’s importance and how it affects our lives. She also includes many wonderful book lists for various purposes. For example, one list is “Biographies: The Real-Life Epics That Shaped My Dreams”. Another list was “Novels of Eucatastrophe: The Fantastical Stories That Taught Me to Hope”. While I honestly do not think that I will ever read all of the books on her lists, reading Book Girl gave me a renewed passion for reading and lots of good ideas for new books to add to my growing list of books to read.

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I also finished Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely by Lysa Terkeurst. In this world full of social media, busy schedules, and high expectations, I think many of us have felt ‘uninvited’ at one point or another. This book shares great insight and Biblical perspective to help us heal and overcome and also to help us look at how our own actions are effecting our lives and friendships.

You can expect to see at least new reviews in March. The first one, Victus Study Skills System, has already posted. I will also be sharing about Homeschool Complete, Drive Thru History, and more. So many exciting products and we are having a blast trying them all out.

I also have a couple of fun field trips planned that I look forward to sharing with you including a fun nature center and planetarium. We also celebrated my youngest son’s first birthday on Dr. Seuss’s birthday (a week late for my son but when we could work it in the schedule) and I will share all of the fun theme ideas we used for his party.

Pi Day and St. Patrick’s Day are coming up soon. They are always great fun to celebrate and add a little fun to our school day. Make sure to check out those blog posts from last year full of ideas to help you cerebrate. I am also working on a great post about fun books to reinforce math skills that will be perfect for Pi day!

I have been busy testing out new quick and easy, low GI breakfast ideas based on your various ideas and recommendations. I look forward to sharing with you what worked for, what didn’t, and how I adapted a few things to make them work for our family. I have found some yummy ideas and think we are making head way in getting our mornings back on track.

March seems to be shaping up to be just as full as February. We started our online book study of Girls’ Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendships in a Lonely World, but it is not too late to jump in and join us. I would love to have you follow me over at Pinterest. I am just getting started but enjoying sharing posts and other ideas there. What is happening at your house this month?

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Deals and Freebies

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls (Book Review)

Does your child love adventure? Do you want to instill a love and understanding of the events in the Bible? The The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls by WorthyKids, an imprint of Hachette Book Group may be just the series you are looking for. It combines lots of adventure with wonderful true Bible stories in a way that is fun and easy to follow.

My daughter was assigned to read The Great Escape (Book #3) during her school reading time over the course of a week. However, on that Monday evening she came to me and said that she hoped it was okay that she had read the entire book that day. When I asked her what she thought she said, ” I loved them. I really liked that the main characters were kids. I also like how they include the Bible while still making it an adventure.” She was thrilled that I also had Journey to Jericho (Book #4) for her to read and was excited to know that there are several others in the series.

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I had the opportunity to read through The Great Escape (Book #3) and found it to be simple, easy to follow and a great introduction to the first chapters in Exodus which tell of the plagues of Egypt and the Egyptians escape including the parting of the Red Sea. As an adult it only took about 30 minutes or so to read but I would expect it to take young readers longer than that. The chapters were short enough to not feel overwhelming to most young readers.

I felt like they did a good job of staying true to the Bible though there are obviously fictionalized components. The book begins in modern times with two siblings staying at their uncle’s house. Since this is not their first adventure they know when they find an old scroll that it is going to take them on a time traveling adventure. They end up traveling to the time of the Exodus, meeting a fictional Princess and getting a firsthand view of the plagues in Egypt before leaving with the Israelites.

I really liked that at the end of the book there is a section which explains where in the Bible you can read the story and a little about the fictionalization of the story (in this instance the Princess was not based on a specific real person).

As you can probably guess Journey to Jericho (Book #4) is about the story of the walls of Jericho. Once again, the main characters are two siblings Peter and Mary along with their dog Hank. The story is set up in a very similar way with the siblings going on an adventure to solve the mystery of another scroll.

Overall, we really enjoyed these books. My daughter did not seem to mind that we started with books 3 and 4 as they can certainly stand alone. However, if I were purchasing the books I would probably start with book one and read them in order. Reading in order would have given you a little more information on the scrolls and the power surrounding them. I am also just a little peculiar about preferring to read series in order. There are five books in the series and my daughter has already ordered book one to add to her collection using some birthday money that she had set aside.

Worthy Kids recommends this book for first through third grades. I think the story is great for an even wider range, maybe kindergarten through fifth grades read aloud. The independent reading level is probably closer to second or third grade, though a strong first grader may be able to read it. It was easy reading for my fifth grade daughter but she enjoyed the story. I highly encourage you to check out The Great Escape (Book #3) and Journey to Jericho (Book #4) for adventure filled journey through stories from the Bible. Don’t forget to click below to check out what the other Review Crew members thought about these books. Tell me in the comments what Bible story you think the author should turn into the next book in the series.

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