Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith (Review)

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This past Christmas my 12 year old son received his first comic book and really enjoyed it. So, he was very excited to get the chance to read and help me review Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith by The Captain Sun Adventures. This comic book is more than your average comic book, it is part comic book and part devotional written by Bryce Morgan and illustrated by Mitch Martin.

The comic is not a Bible story but in the words of the author, “a Christian Worldview tool”. The comic gives the story of the hero’s origin and how he used his powers against the villain. Throughout the book there were pages that looked like the front of a newspaper. These pages have devotional like information that connected what was going on in the story with a Biblical lesson. For example the first one was titled “The Origin Story” and talked about how we were created by God and are given a new identity in Christ. There is a question for them to think about and a Bible verse to connect it all together on each of these pages.

At the end of the book there is a list of questions that correlate with each chapter for parents to discuss with their children. For each chapter there is a question that relates to the story, such as “What did the story reveal about where Captain Sun came from?” and also follow up questions about the lesson/devotional. An example of a devotional question that goes with that chapter is, “What does the Bible reveal about where we came from?”

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My son really liked the illustrations. He felt that they did a good job portraying the story. He felt that the comic was very easy to read and understand; even asking if there were more in the series. I was happy to be able to tell him that there are indeed two more books in this series. This was a fairly short read for him and only took him about an hour to complete.

He said his favorite part was how everyone was waiting on Captain Sun to appear and he just came out of nowhere. He was able to fly in and save the city. When I asked him what he learned from this story he said that evil never pays off.

As a mom, I love that they provided a fun and entertaining story that reflected our faith and worldview. There are some comics that we feel send the wrong message in their stories and values but this one clearly pointed back to Christ. We love finding resources like this that can engage our children in a fun way.

If you have a child that enjoys comic books and graphic novels or maybe struggles with the length of many typical novels this maybe a great fit for your family. My son doesn’t mind long novels but I know many children who struggle with the length and this may be a great way to give them something shorter but still age appropriate to read. You can find out more, download coloring pages, and check out the other two books in the series at The Captain Sun Adventures. Also, don’t forget to check out the other reviews of Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith by Review Crew members.

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Barbour Publishing Kingdom Files Biography Series (Review)

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We wrapped up what we came to call our ‘summer of reading’ with a read aloud of Who Was Jonah? which is a part of the Kingdom Files series by Barbour Publishing. This review book along with another book in the series Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus? proved to be a great fit for our family. These are fun and fairly short chapter books that feature a biography of a Bible character, an investigation into their lives, and lessons that we can learn from those stories.

We read Who Was Jonah? together and really enjoyed it. The book starts with a Fact File that gives basic information about Jonah. I really appreciated this because even as an adult I sometimes struggle with the timeline of events in the Bible . Then comes the Action File. This section of the book was the story of Jonah and included great illustrations and clues that you could apply to your own life and to help you understand the story of Jonah. For example, “No matter what you’re going through, your heavenly Father sees you and accepts your prayers. That should be as comforting to us today as it was to Jonah. ” There were also some very well done black and white illustrations of the story in this part of the book.

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Another feature of the book that I really enjoyed are the scripture references for the portion of the story that he was telling. The story of Jonah was told through the words of the author but the references allow you to go and read the actual scripture for yourselves and compare it to the book. I found that the book did a great job of following scripture while also using a writing style that was very engaging for the children. In the Power File section, each ‘Power Up’ or lesson has a memory verse as well.

For Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus?, I had my daughter read it independently. The short chapters and engaging narrative made it an enjoyable read for her. This book was set up in the same style as Who Was Jonah? with the Fact File, Action File, and Power File. While she enjoyed reading it and I think these books are fine to be read independently, I really think that they worked best for our family when we read them together. There were so many great lessons to be learned that I felt it was ideal to be able to pause after the chapters and have family discussions about what we were learning. I did not get a chance to use them for this reading (which we began while we were on vacation) but Kingdom Files has some great educator resources and games that you can print to take your study even further. These include word searches, creating trading cards, and mapping activities just to name a few.

These biographies can be read independently (recommended for ages 8-12) or used as a family read aloud or part of your Bible study time. I highly recommend checking out this great series. Our family is hoping to purchase some others in this series, particularly Who Was David? and Who Was Esther? Tell us in the comments which book you think your family would most enjoy and check out the other Crew Reviews below!

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Reading Eggs Review and FREEBIE!

When I agreed to review Reading Eggs, I thought I knew exactly what to expect because my daughter had used this program several years ago. We enjoyed the program then, but I was very pleased and surprised to see how much more it included now.

For this review I was using Reading Eggs with my four year old son. I was a little concerned about whether or not it would be too difficult for him as he has just recently started expressing interest in letters and numbers. However, when I logged in I found that not only could he work on the reading eggs program that I remembered but they have a new section that is designed for ages 2-4. This gave us a lot of flexibility.

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When we tried the first lesson of the regular reading eggs (designed for ages 3-7) my son was able to do it but it was a little more difficult and he honestly did not really enjoy it. I feel that it is a great program and some children may be ready for it at age three but some children will need to be a little older before they are ready for that component. It started with the letter m and was teaching the sound (not the letter name) using a variety of activities related to m. He did the first activity or two but grew tired of it before the lesson was over, but he could easily go back and finish at his own pace.

Though my son was not quite ready for that portion of the program it is still a great program. Reading Eggs starts at the very beginning with letter sounds and continues through fluent reading, their highest levels Reading Eggspress works on reading comprehension and fluency for children ages 7-13. It is a fun and thorough program that works great to help improve a child’s reading ability. Luckily for us, they also now have Reading Eggs Junior.

When we tried the Reading Eggs Junior section (ages 2-4), we knew we had found the right fit. He absolutely loved it and could not get enough. They had books that he could look at and listen as they were read aloud, short videos that worked on letters and other educational concepts, and lots of different games to help him with preschool level skills.

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He knows all of his colors but really enjoyed playing the color games where he would match part of an object to the rest of the object in the same color. For example, they might have a purple and a pink car and two cut out circles form the cars (one in each color). He would then have to move the colored circle into the right spot. He enjoyed a game where he had to sort butterflies onto flowers based on their color.

They also had counting games, alphabet games, puzzles and more. The one thing we noticed with the games is that you needed to be used to using a mouse in order to successfully complete the activity. While many children have this skill, it was not something that my four year old had mastered because most of the time he does his activities on the kindle and uses a touch screen. He did get more proficient with the mouse as he worked through various activities.

Each game/activity is done in a map style layout (see the pictures above) and gets progressively harder. They program will let him return to one he has already completed but it will not let him move ahead until he completes that level. This helps keep the children from getting frustrated by the difficulty level. I should also note that in the regular Reading Eggs program it is set up in a similar manner but children can take a placement test to determine where they need to start so that they do not have to go through the lessons from the beginning.

My one real complaint about the program is that it is not compatible with Kindle. While this will not be an issue for many families, we find that logistically it is better if my son’s programs can be done on our kindle. He is better able to navigate the kindle than our desktop and can be more independent. However, this is still a wonderful program and we will work around the kindle issue using it on our desktop. Thankfully, my older children enjoy helping him and can assist him when I am not available.

If this sounds like a program that might be a good fit for your child, I have a wonderful offer for you. Reading Eggs has agreed to give my readers a FREE four week trial of the program. This is a great way for you to try it out and see if it is a good fit for your family.

In addition to the wonderful online program, Reading Eggs has just released new workbooks to accompany the program. While we did not personally use them I am hearing some great things from the reviewers that used the new workbooks and I encourage you to check out the other reviews to learn more about those.

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God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn (Book Review)

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This was our ‘summer of books’ so I was delighted to add God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn by Julie Polanco to my list when the review opportunity arose. As I share my thoughts on this book, it is important to note that I do not believe that education is one size fits all. There are many educational philosophies and different styles work for different families and sometimes even different children with-in those families. That’s one of the beautiful things about homeschooling!

This book does a wonderful job of explaining and exploring the unschooling approach to education. While I do not think that unschooling is the approach that best suits our family, I enjoyed hearing about what works for her children and the research behind that methodology. I also gleaned a lot of great information and tips that will work well for our family.

One of the points that really stuck out to me in the beginning is how she explained unschooling. Julie says, “Unschooling can be a very deliberate endeavor, not necessarily haphazard.” She spends a great deal of time explaining how she deliberately sets out to provide her children with a good education in this manner. Sometimes unschooling is assumed to be doing nothing but letting your children play video games all day while you go about your business. However, she talks extensively about how she interacted with her children and helped guide them while providing natural learning opportunities and plenty of time for play.

She talks about how children, particularly children under eight, need a lot of free time and play. I wholeheartedly agree. They learn so much through play and exploration and if we are not careful we can fill up their days with school work and not allow them the time needed to play and explore.

Her chapter on children ages eight to twelve touches on many areas but I really liked what she had to say about entrepreneurship and service. In our family we believe that serving others is a Biblical command and we try to teach our children to serve from a very young age. During this eight to twelve range, they become capable of more complex service and taking more ownership in serving others. It is an important part of learning and development. Entrepreneurship is another important component of education for that age group. Learning to do meaningful work and contribute is a vital skill for successful adulthood. It is also a Biblical command and she shares several scriptures including 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and Ephesians 3:28 which talk about working with your own hands.

She also goes into experiential learning in that chapter. Children learn much better when they can experience that which they are trying to learn. She gives multiple examples from field trips and nature walks to living books and hands on crafts. These have been a vital part of our educational experience and I appreciated the encouragement to continue with this type of learning even as my children get older.

The section of the book that I needed to read most was probably the chapter titled, “Giving Teens Wings So They Can Fly”. My oldest son is twelve and so the teen years are very near for our family. Unintentionally, three of the books that I have read this summer have discussed how the modern age group of ‘teenagers’ is really a new lifestyle/category. Before somewhere around the late 1930s you did not see ‘teenagers’ as a separate culture. Most often once a child reached that age he/ she began working or contributing to the family in some way. Popular culture today paints teens in a negative light and holds them to very low expectations. However, Julie Polanco shares how she provided her children with opportunities to be involved in real life and contribute. It is important that we have high expectations for our teenagers and give them the opportunity to succeed and do great things.

If you want to know more about what unschooling looks like, especially from a Christian perspective or if you just want some encouragement and ways you can integrate more real life learning into your student’s education God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn is a great book. ** Also, she has a 1/2 price sale on the e-book version until August 22nd**

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Branch Out World Paddington Literature Study (Review)

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Our summer break was finally beginning and I was honestly not sure if I wanted to review the Paddington Bear study by Branch Out World. I asked my daughter how she felt about it, since it would mean doing school work on her first week of break. Looking back I’m so glad she said yes! I have loved the book Paddington for a long time but always thought of it as a book for young children so it had been several years since my 10 year old daughter had read the book. I was a little concerned that it would be to ‘babyish’ for her but my concerns were unfounded.

I used this study primarily with my 10 year old but also included my four year old son in many of the activities. We all enjoyed the book and they were excited to complete the activities. My daughter did more of the research activities but the four year old joined in for coloring and cooking. He also enjoyed looking at the pictures and talking about the book.

I was very curious prior to receiving the study about how much they would be able to do with what is a fairly short picture book but the study included geography in relation to the setting, science, vocabulary, pictures study/architecture, cooking, crafts and even math. There were a variety of activities to choose from and if you did them all this could easily have been your entire week’s school work. However, it was also laid out in such a way that you could pick and choose which activities worked best for your students. So if you had younger students you could choose the activities that worked best for that age and older students could do the more in-depth and research based ideas.

Once we read the book together, we started on our day one activities. The theme for the day was setting and the activities focused on learning about both London and Peru as they were important settings in the book. They included map work, flags, timelines, and even a lesson about migration. The study also included a tourist brochure project that students could complete to demonstrate reinforce the geography components of the lesson. My four year old enjoyed hearing about the areas and coloring the flags. My daughter went more in depth, using her atlas and other tools to research the area, find it on the map, and share with us what she learned.

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The second day focused on exploring words. We learned about the author, discussed the story using questions and narration, and worked with some vocabulary words. There was a lapbook style activity with the vocabulary words that my daughter enjoyed because she loves the cutting and pasting of lapbook pieces. We also could have done a great creative writing activity but skipped it since it was summer and she was on break. I may go back during the school year and assign the writing prompt because I think it was a great way to encourage creative writing. It involved them writing and adaptation based on the novel.

The third day involved learning about the illustrator, studying the pictures and then learning about architectural design and several artistic techniques that were used in the illustrations. There was an art activity, a lapbook component, and a game that could be used in working with these ideas and concepts. Illustrations are such an important but sometimes overlooked part of picture books and I was glad to see a day devoted to their study.

The fourth day was exploring science. There were several fun science experiments in this section, even one that was edible. I think edible components tend to always be the favorite in this house! There was also a nature study component which I really appreciate. My son enjoyed observing nature and then telling me all of the things he saw that he wanted me to write in his nature journal (since he is four and not yet writing on his own). We are planning on expanding that study over the next few weeks at various locations to talk about how different places have different plants and animals.

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The final day was exploring maths, crafts, and more. This was probably our favorite part of the study. There were several activities with math from learning about parallel lines to finding numbers in the illustrations (a great activity for my young son). Another activity that my son loved was the packing activity. He had to work on packing a suit case and deciding what he would need and what would fit. It actually worked out beautifully to coincide with an overnight trip that we were taking. Then came my daughters favorite activity: baking. They had a recipe for Strawberry Tart. She worked on these and made them as a special afternoon treat when her grandmother came for a visit.

There were a variety of other activities from field trips, tea parties and other fun snacks. Some of them were quite simple (popcorn) and others were a little more involved. I will note that this is a British company and since we are in the United States there were a handful of supplies and ingredients that I had to adapt or look up to determine what they were as they were terms (and spellings) not commonly used here. This was a great learning opportunity for the children and did not hinder our ability to use the study.

This was a fun unit study and I think we would enjoy using other literature studies in Branch Out World‘s Picture Book Explorers series would be a great way to bring a little excitement to our school year. Check out their site and let me know which study sounds like fun for your homeschool and don’t forget to click below to check out the reviews done by other Review Crew members.

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Project Passport: Ancient Egypt (Review)

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How do you know you have found an awesome product?

When the children enjoy working on a review product even though it is supposed to be their summer break.

I knew that we had enjoyed the history game that we reviewed from Home School in the Woods this spring and was excited to try out one of their Project Passport World History Studies. I knew that we were going to be doing ancient history this fall and so I thought that the Ancient Egypt one would be a good fit.

The Project Passport World History Studies are exciting history studies that include 25 lessons or ‘stops’ that you would complete over 8-12 weeks. These ‘stops’ include Guide Book Text which is the reading for that particular topic, a ‘travel itinerary’ which gives you all of the projects and directions for each stop, and the masters that are needed for the projects. There are also audio components at eight of the stops.

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At first glance, this can seem a little overwhelming. There are so many files and so much information. However, once you understand the system it is actually very simple to use. There are two different ways that you can get the information that you need. I started by extracting the files from the download and then going into the PDFs and printing what I needed. This works fine and is the preference for some people, but I think it is why I was a little overwhelmed at first. After we had been using the study for awhile, I realized that there was a start ‘button’ in the extracted files. This was a total game changer because when you use that link, it opens up a page in your web browser that has each ‘stop’ on the itinerary and clickable links for the files you need for that stop. This helps keep all of the files and information organized and was a great way for me to access what I needed.

While we are talking about overwhelming, I think it is important to note that it is not necessary to complete all of the activities with each stop. There are multiple options for projects which is a great way to give your students the opportunity to choose the ones which appeal to their interests. I do suggest taking a look over the course before you get started and gathering materials that you might need. Most of the materials were basic school/office supplies that you may already have on hand but there were a few things that I needed to find and looking ahead gave me the opportunity to have those ready when they were needed.

The first stop is mostly about getting everything set up. You do get a little background information about Ancient Egypt, but this is the lesson where you set up your notebooks, passports, and other materials that will be used throughout the lessons. One of our favorite parts of this lesson was the ‘luggage’ that they made using simple folders. It looked like so much fun that even my four year old had to make one. These are used to store materials and completed projects throughout the study.

During the second stop and beyond it is much more focused on the history components. Each ‘stop’ includes reading about the different components of Ancient Egypt that are being studied. For example, some lessons were on everyday life such as clothing and food. Other lessons were on agriculture, famous women, kingdoms, and religion. Once you have completed the reading there were multiple projects and activities to choose from. You student could be working on completing a lapbook and there were various lapbook activities included throughout the stops. They could also assemble a notebook with different projects. One of the projects that we enjoyed throughout the study was the timeline. We printed off the pages of the timeline and placed them in our notebooks but they could have also been connected together as one long timeline. Then with each stop we would cut out new timeline components and glue them onto our pages.

There were postcards that had letters already printed on them from someone the students had learned about in the lesson. The students would then design a picture for the front of the postcard. There was also a mapping component that they could add to at each of the stops.

While the children enjoyed those other components the hands on projects and activities were the highlight of our study. Our whole family enjoyed an ‘Ancient Egyptian Feast’ using recipes from the cookbook that they made in one of the early lessons. Both of my older children chose recipes to make for dinner one night and then I helped the four year old make a salad from the recipe book as well. He was determined not to be left out and had so much fun making his salad.

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My twelve year old son enjoyed making bricks using mud and a straw/mud mixture. It was hands on an active, but what I liked most about it is that it helped him see how what were learning in history connected to the history he learned in the Bible. This program consistently showed how history and the Bible are connected without taking away from the face that it was a history curriculum.

If making bricks doesn’t excite you, you could dress a paper doll Egyptian woman, build an Egyptian temple, make a flip book, or even design a newspaper. There were a wide variety of projects which I find especially helpful as a mom who was using the study with multiple children. My children can use this program together but still chose projects that are more tailored to their interests. My daughter enjoys lapbooking projects, but my son does not. With this study I could have them each chose elements that they enjoyed while having them cover the same material.

This curriculum is designed for use with grades three through eight and in general I’d say that is a good age range, but I do think if you have children both in that age range and younger that you can certainly include the younger children. My four year old certainly did not complete all of the projects, but enjoyed cutting and pasting the timeline figures, listening to me read, coloring pictures, and making dinner. I found that he learned quite a bit from being involved.

We have not yet completed this study but are really enjoying it and plan to finish it up in September when we start back to school (the kids would finish it now but mom needs a couple weeks completely off before we start back). I believe Project Passport World History Studies would work well as a stand alone history curriculum, or can be used to provide a hands on supplement to other programs. In addition to Ancient Egypt they have Ancient Greece, The Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation and their newest product Ancient Rome. These studies are also available as a bundle!

Home School in the Woods also offers a wide variety of other hands on history products and timelines. The Review Crew had the opportunity to review quite a few different products and I encourage you to click the link below to check out all of the different reviews to see which products might work well for your family.

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Smart Kidz Radio (Review)

My children love to listen to music and stories as they go about their day and so I was excited to review Smart Kidz Radio by Smart Kidz Media. Smart Kidz classifies themselves as edutainment (educational entertainment). They have a combination of live streaming radio and podcast programs that are available free of charge.

The live stream was upbeat and the four year old enjoyed listening. I loved that I did not have to worry about inappropriate content or ads. I have found that many radio stations have ad content that we find inappropriate for our young children. The children enjoyed listening and wanted to listen while they worked. As an adult the songs felt a bit repetitive as children’s songs often do and so I would not choose to personally spend much time listening to it, but I have no problem with allowing my children to listen to it during their free time. It is great to help keep them entertained while they clean up their rooms, work on crafts, color a picture, or even build with Legos.

While my children appreciated both, as an adult I found the podcast offerings to be more enjoyable listening. The podcast offerings were mostly stories instead of songs which fit well in our family. They were classic fairy tales like Jack and the Bean Stalk, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretel. There are currently 22 different podcast offerings. Most of these stories are about 15 to 20 minutes long which works well for keeping the attention of my preschooler. I can play the story for him to listen to while I get a few things done. I did learn that I have to be a bit careful with which fairy tales as he decided that Jack and the Bean Stalk was a bit too scary with the giant so we turned that one off. My older children have also enjoyed listening along while they work on other projects and wanted to finish Jack and the Bean Stalk after the four year old went to bed.

In addition to these free resources they will be offering an upgrade to an On Demand Membership that includes hundreds of other stories and songs. There are different song programs for various ages (ranging from 2-10) and different stories including fairy tales, Peter Rabbit, Bible Stories, and more. I have not had a chance to review all of these offerings but they sound like a great resource. They also are planning to have it available as an app soon which may make it easier to listen to on the go.

If you are looking for some edutainment or want a way to get in more stories than you have the time to read aloud, Smart Kidz Radio may be a good fit. I highly suggest trying the free programming to get a good feel for what they have to offer and check out their on demand offerings as they become available.

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Northwest Treasures Dinosaurs and the Bible (review)

I think most kids like dinosaurs, I mean, what’s not to like. Larger than a tractor trailer, small brain, constant teething trouble; I think kids relate to T-rex, I mean, they’re basically the same. So when we got the opportunity to review these online classes by Northwest Treasures I leapt at it!

We first watched Taking the Mystery out of Geology which is a twenty minute introductory course. This course focuses on the vocabulary of geology and gives valuable background and vocabulary that are used later in the other studies. The classes were done in a lecture/ slide format using Vimeo. There was a lot of good information but it was somewhat dense and dry., rather in the format of a college lecture. Honestly, after watching it I was concerned that my children were not going to enjoy the Dinosaurs and the Bible class that we were primarily reviewing. However, once we got into the Dinosaurs and the Bible lessons they found the content much more engaging.

The Dinosaurs and the Bible class included the following six lessons:

How We Got Our Modern View of Dinosaurs
The Classification of Dinosaurs
The Great Dinosaur Rush
The Extinction of Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs and the Ice Age
Fossils, Age and Soft Tissue

Each lesson included at 15-20 minute video (lecture/slide format) with worksheets and discussion questions available at the end. In our family we chose to watch each lesson together and then use the worksheets to guide our discussions rather than have the students complete them independently. We were using this as a family summer enrichment type activity and felt the less formal approach would be a better fit. However, if you were using these as a science class particularly with older students you could have them complete the worksheets independently to check for understanding and comprehension.

The class is geared towards grades 5- adult. I personally think that most students in the lower end of that age range will need some adult assistance in fully understanding this information. There is a lot of geology and science history in the course that may be a bit dense for the younger students. They will gain a lot from the course but may need some adult assistance in understanding everything that is being presented.

If you are looking for geology from a Christian Creationist viewpoint Northwest Treasures has some great options. In addition to the online classes like I reviewed above they have some kits and physical courses available. If you have younger children you may want to check out their Geology for “Little Eyes” which is designed for children in grades Pre-K through 3rd. If you have a high school student that needs a full Earth Science course you might consider checking out Northwest Treasures Curriculum Project which is a series of four studies. Each of those studies is a stand alone semester course for high school level students.

If those programs are not hands on enough for your tastes they also offer geology field trips. I think it would be amazing to be able to go to Yellowstone National Park for a guided tour focused on Young Earth Creation and geology. That would be an experience of a lifetime.

Northwest Treasures offers a wide variety of resources for all ages including online courses, fossil collections, physical courses and even field trips. If geology is an area of interest for you or your children I highly suggest taking a look at what they have to offer. You can find out more about their other online courses by checking out the other Review Crew reviews!

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Love, Honor, and Virtue (Great Waters Press Review)

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I knew when I chose to review this book that it was not going to be a lighthearted easy read. This was not one of those books where you just sit down with your lemonade and relax, it tackles an important but tough subject. Love, Honor, and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality is a book that is so very needed in our culture today. The topics are heavy and quite honestly some of them can be a little uncomfortable for a mom but they are well written and need to be addressed. While I can’t say it will be the most enjoyable book I read all summer this book by Great Waters Press may well be one of the most needed and important books that I’ve read all year and I’m thankful for the opportunity to review the book.

Love, Honor, and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality was written not for moms like me, but for our sons. It is geared towards boys 12 and up and is very frank and direct. The book starts at the beginning and explains the mechanics of sex and childbirth. I would not give this to a boy that did not already have some understanding about sex because I think it would be overwhelming and honestly unfair to just ‘throw the book’ at a 12 year old boy. However, the Young’s recommend using this as ‘a tool’ and not as the ‘answer’.

This book is a great way to spark conversations and guide you through the process of educating and supporting your son in this area. I plan on using this book to help my son understand things and build strategies to help with temptations after we have had some initial conversations.

Love, Honor, and Virtue deals with sexuality, pornography, the biological process of childbirth from conception through delivery and tackles sexual temptation. There is even a section on male and female relationships including dating/courting and friendships. I love that particularly in the section on dating/courting they give suggestions and ideas but are careful not to give mandates where the Bible does not give mandates.

I particularly love the five point defense that they teach young men to use as they deal with temptation. It is geared towards sexual temptation but could be used with other temptations as well. First, leave or change the situation. Then they suggest prayer. Followed by reading relevant scripture and then singing to the Lord. Finally, go to your authorities (parents, counselors, etc). These five steps can help our young men as they face the many temptations present in today’s world. They expand upon each of these strategies in chapter four.

There are many references to scripture throughout the book to consistently bring us back to what the Bible says about sexuality and sexual temptation. They address computers and the ease of access to pornography, sexting, and other modern temptations that were not an issue a generation or two ago. The end of each chapter has a summary of what was discussed. This is a great review of what was covered and a great place for a parent to get ideas for discussion points.

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As a mom, it can be tempting to want to hide my head in the sand and pretend that my son won’t face those temptations and issues. However, that does a severe disservice to my son. While I do not believe my son is ready for this material just yet (he is on the youngest end of the recommended ages), I intend to use this book with him to help facilitate conversations about these topics. Love, Honor, and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality is an open and frank book discussing the sexual temptations that many young men face in today’s world. If you are parenting younger children, checkout my review No Longer Little (Book Review) about parenting tweens. Great Waters Press has a variety of other books and materials to help you on this parenting journey.

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No Longer Little (Book Review)

I am currently in an interesting stage of life where I have two preteens, a preschooler, and an infant. I wouldn’t change it for the world but it sure makes life interesting. Life with two tweens (ages 12 and 10) brings a different set of both joys and challenges than the younger years. As my husband and I work together to navigate these new waters I was excited to have the opportunity to read and review, No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope by Great Waters Press.

No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope was written by Hal and Melanie Young and is geared towards parents of children ages 8-14. It it written in a very smooth and easy to read style that while packed with information does not feel ‘clinical’ as some parenting books tend to feel. I was blessed to be able to read it while enjoying some family time at the river and it didn’t feel like I was doing ‘work’.

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While I think it is beneficial to read this book the whole way through, I also appreciate that there is an index in the back to help you find information and suggestions on particular topics. I see this a book that I can reference while we work through various issues during these tween and teen years. For example, I could use the index to find more information on hormone changes, jealousy, or even career planning.

Chapter 3: Brains Turn to Mush might just be my favorite chapter. I had noticed this phenomenon begin with my son several years ago but I did not really understand why or how it happened. I certainly did not realize that is was a normal part of development. I was prepared for the outward signs of the beginning of puberty (hair growth, voice changing, etc) and even the emotional roller coaster that can accompany hormones, but I was not prepared for his brain to turn to mush. I did not understand what was happening when he suddenly could not seem to remember to follow simple instructions. As the Young’s stated, “Kids that could concentrate and remember what they were doing last year suddenly can’t, once the hormones start flowing. They can’t.”

What a relief to realize that it was not just us! While it is still frustrating some days, understanding the science behind it makes it easier to handle and gives hope of a light at the end of the tunnel. They shared that “Neurologists say that during early adolescence, these parts of the brain actually unravel; there truly is a temporary loss of function as the neurons re-assemble into their adult configurations.” I really needed their reminder and instructions on making sure that I preserve a love of learning during this more difficult time so that when things level out again we are ready to move forward academically.

Sometimes God sends us a message that we need to hear through a book (or in my case multiple books that I’m reading this summer). In the last chapter, Hal and Melanie talk about how people often assume that we will have a bad or tumultuous relationship with our teens, but it does not have to be that way. If we give focused attention to keeping our relationships intact during these tween years, we can have wonderful and connected relationships. We have to, “protect your relationship with your tweens. Keep teaching them truth in that context- a loving, healthy communicating relationship. And trust God for the results.”

No Longer Little: Parenting Tweens with Grace and Hope was so encouraging and helpful. It was the perfect mix of encouragement and practical suggestions. My one regret is that I did not have this book several years ago when we started going through some of these challenges with my oldest. If you are a parent, especially of a child in the 8-14 range, I highly encourage you to read this book. The strategies are practical, Biblically based, and very helpful. Perhaps just as important as the strategies, this book will help you understand that what is going on with your child is normal and you are not alone.

Check out these other Crew Reviews and check back tomorrow for my review of their book, Love, Honor, and Virtue Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality.

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