Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Top Picks for us - June 2009



We did have a homeschooling meeting this week and were asked to think about what books/curriculum was working for us.  I only had a few to bring along and I’ll share them here as well.
We’ve just finished using "Small Talks on Big Questions" for our night time devotions.  The book goes through the questions of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, eg.  Who made you?  What else did God make?  Why did God make you and all things?  Who wrote the Bible?
These Q & As give a great summary from the Bible and it’s up to you whether you want your children to learn them.  After going through a few questions, there are two stories based on that theme – usually one from the Bible and one from History – told in a narrative form.  There’s great questions at the end to get you thinking further.
Availabie in Australia from www.reformersbooks.com.au or Amazon in the US

We did about 25 minutes of this workshop video, "Logic in 100 minutes" this week.  Even though it is a great resource and gives a wonderful overview of logic and the various arguments that you need to identify, it’s too much info in one go for my children right now.  We also own "The Fallacy Detective" so I’m going to go through the section on Propaganda with them as a discussion and then we’ll flick the video back on.  Older kids would cope with moving through this video at a faster rate.
Available from christianbook.com.
We’ve also been making our way through this 3 volume series called "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution"  WE just did the second DVD this morning.  It is providing a Christian perspective for the boys and countering some "fact" statements made by evolutionists.  We’re also borrowing David Attenborough’s series "Planet Earth" from the library so they are hearing the evolutionist side and seeing some stunning pictures as well.
This is available from Word in Australia at a great price and is readily available in the US ( Christianbook, AiG, etc)
Another resource that we’ve been enjoying is the newly reprinted "Our Sunburnt Country".  I’ve long admired this work but we are now using it in our Australian History lessons and I’m appreciating having such a good spine at my fingertips.  It gives brief and yet detailed information about the main events in our history.  Told in an easy to read style, it can stand alone or be the base from which you add more to a topic. The boys are liking it and I can’t recommend it enough for those with children aged 8 and up.
 Available from downunderlit.com in Australia.
The last book is one that I have recently purchased but have not found time to use as yet.  Christianbook had some sample pages you can look at.  I liked the idea of having a starting point from which to build for story writing.
Got any top picks of your own?

No comments:

Post a Comment