Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys is a very practical guide for parents of boys written by a pair of “experts.” Authors Hal and Melanie Young boast a family of six boys and two girls. They admit that experience is their single greatest qualification and they draw on many personal stories throughout this book to illustrate their points.
Head over to 2 Teaching Mommies to see my honest opinion of Raising Real Men.
Last week as I was taking a walk now memory lane, I came across this video from last year…and I don’t think I ever shared it with you. I shared a few pictures and you can see them here.
July 2010
The boy took an extra long nap today! He went to bed at 1:00pm and I decided about a quarter after 4:00pm that I should go wake him. I quietly turned the handle, peeked inside and I knew right away that I needed to capture this moment on video…these times are so rare and far between…enjoy.
This last week we learned all about the Tower of Babel. The focus of the lesson is about how God is the greatest, not people.
Lesson 5: The Tall Tower
Our memory verse was:
Every Wednesday evening we review our bible studying as a family by doing a craft or playing a game. (Check out our weekly bible study schedule.) Last week we built our own tower. As we built our tower we talked about the story and our memory verse. Of course when you build a tower you have to knock it down.
During the week we did another mini-book turned into a sequencing events activity from Christian Preschool Printables. We got our coloring page from Calvary Chapel.
Additional Resources & Activities:
Here are a few more links to some of things I found.
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I don’t know why the death by drowning of the human race except for 8 individuals is one of my favorite old testament stories, but it is. I’m pretty sure my love of the story originated from the song, Rise and Shine. I mean we all know that adding a –y to the end of words changes the negative to a positive. Right?
All kidding aside, Noah was some man. He knew God. He had faith in God. He obeyed God. What a man!
We actually studied this last week, while learning all about the zoo. It was perfect timing.
Lesson 4: Noah’s Ark
Our memory verse was:
Here were some of the finish activities that we did:
For the above activity, I decided to cut apart the mini-book from Bible Story Printables, so that the boy could sequence the events from the story. I liked this activity and Bible Story Printables has lots of mini-books, so I will probably be doing this again. It was a great review.
Additional Resources & Activities:
There are so many fabulous resources for this story that it was really hard for me to pick and choose what we would use. So, below are a few links to some of my favorites. Please note, we didn’t do all of these activities.
What old testament story is your favorite?
What a perfect title for this week because I completely fell flat on my face. First, life has been crazy and I forgot to post about week 3 of our bible study. Then we blew it. We got so caught up in life that we didn’t make time for God and ending up missing a whole week. Not a great beginning, but hopefully with a little bit of tweaking we’ll get into a solid rhythm.
So, since our basic outline didn’t work for us we adjusted it. Here’s what our week looks like now:
/Memory Review We will still be using “a snack for the journey” while we are out and about, but I wanted to have something more consistent set up. I wanted to teach the boy the importance of getting in the word everyday. Plus, when I was more flexible I found myself not making the time to do it. I want this to be a priority.
Now on to...
Lesson 3: Sneaky Snake
In this lesson Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit after being tempted by the snake.
Our memory verse was:
Additional Resources & Activities:
Books
How do you help your little one understand the concept of sin?
Last week I wrote about the new bible study we are doing with the boy. This week I thought I would briefly explain how we are using it in our home.
Here’s an basic outline of what our week looks like:
Of course, sometimes our weeks are going to be hectic and that is why I really like Beginning with God. For each lesson they offer “a snack for the journey.” The snack is just a way to have a conversation with your preschooler about the lesson while your are out and about. For example, in Lesson 1: The Beginning, the snack for the journey is:
“Point out things like an animal your child likes, a pretty leaf, an interesting stone, a massive tree…and ask your child: Who made this? (God!) Yes, God made everything.”
Now on to this week’s lesson.
Lesson 2: Adam & Eve
In this lesson Adam names all the animals, but still can’t find the perfect helper for him.
Our memory verse was “So God created mankind in his own image…male and female he created them..” Genesis 1:27 (I added our memory verse to last week for easy downloading.)
I couldn’t find very many supplemental activities that weren’t related to the “snake.” However, I was very excited when I found a coloring sheet with our actual memory verse on it. So, we ended up coloring that sheet as well as reading a few pages from My First Study Bible
Additional Resources & Activities:
Books
How do you help your children understand that we are made in God’s image?
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
This is one of our family goals. It is a goal that is on going, but so worth it.
This year we really wanted to find a bible study that would be ideal for the boy and I was so excited to learn about The Good Book Company from Homeschool Creations. After reading Jolanthe’s review and taking a look inside book 1 of the Beginning with God, I knew I found the perfect one.
I love the way it is laid out and how it is a companion to The Beginners Bible.
I thought it would be fun to share what we are doing. I can’t promise that I will always have pictures because I don’t want to distract from the lesson, but I do plan to link to some resources that would fit with the lesson, in case any of you are working through this book as well. With that said:
Lesson 1: The Beginning
Our memory verse was “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
One activity we decided to do with this lesson was to create a collage of what was made each day. We re-read the story and asked Lil’man to tell us what God made each day. We often referred back to the story to help him remember. Then I drew pictures and Lil’man helped me color them in.
Additional Resources:
Books:
Are you doing a bible study with your preschooler or tot? If so, what are you doing?
This video is definitely a MUST SEE in my book. Listen closely to the words…as it shares the message of a savior’s birth!
Wasn’t it awesome? I loved it!
When she finally posted a link to where I could purchased this e-book, I brought it immediately. I even read the whole thing that night, after I put my son to bed. It is a very quick read.
Not only, does her book help manage your time, but it helps you set goals. Something that I have been working on and discussing with my husband as of late. In her book, Amy provides a step by step approach to setting goals and fitting those goals into a “time budget.”
This book really help me evaluate what I am doing with my time and to make sure I was putting the things that are most important in my life first. It was eye opening, and I know with a little discipline and patience I can attain my goals.
I highly recommend this book. To learn more visit AmyLynnAndrews.com.
So, I don’t know about you but I have hated my shower for months! No matter how often we cleaned it, how much elbow grease I could muster with a little toothbrush, what product or method we used…nothing would get rid of those nasty mold stains. [clenching teeth, shaking fist and groaning deep within gut]
Until I met this little guy…
I am in LOVE! [eyes lash flutter]
This little gem has conquered the task for me, and with little to no help from this little damsel in distress. All I have to do is apply it and walk away. [deep sigh of relief] One application left on a for a few hours and I was left with a bathtub that I don’t have to hide behind the shower curtain!
Now mind you I have used bleach before to go after those ugly stains, but for some reason this gel pen seems to do the trick. And there is no need to gasp for air while applying! Yep that’s right, it doesn't have as strong of an odor as bleach and water mix! Win. Win.
On top of cleaning grout, I discover that my new best friend makes a great addition to the mommy’s art supplies. Check out this tutorial.
So, that’s what works for me.
See what works for others at:
Have you been to http://draft.blogger.com? For those of you who would like to give your blog a facelift without messing with your html then you need to check it out. It gives you a lot more options for designing your blog. Here are just a few of the new design elements you can mess with under their Template Designer section:
So, go check it out if you want to give your blog a facelift. Of course, that is if you plan on staying with blogger, especially after recent events.
Jolanthe at No Ordinary Moments recently introduced me to another wonderful website this week. PaperBack Swap has been around since 2005, but I had never heard about it! You would think a book lover like myself would have known about this website a long time ago. It is a book club that is definitely worth checking out because you can get free books by swapping out the books that you’ve already read. Basically…
Isn’t that a fabulous idea! You can imagine my excitement when I finally learned about it. When you join they give you a couple of credits to get you started…now all I need to do is determine what books I want to swap! I am curious to know if any of you have used this site before and your thoughts…please share.
A BIG Thanks to Jolanthe for sharing this wonderful website with me!
