For the next several posts, I plan to do a "Year in Review"~ looking back at what we've done and making notes on how it went. This is largely for my own benefit: to remind myself what we did and how it worked, but I'm going to post it here in case it is of interest to you. (I also plan to put together a list of our favorite books we've read this school year, including a list of Ella's recommendations.)
First up: Bible
We read through Catherine Vos' The Child's Story Bible
for our Bible time each morning, and we all loved it. This is the first year I used this and I'm so glad I did.In previous years I have used Hurlbut's Story of the Bible For Young and Old
(which I also love). I actually found a copy of this at the thrift store last week (79 cents! Hardcover!) and was thrilled. Quick comparison of the two: Vos' is less reading for each chapter, Hurlbut's is longer and more thorough. When we read Hurlbut (last year and the year before) I had to stop mid-chapter and continue the following day. Or maybe that was just because the kids were all younger. At any rate, I rarely had to do that this year. Other notes: Hurlbut's has direct quotes from the Bible, while Vos' does not (to my memory. If there are, they are very few.) For the ages of my kids- and having the two little ones with us at the table while we were reading, Vos' was perfect for us. I plan to continue to use both- alternating from year to year.
Mark reads the Bible (NIV) with the kids in the evenings (most nights) before bedtime. They began this a few years ago and are now in the book of Proverbs.
Next post: Memory work (catechism, Ten Verses cards, theme passage, sign language, Apostles Creed, review)
I LOVE hearing your review of what you have done and what you liked/disliked! Lots of discussion at house right now... :)
ReplyDeleteMichelle~ Oh, good. That makes you and one other person. :) I want to know about your discussions. There's this thing called a phone... you might find it somewhere in your kitchen. Or- even better- in your PURSE. Love you. SO much.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to this. We are definately a Vos Story bible fan :o)
ReplyDeleteI just discovered a little book called "Get Wisdom" by Ruth Yount, it is for the youngers and olders and I love it! There are pictures and little activities plus discussion questions. We are putting actions to our memory verses and that is helping retention SO much and over all fun.
we use (and love) Vos too! we team it up with hasting's illustrated bible (just for the pics), veritas press' bible memory songs, and the olders (and momma) put it all together with victor. ...then we write narrations (momma writes for the youngers) and draw a picture, and we have a nifty little bible notebook. :) i heart learning the bible (history) with my kids.
ReplyDeletelooking forward to seeing what you use for catechism...we've used 2 so far...1 was waaay over everyone's head...and now the 1 we're currently using is for toddlers. (it may help if we purchased one, instead of printing them for free off the internet:)
*apostle's creed is on our memory list for the summer!
Fun! Thank you for sharing your notes for the year. I'm finding myself eager to start planning for next year. I love our Vos story bible. I also have Hurlbut's (at your recommendation!), and I like the idea of alternating them. Looking forward to your next post!
ReplyDeleteWe have been reading "The Child's Story Bible" for the past two years. Next year I am planning to read "Ergermier's Bible Story Book". We have also downloaded (for free) Hurlbut's bible stories from Librivox. My boys listen to those during rest time or we all listen to them for long car trips.
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this year in review. I always enjoy seeing what other people have done as it helps me when I am deciding what I want to do. These types of reviews were also extremely helpful when I first started homeschooling. Thanks!
Sandi~ Oh, I'll have to check out your recommendation: fun!
ReplyDeleteKathi~ I'll find out where our catechism came from and post it in the comments of that post.
Jodi~ I'm anxious to start planning, too! (I've even bought some books already!) ;)
Angela~ I didn't know Hurlbut's stories were on Librivox. That's great. Thanks for your encouragement!