Lesson Pathways is Now FREE!

Yep!  You read right!  Lesson Pathways is now FREE.  No subscription necessary.  This is a site full of wonderful lessons, projects, activities, games, and ready-to-teach weekly topic units.  It makes it soo easy to prepare your week's lessons using many different teaching and learning styles.  You can also choose from lessons for K - 5, using many of them for various grade levels or combining them for use as unit studies.
Go check it out!

The Flowering Cross - A Book Review

I recently received The Flowering Cross to review for Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze Program.


Book Description:

The Flowering Cross is a parable for elementary age children, showing how to model Jesus’ love to others.

The story is inspired by the book, Won by Love, which is the story of Norma McCorvey ( Roe v. Wade).

The cover of The Flowering Cross is very appealing to young children.With beautiful illustrations, it captures the attention of children and portrays the loving kindness Jesus feels toward each of us as His children.  But it’s what is inside that is most memorable. This story could be about any of our neighbors, friends or family. The unhesitating hope and  expectancy that exudes from our children is just what the author wants us to enjoy. This is a good, wholesome story of a family who reaches out to love the unlovable and holds out hope, despite Mean Old Jack’s unwillingness and reputation.

Includes a few special features:

*Faith Imprints –conversational concepts with Scripture references on each page help parents share Biblical truths with their children along the way. (Scriptures from International Children’s Bible version)

*Craft instructions-to make after reading the book, or perhaps use to begin a new tradition in your family.

* There is a kit here that has various activities that go along with this book.


My Thoughts:

I would recommend this for elementary aged children, as a part of your family’s Easter or Resurrection observance. The craft at the back of the book is very simple to make. As an alternative, I would substitute the wood with styrofoam to make it simpler for smaller children to construct and help it to “flower.”

The story is both heartwarming and challenging. The model of true service and caring for others, without judgment is encouraging. I appreciated the message that children can be used by God to win others to Christ. In the end, I treasured the inspiring example of a simple faith ~the faith of a child.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to review this beautiful book!
Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review program . Had I paid for this book my thoughts would still be the same. I am disclosing this to be compliant with the Federal Trade Commission's guidelines concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising.

Burnin' Up the Budget

I don't know about you, but this time of year has me in hard-core planning mode for next school year.  Tax season brings the warmest of smiles to my face.  Unfortunately,  this is due to the fact that I am going to soon be writing huge checks to book suppliers, curriculum companies, and hoping that I can hang onto enough change to swipe the card a few times for other supplies in the fall as well.

I endlessly browse large discount suppliers, pour over curriculum review sites, search for blogs with comments on prospective materials and  click around at mom-and-pop publishers, hoping to give them a lift.  Finally, the "perfect" item crosses my path and I shout (silently) "Sold!"   This is perfect.  I have found IT.  THE item I have been  desperately looking for......until my next click.  And so the cycle continues.  I am sure that just a few short years ago, parents must have only had 20 items from which to choose and it must have been much easier.  The comparisons and debating with myself drive me crazy!  And, each year the budget looks strikingly similar to the year before. 

So, how much does it cost you to homeschool each child in your family? Inquiring minds want to know.




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Introducing........Our Homeschool

We are a homeschooling family of six plus one very humanized chocolate lab. It is always crazy around here, unbearable once in a while, and on occasion, downright insane. But, we like it that way and hope you'll hang out with us and see what we get into along our journey.

We have one beautiful 4th grader who is very much Daddy's girl. Our Little Big Man is in 2nd grade. There's a new guy in our homeschool this year: it's our Little Guy. And then, there's Little Miss, the 3 yr. old and boss of the forementioned lab!

Grab a cuppa something, cause you're gonna need the sugar to keep up !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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