Wrapping Up

We're coming down the home stretch of another successful home school year! I can hardly believe how quickly this school year came and went. 

One of the definite highlights of our year were the wonderful pieces of literature we read in our condensed year of American history put together by Sonlight.  It was my intention upfront of buying this core and reselling it, which I still plan to do, however, I wasn't prepared for us to become attached to many of these books! 

What a great way to learn about our US history through living books, where we laugh and cry along with the characters that seem to come to life, as opposed to reading a dry, boring history textbook!

Some of our top faves were Johnny Tremain, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, By the Great Horn Spoon, Cheaper By the Dozen (minus the language),  Little Britches, and The Wright Brothers. I have promised Jared to keep our favorites and add them to our home library.

Another one of our favorites was In Search of the Source.  If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it!

This is the story of the Wycliffe Bible Translators (Neil Anderson and Hyatt Moore), who take the Word of God to Papua New Guinea.  What an adventure, as these men not only translate the Word to the Folopa people but they also must become accustomed to their culture in order to properly translate and bring understanding of the Word. 

One of the most touching parts of this story for me was when they worked their way through the gospels, explaining the death and crucifixion of Jesus. As this had never been taught to the people, they really had no understanding of what took place. The concept of being crucified is something they were totally unfamiliar with.

After the translating of the book of Luke they decided to show them a film of the gospel story, to give them more of an understanding.  As they watched the film they came to the part where Jesus was nailed to the cross. The Folopa women "erupted into excruciating wailing".  They never understood that he was still alive while being nailed to the cross and, furthermore, how He could possibly say "Father, forgive them.  For they know not what they do."

Get yourself a copy of this one! :)

Now, it's time to finish planning what curriculum to use for next year.  I'm already looking forward to digging into the stack of reading books I've selected (Sonlight's Core G of World History).

I hope everyone had a great school year...

Good Read

Yesterday the kids and I went to the library and I picked up two of Ben Carson's books.  I couldn't decide which one to get and what the difference was between them.  I started reading Think Big and I'm about halfway finished. 

What a great book!  I highly recommend reading this inspiring story.  Not only is it inspiring because of Ben Carson and his standards for excellence in the midst of hardship but because of his mother's love and influence in his life- encouraging him to do his best in everything he did.  His mother, who was illeterate with a third grade education would constantly tell him he could be and would be the best in whatever he decided to do, after putting God first in his life.  What I like about her is she didn't drive him but she gently and consistently encouraged him by recognizing his achievements and telling him he could do even better, unleashing his potential.  He went from thinking he was the dumbest kid in his 5th grade class to then believing what his mother said was true and then excelling beyond his classmates in every area.

I really believe that because of his mother's prayers God placed the right mentors in Ben's life.  From elementary school all the way up to his career as a neurosurgeon at John's Hopkins there have been teachers who encouraged him to strive for excellence and that believed in him, propelling him forward.  I could go on and on.  Get the book, people!

I also grabbed his first book, Gifted Hands, and started reading it to the kids.  We are on the 3rd chapter and they are already hooked.