Walking With Jesus Notebook Pages!

Look at what's now available! 

The complete set of notebook pages for Walking With Jesus is here! 

Walking With Jesus notebook pages are beneficial for those who:

• Want to save time by not having to create notebook pages themselves,

• Want to save time by not having their students attempt to create notebook pages by hand,

• Want a cohesive look throughout the notebook. 

If you have visited my About page, you will already know about my passion to share Biblical truths! The Walking With Jesus notebook pages help your students to become more Biblically literate by learning:

• The name of the One True God of Isaac, Jacob, and Abraham in Hebrew. His name is Yahweh (Isaiah 42:8 HCSB), 

• The name of Jesus in Hebrew. His name is Yeshua (which means salvation),

• The word "church" is G1577 and more correctly rendered as "assembly" or "congregation".  

• The Apostle Paul's name is Shaul in Hebrew.

These words are used interchangeably in the notebook pages to help your students build their Scriptural vocabulary. 

You can go to this link here and purchase it individually or as a set with the Walking With Jesus curriculum!

A big shout out to my family as they helped with scheduling so that I could accomplish this goal! 

Click on this link to buy your 247 page copy of notebook pages for Walking with Jesus! 



Blessings!

 

Planning My Principle Approach® School Year- Part 3

Not too long ago, the Foundation for American Christian Education held a "Renewing the Mind" summer training course. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to attend on-line. 

(Did you catch Part 1 and Part 2?)

How I'm Encouraged and Inspired:

A Few Things I Learned:

As you probably know, I have several children and several books from F.A.C.E. and not so much in the way of several hours to pour over every detail of each book. So, some areas of understanding have not been as strong for me as others.

• I now have a better understanding about teaching reading and how to use different reading strategies.

• I better understand how to apply the reading strategies with the Bible as a Reader. 

• Why we use Word Study vs. RIGGS

Beneficial Tips for Me:

• Use tabs on the Curriculum Guides for quick reference of where to find content.

• How to better incorporate oral reading and inflection in our lessons.

• How to effectively group kids together for reading (which helps with co-ops, maybe literature clubs, and I think for families with multiple kids). 

Midst daily life responsibilities, the joy of family and friends, and celebrating Yahweh's/God's Fall Feasts, I'm plugging away at the curriculum for this school year. I'm nearly ready to debut the first quartet lessons. I find that I can offer bits and pieces at a time vs. the whole curriculum at once as I was hoping. That's okay. I'm doing what I can as I'm able to. :-)

I do have an upcoming surprise for those who plan on using these lessons! I'm looking forward to introducing you to a special person and how he is sharing his gifts and talents to bless you!

Blessings upon you and yours as you pursue our Heavenly Father's will for your family and grow in Him and ever closer to our Messiah Yahshua.

  

Planning My Principle Approach® School Year- Part 1

As I begin planning for my family's upcoming school year, I'm evaluating how last year went for us. This year, I'm using the evaluation format posed by Homeschool Tracker.

1. Evaluate Last Year

 

My plan last year:

 

Teach Dreamer from The Noah Plan® first grade curriculum. Teach Explorer from The Noah Plan® third grade curriculum. Write curriculum for Song Bird from the 5th grade overviews, write curriculum for Artsy Girl from the 8th grade overviews, and write curriculum for Scientist from the 9th grade overviews. (Quite ambitious, eh?)

 

How my plan changed as the year progressed: 

It didn't go exactly as I had planned. I started out writing lesson plans based off of the overviews for our older three kids, but at a certain point it became too much for me on top of teaching from The Noah Plan® Curriculum for the third and first grades. Add to all that managing a co-op ministry, managing a drama ministry, and the birth of a little baby, the loss of a loved one which resulted in traveling miles over several states, and I fizzled out! 

So, I ended up using the third grade curriculum as a spine for several of our older three kids' lessons- assigning them grade appropriate assignments and readings. Which is fine, because I'm a single individual. Uno. I'm not a whole Principle Approach® school with multiple teachers ya'll. And you know what? I have test results to prove that they are doing well with their education despite that we aren't following The Noah Plan® as purists (as much as I really would like to). :-)

How I feel I can improve the organizing and scheduling for this school year:

 

I've contemplated this deeply. I started out with making a grade specific planner to accompany The Noah Plan® second grade curriculum for Dreamer. That was actually a fun project for me so I decided to make one for her upcoming third grade year. Then, thinking about Sweetie Pie starting Kindergarten, I decided that I may as well make a The Noah Plan® Kindergarten specific planner. Can I say that I find this somewhat therapeutic? (If you're interested, I'll post on these planners soon.)

As I considered the school year more, I almost decided to toss the whole curriculum. I know, right? What was I thinking?! I sought counsel from friends and acquaintances (about other options), I talked with Cool Daddy, and we prayed. The outcome? We still feel led by the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) to use The Noah Plan® as a spine for our curriculum.

So, this means one thing. I need to write lesson plans and I need to streamline them for my family (and for myself). So, I'm writing curriculum based off of The Noah Plan® overviews for sixth grade for all grade ranges. I'll explain about how I settled to base it off of the 6th grade overviews later. 

Did my kids accomplish all that I had planned?

 

No and yes. No in the sense that I had hoped to stick with each grade because I didn't want to feel like they'd be missing out on something. Yes in that they continue to love learning, to grow in their understanding of Scripture, in their personal relationships with our Savior Yahshua, and as a family. Really, it comes down to being flexible and relaxing (I really need to relax a bit... okay... a lot more than I have been lately)

Did I over-schedule or under-schedule?

I think things went well overall in this sense. I was really hoping for some areas in the pilot year of our homeschool co-op's new format to have worked out better: music lessons were dropped, debate was dropped, and a few other things that were especially important to our family. We'll just have to "shop" elsewhere to meet these needs... and maybe, just maybe consider not participating in a homeschool co-op...

Did I build in enough breaks, vacations, and fun family activities?

Yes! We love to celebrate Yahweh's Feasts! They are not only meaningful, they're 7-8 days long! Plus, we took time off to welcome our darling newborn daughter into our family. :-)

What can be done better this year?

 

Streamlining our curriculum and keeping it blended with the Charlotte Mason approach. And, I need to relax and enjoy it more this year! 

2. The S-M-A-R-T Approach...

 

I'm keeping the lessons Specific (read as simple and concise); measurable with note taking, journaling/narrating, discussions; attainable with how it best suits my family; relevant to what matters to us; and time-bound with the wise approach of Charlotte Mason's educational observations. 

3. Plan my yearly calendar

 

This is pretty easy because I'm breaking it down weekly and already have the dates for Yahweh's Feasts down. :-)

4. Lesson Planning

 

Yep. Moving right along with this. We have a lot of books sitting in the basket waiting for people in this house to open them up, read, and dialog about them. 



So, tell me how your lesson plans are coming along. Or are they? What are you finding helpful? What are you struggling with? I may be able to help ya out in a blog post. :-)

Blessings,

The Noah Plan®- Third Grade Essentials

Have you a third grade student this coming school year? What about using The Noah Plan® Curriculum for third grade as a spine for your mixed ages/grades? In any case, you may find this list of The Noah Plan® Curriculum's third grade Essentials list helpful as you get your curriculum ordered in time for the school year. :-)

The Noah Plan®- Third Grade Essentials List per FACE (The Foundation for American Christian Education):

This is the Essentials list by F.A.C.E. and the purpose of sharing this is to help you prepare and budget as you need to before your school year gets started (page 427 from The Noah Plan®
Curriculum for Third Grade). The books in bold lettering are the ones that we own:

• Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language (You can get by without this and use the free on-line version of Webster's 1828 Dictionary. However, the on-line version does not have all of Webster's entries. For instance, you will not find the entry for fulfill.).

• Benjamin Franklin, Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

• Christian History of the American Revolution: Consider and Ponder, Verna M. Hall
  (You can get by without this... eventually I recommend them to read a bit at a time to educate yourself and decided what and how much to share with your children).

• Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America, Vol. 1: Christian Self-Government, Verna M. Hall (You can get by without this... eventually I recommend them to read a bit at a time to educate yourself and decided what and how much to share with your children).

• The Family and the Nation: Biblical Childhood, Rosalie June Slater

• Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, Mary Mapes Dodge

• How to Teach Spelling (we use Spell to Write and Read instead...)

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis

• NIrV Kids' Study Bible, Zondervan

• The Noah Plan Curriculum Guides for:
  English, History and Geography, Literature, and Reading (You can get by without these... eventually I recommend them to read a bit at a time to educate yourself and decided what and how much to share with your children).

• The Noah Plan®: A Complete Educational Program in the Principle Approach for grades K-8 or 9-12, FACE (I don't own these...)

• The Noah Plan® Self-Directed Study in the Principle Approach, FACE

• RightStart Mathematics (while I love this curriculum, we now use CTC Math and love it!)

• Spalding Education International-
  Writing Road to Reading (we use Spell to Write and Read instead as it's simplified!)
   
• The Comprehension Connection User's Gudie for McCall-Crabbs, for Book B-E

• McCall-Crabbs, Standard Test Lessons in Reading (Book B- 3rd Grade)
  We do own the McCall-Crabbs books for reading comprehension and I do like to use them. The kids and I appreciate knowing what reading level they are at.

• StoneBridge Art Guide, Wendy Giancoli, FACE

• Tales from Shakespeare, Charles and Mary Lamb

• Teacher Guide: Christopher Columbus: Christbearer to the New World, FACE

• Teacher Guide: Holland or the Netherlands and the History of Liberty, for Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, Rosalie June Slater

• Teaching and Learning America's Christian History: The Principle Approach®, Rosalie June Slater (You can get by without this... eventually I recommend them to read a bit at a time to educate yourself and decided what and how much to share with your children).

Other books on their list that we own and have blessed our homeschool experience:

• Children's Illustrated Bible, Selina Hastings, Dorling Kindersley

•  Leif the Lucky, Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire 

• The Light and the Glory for Children, Peter Marshall and David Manuel

• The Magna Charta, James Dougherty

• Physical Geography, Arnold Guyot (Heads up, there are some ideas in his book that I don't subscribe to. I don't teach some things he believed because I disagree with them.)

• Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Henry Wadsworht Longfellow

• Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thurngia, Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher

• Squanto: A Friend of the Pilgrims, Clyde Robert Bulla

Other Resources We Have Added and Enjoyed:

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe audio drama series by Focus on the Family

• Squanto audio drama by Focus on the Family

I'm excited for you! The Noah Plan® curriculum is such a blessing to our family and I can't imagine it any different for your family. I pray you enjoy your journey of growing closer to our Heavenly Father as you learn Bible Principles in every subject.

Blessings!

The Noah Plan®- Second Grade Essentials

For this next post in my series of The Noah Plan® Essentials, I'm skipping First Grade and jumping into the Second Grade. Why? In my opinion, the Kindergarten and Second Grade curricula are more in depth than the First Grade curriculum (though I will get to the First Grade Essentials list before too long). You can read The Noah Plan® Kindergarten Essentials List by F.A.C.E. here.

**This post does contain an affiliate link.***  

If you own some of the Essentials that F.A.C.E. recommends from previous grades, you'll happily spend less money on this school year or you'll have more money to apply toward other books. :-)

This is the Essentials list by F.A.C.E. and the purpose of sharing this is to help you prepare and budget as you need to before your school year gets started (page 382 from The Noah Plan® Curriculum for Second Grade). The books in bold lettering are the ones that we own:

• Webster's 1828 Dictionary. (While you may use an on-line copy, I have found that not all words are in the on-line version. An example word would be "fulfill". So, a hard copy is best if you can swing it).

• Benjamin Franklin, Beautiful Feet Books.

• Benjamin West, Bradford Press.

• Christian History of the American Revolution: Consider and Ponder, F.A.C.E.
  (You can get by without this. It's a wonderful book to have, but if it overwhelms you in the beginning, wait until you practice the Principle Approach method using the curriculum.)

• Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America, Vol. 1: Christian Self-Government, F.A.C.E.(You can get by without this. It's a wonderful book to have, but if it overwhelms you in the beginning, wait until you practice the Principle Approach method using the curriculum.)

• How to Teach Spelling, Educators' Publishing Company
  (We use Spell to Write and Read instead.) 

• Mes Premiers Pas de Francais, F.A.C.E.

• NIrV Kids' Study Bible
  We have it but rarely use it because I just am not a big fan of NIV...

The Curriculum Guides:

• Noah  Plan® English Guide
• Noah Plan® History and Geography Guide
• Noah Plan® Literature Guide
• Noah Plan® Mathematics Guide
• Noah Plan® Reading Guide
• Noah Plan® Self-Directed Study Seminar and Principle Approach Methodology
  (You can get by without these, but as you grow in your understanding and ability of applying the Principle Approach® method, you'll find them a huge blessing.)

• Pocahontas (d'Aulaire), Doubleday

• Right Start Mathematics, Grade 2 Lessons, Activities for Learning
  I LOVE Right Start, however, I needed to "farm out" lessons and we are now using CTC Math (affiliate link) and we absolutely love it! The lessons are short and concise, the kids can re-take lessons and tests as needed individually, it is not in line with common core, it keeps track of individual student's records which are printable, and it grades lessons and tests automatically. This has been a huge blessing for me and our kids!
  
  

• Starter Kit, Spalding Education International:
  I have it and struggled so much with the way it is formatted!!! Thankfully someone introduced me to Spell to Write and Read by Wanda Sanseri! It's based off of Spalding's book but so simplified. I absolutely love it.

• Tales From Shakespeare, (Lamb's)

• Teacher Guide: "Switzerland and Liberty," F.A.C.E.
  I don't own this...

• Teacher Guide: "William Penn and the History of Religious Toleration," F.A.C.E.
  I don't own this but I'm thinking that I should.

• Teaching and Learning America's Christian History, F.A.C.E.

Heather's List of Essentials

 

In addition to what F.A.C.E. recommends, the following blessed our experience with the second grade curriculum (you may be able to find several of them at your local public library or at used book stores):

• Children's Illustrated Bible, Penguin Group

• Heidi, Random House Value Publishing
  (I had never read the book before and I LOVE it!)

• Historic Sailing Ships Coloring Book, Dover Publications, Inc.
  (You might be able to find free coloring pages on-line though.)

• John Cabot & Son, Goodnough, Troll Association, 1979

• John Smith, Man of Adventure, Bostong: Houghton Mifflin

• McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader, Christian School Edition
  (We found the collection inexpensively at a used book store.)

• Men of Science, Men of God: Great Scientists of the Past Who Believed the Bible, Henry Morris.

• Physical Geography, Arnold Guyot, American Christian History Institute

• Planets, Evan-Moor Corp.

• Pocketful of Goobers: A Story of George Washington Carver, Lerner Publishing Group

• Strong's New Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (but usually I use Blue Letter Bible)

• Sun, Moon, Stars, Evan-Moor Corp.

Would I like to add more to our personal collection for second grade? Yes! However, I'll likely continue to teach with what we have considering that we have a budget for purchasing items for our High School kids. :-)

I sure hope this post gives you the ability to plan ahead and get you ready for the upcoming school year.

Blessings!

 

 

The Noah Plan- Kindergarten Essentials: Heather's List

Welcome back to my series of The Noah Plan Essentials. You may read my first post for The Noah Plan Kindergarten curriculum here.

In addition to the essentials for Kindergarten found at my previous post, here is a list of other items which I found benefited our family in our first year using the Kindergarten curriculum:

• Free printable coloring pages for the period of history or maps that we were studying. A quick on-line search helped me do this and was more affordable at the time than buying coloring books.

• Beginning Geography, K-2, The Evan-Moor Corp.: Vol. 1,Continents and Oceans; Vol. 2,  How to Use a Map; Vol. 3. (While I started out looking for free graphics on-line to make my own, I found having the books a time saver.)

These books have sheets that work with the K Geography lesson plans. They have proven to be a time saver for me (one less thing to prep). 

The double-sided poster is helpful. It's large for little people to see well and it also folds up and can sit loose-leaf in the Evan-Moor book.

The world map from the Evan-Moor Beginning Geography book is a duplicate of the one from their Land Form and Bodies of Water map on one side. The other side is a little Fairy Tale Land map. This also is large and fold-able which allows for sitting in the book loose-leaf.

• The Children's Illustrated Bible. Why? Because unlike the "beginner Bibles", the illustrations are more realistic. I believe the benefit of this is that it doesn't place doubt in our children's minds. 

• Learning About My Body by Evan-Moor Corp. The Noah Plan curriculum calls for, Me and My Body, Penguin Group, USA although we were unable to find a copy of it when we were initially ordering our books. It also calls for, Skeleton Inside You. I don't know what that book is like, however, there are coloring pages in the Learning About My Body book and that was satisfactory for me. In any case, it's helpful timewise to have these pages available.

• A Child's Garden of Songs: The Poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson in Song by Ted Jacobs. We enjoy poetry and music. So, to help instill a love for both, it's especially nice to have some of Robert Lewis Stevenson's poetry put to music.This helped with our lessons about Robert Louis Stevenson when we had to be on the road.

   

Other than that, the usual supply of paper, paper reinforcement labels, pencils,crayons, or any other art supplies and creativity are needed.

Please feel free to ask ideas for substitutions if you find you need help with ideas for any specific lessons. I'll do my best to respond in a timely fashion.

Blessings!

 

The Noah Plan- Kindergarten Essentials

When considering what to purchase for our Kindergarten school year using The Noah Plan Curriculum, I wished that I had known in advance what essential books I needed. It wasn't, however, until our curriculum arrived and I glanced through the lessons that I realized more books were needed than what I ordered from The Foundation for American Christian Education!

**This post does contain an affiliate link.***

In the back of The Noah Plan Curriculum (p. 295), a list of books and publishers is given. I am sharing the books in bold that I found were enough for me in my first year. I'll write comments about the others on this list by F.A.C.E.

And so, without further ado, here is the list to help you budget and plan for the upcoming school year with your Kindergartner (you may even be able to find of them at your local public library):

Essential Books for The Noah Plan Kindergarten Lessons: 

• Abraham Lincoln (d'Aulaire), Doubleday

• Aesop's Fables, Henry Holt & Co.

• *American Dictionary of the English Language, Facsimile 1828 Edition, Foundation for American Christian Education (while there is an on-line edition, I have discovered that it is missing some words. So, I believe it's essential to have a hard copy in your home.)

• Bambi, by Felix Salten (this is not the Disney version)

• Child's Garden of Verses

• Christian History of the American Revolution: Consider and Ponder-
  I was overwhelmed with this my first year as I learned to navigate the curriculum. This is mostly for the parent's re-education vs. the lessons for your Kindergartner.

• Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America, Vol 1: Christian Self-Government- I was overwhelmed with this my first year as I learned to navigate the curriculum. This is mostly for the parent's re-education vs. the lessons for your Kindergartner.

• Early Reader's Bible, Gold 'n' Honey Books-
  Some people prefer to have their children read right out of the Bible... it's up to you.

• Fairy Tale Books (I struggled with this idea in the beginning... perhaps I'll share my conclusion with you in a future post...)

• French Primer, Mes Premiers Pas de Français by F.A.C.E.-
  This is fun to do. It comes with an audio CD for pronunciation. The CD is frustrating in that each vocabulary word is not on its own track. So you have to listen to everything all over to re-hear the word you want (unless this has been changed since we purchased it several years ago).

• Little House in the Big Woods

• Lullaby books-
  If you can't swing these or find them at your library, you can always look some songs up on youtube.

• Mother Goose and other nursery rhyme books-If you can't swing these or find them at your library, you can always look some songs up on youtube.

I find the following guides useful for upper-level grades:

• Noah Plan English Language Curriculum Guide
• Noah Plan History and Geography Guide
• Noah Plan Lessons for Kindergarten
• Noah Plan Literature Curriculum Guide
• Noah Plan Mathematics Guide
• Noah Plan Reading Curriculum Guide
• Noah Plan Self-Directed Seminar and Principle Approach Methodology

• Phonemic Awareness in Young Children: A Classroom Curriculum-
  I didn't bother with this one (probably because of our budget at the time). And the curriculum we use works well for us so I haven't felt the need to buy it...

• Right Start Mathematics-

We started out with this and love it. However, I needed help time-wise teaching a subject with so many various levels among our 6 school-aged children and we are now using CTC Math (affiliate link) and love it! The lessons are short and concise, the kids can re-take lessons and tests as needed individually, it is not in line with common core, it keeps track of individual student's records which are printable, and it grades lessons and tests automatically. This has been a huge blessing for me and our kids!

• Starter Kit, Spalding Education International-
  I have it and struggled so much with the way it is formatted!!! Thankfully someone introduced me to Spell to Write and Read by Wanda Sanseri! It's based off of Spalding's book but so simplified. I absolutely love it.

• Stone Bridge Art Guide

• Tale of Peter Rabbit

• Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb's)

• Teaching and Learning America's Providential History: The Principle Approach-
  This can wait until later if you need to, but do get it when you are able to.

• Teacher Guide: "Pilgrim-Pioneer Character Moving Westward" by F.A.C.E.-
  We do not own this.

• Uncle Remus Stories, Random House-We couldn't find this so we enjoyed Disney's film called, Song of the South.

• Winnie-the-Pooh, Penguin Putnam, Inc.-
  An absolute must. 

In my next post, I'll share books that I thought were helpful even though they were not on F.A.C.E.'s Essential Book List.

Blessings!

 

Review: "My Name is Handel: The Story of the Water Music" and "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" by Maestro Classics

Our family enjoys beautiful music and good stories. Through the TOS Crew, we learned about classical music for children put to stories by Maestro Classics. We received a physical copy of "My Name is Handel: The Story of the Water Music" and a physical copy of "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" in exchange for my honest review.

Who is Maestro Classics?

This is a rather new children's music series by Bonnie and Stephen Simon. These cd's for children are comprised of works for the narrator and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. They expose children to beautiful music, history, and lively stories. In addition, they help families to enjoy and understand orchestral music.

How We Used Maestro Classics in our Homeschool

As of late, we have been on the road more than usual out of necessity. It's always nice to have audio dramas to take along with us. However, it was a lot of fun to have new stories to listen to as we traveled.

My Name is Handel: The Story of the Water Music

We have listened to a couple of audios about Handel, but neither were as lively as this narration. We also learned some very interesting {possible} information about the non-assuming Mr. Handel... information that one would not suspect scholars to have dug up. I know you are sitting on the edge of your seat; I hear you saying, "Come on, Heather. Spill it!" Sorry. You'll just have to purchase it and find out. :-)

This particular story is created for ages 5+ but even our Sweetie Pie at 4 years old and Super Busy at 2 years old were engaged listeners (and of course Cool Daddy and I enjoyed them as well). 

The narrator, Yadu, speaks very clearly and paces the story with the music. While we listened to this on the go, I think it will make for a nice story to listen to prior to bedtime because of the relaxing music and the narrator's tone- they are harmoniously soothing.

What I Like About "My Name is Handel: The Story of the Water Music"

• The story is organized and very easy to follow.
• The music selection is beautiful.
• I love the history behind the Water Music. It was explained with fun words creating fantastic imagery. 
• Our whole family enjoyed it.

What You Will Find with "My Name is Handel: The Story of the Water Music"

• Along with the CD is a little booklet with information such as the history and background of the music, lyrics for the sing along songs, and little activities such as puzzles.
• Facts about Orchestras
• Terminology about musical forms and audio bits to help people listen for these examples the next time they listen to the story.
• Interesting updated scholar facts (was Handel more than a composer, conductor and producer?)
• Facts about King Edward.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

 

This is a treasured children's story written by a mother who was inspired by her two sons as they played with their steam engine toys. This CD is created for ages 4+ but our Super Busy at 2 years of age was an engaged listener of this story as well. Needless to say, Cool Daddy and I were, too.

 
We had not heard of this story before and it is a delightful tale. I love the selection of music which the composer selected. I don't know about you, but I enjoy the bagpipes- at least in certain instances. I can't get over how I love them combined with string instruments in this story (a first taste of this ear candy for me). The use of all instruments adds another dimension to this story.

What I Like About Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

• It's inspiring to learn how the authoress was influenced by child play to write this story.
• It's enjoyable to learn how her stories became animated with a special support team as she wrote this story. It's great for children to learn about this.
• I like that children learn about how some people felt about steam engines transitioning out of use and existence.
• I appreciate how the composer shares about choice instruments used for sound effects and to show emotions of the various characters.
• Instruments are explained- such as the difference between Scottish and Irish bagpipes. Aye. That I do now.

Something I'd Like to See

Well, quite frankly, I haven't been able to think of anything! These stories are created exceptionally well, full of talent and complete. The quality is superb and professional. Considering this, I think they deserve a standing ovation!

Thank you, Maestro Classics, for the quality and creativity you have put into your products. You are an integral part of keeping breathtaking symphony music alive for future generations.

How Much These Products Cost

The Story of the Water Music is $16.98 on CD and $9.99 for an MP3 Download with printable PDF booklet. You can listen to samples and purchase it at their store, here.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel  is $16.98 on CD and $9.98 for an MP3 Download with printable PDF booklet. You can listen to samples purchase it at their store, here.

You will also find activities at their website for your children at their Maestro Classics page. And, they offer educational materials including: Maestro Classics CDs Homeschool Music Curriculum Guides; Sheet Music; Home Projects; A Journey Through Learning (Lapbooks) resource to contact and several others.

Where You Can Visit Maestro Classics

Maestro Classics CDs on facebook 

Maestro Classics on Pinterest 


I'd love for you to learn more about what Maestro Classics has to offer. Won't you please read more reviews of these and other CDs by Maestro Classics that the TOS Crew has written? Just click on the graphic below.

 

Blessings to you all,

Happy Passover/First Fruits/Feast of Unleavened Bread!

I'm on a blogging break until the Feasts are over. Our family is enjoying learning our Bible roots; is your family, too? :-)

I pray you enjoy celebrating the Lord's Spring Feasts!

Blessings! 

 

Mary or Martha Passover Preparations?

Is it possible to overuse Mary and Martha as examples? They've made trips around from housecleaning, to how one approaches their own time with the Lord, to hospitality, to relationships in general (and probably a plethora of other topics). And now.... Passover?

Well...

Yes.

As we tarry on our journey to learning about celebrating Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we are trying to discern what packages to leave behind and what ones are Scriptural packages to take with us. We still consider ourselves newbies at this with lots to learn. But one thing we do know for certain is that God's/Yahweh's ways are not burdensome to His people (Matthew 11:29, 30).

Are Yahweh's/Yeshua's Ways a Burden?

Sometimes people talk about preparing for the Lord's Spring Feasts as if the preparation was burdensome. For example, National No Housekeeping Day! took place on April 7th and some people were carrying on about how they couldn't possibly take one day off from housework with all they have to do in preparation. 

I've seen little cartoon graphics people make of themselves, loaded with cleaning supplies and staring up at towering piles of items that need to be cleaned off and put in their proper homes. Okaaaaaaaay........

I don't know about you, but this makes me think of Martha. It just makes preparations sound and become burdensome! And I suppose they can be if any of us add to what God's/Yahweh's instruction are. If, however, we take this approach to doing more than necessary, we'll miss resting in the peacefulness of these special appointed times.

How Much and What Needs to Be Removed?

Well, in our family, we limit food to the kitchen and dining room (for the most part). Once in a blue moon, we'll eat in the living room. So, we technically have only three rooms to *clean*. Do so many people really eat all throughout their homes? It's the impression I'm starting to get. I can see how that can put a damper on anticipating the Lord's Feasts with excitement.

So, I've been trying to figure out how people can clean leaven out of their homes and off of their property. At least... I'm trying to figure out when it's termed as *yeast*. I mean, yeast is in the air! It's impossible to clear it out.

Hmmmm.

What Did the Israelites/Hebrews/Early Church Do?

Well, it all seems to come back around to our limited understanding of the ancient Hebrew culture. They would basically do sourdough starter. In Hebrew it's called, chametz. So, all we are to do, as I understand it, is to toss out the old lump of chametz (sourdough starter is just a little bit of leaven) which symbolizes false/incorrect teachings and false doctrines according to what the Scriptures teach. 

Toss the old lump. Toss bread made from the old lump. Done.

But I Don't Make Sourdough Starter!

(Neither do I. Yet. And When I do, it'll be for nutritional reasons.)

Which means that I purchase breads.

In Spirit and in Truth, these are the things we remove from our home because they come from some other source of leaven (chametz).

What About All That Cleaning? Is It Necessary?

To a degree. Naturally where we eat, we ought to vacuum up crumbs from the old chametz. Including our vehicles (because we eat on the go sometimes). Again, since we limit where we eat, not too much to do. And it's not burdensome. It's what God/Yahweh wants and it's something that needs to be done anyway.

This approach to Passover/Pesach preparations sound very much like Mary to me. Doing only what is necessary, with joy, peace, and *sitting* at the feet of Jesus/Yeshua. Let us do this as we learn and understand how, by God/Yahweh's design, He is our Passover Lamb- for the remission of our sins.

And this is not downplaying the significance of why we clean out the chametz. Nor is it downplaying the lessons God/Yahweh has for us through them. But it's not adding to what He said. And it's not creating burdens for us... because remember... His ways are not burdensome.

Following what He instructs us to do, is a delight. And it enhances our experience. Being *so.busy* for the sake of being busy to prepare robs us of relaxing and taking joy in His presence and Feast Days. But doing only what He instructs us to do, frees us up! It frees us up from feeling burdened or weary from getting ready for His appointed times. Our hearts are light and prepared to sit at His feet.

Let's not do it to ourselves. Let's not add to what God/Yahweh instructs. And let's not set that example to others. It's misleading.

Blessings,