Archive for the ‘Homeschooling’ Category

Mystery Novels About Creation

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

mystery-novels-about-creationRecently I’ve had the pleasure of reading three books in the Truth Seekers Mystery Series. I won the books as a door prize for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo Fall, which is a holiday edition of the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. The door prize was actually very appropriate for our homeschooling this year, since we not only studied mystery stories, but we also studied the creation vs. evolution debate. My two older sons watched the DVD series by the Institute for Creation Research, and we talked about each 30-minute DVD, discussing the information presented. My oldest son Bryan is visibly offended every time he sees evolution presented as fact in videos and books. I told him that evolution is taught in the public school system as fact, and that most people don’t know both sides of the debate.

The Truth Seekers books, by Christina and Felice Gerwitz, are actually fiction books that contain lots of information about creation science, presented in a fun way as the characters are engaged in a mystery. Many chapters end with a cliff hanger – one chapter literally had a character holding on to the side of a cliff with no safety rope, since the rope had been cut. Each of the three books I read centered their mystery around an archaeological dig, bringing to light surprising facts about creation science. Evolutionists are treated with dignity, not portrayed as idiots. My husband often reminds me that many intelligent people believe in evolution.

When the books arrived at my door, I accidentally started reading the second book first. The heart-stopping suspense kept me reading, since someone fell out of an airplane without a parachute. Further on in the story, there was a mansion with trap doors and secret passageways. Suspicious people weren’t what they seemed. So much action permeated the book that it was truly a pleasure to read. I handed the books to my 9-year-old son, who devoured them quite quickly and wanted to talk to me about different scenes. For example, the first book started with a boat chase with a helicopter hovering over the boat, letting FBI agents on board. Bullets were flying, and the main characters tried to stay down to avoid getting hit.

Christian young people really ought to have a strong foundation of creation science to be able to defend their faith in the real world. What better way to do that than to read some suspense-filled mystery novels?

A Pretend Symphony

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

pretend-symphonyMy husband and I were called to come downstairs to hear the children’s pretend symphony. My son Bryan had overturned some pots and tupperware to create a drum set. My daughter used a funnel as a trumpet. My son Stephen played his guitar. Nathaniel was the conductor. He tapped his chopstick on the bookshelf to get the musicians’ attention. Then he began waving his baton, and a cacophony of sound permeated the air. Whenever the conductor moved his baton quickly, the music sped up; whenever he moved it slowly, it slowed down.

My husband had a smile on his face as the show went on. It didn’t sound good, but, boy, were they having a good time. Ah, yes, creativity at its best.
pretend-symphony-2pretend-symphony-3

Balaam’s Donkey

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

My children re-enact the story of Balaam’s donkey in this video. We happened to have a horse costume that we picked up at a yard sale, which made a perfect donkey. One of my sons was an angel dressed in white, with flashing swords in his hands. Balaam wore a tunic and kept pretending to beat his donkey, because he thought the donkey was being stubborn. In reality, the donkey was blocked by the angel. Finally the donkey started speaking, startling Balaam.

Ancient Egyptian Feast (Hands-on History)

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

Egyptian-feast

As the culminating activity for our Ancient Egypt Unit Study, we had an Egyptian feast. We dressed up in our Egyptian tunics and ate foods from Egypt. (We bought all of these foods from a regular grocery store.) Here is a video describing what we ate:

  • cucumbers
  • fish
  • pork
  • onions
  • leeks
  • celery
  • green beans
  • radishes
  • watermelon
  • bread
  • dates
  • pomegranate

Take a look at how we prepared these foods for our Egyptian feast:

Egyptian-dinner