Tag: history

Don’t Miss the Boat! from New Leaf Publishing: Review

Grace-Filled Writer

I’ve recently seen some interesting news about the finding of a wooden structure buried deep in the snow of Turkey which some think may be the remains of Noah’s Ark. While it is intriguing, the problem I find with situations like this is many place their hope in finding proof this is true. Our culture would prefer to trust fallible human experts rather than believe in and trust the account of Scripture because it would mean they have to say, “Yes, I believe in God.”

Don’t Miss the Boat: Facts to Keep Your Faith Afloat by Paul Taylor is an excellent read because it is unlike any other book concerning the flood I have read. Most books I have read about the flood cover one of three things:

1. This exposition of the scriptural account.
2. The history
3. The science

Paul Taylor’s book covers all of these areas and has a surprise at the end for fiction lovers! He has taken the facts added a dose of creative license and has come up with short stories written in the 1st person narrative from several different individuals involved in the biblical account. There really is something for everyone.

The already mentioned sections are neatly arranged in the table of contents. This is helpful for readers who are more interested in science and not as much in the history. Perhaps you are a fiction buff, you can skip right to those areas before reading anything else. Although I recommend reading the entire book, the reader can easily begin in any section and not feel lost.

The exposition of Scripture is the very first part of the book which is important to me. Paul Taylor doesn’t leave anyone guessing where he stands with regard to the truth of God’s Word. I like to know up front where an author stands. It doesn’t mean I’ll stop reading the book, but it gives me a perspective with which to read.

The best part about the book from my perspective is the chapter entitled The Gospel According to Noah. Taylor clearly lays out the parallels between Noah and the gospel. It is something I never really connected together before. There isn’t anything Taylor writes which cannot be found in Scripture, but his observations are a unique and fresh perspective.

For more about this book, take a look at the trailer below!
Also check out more reviews on the NLPG Blog below!
Disclaimer: I received Don’t Miss the Boat from New Leaf Publishing in exchange for an honest review.  I was not required to give a positive review. I was not compensated in any other way. 

A Little Maid of Virginia from Applewood Books: Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Life in colonial America has become a recurrent theme for this year as we prepared for our trip to Williamsburg.

Rose loves all things history and is reading several years ahead of her expected grade-level. The struggle I have is providing her engaging stories written in a way that will challenge her, but also be age-appropriate. The Little Maid series by Alice Curtis has provided wonderful historical fiction at a higher reading level which is also appropriate for her young 8 years. She has read one other book by Alice Curtis which she really enjoyed and definitely looked forward to beginning A Little Maid of Virginia. 
I scheduled Rose to read a chapter from the book each day. This was one of the most challenging books she has read simply because of the language style. Written in the early part of the 20th century, the complex descriptions and sentence structure are not easy for our 21st century minds. My sweet girl jumps right into challenges though and is not afraid to say, “What does this mean, Mommy?” I truly feel challenging a child’s abilities gently and intentionally is the best way for them to progress.
Rose enjoyed the historical aspects and it opened many opportunities to discuss life during this time as well as more information about the Revolutionary War. The fact that the story revolves around two girls who are cousins made it very enjoyable for her to read as she is also very close to her cousins. 
This also would make an excellent read-aloud choice for family reading. It is a wonderful example of the living books way to introduce history to young girls. Many aspects of colonial times and the Revolutionary War are difficult to express to young children because of their sadness and violence, yet Alice Curtis inspired my daughter to want to know more and gently introduced her to this period of history. 
Are you looking for great classic novels to introduce your daughters to history? This is a wonderful series to check out!
Disclaimer: I received A Little Maid of Virginia from Applewood Books in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. This is my own opinion. 

Colonial Williamsburg: Field Trip

Grace-Filled Writer

Colonial Williamsburg is one of the places I’ve been anxiously waiting to take the girls! I wanted them to be old enough to enjoy it and appreciate as much of the history as possible. Rose and Beth have experienced a lot of history already through Heart of Dakota and Grace is soaking in all that her sisters do. This year the homeschool days for Williamsburg seemed to line up perfectly with our schedule. My parents were able to tag along as well which was nice since they have season passes and could offer some advice about which areas the girls would enjoy the most.

The girls each had a colonial dress which was also fun! Beth’s was the last to get done. I didn’t make any of these and Rose and Grace’s were given to us. I found the one for Beth on e-bay. It was very nicely made, but needed some minor alterations including a rather large hem job! I thankfully have a good friend who comes and helps me with sewing projects if I get stuck and she was just so helpful!

I’ve also been reading the Felicity books to the girls in preparation of our trip. I was hoping to get through more than one book, but now we have first-hand experience in Williamsburg so I think they’ll really enjoy the books. Starting next week I’ll be doing activities with the girls each Friday along with these books. I’m really looking forward to this and can’t wait to share our experiences with you!





Her are some of the highlights of our few days away. I loved that so many of the reenactors took the time to actively engage the girls!

This is the print shop where the girls learned all about printing. They had a cute kitty there too! The paper had to be kept moist for the ink to set. They were surprised how wet it felt!

The Silversmith’s shop was LOUD! They said it wasn’t normally that loud, but on that particular day the things they were working on all needed hammering!

The nice lady at the apothacary offered to pull Beth’s loose tooth, but she politely declined with a, “No thank you!” 

We all enjoyed the music teacher! I guess this is what I would have looked like back then.

Whatever they did, I guess they were in on it together! Rose didn’t want any part of the stockades!

They really enjoyed the palace tour and seeing all the weapons in the armory. Grace loved the maze of bushes behind the palace!

My silly soldiers kept laughing and their sergeant was so gruff! Grace got tired of the soldiering after a while, but Rose and Beth were ready to go through training again! 
It really was a lot of walking for my girls in the 3 days we were there, but they really did well! Grace was carried quite a bit of the way, but the weather was cool enough and we had drinks all day long. 
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the ladies dying the yarn and seeing the workings of the weaving shop. The girls were a bit grossed out by the fact that bugs were used to dye yarn. They were even more disgusted when they found out they still use them in some food dyes! 
I was really surprised how much they loved the model of Williamsburg in the visitors center. Every time we went there they wanted to stop and take a peek!
We all thoroughly enjoyed the tea house. We each had chocolate which needed quite a bit of cream and sugar to make it taste yummy. Next time we go I think I’ll try some tea. Grandma and Grandpa really like their coffee. 
I’m sad to say this is our one and only family picture! 
I’m usually really good about making sure we have a few family shots, but I just forgot this time. 
Here are some of the treasures the girls came back from Williamsburg with. Rose loves her quill pen and ink and Beth adores her coloring book of colonial fashion trends! Grace has a sweet little horse and lamb, but was adamant that they did not want their picture taken! 
I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into our trip! The girls all asked, “When do we get to come back?” That tells me they had a really good time! 
Family Friendly: 10
Kids Engagement: 10 (This sort of depends on their ages!)
Likelihood to return: 10 

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura from Legacy Documentaries: Review

Grace-Filled Writer
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Did you grow up watching Little House on the Prarie? The series ended when I was only 3, but I remember well watching reruns. My absolute favorite episode was when Almanzo started driving Laura to her first teaching job. Although Laura had pined for Almazon since she first laid eyes on him, this was the first time when he showed interest in her. Watching the television series instilled in me a desire to read the novels. Although I never completed the entire series, I thoroughly enjoyed the stories of a simpler time and the closeness of family. 
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One of the books I have yet to read is Farmer Boy. The documentary Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura from Legacy Documentaries takes the viewer through the journey of Almanzo’s life. This beautiful documentary, narrated by Dean Butler who played Almanzo on the well-known series, is $21.95 and well worth the cost. While this will very much appeal to those who read the Little House series (typically 8-13 year-olds) the entire family can enjoy this documentary. 

There were many aspects which I liked about this DVD. One was being able to take a first-hand look at the Wilder Homestead where Almanzo grew up. Since this is located in New York we cannot take a day trip there, so this is the next best thing! We thoroughly enjoy exploring historical sites on our vacations and this is one I hope we get to visit one day. I didn’t even know it existed until I watched the documentary. 
Something else I liked was the inclusion of passages from Farmer Boy as well as illustrations from the novel. The connections between the literature as well as the actual homestead showed the real-life setting in a lovely way. Historical actors portrayed various individuals within the Wilder family as a narrator read from poignant moments in the novel bringing new life to the beloved story. 
There are two chapters on the DVD and the second was just as enjoyable as the first. It explores in more detail the Wilder Homestead which you can visit. Various rooms are showcased as well as various events available throughout the year at the Homestead. This has made me not only want to take a trip to Malone, NY, but also the other Laura Ingalls Wilder historical sites around the country.
photo legacyoflauraingallswilder_zpsafffba0c.jpgI’m a documentary nerd. I absolutely love a good documentary showing me history as well as telling me about it. The one thing I miss about not having cable in our home is the History Channel. This was a lot of fun to review because it has been a while since I’ve seen a well-done, interesting-to-me documentary. I highly recommend this for the entire family as well as Little House on the Prairie: Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder also produced by Legacy Documentaries, especially if you are planning a unit using the series. 

Check out more reviews of these two documentaries from my Crewmates!
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Tower of Babel from New Leaf Publishing: Book Review

Grace-Filled Writer
My daughters, especially Rose, love history and science. They love it to the point of wanting to read and study things on their own outside of our curriculum. Since homeschooling seems to be an indefinite path for our family at the moment my husband and I decided it would be good to make sure we had resources available for our girls which were quality and in accordance with our beliefs for science. Companies like Master Books (a division of New Leaf Publishing) fit that criteria. We purchased a handful of science books published by this company last summer because I knew I wanted books with creation at the center. What I didn’t know was I would be learning some things.
I received an excellent public-school education by a wonderful group of Bible-believing teachers. Many even told our class they didn’t believe in evolution but were required to teach it. I knew I believed the Bible’s authority of the account and I just brushed the text-book accounts of where we all came from off as nonsense, not thinking much more about it. As I began to read through the resources we purchased for our girls last summer I had a sudden realization that all the things I had been taught concerning science (geology, chemistry, biology) and history had been first soaked in an evolutionary belief-system without my even knowing it. I began to dig deeper and search out resources so I would be fulled educated and equipped with an accurate understanding of history, not simply the one taught to me from text books who created the Bible as historical fiction and the beliefs of Christianity as outdated. When the opportunity came up to read and review Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of our Ancestors I jumped at the chance to embark on my own new study of history, and I was not disappointed.

This historical study of what happened at the Tower of Babel written by Bodie Hodge covers an incredibly wide range of information from how to actually pronounce the name to what happened to all the people groups. I plan to reread this again over the summer simply because there was so much good stuff in here and I don’t want to miss any of it!

While it is a history book, the majority of it is not difficult to read. The references to the Scriptural account are abundant, but equally so are other historical documents which help to uncover a deeper understanding of the history. I was taught that Babel was just a myth which people used to explain away the variety of languages found all over the world. I didn’t believe this, but what I didn’t realize what how this impacted other teaching like when writing first began, how language developed over time, and even why some languages are clearly related. I was told that the reason other groups had similar “stories” in their cultures was because other had taken the story as they traveled toward people groups and the biblical account was probably not the original source.

As I read I felt as if I were myself digging in the desert to uncover the truth of ancient history. I learned why the biblical account is clearly the source of all the other accounts found in other cultures. I already knew this was true, but now I’m equipped with the reasons why it is true beyond simply my understanding of the truth of Scripture. Now I can answer the questions of unbelievers who care nothing about the Bible in an informed way.

The only chapter difficult for me to get through was chapter 17 which explained where each of the family groups traveled to as they dispersed. It was fascinating, but the amount of information and variety of names started to all run together. I would have preferred to see a separate chapter for each family group, but I understand the reasoning behind putting it all in one chapter. This is one I would like to revisit so I can better understand the dispersion.

I had two favorite parts as I studied. One was learning of how the names in various cultures related back to Noah and his sons. Even accounts of the flood in China have similar names. The other was learning how people would have been able to disperse more quickly than I was taught. When you have been taught history from a millions-of-years-old perspective these thing are taught very differently.

Now, I want to clarify that I do believe in a young-earth, but I don’t believe that Christians who don’t hold to this view are not saved. I have studied the evidence for myself because I was taught that evolution and the biblical account of creations, the flood, and the tower of babel could all co-exist. I no longer believe this and I’m so thankful for companies like New Leaf Publishing who provide resources which give extra-biblical proof and reasoning for that which I know to be true.

Take a look at this preview of the book and then go buy it! I think you’ll enjoy this enlightening read as much as I did. 

You can read more reviews by clicking here! 

Disclaimer
I received The Tower of Babel in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

Knowledge Quest Sacagawea E-book: Review

Grace-Filled Writer
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photo SacagaweaBook_zps004a015c.jpgRose loves history.  I love providing her with resources which capture her interest and cause her to want to know even more, I”m sold! We studied Sacagawea about 2 months ago through our core history curriculum. She couldn’t wait to delve into the biography, Sacagawea: Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know, from Knowledge Quest. Knowledge Quest was founded by a veteran homeschooling family dedicated to providing solid resources for history and geography for home education. Click here to read more about their story!

The e-book was originally published in four installments which can each be purchased separately for $1.49. It is also available in its entirety for $3.99. I feel it is an excellent value for a uniquely written and produced piece of accurate biographical literature. It is intended for ages 8-14, but younger students can certainly enjoy this as a read aloud. My daughter is 7 (5th grade reading level) and read this independently.

We study literature by genre once we move past the emerging reader stage. Rose is reading several grades above her grade-level, so I felt this would be perfect for our biography unit…I was right! The Sacagawea e-book is an interactive biography told in the first-person narrative. The two aspects I liked most about this book was that it had links to a variety of topic right in the text for further study and it was written from Sacagawea’s perspective telling the story to her son, nicknamed Pompy. Our core curriculum advocates living books and this fits that description beautifully.

To go along with our literature study Rose completed several activities. She kept a log of words she wasn’t familiar with so we could look them up together, a char which indicated how she was the same and different from Sacagawea, a timeline, and two post-reading projects I’ll talk about later. While we added these items in for our literature study I feel this book stands alone nicely. The integrated links to websites which give further information about the topics adds a unique dimension to reading. This would also be excellent for read-loud as a family and then exploring the links together.

Rose usually does her literature studies during the girls’ quiet time and would typically curl up on the couch or in her bedroom. Every once in a while she would choose the school room, but not usually. It took her about two weeks to finish the book reading 1-2 chapters a day (or three if she missed a day!)

At the end of the book she filled out a literature page which helps her identify aspects of literature such as main characters, genre, setting, conflict, etc. She did this completely on her own for this unit and I was pleased with her retention from the story and attention to detail. This shows me how captivating the story was to her.

 I asked her what her favorite part of the book was and she told me it was being able to click on the links. She particularly enjoyed learning more about Native American culture as well as the variety of animals mentioned in the story. Once again I was shown how nice modern technology is for research. Kids love using the computer to study. The vibrant illustrations and valuable information at a moments notice provides extended learning far beyond what many ever imagined would happen. I also know I can trust Knowledge Quest to include links I don’t have to worry about. I learned alongside her as she navigated the various links, but I was never once concerned about the content she would be accessing.

One of the post-reading projects Rose completed was an acrostic of Sacagawea’s name. I was pleased with how many facts she retained! She wrote the poem with me and I copied her ideas on the whiteboard to make the writing process a little bit more fluid. I also helped her figure out how to turn some of her sentences around and assured her that because it was poetry it was okay to be creative!

She was kidnapped
A new medicine she made
Charbonneau was her husband
A member of the Shoshone tribe
Guided Lewis and Clark
Able to speak Shoshone
Went to get horses for the journey
Even ate roots and berries
A son she had named Pompy

Another activity we did was make trading cards of some of the historical figures Rose learned about. She really liked learning more about Sacagawea’s family so that is what her trading cards focused on. We found the pictures for her trading cards through some of the links which were found within the pages of the pdf file. This is another fun way for her to remember who she read about. Also included within the story were a handful of illustrations including portraits and maps. While Rose is well beyond the picture-book stage, she always enjoys seeing illustrations.

I highly recommend this living history book be added to your library. Sacagawea is a fascinating character from American history who is often only taught about in the context of her help to Lewis and Clark. While this was a very important event in her life, there was much more to her as a person and this e-book portrays the many other events of her life beautifully.

Don’t forget to read other reviews from my Crewmates about this e-book and another product from Knowledge Quest, the Timeline Builder App for the iPad! This app really makes me wish I had an iPad!

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Safari Ltd.: Review and Giveaway!

Grace-Filled Writer


I’m so excited to partner with Safari Ltd. for this review and giveaway! My girls love to play what they are learning about in school whether it is history or science. I love all of the beautiful figures Safari Ltd. has created for both science and history. This company strives for excellence in accuracy and detail which shows in all of their figures. 

Our family owns several sets from Safari Ltd. Our collection includes both historical and animal figures. This Christmas we pieced together a Chronicles of Narnia playset and one of my favorite parts is Mr. and Mrs. Beaver which came from Safari Ltd. 

I love their motto: Discover the frontiers of your imagination. Imagination is what leads to invention, art, and discovery. I love giving my girls tools which encourage imagination rather than box it in. I also love seeing how what we learn integrates into their play. Our early American histories studies have been greatly enhanced. Rose would often pull out our Jamestown settlers and act out the various stories from history I read. We studied the Powhatans extensively this year, so I was thrilled to receive this Toob ® to review. 

The Safari Ltd. Toob ® series are affordably priced and come with 12 different figures. My girls love them because they get so much in one container! We have purchased several of these including penguins, Jamestown settlers, baby sea life, dino babies, and arctic. Other sets in the Toob ® series include other historical figures, world landmarks, trees, instruments, people…there are just so many to check out! 

I especially like that the historical figures are based on actual individuals in history like Pocahontas, Wahunsenacawh (her father), and John Smith.The effort to make these figures appealing in clear as they are all beautifully painted and have such intricate detail.  

You can see what effort and care have been made in these figures. I love the natural look of the rumpled clothes. I also appreciate how carefully the faces have been painted. Many children’s toys don’t always take care to make sure the eyes are even in the right spot for toys this small. Every little detail has been monitored with each figure. 
My kids rarely play with just one set of toys. We often have the feel of the movie Toy Story with dinosaurs playing with the early settlers or the Powhatan tribe traveling in a car. Beth enjoyed using the background scenery from her older sister’s origami set and Rose preferred our set of Nature Blocks. One day I found Grace had included her miniature princesses into their play! That’s the point though…imaginative play. It doesn’t matter that they are playing with figures from different eras or even fantasy and reality. Imaginative play is the key, and these particular sets of toys bring out imagination in such a beautiful way! Our curriculum incorporates living books for both history and science. What better complement to this than actual figures to make the history jump off the page! 
We were also given the Toob ® set Land Down Under to review. The girls liked them so much I couldn’t get them to slow down their play enough to get some good photos! The set is also beautifully crafted and includes an Aboriginal trail guide to make sure everyone stays safe. (At least that was his job in our house!) Just as with the historical figures the detail included for each of these figures is exquisite. The frizzled lizard was a particular favorite among my girls! 
Now I am privileged to host a fun giveaway for you all! Safari Ltd. will give one winner the Toob ® of their choice! The winner will also receive a second surprise if following one of their social networks! (The links to those networks are listed in the rafflecopter below) There are lots of ways to earn extra entries so don’t forget to enter as much as possible! 

Draw and Write Through History: Review and Giveaway

Grace-Filled Writer
Rose has done a great job transitioning to cursive as a 7-year-old second grader. This is a little earlier than most schools teach it. She began learning some cursive last year and has continued to do very well this year. Her only big issue is being able to think about both how to spell the words correctly and form each letter correctly as well. When I mentioned this problem to a more experienced homeschool mom she said this is typical and explained how copywork helps this issue. Draw and Write Through History has given her the opportunity to combine her love of drawing alongside cursive practice. 

There are many things I like about how this enhances history studies. The first is its biblical worldview. It is a privilege to teach my daughter the Bible is 100% true and I strive to make sure all of our curriculum reflects that.

It is also independent. There may be times when she needed a little guidance with perspective at first, but this is meant to be done independently which is helpful when teaching multiple children.

I also really liked that it used traditional handwriting paper for the cursive copywork. This made it much easier for Rose, still in the learning stages of cursive, to copy correctly. I did have to remind her to proofread because she sometimes forgets to cross and dot letters, but overall this was a much better way for her to practice handwriting than merely requiring her to write in cursive for her schoolwork.

Rose didn’t complain once about doing this work! I can’t say that is always true about our usual handwriting program. Coupling this with whatever history you are studying gives double purpose to the assignments. All of the copywork is related to history so students are learning at the same time that they are practicing handwriting.

Here is one of her assignments. She has been learning cursive for a little over a year and is now 7 1/2 years old to give you perspective. I was pleased that both the issues of letter form and spelling seemed to clear up almost completely! This is a part of the recommended Heart of Dakota curriculum so I’m excited to see it incorporated more fully next year into our days!

Are you ready for the giveaway now?

There are new options for entries! Grace-Filled Homeschooling has finally made it to Twitter and Tumbler! There will also be TWO winners! Each will receive a copy of the newest book: Invention, Exploration, and War: The 20th Century

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Field Trip: Bennett Place

Grace-Filled Writer
My dad gave me my love for history. He told me stories that made history alive and gave me the desire to find out more. I had good teachers a long the way, but none could compare to the knowledge my dad gave me. When he called and told me he was going to be participating in a Civil War reenactment at Bennett Place, a Civil War historical site, I immediately made plans for the us all to go! 
This particular reenactment revolved around camp-life for the soldiers. Although I would be interested in seeing a battlefield reenactment one day I don’t feel the girls are at an appropriate age for this. The girls thought the tent my dad slept in the night before looked like a lot of fun! I’m not sure I agree, but it was interesting nonetheless. 
A good friend of my dad’s is the one who set this up for him. He frequently attends reenactment events. He helps provide period entertainment for the events on his banjo. Beth especially enjoyed this part of the day!

The girls also enjoyed the gentleman who brought toys from this period. They played all sorts of games. Some we already own and others were new. All were fun!

I enjoyed learning a colonial dance…much to my husband’s enjoyment! I don’t typically participate in a lot of the fun because I’m busy snapping pictures. When I was asked if I wanted to learn a colonial dance, my husband encouraged me to go have some fun, so I did!

Although this wasn’t a battle reenactment there was a drill demonstration. Beth and Grace did not like this part, so my sweet husband took photos for me while the younger girls and I stayed at a distance with their heads buried on either side of me. 

The gunfire was loud, but it was a lot of fun to watch the drill! I think my dad did quite a good job for his first time doing this!

The girls had so much fun dressing in their old-fashioned dresses, learning about history, and just experiencing something new. Historical sites hold events throughout the year which can greatly enrich your homeschool. I didn’t plan it this way, but we began a unit on the Civil War this week. It is a great way to make history come alive for your kids!

Family Friendly: 10
Kid’s Engagement: 10
Likelihood to return: 10