How Do We Know God is Really There? – Review

June 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment

We can’t see God so how can we know he exists. To me the easy answer would be faith, but sometimes that is a hard concept for adults let alone kids. I was recently given the opportunity to review the book How Do We Know God is Really There written by Melissa Cain Travis, illustrated by Christopher Voss, and published by Apologia. (The same company who publishes those great planners I reviewed).

A little about the book:

This book is the story of a little boy Thomas and his dad. After looking at the night sky Thomas begins to talk to his dad about God and how a friend told him that there is no proof that God is real. The book goes on with Thomas’s dad asking questions which leads to Thomas understanding that there is a God.

It is a 24 page hard cover book with a lot of illustrations. Every other page is full of vibrant colored pictures. Aside from the funny looking people, my little one enjoyed the pictures. It is available Here for $16.

I really liked how the book is written in a kid friendly tone. It does not come right out and preach at you but lets the child think for themselves and uses the science of Edwin Hubble to explain that God is real.
I read the book by myself the first time because I was not sure what to expect, but I felt that it explained things clearly and then began to read it to my 10 year old. She didn’t seem too interested so I waited a few days. The second time I read it to her she liked it but became very defensive telling me that, “Thomas’s friends are just crazy because there is a God and he did create the earth.” This book definitely brought about a good conversation. I was glad to be given the opportunity to review it.

 

The story is great the quality of the book however is another story. We have read through the book about 5 times and the pages already have small holes near the center. There are strings from the binding sticking out, and the picture is tearing off of the middle from the pages sticking together. Overall the copy that I received seems to have been put together poorly.



These are some of the holes.

I am a little mixed on if I would recommend this book or not. The story is wonderful and I feel it will bring great conversation, but the quality of the book is poor.

This is the strings coming out of the book.
 

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We Choose Virtues – Review

April 1, 2013 by 1 Comment


Obedience, honesty, helpfulness and kindness are all qualities that the world needs a little more of, so when I was given the opportunity to review We Choose Virtues I was excited. It is a program geared towards kids ages 3 through 5th grade to help teach them to be:

Self-Controlled

Content

Forgiving

Patient

Kind

Perseverant

Obedient

Diligent

Helpful

Gentle

Attentive and

Honest

The best part is that there is no right or wrong way to do the program. I was given a few different things to help teach the different virtues. The first thing I received was actually a free product, the Family Character Assessment. It is a downloadable page that is a self assessment to see where your child feels they are on all of the different virtues. I figured my little one would say she was doing great on all of them but it turns out she knew where she needed help. She decided the virtues she needed to work on the most were honesty, perseverance, and obedience. I agreed with her and we started with Honesty, she likes to lie about the craziest things even when there is no way what she is saying could be true. It was nice to see that she knows what she needed to work on though. Another free resource available is a list of memory verses, heroes and truths that reinforce the virtues.

The item I feel was the most important was a set of Virtue flash cards. You get 12 cards; each has a cute picture of a child whose name starts with the first letter of the virtue. Hockey Stick Nick is the Virtue Kid that helps you to remember Honesty. On the back side of the card there is a kid friendly definition of the virtue along with a memory verse that goes along with the virtue.

Honesty says, “I am a truth teller I am not a liar, a thief or a cheater and I don’t change the truth to get my way!

The cards come in KJV, NIV or secular. It is recommended to focus on one virtue each week. We talked about each virtue each week and then picked one to focus on through out the week. My little one really liked the cards and loved how the definitions were written in words that she could understand. Some may feel that the pictures on the cards are a little too young for older kids, but my 9 year old seemed to like them a lot. The cards are $14.99 and I feel they are definitely worth the price.

I was also given a sample parent card. The parent cards tell a story about the virtue kids and give ideas to help reinforce the virtue. The parent cards are $34.99 and I will be purchasing the entire set in the future because I think they would help to grasp the virtues better, and She enjoyed the story about Airplane Betty Jane (attentiveness).

I received a downloadable coloring book as well. It is a good value at only $3, but my little one is not too into coloring, and she didn’t care for the pictures too much. I think for a younger child the coloring book would be good.

I also received a downloadable teacher’s handbook; it costs $5 and has a lot of ideas on how to learn virtues in a group setting. Even though I only have 1 little one I found some very useful ideas. If you have more than one child I think it would be useful to get. There are numerous other products available including posters, awards and goal charts. While those items may be helpful I feel that the virtues could be easily taught with just the Virtue Flash Cards and the Parent Cards. Check out the other products and more about the program here

There are also different kits available for church groups and home schools. Throughout the month of April there will be a discount code available if you would like to purchase the Home school kit. Type in Home20 before check out to receive 20% off of your home school kit. Another code that is available forever is Virtue15. It will give you 15% off any purchase through We Choose Virtues. The two discount codes can not be combined.

Overall we enjoyed using this product. I like how the virtues are backed up with verses from the Bible and really enjoy that they are written in a child friendly way. Character training is a life long lesson and we plan to continue to use these products to help us to live a better life. I have seen a change in my little one’s behavior while using the cards. I hope your family is able to enjoy this product as well.

Product at a Glance


What is it?

It is a character training program for kids.


Who is it for?


Kids age 3 through 5th grade


How much will it cost?

The flash cards are $14.99, but there are other products available including different kits.


Where can I get it?


 


 

I like it because it is kid friendly and is easy to teach!
 
 
 


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