Prescripts from Classical Conversations

I love the Classical style of homeschooling and am working toward a more Classical approach so was eager to review Classical Conversations Prescripts program for Cursive with Nathan.
Classical Conversations is an online Community as well as a local co-op program that is modeled on the Classical Trivium.
I recently attended a talk by one of the local Directors for a Classical Conversations group and she explained Classical Christian education is a brilliant way. I am paraphrasing, but basically the idea when we are Classically educating our children in a God centered way, not only is God the center of everything, but all the subject he created are interlinked and work to glorify him. With that in mind, simply adding scripture to our day isn't enough and for me, I am longing to put God in the center of our school day and our lives as we find ways to help the boys see scripture, God's Word in all they do. I was so eager and excited to dig into the Prescripts book with Nathan it didn't even occur to me that the book would use a different format and style for cursive writing. Oops!

I finally have a handwriting system that is working for my boys and as we began looking over the Prescripts book, I immediately saw the issue arising, "This isn't how my other writing pages look. Why are these letters different?" Yikes, stop the presses; Mommy has to figure something out.

After thinking on it for a couple of days, I decided I loved the way the program was laid out and designed, so I created some blank pages in the style that we were succeeding in and had Nathan do the same verses and the same drawing activities on formatted paper. It means I copy the verses onto his pages and then he traces and rewrites on the lines below. Means more work for Mommy but it is a huge stress out of our day. We are reading the verses together and breaking them down so we can do it in 3 parts. Once Nathan is finished with that day's portion of copy work, he can move onto the drawing lesson. At first my husband thought this was silly to rework what was already there into a different format paper, but once he saw that Nathan wasn't fighting with me to do his copy work, verse, or drawing activity he came around. 

If you don't have a child that struggles with changing writing styles this program is great. I love the verses from Proverbs and James and the basic shapes drawing lessons are simple enough that he can even read the directions without a lot of input from Mommy. The book retails for $12.99 and is one of four books available in the Prescripts series combining scripture, handwriting, and art lessons and can be used by younger students through elementary students; covering a wide range of ages with solids cursive scripture practice.

This video does a wonderful job showing and discussing the books in the series.

There is as wonderful FAQ page you can download from the Prescripts Page at Classical Conversations.
You can download sample pages of the Prescripts book

I want to make sure my boys have a foundation of cursive writing as it is the basis for creating our own signatures as well as reading many source documents they will come by. I am glad we were able to review this product and share our experiences with you. The rest of the Schoolhouse Review Crew shares their experiences with the Prescripts group of books, check their reviews out by clicking on the box below.

Sunday Scripture January 6, 2013

Deuteronomy 4:39

Amplified Bible (AMP)

³⁹ Know, recognize, and understand therefore this day and turn your [mind and] heart to it that the Lord is God in the heavens above and upon the earth beneath; there is no other.

I am also sharing a passage from the textbook we use in church Science and Health with Key to the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question. — What is God?

9Answer. — God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infiniteMind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.

Question. — Are these terms synonymous?

12Answer. — They are. They refer to one absolute God.They are also intended to express the nature, essence, andwholeness of Deity. The attributes of God are justice,15mercy, wisdom, goodness, and so on.

Both of the above passages were part of the weekly Bible Lesson read during services this morning. 

This year my goal is to post a verse and a passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy along with my own thoughts each week.

Teaching the boys to understand that God is more than we need, He is everything and everywhere is in in our current society. Thankfully I know that God is Love and that as cliche' as it sounds Love is all we need. It is not our place to judge but to Love even when it is hard to Love. Even as Mom I struggle with that idea, but if I pause I can correct my thought and remember God is all I need to focus on. 

Do you have enough Faith to be an Atheist?

Better yet, do you have enough Faith to teach Truth to an Atheist?

That is where my husband and I were when we started reading the book   I Don't Have enough Faith to be an Atheist and the accompanying workbook from Apologia  educational ministries  

The book is written by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek and is intended for high school students but can really be read and used by college students and adults alike.  Like so many other products from Apologia (a well know company in the Christian Homeschool community) this book is a strong guide for young people and older adults. This particular book guides the reader through all the arguments for a creator God and how to see doors open to share God's creative power and Love with those around you.

The authors do an amazing job guiding readers along the journey and teaching the skills needed to not only question their own faith (creating a stronger faith) but also challenge the reader to better integrate their beliefs in conversation. 

We have been reading and studying the first 5 chapters in depths over the past several weeks We also have the workbook (we have been discussing the questions together rather than writing in the workbook) that corresponds with the book
Since we began our study together, we have also spend more time studying the scripture together as questions in the book bring us back to the source document, the Bible. I also have seen a huge change in my husband's willingness to share his faith and open a dialogue with his friends and even his customers about his faith. If nothing else comes from our study in the book then that, what a huge testament. One book can really make a difference and this book did, it lead him back to the source in his ultimate search for Truth.

The book retails for only $16.00 and the workbook for $33.00. The book is an amazing value and will live on our bookshelf or nightstand for a long time to come. The workbook coordinates with the chapters of the book and is a good value if you are using this in a school setting and need the extra discussion questions to go along with the book and to delve deeper into the message. For my husband and I using the book together the book is enough, but we plan on using it with the boys later on so having the workbook will be a value at that point from the perspective of a classroom setting, but also from the teacher's perspective in having guidance to dig deeper.

Check out what the rest of the Schoolhouse Review Crew thought of this book and workbook

disclaimer: I received a copy of the above mentioned book and workbook as a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest opinion of the product.

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Scripture Sunday: May 27th

This week's scripture for the boys I hope gave them something to really think about. 

Proverbs 21:30

There is no wisdom nor understand , not counsel against the Lord.

Nathan noticed the similarities in this Scripture to the Scientific Statement of Being from the Christian Science Textbook  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I was very proud of the connection he made  this week and of the eagerness to learn more about our connection with the Lord.

Scripture Sunday : Easter

This week has been a hard week school wise, but I am very thankful for the verse the boys studied this week. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15: 57 Happy Easter everyone! He is Risen!

New Moon and Fall Food Crafts

So unvlDad and I decided to go Festival of the New Moon this coming week with the boys.

I am planning on doing some fall food crafting as well as scripture activities.

Here are a couple of the food crafts we are going to try:

Six in the Suburbs: Chocolate & Peanutbutter Acorns: aren't this the cutest!

Moon Cookies I'm thinking of trying this or using a basic sugar cookie recipe and rolling the cookies out.

Phases of the Moon with oreo cookies

Here are some reference sites and activities we are going to use:

The Feast of the new Moon Bible answers

The Feast of the Trumpets ideas for Littles

Celebrate Jesus, Sabbath and the new moon

I also found a wonderful craft idea creating a felt Torrah scroll. Thanks to Dixon Homestead Academy for the idea

While we don't celebrate the Old Testament festivals often I try and interject them into our lessons when I can.

This year the harvesting season has taken a front seat to our studies and I want the boys to know that this year has been a huge blessing and accept it with a grateful heart.