Mystery of History ~* Timeline Book

     One one reasons I decided to do Mystery of History with my elementary kids was learning history through in a chronological order. I fell in love with idea of making a timeline so they could see history . MOH in the front of the book has detailed instructions on how to make a large timeline. We decided to make a timeline book. They store easy on the shelf and each of my kids can personalize their own timeline.This is how we did it.

I purchased each of my students a bound sketchbook from Michael' s the arts & crafts store. I was able to use a teachers discount :)  This should easily last a year possibly two years since we are trying to use one page per week. Except Nehemiah who is in 2nd grade so he can have more room.

    I own Illuminations software that is designed to go with Mystery of History & one of the things it has is what timeline figures to use. You can easily figure this out just looking at the years if you are using History through the ages timeline figures or just stick with the timeline figures that you studied for the week in Mystery of history.
   I use a few things to make our timeline. They are History through the Ages timeline figures, Draw & Write Through History, their own drawings, index cards, & printing images from the internet. Since there is so much garbage on the internet I look & print the images while they are busy working on the timeline drawing or coloring etc. You can make your own figures or get these ones Nehemiah is using for his timeline that are free created by a homeschool mom to share. They are shown above in the red folder and be found at: www.myhomeschoolprintables.net
 

We complete the drawing lessons right in the timeline book. Since my kids always ruin my small dry erase boards I placed a piece of card-stock in a sleeve protector and use it with a clip board. When I am done I place it in my mom's notebook to use again next week. It works great & is a cheap fix for a whiteboard. 

 Our history of course begins with creation! I love how they learn that dinosaurs were created on day 5 & 6,

With Nehemiah's I was able to find the story of Adam & Eve that he could put in order on his timeline. It was a great sequencing story activity to include with his timeline. You can add anything mini-books etc. That is a the fun advantage I think of the timeline books. They each have their own story of history to tell.

    This is Job's book. Last week I had them write some facts they thought were interesting on an index card. We then added it to the timeline. This week we just did timeline pictures & figures since we were doing a lapbook on dinosaurs. As you could see since we studied dinosaurs this week we added a picture of dinosaurs entering the ark. They also like the movie Ice Age so I printed out some pictures to add to the page. It was interesting when they realized the ice age really happened in history.

 This is Nehemiah's to compare a younger child's timeline book. Each page is a lesson. He will do two pages per week while the older two will do one page per week.

If you have a fun way to do timelines or something your family enjoys to show history in time I would love to hear about it!

Why I use Biblioplan & Mystery of History !

     Originally I was going to use Biblioplan with all of my kids ranging from 2nd grade to a Senior in high school along with Mystery of History as a optional Spine. The two curriculum are different and you can use either as your spine or main curriculum for the year while using both materials. Especially since Biblioplan uses MOH in their scheduling. However, they go through the timeline very differently.

   Biblioplan www.biblioplan.net  has a four year repeating schedule like Mystery of History but you learn history in chunks. For example, when you study Ancient Egypt or Classical Greek you study that time period as a whole. So if you use the Mystery of History as an optional spine the lessons are organized to the chunks of history being studied. Biblioplan uses all of the MOH lessons as an optional spine. So my Jr. High & highschool kids who are using Biblioplan are still covering the same material the elementary students are covering just at different times.
 

   Mystery of History http://www.themysteryofhistory.info/index.shtml goes in chronological order by dates of history. So if you want to follow Mystery of History as your main curriculum for lesson plans you can still use Biblioplans Companion to study deeper on the subject since it it is a text book. You would have to use the table of contents to find what you are studying in MOH. This is a great option for Jr. high & highschool students doing MOH or any student wanting to dig in deeper using MOH.
   Another difference between Biblioplan & Mystery of History is the lessons themselves. Mystery of History is written in a conversational style while Biblioplan is written more factual information. Don't let that discourage you because the information given is very interesting to the student. They are both what Charlotte Mason would consider a living book and we are so happy to use both this school year.
    They both follow a 4 year rotating period and the same time period. I really liked both curriculum and was struggling which to use. Then the Lord answered my prayers. My Jr. high and highschool students are doing Biblioplan while my elementary are doing Mystery of History. We are all covering Ancient History which is great for field trips, movies, etc.They also both include maps & recommended literature to go with the history lessons. They are both inexpensive and can be used again if you repeat the 4 year program. Finally, they are both Christ centered with a Biblical world view which is a must in my homeschool.
  I wanted my elementary students to go through time in chronically order so they could see history in time .I liked the conversational style of MOH. The story style of learning history is great for that age. I also liked the all the notebooking pages etc. extras that you could add for MOH. MOH is appropriate for Jr. & highschool ages but the projects require research which was discouraging me from having my older students use it.
   Biblioplan is a textbook that has questions and essay assignments for the higher grades that information comes from the Biblioplan textbook called the Companion. My older students already understand history in a chronically logical way so studying history in chunks looking at it more deeply is what I was looking for them.  I also liked that the information is all there  for them in the Companion textbook. They find the information studied very interesting and come to me with some interesting facts. They get the MOH still in their scheduling to read but as I mentioned before at differant scheduled times.
   They are both great curriculum you can use from K-12th grade. If you have a smaller family it may or may not worth using both or you may want everyone using the same curriculum. I have 3 using Biblioplan & 3 using Mystery of History so it has been worth it to me and I am loving using both of these history programs!!!

 
 

We changed Caleb's middle name to Joshua.

We originally were going to name the baby Caleb Michael (which I still like allot ) but have decided to name him Caleb Joshua. Caleb means faithful & Joshua means  Yahweh is salvation. They were both faithful .They had no fear knowing Yahweh would be their salvation. I just love these two names together and the spiritual warriors they were.

Joshua and Caleb are two Israelite men whose stories offer an example of faithful commitment to the Lord. Both men came out of Egypt with the Israelites through the Red Sea and into the wilderness. Joshua and Caleb were selected along with ten other men to explore thePromised Landand give a report to Moses and the people.

After a 40-day exploration of Canaan, the explorers reported, “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants ofAnakthere” (Numbers 13:27–28). This report frightened the people (Numbers 13:31–33).

Caleb had a different attitude from the other spies. Verse 30 records, “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’” When the people complained that they could not go up to conquer the land, both Caleb and Joshua responded strongly: “Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh . . . tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, ‘The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them’” (Numbers 14:6–9).

God judged the people of Israel by making themwait 40 yearsto enter the land. He also promised that every person 20 years old or older would die in the wilderness and would not see the land with two exceptions—Caleb and Joshua. Why? “Because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it” (Numbers 14:24; see also verse 30). Verse 38 adds, “Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.”

This promise came true. After the death ofMoses40 years later, Joshua led the people across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Caleb received an inheritance in the Promised Land in his old age (Joshua 14).

Thefaithfulnessof Joshua and Caleb teaches us that we are to stand for God even when others will not. When we do, God may choose to bless us in ways that will extend for generations to come.

This was taken from the website:
Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/Joshua-and-Caleb.html#ixzz3AzU0HEU2

Babies are a Gift from God ~*So your having a baby!

A Friend sent me this on Facebook from She looketh well to the Ways of Her Household

SO YOU’RE HAVING A BABY!

It’s been confirmed! How exciting!
This is the most wonderful experience that can ever happen to you.
Check out what God says about you and your baby.

1. You have been VISITED BY GOD. Conception is a divine visitation. When Sarah conceived the Bible tells us God visited her (Geneses 21:1). After Hannah dedicated Samuel to God and took him to the temple 1 Samuel 2:21 tells us that God visited Hannah and gave her five more children.

2. You are the recipient of a PRECIOUS GIFT from the hand of God. It is God who has begun the life of this child with in you. It is His gift to you (Genesis 33:5; 1 Chronicles 25:5; Psalm 127:3 and Isaiah 8:18).

3. You are CHOSEN by God to be the one to nurture this child within your womb and to bring it forth into the world. On God’s behalf, He has chosen you to prepare and mold this life for heaven (Malachi 2:15).

4. You are receiving a REWARD from the Lord (Psalm 127:3).

5. You are BLESSED and will continue to be blessed as this child is born and brings you great joy and delight (and especially as you fill your quiver and the chairs around your table!) (Genesis 1:22,28; 49:25; Deuteronomy 7:12-14; 28:4,11; 1 Chronicles 26:4-5; Psalm 112:1-2; 127:5 and 128:3-4).

6. Your body is the sanctuary where a life is being “fearfully and wonderfully” made and “intricately fashioned.” You are the nurturer of a life that God is CREATING (Psalm 139:14-15.)

7. God CARES for your unborn baby. He has already written a book, planning and recording every day of your child’s future life (Psalm 139:16).

8. You have an ARROW in the making to put in your quiver (Psalm 127:4). And God has chosen you to be the one to polish and sharpen this arrow to accomplish great things for Him

9. You have a little OLIVE PLANT growing in your womb, who will one day bless and grace your table (Psalm 128:3).

10. You are FRUITFUL which is always a sign of God’s blessing. (Genesis 1:28; 9:1,7; Leviticus 26:3,9; Psalm 128:3—cf Genesis 17:6,20; 28:3 and 35:11).

11. You have within your womb a potential PROCLAIMER of God’s testimonies and ways (Psalm 78:5-7).

12. You are preparing a CROWN to give to your parents (Proverbs 17:6 and Ruth 4:14-17).

13. You are WELCOMING God Himself to your life (Matthew 18:1-6; 19:14 and Mark 9:36-37).

14. You are embarking on a GOD-HONORING LIFESTYLE (1 Timothy 5:9-10).

15. You will experience great JOY (Psalm 113:9).

16. You can relax! God doesn’t expect you to keep up your usual pace now that you are nurturing His child. He promises to GENTLY LEAD you (Isaiah 40:11).

17.You are bearing an ETERNAL SOUL within your womb. You are now beginning an eternal mission. All the possessions you spend time procuring on earth will one day have to be left behind. The only thing you will take into eternity is your redeemed soul and the redeemed soul of your child. Motherhood is an eternal career.

18. Above all else, you are being OBEDIENT, which invokes God’s blessing. (Genesis 1:28; 9:1,7; 1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 112:1,2 and 1 Timothy 5:14).

Therefore Rejoice!

“He will love you, bless you, and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb” (Deuteronomy 7:13).

Mystery of History / Biblioplan ~ reading books

Nehemiah is reading Noah's Ark by Jerry Pinkney this week for reading. This book has beautiful watercolor pictures to illustrate the story of Noah's Ark.

     Since my older older students are doing Biblioplan I own the Family Guide which has a list of books recommended for the lessons. So when I was preparing for this week I looked st the book suggestions from Mystery of History, Biblioplan, and Illuminations for this weeks lessons. I have all three to look for what my kids are doing this week. You can easily just search Amazon or your favorite book store on whatever topic you are studying. I choose these two books for this week from the Biblioplan recommended books. They turned out to be great choices.
     Mystery of History also has a great selection of books to choose from broken down in grade level in the back of the book. I will be using this list for the rest of the school year for my elementary students while using the Biblioplan book list for the highschool.

We will be listening to The True Story of Noah;s Ark by Tom Dooley as a read aloud this week. It comes with an audiobook on DVD that we will listen too as we go through the book.

I really like this book because as the title states the story is written according to the Bible .

I always enjoy living books with pictures that create interest and beautiful artwork.

Mystery of History ~* taking notes / reading the lesson

Click here for Mystery of History
I made some changes since I planned my history. My Jr.high & high-school students are doing Biblioplan Ancient history with the Mystery of History spine while my elementary students will be doing MOH Ancients year 1 only this year. I will explain why I made this decision  in another post.
    Today I wanted to focus on how I read the MOH lessons together with my elementary students.

   I made them each history folders to place in their workboxes.Click here to see how I use workboxes On the left side I place all the worksheets or notebooking pages we will complete throughout the week. In the center I copy all the MOH lessons we will cover in the week and place them in the plastic sheet protectors. We take turns reading each  paragraph out loud, one paragraph at a time. We stop after each paragraph and I ask them what information do they think is important. We discuss and they underline the information with a dry erase marker, one that has the tip the size of a smaller marker. We are always looking for Who,What, When, Why, and How. The sheet protectors wipe off & can be used for next weeks lesson.
  There are a few benefits to doing our MOH lessons this way. One is we read small bits and it gives them a chance to comprehend what they have just read. Secondly, it gets them in a habit of note-taking and finding important information with out all the writing . Finally, when they go to notebook or fill out a worksheet they can find the information easier if they need to refer back to the lesson for information or spelling.My two students that are doing this is in 4th & 6th grade.

 Nehemiah in 2nd grade listens while we read & answers orally what he thinks is important to remember or tells the story back to me. He colors while listening. As you can see he only colored Noah's Ark today because we will be covering the Ice Age & Dinosaurs the rest of the week so he will color those items later on in the week. Both the questions, notebooking pages, and coloring pages I print from

The Mystery of History - Super Supplemental Collection click here to purchase 

 We do the recommended pretest at the beginning of the week. This is more interesting for me as the teacher to see what they know. I will compare it to the quiz at the end of the week. This is placed in the side of the folder with the rest of the notebooking pages ,quizzes , maps etc. I hope this helps,