Homeschool - Resource Reviews

Resource Reviews

Books to Grow With: A Guide to Using the Best Children’s Fiction for Everyday Issues and Tough Challenges.

Game of Health and Nutrition: All You Can Eat

Resource Reviews

Family Films Teach Christian and Solid Moral Values

This is wholesome (and extremely affordable) entertainment for children (and adults) which will reinforce Biblical values, help build character and give families some quality time together in front of the TV. These movies could also be used in Sunday School, Junior Church or in any children’s group meeting. The principles and values taught throughout each adventure story provide a good basis for further discussion as well.

About the company: “Since 1988, Mr. Button Family Video has been producing quality, character-building, Christian family entertainment. Both children and parents enjoy our adventure films over and over again. Mr. Button Family Video produces entertaining Christian videos for kids of all ages and interest: western, mystery, humor, adventure, and heart-warming drama.”

At present there are six films on 3 DVDs. Each DVD contains two films plus extras. At $5.99 each, all three are easily affordable for your own children, and a gift for others or your church library. The films are professionally produced and each DVD provides almost 2 hours of screen time.

Developed for child-friendly viewing and outreach, they use realistic adventure stories sprinkled with humor and mystery to keep a child’s (and adult’s) interest. The main characters are children who are facing situations that call for responsible decision making, while some problems challenge their faith. Except for the obvious “bad guys”, adults are portrayed as positive role models. The antagonistic “bad guys” are never rewarded for their evil ways. Clear lines between “right and wrong”, “good and bad” are drawn, helping children who sometimes struggle in today’s culture with discernment in these areas. Children will have an easy time relating to the child-characters in the films since thy are “normal” kids facing the kinds of problems and challenges that children encounter. With the positive messages in these movies, parents won’t have to worry if the kids want to watch them again and again. Here are two film descriptions:

Lost in Silver Canyon: A humorous, heartwarming adventure for the whole family. While on vacation with their family, Joe and Vanessa are separated from their parents and find themselves stranded in a "deserted" ghost town. Trusting God to send someone to rescue them, the children decide to explore their mysterious surroundings. What they discover is suspense and excitement, and a new understanding of the Biblical truth that “ All things work together for good to them that love God. (This DVD includes a bonus film The Red Bicycle)

Ambushed! A tale of the old west. A western drama the whole family will enjoy. Action abounds when Gramps and Dudley travel back in time to visit the Old West and arrive in the town of Armor just moments before a daring bank robbery. They are befriended by Amanda and Peewee, and together the foursome sets out on an adventure full of excitement and suspense which culminates in a dramatic ambush. Dudley, as a result of his western adventure, learns important spiritual truths about the “Armor of God” in the 6th chapter of Ephesians.
Ages 3 & up. (This DVD includes a bonus film In Search Of Dudley Dumpling )

These films are fun and faith lifting. Your children will laugh, learn and feel happy after watching them - we did! What a refreshing change from even what is considered 'child friendly' these days.
~ Jane Boswell

Books To Grow With - Book Excerpt - Resource Review

Would you know how to deal with three of the biggest problems young children face? How do you help a young child whose parents are getting a divorce? Or who’s being bullied? Or who’s just lost a family member?

Author Cheryl Coon says that one of the best ways to help a child in need may simply be to give them the right book.

Case in point: Seth, a nine-year-old boy, was severely affected by his parents’ impending divorce. His teacher watched him change into a quiet, withdrawn child from his former star-student self. She shared with him books about boys whose parents had divorced: A Month of Sundays and Rope Burn.

Result: “It really helped him to see that other kids had gone through the same problems,” said his fourth-grade teacher. “He started spending time with his friends again.”

Cheryl Coon is author of Books to Grow With: A Guide to Using the Best Children’s Fiction for Everyday Issues and Tough Challenges. She says:

“Sometimes offering advice just isn’t enough. A child may be too young to understand or they’re at the stage where advice is the last thing they want to hear. The right book about a fictional character experiencing the same issue can help them handle difficult situations.”

In Books to Grow With, Mrs. Coon identifies and recommends from over 500 fiction books for ages two through ten that feature characters handling over 100 common problems and tough challenges. From bullies to teasing to alcoholism to divorce, Coon recommends the best books that offer wisdom, solace, and problem-solving skills.

Books to Grow With: A Guide to Using the Best Children’s Fiction for Everyday Issues and Tough Challenges by Cheryl Coon
ISBN 0-9748025-7-3
$17.95 (Lutra Press; August 2004)

BOOKS TO GROW WITH
by Cheryl Coon
FROM THE INTRODUCTION

We read to know we are not alone.
--C.S. Lewis

“Oh Mom, don’t tell me you’re going to give me a bunch of books to read about lying,” my son Eli moaned as I came home one day with a stack of books. I had caught him in a lie and I responded by bringing home fiction about other children who had told lies.

On this particular occasion, my nine-year-old son had discovered the powerful allure of lying. Eli noticed that when he told the truth, particularly when it involved something he wanted to do or possess, the results did not seem to be rewarding. Often, he did not obtain the toy he wanted and, if he had broken a family rule, there was a consequence. So why not lie about it? Why not say that he had taken his vitamin even though he hadn’t? Why not report that he had brushed his teeth when all he’d really done was rinse his mouth with water?

He needed to understand that there are consequences to lying, consequences more serious than the loss of television or parental approval. So off I went, hoping to find books with characters who also had succumbed to the temptation to lie. Perhaps, if I were lucky, I would find a book about a nine-year-old boy who had lied to his mom.

I had discovered that reading about fictional characters and how they handle a problem offered my children a roadmap, not only to solutions to that particular problem but also to the very tools of problem-solving.

If you can find a book dealing with a fictional situation similar to your child’s issue, you can accomplish two important things. First, you can offer your child the reassurance that he isn’t alone, that other children have faced the same problem and found ways to deal with it. Second, with books, you can reach your child without preaching or lecturing. Is there a parent who hasn’t experienced the glazed-eyes syndrome the moment she opens her mouth to deliver well-meant words of wisdom? When you provide the right book to your child, to be read-aloud together or read on his own, the glazed-eyes syndrome surrenders to engagement in the story.

What I knew from past experience was that even if my son recognized that I had deliberately given him a book to make a point, it still would help him. That was the case whether I read the book aloud to him or he read it to himself. We would talk, perhaps not about his own lies, but about the character and what the character did. We might talk about the long-term consequences and what they meant for that character. Or we might focus on how the character felt. Somehow the story would work its magic. It would reassure him that other children had tried lying and that giving in to the temptation to lie, while wrong, was not unusual or different. It might not change everything but it would start him thinking.

Years earlier, his sister Nora, when transitioning from diapers to the toilet, had been afraid to go to the bathroom alone at night. I was in despair about how to persuade her to give up her 3 a.m. escort. Although we lit the hallway with nightlights and offered her talismans to carry to the bathroom, Nora was reluctant to walk through the house alone at night.

Then I stumbled on Anna Grossnickle Hines’s All by Myself, a story about a little girl who was afraid to go to the bathroom at night. After a few readings, Nora seemed empowered to conquer her fear. Was it the realization that another little girl had faced the same problem? Was it that she could identify with the character and see that someone else could solve the problem, hence she could too?

When you think about it, seeking fictional characters with whom we can identify is something adults instinctively do for ourselves. Anyone who has had a friend with cancer will find Elizabeth Berg’s Talk Before Sleep a compelling and powerful story. Similarly, other books have explored the territory of marital relationships, mothers and daughters, and extended families. When we experience impending motherhood or the empty-nest syndrome, we are naturally drawn to stories with characters facing the same issues.

When your child is adjusting to preschool, having trouble sharing with other children, or dealing with a bully, you want to help. But simply offering advice may not work. Perhaps your child is too young to understand explicit advice. Perhaps he’s at that stage when your advice is the last thing he thinks he needs. You want to help your child solve the immediate problem and learn how to approach other problems that lie ahead. You want to reach your child and open the opportunity to discuss the issue. The right fiction can help.

An approach known as bibliotherapy uses books, both fiction and nonfiction, to help people. Some experts view traditional bibliotherapy as the exclusive province of trained librarians, psychologists and psychiatrists. Others distinguish between developmental bibliotherapy (for normal life stages or transitions) and clinical bibliotherapy (for especially difficult emotional issues).

Although traditional bibliotherapy may be carried out by a therapist, using fiction to help children isn’t limited to that setting. It’s simple common sense. As children read fiction and observe the behavior of the characters, they learn how to solve problems or at least that problems can be solved. A parent, a teacher, a librarian or a counselor who knows a particular child need not shy away from finding an appropriate fiction book for that child. Reserving bibliotherapy to specialists means foregoing a valuable tool to help kids with resources available to all of us.

The critical element is always the choice of book. The entire process depends on choosing a book whose characters a child truly can relate to and identify with, a book that assures a child he is not alone and offers him the opportunity to consider and discuss different strategies for handling a problem. Only then can the book work its magic.

TALKING ABOUT DEATH

Children experience the loss of a pet, a friend, and a family member very differently, depending on their age and maturity. For some children, a chance to say goodbye is very important; others find comfort in memories or tangible reminders of the person or animal who has died. This is a time when books may be especially comforting, as the skilled authors of the books listed here demonstrate.

Death of a Pet: Cat
Goodbye, Mitch
by Ruth Wallace-Brodeur.
Illustrated by Kathryn Mitter.
Albert Whitman & Company, 1995. 32 pages.

Clear, crisp watercolors and colored pencils. Read-aloud or intermediate to advanced readers.

A young boy, Michael, begins his narrative with these simple words, “My cat Mitch stopped eating on a Sunday. I know because it was my turn to feed him.” Michael describes a touching and believable relationship in which his cat has always been a part of his life. But Mitch won’t eat anymore. Michael’s mom tells him that Mitch may be getting ready to die. Michael won’t accept this and when Mitch finally eats, Michael sees it as a sign that Mitch is getting well. But Mitch continues to lose weight. One day, Mitch goes outside and doesn’t return for several days. As Michael tells the story we feel his sadness and his determination to hold onto Mitch. Mitch dies and Michael and his family have a burial. This is a lovely, sensitive story about the inevitability of loss and how it feels. There is no attempt to sugarcoat it, yet the story is reassuring and ends on a positive note. (Ages 4-10)

Mustard
by Charlotte Graeber.
Illustrated by Donna Diamond.
Atheneum, 1982. 42 pages.

Occasional black-and-white illustrations. Read-aloud or advanced readers. Out of print but available in libraries and used bookstores. 1982 Irma S. and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature Award winner; 1986 West Virginia Children’s Book Award winner.

Mustard the cat has been a part of eight-year-old Joey’s life since he was born. Joey resists facing the fact that Mustard is old but his fears are realized when the vet tells him that Mustard’s heart is not as strong as it used to be. Time passes and Mustard seems stronger, then an encounter with a neighbor’s dog causes Mustard to have a heart attack. Joey must face a hard decision—deciding to put Mustard to sleep so that he can die peacefully. (Oddly, having set up the conflict, the author then has Mustard die before the vet can put him down.) Joey wisely resists the urge to get another cat right away, recognizing that he isn’t ready. A good choice for facing the decision to put a pet to sleep. (Ages 7-10)

The Tenth Good Thing About Barney
by Judith Viorst.
Illustrated by Erik Blegvad.
Aladdin Library, 1987. 32 pages.
Simple, soft drawings. Read-aloud or intermediate readers.

The narrator, a young boy, is grieving the death of his cat, Barney. While comforting him, his mother suggests that they hold a funeral for Barney and that he should think of ten good things about Barney to share at the funeral. The boy thinks of nine good things before he falls asleep. At the funeral the boy lists nine things. Later, while working in the garden with his father, the little boy discovers the tenth good thing, the way that Barney will become a part of the earth and nurture the growth of trees and flowers. A sensitive portrayal of the cycle of life and death. (Ages 5-9)
These are just a few samples of the information parents will find in Books To Grow With. The themes include:

• How to Use Fiction to Help Children

• Early Childhood Transitions (moving from crib to big bed, potty training, thumb-sucking, pacifiers, stuffed animals, blankets)

• New Experiences (loose tooth, babysitters, haircuts, airplane trip, sleepovers, visit to the doctor, illness, visit to the dentist, hospital trip)

• New Skills (learning to swim,ride a bike, starting pre-school)

• School-Age Kids (starting kindergarten, learning to read, reading problems, stuttering, boredom, homework, pressure, gifted kids)

• Relationships with Other Children (making friends, best friends, sharing, being a good sport, bossiness, boasting, shyness, prejudice, being different, sexism, teasing, bullies, appearance, glasses, braces, hair, height)

• Growing Up (feelings, anger, anxiety, embarassment, envy, frustration, fears, general fears, fear of the dark, fear of outdoors as night, fear of storms, fear of dogs, bedwetting, honesty self-esteem)

• Family Life (chores, picky eaters, bad days, siblings, a new baby, same old brother/sister, twins, adoption, foster home, parents leaving on a trip, working mothers, moving)

• Changes and Challenges in Family Life (divorce, remarriage, step-families)

• Feeling Safe in a Scary World (getting lost, strangers, alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness, violence)

• Illnesses and Disabilities (general, AIDS, allergies, Alzheimer’s Disease, asthma, ADD, autism, blindness, cancer, cerebral palsy, deafness, depression, diabetes, Down’s Syndrome, epilepsy, mental illness, physically disabled, schizophrenia)

• Talking about Death (death of a pet, death of a cat or dog, other animals, death of a friend, death of a sibling, death of a parent, death of a grandparent)
The book also includes a full list of authors and illustrators, a subject index, books available in Spanish, a reference section and a section of additional resources.

Here is a short review written by Ann Lahrson-Fisher, author of Fundamentals of Homeschooling: Notes on Successful Family Living:

“A wonderful resource for busy parents. Coon includes only quality fiction books that have literary interest to engage a child's thinking. Homeschooling parents may find this book particularly useful for planning. Coon has done her homework so parents don't have to - book listings are helpfully summarized and include key. Practical tips for using literature to help children, includes several indexes to find resources quickly. An invaluable reference that belongs on the shelf next to Jim Trelease's read-aloud books. Where was this book when my children were young?"