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Bible Study Guide for All Ages: Primary Level {Crew Review}

August 12, 2013 by Dana

If you’ve been looking for a great way to teach Bible study to your children, Bible Study Guide for All Ages is a great program to choose. Bible Study Guide for All Ages makes learning about the Bible fun and easy. This program is sure to capture the attention of any age.

For this review, we chose the Primary plan. This plan is created for children in 1st-2nd grades and is a great plan for children who know a little about the Bible but are ready to advance into a deeper level of learning. Our Bible Study Guide for All Ages kit came with the Primary Level Teacher Guide, Color Bible Book Summary Cards, enough Primary Student pages for all the kids, and an accompanying Children’s Songs CD.

Along with the contents of the kit, each student will need a Bible of their own to use. This will be used for finding Biblical text throughout the lessons. Finding the Bible verses with help or on their own, allows students to learn the much needed skill of using their Bible and reading on their own.

Crayons, pencils and other writing utensils are also necessary for this program. We personally love anything we can color, draw and design so we broke out crayons and colored pencils for this program. I love anything that encourages the kids uniqueness in artistic ways.

The one thing we did not receive, that was not 100% necessary but would have been a nice addition to our kit, was the Unlabeled Wall Map and Time Line with Label book. This timeline is used throughout the program and mentioned in our lessons but it wasn’t something we had to have in order to complete any lesson. The bonus of it though, is that it would have allowed us to track Biblical events and figures in a hands-on way. I’m sure I could easily create my own or just a notebook type Timeline and captured the same effect for our family and we may do that in the future.

The Bible Study Guide for All Ages Primary Level Teacher’s Guide is wire-bound which allows the guide to lie flat for lessons. In it, you will find directions to every lesson and task for this level of the program. The book begins with Teacher Instructions, explaining how this program works and how to use it in your classroom. I found it very easy to understand and make work for us at home, though it can also be used in a Sunday School classroom if you’d prefer.

Lessons can be completed once a day or spread to a few days in a week, depending upon the child. Generally, only one lesson a week would be completed though you can complete more if you wish. This program is designed much like a Sunday School Bible Study which would only be used once a week on Sunday’s.

Lessons are fairly short and should take only an hour or so to complete, if that. Each lesson has an objective to teach the child some important lesson of the Bible. In the beginning of each lesson in the guide there is also a list for the lessons needed materials. These are things you will gather to be able to complete the lesson with the child(ren).

Lessons always begin with a review of the previous lesson. This allows the child to show what they know and what they remember from the previous lesson. This also allows the teacher to gauge the child’s learning and reteach areas that may have been missed in the previous lesson.

The second part of the lesson is the Memory Work. This is generally where important Bible facts and songs are introduced. Bible verses are also reviewed during this section. Anything that a student needs to memorize for the lesson is introduced here.

The third section is the Things to Know section. This is the real introduction to the week’s lesson and where the backbone of the lesson is found. Things to Know sets the background for the main lesson to come.

The next step is to Get Active! This is the give and take of the lesson, where the teacher questions the students and challenges their thinking to get them thinking lessons through. This section if scripted well for the teacher and easily followed, though students answers will always differ from the suggested ones in the book. This section also sets the stage for the story of the lesson.

Finally, we reach the Bible Text. This is the story portion that brings the Bible story into relation of all we have learned so far. Stories vary in length and are always followed by review questions to keep students challenged and thinking during lessons. As you read through this section, students can follow along with their comic book images in their student text workbook. This helps bring the story to life for the student learning.

Following the text section, students learn where it happened on the Map. This is included in their student text but you can elaborate by using a wall map or a timeline. This allows the child to see for themselves where this part of the story happened and relate it to today instead of just a story from a book. It helps to bring the lesson and story to life for the child.

The last step of the lesson is to Apply It! Show what you both have learned, parent and student. Talk about the lesson, why it’s important, how you can prevent yourself from doing something you shouldn’t or encourage others to do what they should. Each lesson’s Apply It! is different but every one has an important lesson to be taught.

The Student lesson pages are extra long and come in black and white. This allows the child to be creative in coloring the pages. It also helps cut down printing costs. The pages are full of character, using comic book type imagery to keep children engaged.

The Bible Book Summary Cards are fully colored and work to bring life to this program. The back of each card provides information that goes along with each lesson. It also includes questions for the teacher to ask the student. The great part is that all of this is on the back of the card, so as the teacher holds it up for the student to view, the teacher can be reading this part of the lesson without the student realizing there is anything there.

Children’s Songs CD is also included with this program. This 2 CD set includes 90 songs for your students to use along with the lessons. These also help bring the stories to life and get your child off the couch and into the lesson. These aren’t the usual, every day Bible songs either but they are catchy tunes that your family will be singing again and again.

We used this program as directed, following through the lessons together. It was simple enough to do and the kids enjoyed the time spent with one another on it. Winston especially enjoyed the comic book characters and the easy reading, which helped encourage him with his reading skills. Emmalee read much of the lesson to us, which allowed me a break from doing all the reading myself. The lessons were just the right amount of study and time for Laycie too. They were not overwhelming and were just the right amount of detail for each one of us.

Bible Study Guide for All Ages: Primary Level is available to purchase online for $9.95 for the 1-26 lesson Teacher’s Guide and $5.95 for the 1-26 Student Lesson pages. Lessons are broken down into sections of 26 lessons at a time. There are a total of 208 lessons available for the Primary Level of this program.

The Bible Book Summary Cards are also available for purchase. These come in Full Color 8.5″x11″ cards or Color-It-Yourself 11″x14″ posters. Both come with 66 cards to use with the program and are both priced at $24.95 each.

The Children’s Songs CD set is a 2 disk set containing 90 children’s Bible songs. The cost for it is $19.95.

For more reviews of Bible Study Guide for All Ages, please click on the banner below!

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Lucky While Living Cursed {Epilepsy Awareness}

August 4, 2013 by Dana

Today someone mentioned that families with history of Epilepsy are lucky. That’s a big word: Lucky. It means to be fortunate.

luck·y

/ˈləkē/

Adjective

Having, bringing, or resulting from good luck: “a lucky escape”.

Synonyms

fortunate – happy – successful – providential

People assume that because a family, like mine, has 5 generations that have Epilepsy and that because I have three children who have Epilepsy, that I am fortunate because I have prior case history to go on and I know where our Epilepsy is coming from.

Let me tell you, that could NOT be further from the truth.

It is true that we do have a strong family history with Epilepsy. We were lucky to know what this disorder was when my Emmalee began showing signs of seizure. I was not a satisfied Momma when she was initially diagnosed as having Febrile Seizures and I did not rest until we had the correct diagnoses.

I was lucky to know that I had had this disorder, to know of the signs, the stigmas and the common misdiagnoses of this disorder to be something less. I was lucky to have a Mother who had suffered through night after night of wondering if I was ever going to wake up in the morning, if I was ever going to be a “normal kid” or if I was going to wake and go into a seizure without her knowledge. I agree, I was very lucky to have those things.

Her knowledge of this disorder helped get me through, but honestly, we are no farther in knowledge with this disorder than we were 34 years ago when I began having seizures myself. We are no farther along in knowledge than my Great-grandfathers family or my Grandfather’s mother was when he went through this as a child. We are no farther along in knowledge than we were when my Grandfather was on three separate medications in an attempt to control this Monster that even now they do not understand.

I am NOT a lucky Momma to have this family history. Having more than one child with Epilepsy does not help me to understand this any better than it did the day I had one child with Epilepsy. What I’ve learned past how to deal and the strength I’ve gleaned from my Mother in dealing with it, I have taught myself.

I listen to my children’s neurologist. I grasp any tidbit of information they have to offer. I can sense when they are full of crap and my motherly instincts are rarely wrong. I force them to listen even if it takes multiple visits or me taking my child’s care into my own hands to make that happen. I do what I must to get my babies the best care possible.

Fact: There is NO CURE for my children. I’ve known this for a long, long while. It was confirmed by our neurologist last week, not without care but in an effort to tell me the truth. It wasn’t a truth I didn’t already know.

Genetic disorders pass through from generation to generation on a gene. Generally, they skip generations, passing down the line but not activated. Patterns like Uncle: niece, Grandparent: Grandson and so on are the common inheritance. It’s very rare to pass from generation to generation directly without there being a gene that causes it. And it’s extremely rare to pass through for 5 straight known generations (we do not truly know how many generations before my Great-grandfather have had this disorder as there is no record).

Because this disorder is passed on a gene in my family, there is NO CURE for us. We cannot edit genetic inheritance. We cannot choose DNA. It’s a flip of a coin as to which child will pass this on and how many of their children will have it. I know at least one of my grandchildren will inherit this. I know most likely at least one of each of my three children’s children will have it. That’s 3 grandchildren, at least, possibly more that will go through this and there isn’t a cure for them.

It can be controlled. A cure could be found for my children dealing with it in their lifetime. I’m not saying that. What I am saying is that it won’t stop with us. It will travel on and curse the next generation with it’s terror.

I may be fortunate to have known what this disorder was for each of my children to start, but as I’ve already stated, I know because I’ve taught myself. The records of my relatives before me are not accessible and even if they were, I doubt they would provide much information. This disorder was hidden from the world. It was not and is still not understood by even the doctors trained to provide care for it. There is no wealth of wisdom to glean from the past history that we have.

Each and every one of my children’s cases are different. Each and every one has been treated like a first time case with no common connection. I am currently pushing for answers, for comparisons, for more information on this disorder and how it relates to us. My goal is not for a cure, but for understanding of how this disorder works and how it affects my family. I plan to pass this on for my children’s future and their children. I plan to arm them with the knowledge to live through their lives with this and be empowered along their path.

This is their life with Epilepsy and the only luck they have is a Momma who will provide them with all she can in preparation for their future in living with this.

A New Doctor {Epilepsy Awareness}

August 2, 2013 by Dana

The long awaited diagnoses is in: Jackson has seizures. In our world, we call it Epilepsy as seizures are Epilepsy and vice versa. He does NOT have Apnea as the neurologist first suggested.

Wednesday, both Jackson and Laycie went to the doctor for a double appointment. We will have a lot of those in the future. Hope they are ready for us!

Laycie’s checkup went first. He stated she looked great. He was as concerned with me over her seizure breakthroughs. He said that he felt that she was being under-treated for her Epilepsy. He felt she was not on a high enough dosage for control with all the activity going on in her brain. Apparently, she has a VERY active brain which is no surprise to me!

All joking aside, Laycie’s brain has seizures in the that center around the Rolandic region with what are termed centrotemporal spikes. The activity in this area is heavy but it is not the only area that shows activity for her. He confirmed my suspicions that there may be more to it than the simple diagnoses of Rolandic Epilepsy and he is planning to look into the details of that for us.

His choice for now is to raise Laycie’s medicine dosage to 3 pills of Depakote at night and 2 in the morning to see if the breakthroughs become controlled. If she continues to breakthrough or she has any of the signs of side-effects that we had previously when her dose was too high, then we will discuss the next step which will be switching meds. His goal however, is to get her to 3 pills morning and 3 pills nightly at this time.

Once he finished up with Laycie and after much discussion of our strange generational family curse with Epilepsy, he moved onto Jackson. Jax got the same rave reviews of being perfect, as Laycie had gotten. He was a little concerned with Jax’s minor delays and is interested to see what happens with those as we start on medicines.

He asked that we give Jackson more time to develop his Epilepsy, allowing him to have another seizure before starting him on medications but due to him losing his breath and requiring CPR through his last seizure I was not willing to agree with him. No argument, he completely understood. So he sent us home with a script for Jackson for Trileptal. We are starting off very slow and building up so that hopefully (fingers crossed) Jackson won’t have the same side-effect issues as Laycie had on the medicine. He is aware of those effects and is willing to switch Jackson at any sign of them rearing their ugly head!

We left the office with a new neuro that I feel confident in. He was great with both of the kids, made Laycie smile and happily answered all the questions I had, as well as held intriguing discussions on other issues dealing with the Epilepsy. He learned from us and we learned from him.

We came home, filled prescriptions and immediately began treatments for both kids. Laycie is awed at the size of her new medication bottle! It’s super tall! So far she’s doing great with the increase. She was a little bit whiny today but it takes about a week for the tiredness and crankiness of the adjustment to stop. I forsee naps for us in the next few days.

Jackson began his meds last night and is doing great with them so far. He’s a little more tired than normal but acts like he can’t go to sleep at naptime. He’s showing no signs of forgetting anything he knows or stopping speech which were issues Laycie had while taking Trileptal. Since starting his seizures, he’s not been sleeping as well so I’m really hoping the medicine does help with that, so long as he doesn’t have delays from it.

We do have to keep a close eye on them both right now and we are doing that by splitting tasks. Momma is sleeping near to Jackson and caring for him, while I am sleeping next to and caring for Laycie. We split help from Winston and Emmalee and Josh when he’s home. I’m so thankful to have children who are understanding, caring and so helpful with their siblings as mine are! I cannot express how blessed I am by every single one of my children.

We are thrilled with the new doctor, the new changes and the new outlook on this disorder we are forced to live with. Everyone is doing well for now and hopefully I can catch a break to rest a little while. I am one exhausted Momma.

Dig-It Games: Mayan Mysteries {Crew Review}

July 15, 2013 by Dana

Dig-It Games brings to life the world of the Maya through it’s interactive game, Mayan Mysteries.

Mayan Mysteries allows children to become archaeologists in this fun game. Children learn about history through play.

Dig-It Games was founded by Suzi Wilczynski, professional archaeologist and former school teacher. She created Mayan Mysteries and Roman Town to bring to users a fun, interactive way to teach ancient civilizations with archaeology. Through 10 years of experience with digs in Greece and Israel, Ms. Wilczynski created a way to bring her experiences to students everywhere.

In Mayan Mysteries, players learn about the history of the Maya civilization and culture. Created for children in grades 5th through 9th, ages 11 and up, this game walks students through a world that would otherwise be forgotten if not for historical digs and documents. Throughout the game, users discover artifacts, decode ancient glyphs, explore the Maya calendar, visit ancient cities and much much more.

The game itself works as a puzzle with pieces leading to fit into each other in order to open up each level of play. Included activities test reading comprehension, geographical skills, spatial reasoning, math, science and history skills. Scientific and analytical thinking skills are practiced throughout gameplay too.

Users begin playing Mayan Mysteries by joining up with Team Q to find the mysterious thief, Landrone. This leads the user on a chase that spans over the great ancient Maya cities through over 300 expansive challenges and 12 hours of gameplay. On the journey, the user learns key facts, geographical data, finds countless artifacts, solves glyphs and more.

Users gain achievements for every quest completed, such as the Golden Trowel for collecting 8 artifacts or the Genius Decoder for solving all spirit companion Glyph riddles without using hints. These achievements are rewards for completion of the mysteries and lessons throughout the game.

There are tons of artifacts for the player to find throughout the game too. Through gameplay and digs, the player will find things like a ball player figurine, a ceramic flute, a flint knife, obsidian arrowheads, stingray spines and many more. The player will learn about each of these items through play as well, leading to an unforgettable online history lesson.

Landrone clues are also provided throughout the expedition to find Landrone. These clues are kept in Charlie’s journal and can be accessed at any time during gameplay.

Team Q is who you are helping to find Landrone and solve the Mayan Mysteries. Team Q consists of Dr. Alex Quinn, the extraordinary archaeologist, and leader of the expeditions. The twins, Fiona Quinn, future archaeologist extraordinaire and Charlie Quinn, future detective are also a viable part of Team Q. Along with your help they are sure to solve the mystery and find Landrone.

This fun, fun archaeology game is sure to bring hours of interactive lessons to life for users. I know we have enjoyed playing and learning more about each artifact and place visited via the game. My children, ages 10 and 12 have worked together to play through this game and enjoyed learning more.

You can purchase Mayan Mysteries from Dig-It games online for $21.99 for a one year single-user license. This gives you access to the full game for a year to play. Mayan Mysteries is also available as an App in the Apple Store or iTunes for $9.99.

Weak but Blessed in the Normalcy {Epilepsy Awareness}

July 11, 2013 by Dana

Everyone keeps telling me how strong I am. But I don’t feel strong. I feel weak and tired. I feel overwhelmed and unsure. I have no idea how to manage my life as it currently stands.

I’m well aware it will all fall into place. This isn’t my first time dealing with diagnoses and doubts. I have two daughters with Epilepsy and now it’s possible that my son has it too. I know from my life with my daughters that this is only a season and before long it will be routine and balanced again, as much as it can be when you live daily with Epilepsy.

This is normal for us. The ups and downs. The shifts and swings in life. It’s our daily normal.

My girls have never had a “normal” life. All they’ve known is Epilepsy. Winston, my oldest, briefly had normalcy. I cherish those days and I miss them greatly. I realize now I had hoped for the same with Jackson because surely my boys wouldn’t inherit this dreadful monster. I mourn the loss of that “normalcy”.

I remember being naive when Laycie was born. I remember thinking “ok I have my daughter with “E”. Laycie can’t have it too.” I remember enjoying those days with her thinking this monster would never rear it’s god-awful head. But then it did and here we are fighting daily.

I guess I thought the same with Jackson, though I wasn’t quite as naive this time. I have watched for it in him for months. As we passed the four month mark, I breathed a little easier. I let my guard down, even when I knew better.

When I got the call the other night, I just remember thinking “my heart knew it was coming” and “not my baby too”. But my instincts, my Momma heart, my sixth sense have all screamed at me to “be aware” for months.

Yesterday was Jackson’s neurology appointment. The doctor went through the usual questions. We answered them as best we could. He wonders if there is a possibility of Apnea. I tell him, “I don’t know”.

He asks me, “what would you like to do?” Well, doc, I’d like to run like hell and hide my baby. I’d like to have my baby back, normal and pretend this never happened. I’d love to pretend it’s all a dream or there is another cause. Previous history, strong family roots, gut instinct all tell me differently.

This nightmare will not just “go away”. Its here and it’s big as night and day. I chose to hold off on medicating Jackson. I chose to agree to have an EKG for him to check for Apnea and an EEG to check for seizure activity. I do not want medicines to prevent that possible activity from showing up, even though we know it may not anyways. It doesn’t always show for me or my girls when have had EEG testing in the past. I do want the chance to find out.

I’m at war with praying right now. I pray he never has another seizure episode and at the same time, I pray it would just happen and get it over with. Then I’d know what’s wrong with my baby and I wouldn’t sit in fear of him stopping breathing never to regain consciousness again. I’d know. We’d be able to treat him. And life would move forward as “normal” as we could get.

Jackson is back to normal for him. He’s smiling and cute as a button. He’s trying to crawl, learning new words every day and working hard with his sign language. It’s as if nothing ever happened which makes me feel even more like it was a dream even though I know it wasn’t.

I feel so weak and tired from all of this and I know that’s ok! I don’t have to be strong but I have to get through it. My strength comes from God, from Life, from my children. I see them daily and know I must face the days ahead for them, even when I want to hide from it all. Hiding won’t get a diagnoses or treatment for my son.

This is life. This is the raw emotion of a Momma who is fighting every day to provide a normal life for her children who didn’t ask to battle a disorder called Epilepsy that generations have carried and passed on. This is our daily life and our “normal” and I chose to be blessed by it even when I’m at my weakest.

Baker Publishing Group: The Adventures of Lily Lapp Series {Crew Review}

June 24, 2013 by Dana

From Baker Publishing Group, written by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher comes the story of a kind and mischevious Amish girl you won’t soon forget. Every day with Lily Lapp is a new adventure. Life with this little girl is never boring.

Come see what life with Lily and her family is like in The Adventures of Lily Lapp Book One: Life with Lily. Five year old Lily lives on an Amish farm in upstate New York with her parents and her little brothers. Lily has a new little brother that she isn’t all that sure about.

Seems life has a lot of change in store for little Miss Lily. New baby, a new teacher and her eyes are opening to a whole new world around her. Lily Lapp is growing up Amish. Come see what Life with Lily is all about!

Book two of The Adventures of Lily Lapp series is A New Home for Lily. Sweet little Lily is seven now and moving to an entirely new community. It’s hard being the new girl in town.

See what life is like for Lily now, in a new town where she has to learn to make new friends all while still finding adventures to keep her busy. Lily meets Aaron Yoder, a boy who drives her crazy and later Lily finds heart to help rescue. Lily also receives a new gift: another baby brother to love and grow with in her many adventures, though Lily has yet to understand why God doesn’t give her a baby sister.

The Adventures of Lily Lapp is a wonderful series with more books to come. Each adventure with Lily is better than the last, as readers watch Lily grow up and follow along with her life and her mischief through her story. Lily’s books will be a wonderful addition to homes every where.

These books are written with children ages 8-12 in mind. At 272 pages, they are rather good sized chapter books. Each chapter has a title, allowing young readers to break the stories down into manageable portions. This also allows educators/parents to assign chapters to read a little easier.

My 10 year old could not wait to read about the life of Lily Lapp and immediately jumped into reading these books. I allowed her to read them for leisure. We will definitely be adding more books from the Lily Lapp series into our home in the future as they are released.

You can purchase The Adventures of Lily Lapp books through Baker Publishing Group for $12.99 in either paperback or ebook format. For this review, we had beautifully printed paperback copies that I suspect will be read again and again in the future.

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luck·y