Heart Reflections Live

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Jack and Jill!


This was a real find!- just $4 from a 2nd hand bookshop! When I was little in the 70's, Mum and Dad would buy these for us in comic book format.
They were very sweet and innocent, beautifully illustrated, and the children always respected their parents.
Our children love it when Mummy reads them something she enjoyed as a child.

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 7:28 pm 0 comments

Vintage Book Treasures for Our Children



In our quest to keep all things pure and lovely before our children's eyes, one thing we love to collect are vintage children's books.

The illustrations are far more beautiful I believe than many of the more modern children's picture books, they concentrate on stable families and good values,traditional gender roles, and I love the clothing.

These are just a sample of many we've picked up recently from garage sales for next to nothing. Sadly, but happily for us, no one seems interested in them anymore.

Phillipians 4:8 is a great guideline for choosing products for children in this wicked age. As well as vintage books, we look for Bible Stories with reverent realistic pictures, good Christian books, and old classic novels with good morals. Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy, I'll post a few close-ups for you.

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 7:11 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

She's Growing Up


Here is our precious Talitha at 6 1/2 years old. Look at those big earnest eyes... She is growing up in so many ways, her love for Jesus and her understanding of the Bible, AND SHE IS READING!!!!- amazingly well!
We've just returned from a 2 week break from homeschooling, and not only did she do a flawless reading of her page from her reader today, but straight afterwards insisted on reading one of her Franklin the Turtle books that we picked up garage- saleing on the weekend! She read with great fluency and expression, and only needed help with about 3 words in the whole book.
We've only been homeschooling since February and it's really paying off ( not that it costs anything!) We are about halfway through Don Potter's Phonics Reading List (free off the internet) and she is up to the Prep 4 book from the old Queensland School Readers- pre 1950's.
Maybe she'll be joining in our family read-a-louds sooner than I think!

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 7:18 pm 0 comments

Monday, June 02, 2008

The Princess and the Kiss



"The Princess and the Kiss" by Jennie Bishop, is one of our daughters' favourite books, and one that I would personally like to recommend to other families.

It's a cleverly written child-friendly fairy-tale, complete with romantic, medieval-styled illustrations, that extols the virtues of purity, and of "Saving oneself" for marriage.

There are many wonderful lessons contained in this story, and it's fun to help your children discover them. My children and I would talk about the suitors that the Princess turned down, and we discovered that Prince Peacock, Prince Romance and Prince Treasurechest never mentioned God in all their dealings with her. I also liked how the man she finally married, politely approached the Princess through her parents.

If you want to bring your children (male or female) up with principles of godly courtship, as opposed to worldly serial dating, then this book is a wonderful tool. As with teaching modesty, it is never too early to impart teaching on these important issues eg. children accustomed to wearing board shorts over their bathers from early childhood, will generally follow through into their teens- try suggesting this to a teen who has never been taught these principles from childhood, you may have a battle on your hands!

Prov 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

For Australian readers, I ordered this book through Koorong for $25.95- it may be a little more now. I believe Jennie Bishop has also written another book especially for boys- "The Squire and the Scroll"- it may be worth checking out too.

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 7:29 pm 0 comments

Friday, February 08, 2008

Enriching Your Children's Lives through the World of Books


"About 30 years ago, Victor and Mildred Goertzel wrote a book called Cradles of Eminence . In it they described their research of the 400 most eminent people living in this (last) century. They were looking for common factors in the childhoods of these men and women, and a major influence was the home library. They wrote: "A rule of thumb for predicting success is to know the number of books in the home..."


- from "The Child Influencers- Restoring the Lost Art of Parenting" by Dan Adams.


I began to reread snippets of this book of ours last week, as I made preparations for home-schooling- I had forgotten how profound it was when I first read it. It lists typical child influencers such as parents, reading, family-based learning, TV, peers and school, and how you can change your lifestyle in small ways, so that the first 3 on the list become or remain the major influencing factors. I highly recommend this book, not only to people considering homeschooling, but to parents who have children in the State (U.S. Public) school system as well. The book doesn't condemn any schooling choice and has some great tips for parents of public schooled children too.


I don't know when my fascination with building a home library began, but I know as a child I was drawn to books, especially old tomes and Encyclopaedias with the gold engraved writing on them. When I was single and working, I would much rather spend my dollars on an old secondhand book than a new outfit. I rejected trendy fashions for a classic dateless wardrobe with literature to match!


As I grew in Christ it became more and more important to me to choose books that had a biblical world-view, and that is also an important criteria, now that we have children. If a book doesn't leave me wanting to know and love Christ more, then to me it's a waste of time reading it.


Some people say you're better off borrowing from a lending library, than spending money on your own books, but I beg to differ, though I use libraries as well. If I've heard good reviews on a book, then if possible, I prefer to borrow it to check it out first, and then if I really love it and feel it's worthwhile, then I'll shop for a second-hand or discount new copy.


Getting back to biblical world-view, I'm quite fussy on this point, and if a book is said to be Allegorical, I expect it to be a nice clear allegory, pointing clearly to Christ and His Word. I remember as a young Christian reading the Narnia series of books and coming away quite disappointed and disturbed by them- especially the mixing of a kind of Christian imagery with Pagan mythology, and some of Lewis's theology disturbed me in what I picked up through the allegorical/similarly setting. But that's my oppinion and my husband agrees with me, so you won't find Narnia on our shelves- I expect that many people have many differing views on C.S. Lewis.


My other criteria in choosing books for our children is that the hero or heroine must not do magic or witchcraft, as children generally emulate what they see. A bad guy or a witch in the same story is not so much as an issue as this can help them discern the good from the evil, especially if they come to a bad end.


While I've kept a few Disney books from my childhood, that's not the sort of thing I wish to spend money on now- literary wise they really aren't well written. As much as our children enjoy an occasional Pooh Bear DVD, they'd much rather I'd read them the real stuff by A A Milne.


We find the cheapest places to buy books these days are op-shops (thrift stores)- as these are often supporting Christian ministries, many of these places now give away Christian books, Hymnals etc, and also School fetes and spring fairs as the schools often have a library cull prior to these. Here we sometimes pay anywhere from 20 cents to $1 for a classic!


If you'd like some ideas of where to start with classic books, try googling 1000 great books- you'll be amazed!


If you don't own any books, where do I suggest you start? - A King James Bible, The Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan, Fox's Book of Martyrs, Han's Christian Andersen Fairytales(I assess these on their individual merits- some are beautiful allegories), "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles Dickens novels, Jane Austen Novels, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, "Little Women/ Good Wives" by Louisa May Alcott, Beatrix Potter, A A Milne, Little House Series by L I Wilder, Anne of Green Gables series L M Montgomery, Heidi by Johannah Spyri, Robinson Crusoe- does this whet your appetite?


I would never exalt any book above the Word of God- always give it priority. These others on the list, will not only improve your children's vocabulary, but will inspire them to live noble, Godly lives.

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 6:36 pm 1 comments

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod


This delightful little poem is one my Mother would remember from her childhood. It was in the old Queensland school readers. It's still precious today with it's rich imagery, and soothing rhythms. Our girls love it too...
Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe-
Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring-fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we,"
Said Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe;
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew;
The little stars were the herring-fish
That lived in the beautiful sea.
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish-
Never afeared we are!"
So cried the stars to the fishermen three,
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam-
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home:
'Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed
As if it could not be;
And some folk thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea;
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle -bed;
So shut your eyes while Mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock on the misty sea
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three-
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
-Eugene Field

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 4:48 pm 1 comments

Monday, September 03, 2007

What Books are You Enjoying at the Moment?



What books are you reading & enjoying ( or not enjoying), at the moment? Blogs are a great way to compare notes on what is worth looking at or not.

Here is our current list:

Me:

-King James Bible (Bible in a year program)

-Uncle Tom's Cabin- by Harriet Beecher Stowe

-All of Grace- by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Just As I Am- by Billy Graham

-Holiness- by J C Ryle ( soon to begin)

Hubby:

-King James Bible

-A John Bunyan biography

-The Master's Indwelling- by Andrew Murray

Children's Devotions:

-Leading Little Ones to God- Marion M Schoolland

-Volume 2 The Bible Story- by Arthur Maxwell (We work through this set slowly. Some nights we leave it out if the girls are too tired. Occasionally they pick a story from another volume. I love the reverent art work in these books, but they are S.D.A denomination, so if you get them, there's the occasional spot where you may have to alter something.)

Family Read-a Loud:

-Anne of Green Gables- by L M Montgomery

Plus numerous just for fun books, old fashioned children's books, library books etc.

What's in your reading pile at the moment?

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posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 11:23 am 4 comments