Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

Tagged: Bible, character, Personal Development, wide age range

This topic has 6 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 4 months ago by Misty.

Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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February 1, 2013 at 4:17 am
my3boys
Participant
I have 3 dc who have enjoyed the Miller’s books (I think we’ve read them all) and are now ready for something else. But, I have a ds who is so much older, in personality, than his siblings. He is reading his own personal development books (1 ch. a week w/discussion questions) and sometimes we discuss but I don’t push. I only read from the Miller’s books 1 x a week, at best, but pretty soon we will be finished w/ them. Where do I go from here??
The Making Brothers and Sisters Friends book says it’s great for grades 1-6 and he’s well past that (although I know I could use it anyway). If I read it, do I have him listen in or allow him time for his studies and his own personal dev. book?
We already do many of the fine arts subjects together, history, Bible, geo + Latin, so it’s not that he’s not with us for those but I hate to not have him listen in on the books I could use for my younger two.
We do listen to many Lamplighter audio books together and other audio books, as well.
I feel as if I could use the same book/s w/ my younger two and let him do his own thing, but then I feel he’s missing out on a book that he hasn’t read before or that would be good for all three of them.
Any thoughts?? What would you do?? Maybe a biography that they would all enjoy??
PS: I’ve looked at the Janet and Geoff Benge books and I think I have some Trailblazer books, but they seem so young for my oldest (he’s 13, a very old 13yo).

February 1, 2013 at 2:51 pm
my3boys
Participant
bump.
February 1, 2013 at 3:33 pm
2flowerboys
Participant
Personally, the Making Brothers and Sisters…book is for everyone IMO! I mean it has helped me to do some thinking about serving our own family! It is very well written and poses deep thought of yourself! With that said, I think it would be a great read aloud for your ds to hear! Then you can discuss as a family how everyone should act w/ one another. If he reads it on his own, he won’t get that discussion and might just skim some parts! It is that good! And I think it will take a while to read if you break it up and really let the truths sink in! To dig deeper, afterwards they receive a note card and they write down the character trait from the story is along w/ either scripture or a short proverb/saying of sorts to fit the story!
We too enjoyed the Miller books! And have moved on to a wonderful character book that contains stories from the 1800’s. They are very deep and thought provoking! Yesterday, we read a story about our tongues and how words can never be taken back. This was a story of a girl who used her unkind words to hurt her mother. Twenty yrs later, her mom passes away and yet she still remembers those unkind words she spoke and it breaks her heart. Moral of the story, watch what you say, you cannot undo words, and honor your mother and father. My sons were in tears! They have got emotional some..but not like that w/ this story! I could barely get through it myself due to my mom being gone and words I shouldn’t have spoken to her..or should have spoken to her…we were a sobbing bunch! I know that is probably more than you wanted to know..LOL! But these stories are so rich! The book is called Choice Stories For Children
http://www.amazon.com/Choice-Stories-Children-Frank-McMillan/dp/1881545997/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359731918&sr=8-1&keywords=choice+stories+for+children
Also, for your younger ones. Abeka has some very thought provoking readers whose family lives in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s! We have read a series together. The first book is called Secret of the Maple Tree. Next, Song of the Brook..and the last is Message of the Mountain. They are books for grades 2-6. These follow the same family as the children learn about character and God’s forgiveness and love. I use these as character stories because they are also rich in learning right from wrong! We are on the last one and my sons think it is the best story ever, LOL! Even though they/we have read rich literature books of all kinds! I think the books really speak to their hearts and they can relate to the kids. You can find used Abeka books on http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com
There are also some great character books at Rod and Staff that I am looking into! Some of them, I believe, have workbooks…well not like worksheets but some thought provoking character pages to write what you have learned!
HTH! Sorry, I don’t have anything for your ds13…except MBandSBF! 🙂
February 1, 2013 at 3:47 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
It might work well to have a Personal Development book to read aloud to the younger group and then have an individual older PD book for your older son that you discuss with him once a week, one-on-one after the youngers are in bed or something. He can listen in on the reading with the youngers in order to help you encourage them in what they’re learning. Take him into your confidence and explain how he is, in part, also discipling his younger brothers and sisters because they watch him and listen to him. So if he hears what they are learning about, he can informally reinforce it throughout the day. You might also ask him to do the reading for the youngers’ time sometimes. Just some ideas.
February 1, 2013 at 3:56 pm
my3boys
Participant
Great ideas! Thank you so much.
February 1, 2013 at 4:00 pm
2flowerboys
Participant
Love that idea Sonya of older reading to the younger ones!
Just been looking at books for my kids. Have you read Pilgrims Progress? Or your older son..there is a great study for that book! I think I will put it on my wish list to use in a yr or two!
Edited to add…Everyday Graces by Karen Santorum ..We have read and re-read a lot from this book!
http://www.christianbook.com/everyday-graces-childs-book-good-manners/9781932236095/pd/236090?product_redirect=1&Ntt=236090&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP
February 1, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Misty
Participant
We did it together when we first got it, then when they hit 5-6th grades the do it for PD