Good Find. . .

I realized late last night when I was going to bed that I had forgotten to list one of the books I purchased yesterday.... see what homeschooling is doing to me? I think about this stuff ALL the time! Anyhoo, I realized that I hadn't seen it since we got home, so I went into my van this morning and-tada-I found it hiding between my seats! History for Little Pilgrims by Christian Liberty Press

I was really excited to find this yesterday because it was only $1!! I had read wonderful things about Christian Liberty Press supplies and this book in particular, but I had never gotten the chance to really see a good sample. I definitely do not want to go the route of text books, but wouldn't mind having an interesting book that I could read from as a history spine to fall back on. I had heard wonderful things about Story of the World as well, so I had purchased a used copy of Volume 1 a few months back at a great price, just so I can see what the hype was about and help me figure out my thoughts on "classical education." I am very glad I bought it because it is great, but it did help me in deciding to not pursue that approach for the early years. I do think I will use the book as a resource, but probably when the girls are a good bit older than the ages that people are currently using it for (Kindergarten and First grades).

So, I was eager to see if CLP and History for Little Pilgrims would be the same. I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. It amazes me that some people use these two books for the same age group. (I want to be clear here, again, that I have nothing against SOTW or people who use it for the early years. I just don't think it is the right fit for us at that stage, but I do love it and will use it in the future.) I just feel that for us, this is a much gentler approach to introducing history, it is written in a very easy to read aloud type text, it focuses on God's hand throughout History (not just mentioned as a side note or left out altogether!), it has activities and ways to relate the material to the child's life throughout each unit, and has a very easy review at the end of each that you can use if you choose to for narration type questions. I also really like that it has fun and easy map exercises throughout, since my girls love looking at maps and globes and I really want to encourage geography as much as possible.

Now, do I expect to use this book now with a 3 1/2 and 2 year old? NO! In fact, I seem to be going in the opposite direction of some people in that the more I homeschool and learn what this is all about, the more gentle and laid back I am wanting to be in regards to their early years... however, I do think I will use it in a couple years and will probably use it as a resource as needed until then. And I now know that I am pleased at least with this offering from CLP so I am definitely more inclined to purchase more of their materials in the future, in particular their Nature Readers. Also, this book is actually included in CLP's First Grade Curriculum, so they have even more gentle books for the K set that I might check out as well.

So. . . for anyone interested in this Mom's humble opinion, I was pleasantly surprised and happy with this book and the company, and definitely recommend them for a more gentle, Christ-centered education. And the best part is that their regular prices are really inexpensive! WOO HOO!

Have a great day!