Fabulous History Books for Young Children Free Online

I have been so excited to be able to use:

THE
BEGINNER’S AMERICAN HISTORY

BY
D. H. MONTGOMERY
AUTHOR OF THE LEADING FACTS OF HISTORY SERIES

BOSTON. U.S.A.
PUBLISHED BY GINN & COMPANY
1893

This book is so well written and is a very easy to use with young children. There is far more factual and story detail than I have found in most children’s History books and it is written in a very friendly style with great pictures and maps in between. It doesn’t trivialise history like many modern Children’s History books – and the illustrations are realistic and helpful. It has been perfect for my 5 and 8 years olds and even my little ones enjoy listening.

Find it on Gutenberg under Children’s Bookshelves. Here is the direct link to the HTML version.

Reprints are also available on Amazon.com.

Although I think the author refers to evolution in some of his other History books, I haven’t found any evolution in this book as its focus is modern American History. Also, because of the times he lived in, he does speak largely from a Christian worldview.

Another online free History book we are starting to use is:

YOUNG FOLKS’ HISTORY OF ENGLAND

by CHARLOTTE M. YONGE

found here.

Again I find the writing meaningful and less immersed in an incorrect worldview than many modern History books.

I have printed these books and plan to have them spiral bound and we are using them in our homeschool.

They are great resources!

“The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.” Proverbs 18 v 15

The Glory to Come – Finding Satisfaction in Him

In our self-absorbed culture, we need to see the grandeur of God’s kingdom. We cannot shrink it to the size of our needs and desires. It takes us far beyond our personal situations and relationships. The King came not to make our agenda possible, but to draw us into something more amazing, glorious, and wonderful than we could ever imagine. Perhaps the best way to understand these grand purposes is to eavesdrop on eternity. In Revelation 19:6-8, the great multitude of the redeemed stands before the throne and, like the roar of rapids, exclaims:

“Hallelujah!

For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and be glad

and give him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

Fine linen, bright and clean,

was given her to wear.”

Think about what they are singing. It is not, “I got that job! My marriage was fantastic! I was surrounded by great friends and my kids turned out well.” It is not, “I defeated depression and mastered my fears.” Two things capture the hearts of the assembled throng. The first is that Christ has won the final victory. His will has been done, his plan accomplished, and he reigns without challenge forever. God has gathered a people who have a passion for his glory and find ultimate comfort in his rule. They are people who followed by faith and obeyed at great cost, who sacrificed and suffered, but with no hint of regret. They have found lasting satisfaction in the person and rule of the Redeemer.

The second glorious thing is that the ultimate celebration has finally come, the wedding of the Lamb. A thunderous shout goes out as the multitude realizes that they haven’t just been invited to the wedding – they are the bride! They stand clothed in the finest of linen. All the scars and blemishes of sin are gone. All the rags of iniquity have disappeared. They are finally and forever clean. They stand before the Groom, pure and holy.

As we listen to eternity, we realise that the kingdom is about God radically changing people, but not in the self-absorbed sense our culture assumes. Christ came to break our allegiance to such an atrophied agenda and call us to the one goal worth living for. His kingdom is about the display of his glory and people who are hole. This is the change he came, lived, died, and rose to produce. This is the life and work he offers us in exchange for the temporary glories we would otherwise pursue. This kingdom agenda is intended to control our hearts and transform our lives.

Quoted from:

Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands – People in need of change helping people in need of change by Paul David Tripp.

I have so been enjoying this book and am learning so much about relationships within the body of Christ.

P.S. Paul David Tripp is the brother of Tedd Tripp, author of the well known child training book “Shepherding a Child’s Heart.”

I didn’t know about Paul David Tripp’s book’s and we were introduced to them by the pastor of our new church. (Yay! we finally have a church we can call home after 2 years of church floating and churchlessness!!) Paul Tripp’s books and seminars look very good – his marriage series “What did you expect?” and parenting  series “Getting to the heart of parenting” have reviews on his website.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2 v 15

Naptime Reading for 4Moms

This post is about our favourite naptime and bedtime reading with our little ones and is linked to In A Shoe and the other 4 moms (4 moms, 35 kids! – they regularly post wonderful stories and great tips on very helpful topics for large homeschooling families).

Let’s see…

Our favourite naptime reading with our children (ages 1, 2, 5 and 7). I guess you could say these are our absolute favourite awesome family friendly wholesome stories!

Corduroy “This must be home – I guess I’ve always wanted a home.” – Corduroy

Goodnight Maisy “But where is Panda?”

Goodnight Moon “Goodnight Bears, Goodnight Chairs, Goodnight room with a red balloon.”

Milly Molly Mandy

The Boxcar Children

The Moody Family Series – awesome books by Sarah Maxwell real life with a Christian homeschooling family!

The Little House Series

Mountain Born – awesome book about a boy and life on a farm with a shepherd and his sheep – beautifully written.

James Herriot’s Treasury for Children

Baby Animal Stories – Wonderful stories with amazing detail about each animal and what they do.

We have very high standards for our children’s reading material – and these are loved by them all and read over and over again.

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings.” Psalm 40v2

Rich Resources 1

Today I would like to highlight some articles that have had a great impact on me personally – I hope they will bless you too!

1. Our Ugly made Beautiful – by Caroline Collie (thank you Se7en for the link)

Excerpt: “The ugliness of crucifixion makes way for the beauty of redemption. The beauty of salvation. The beautiful reconciliation. One-piece wholeness for you and for me, bought by the One who was broken.

And though the Cross may symbolize the ugliness of humanity at its worst, crucifying the One who came to set us free, to fix our broken world, to reconcile us to our Creator God, yet the Cross is still at the same time wholly beautiful.” Read the full article here…

*****

2. Angry Children by Michael Pearl

I was convicted over and over as I read this and reminded of how we need to be there to help, teach and train our children every step of the way – laziness easily gets in the way of this. Anger gets in the way of this – more is caught than is taught! Such wisdom in this article from a father of 5 and grandfather of many.

Excerpt: “As a parent you must anticipate the needs of your children and be proactive in equipping them to face life’s challenges with the kind of character it takes to endure with grace the potential frustrations of everyday life. How? First by example. If you bypass this one, nothing else will work. If you have occasional angry outbursts, your children will catch it like the flu. It does no good to say you are sorry, other than they may learn to apologize after each of their own outbursts. You have not dealt with the anger; you have just made the point that it needs to be followed with an apology. More is caught than taught.

Assuming you are setting a proper example, the next step is to not leave your child in a social vacuum where she must face her frustrations unguided. For example, I saw a small child cry out in anger because she couldn’t put her coat on properly. She was frustrated. If you simply spank her for her anger or rebuke her, you will only increase the frustration and it will soon develop into a habit of angry impatience. You can prevent this inclination by patiently training her in the art of putting on a coat. When you see the anger, slow down in your hurry to get out the door and show her that you are going to patiently be there while she finds the other sleeve. If she is capable of this contortionist’s feat but overly anxious and impatient with herself, show her step by step how it is to be done, and smile all the while. You are teaching her that the things that frustrate us can be conquered with patience and persistence. In the child’s mind, this translates into a principle that will apply in the face of any frustration.” Read the full article here…

*****

3. Grumbling by Teri Maxwell of Titus2.com

Conviction again! Such a wonderful encouraging article.

Excerpt: “Recently I realized that I was hearing a considerable amount of what sounded like grumbling coming from one of my children. There were statements like, “I am soooo tired. I am very, veeery, veeeery hot. I am extremmmmely hungry.” You can tell that there was quite a bit of emotion included with the words that were spoken. These could be construed as simply statements of fact, but even if they were, they were certainly emotional and exaggerated. Put together and coming frequently from one person, it had become a complaining spirit, and I found my own spirits sagging as I was exposed to this continual drip, drip, dripping of negative words.

Of course, I spoke to this child about the words that were being spoken and encouraged that child in a different direction with thoughts and words. However, it wasn’t long after that conversation took place that I heard myself saying, “I am sure stiff and sore from yesterday’s workout.” The Lord quickly prompted me that my words sounded quite similar to the child’s words that were troubling me. Before too much more time went by, I heard myself thinking, “I don’t like having the Mom’s Corner still unfinished hanging over my head.” Again, that conviction of the Holy Spirit was there pointing out my thoughts and comparing them to my child’s.” Read the full article here…

*****

4. How to Clean a Room by Sherry from Large Family Mothering

A wonderful practical article on a great system to teach  your children in cleaning their rooms.

Excerpt: “Most of us are not born knowing how to take chaos and create order. My boys, especially, will look at a messy room and become despondent. The idea of sorting through the whole mess overwhelms them.

My boys love the book “Diggy Dan” in which Diggy is faced with a trashed-out bedroom and uses the occasion to fantasize about all sorts of things while cleaning up. His mother simply looks in every once-in-a-while and tells him to keep working.

I’m afraid that real life is not as fun. Sending a child in to clean his room without giving him some sort of plan is frustrating and useless for both sides.

There is a method we use around here to tackle total madness. Here it is in a nutshell:” Read the full article here…

*****

Many blessings from our family to yours!

“Happy [is] the man [that] findeth wisdom, and the man [that] getteth understanding.” Proverbs 3v13