Hello family and friends! See what our FOUR extremely intelligent, absolutely adorable, and, very likely, incredibly talented children are up to by cruising on over here.
We're listening to Slugs & Bugs Sing the Bible Family Christmas. It was the first Christmas album I allowed this year because I was so excited when it finally arrived. I was on the Kickstarter this summer and I could not wait to get all my fantastic music! One copy of Sing the Bible, one copy of Sing the Bible vol2, two Sing the Bible vol3, and two Family Christmas. Since I already own the first volume, thanks to a blog giveaway just like this one, I will be sharing three of these albums with YOU, my readers. Check out the trailers below.
Today's giveaway is for a copy of Sing the Bible Family Christmas. I haven't done a #5things post in a while, so I'm going to do that and tell you five things about Family Christmas.
Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson are the brainiacs behind Slugs & Bugs, with the first CD released in 2007. Now, it's a family affair and all the Goodgames are involved.
Most Sing the Bible songs are *word for word* from scripture, using various Bible versions depending on singability (or the Slugs & Bugs MSV - most singable version).
Family Christmas intentionally has that A Charlie Brown Christmas feel, ala Vince Guaraldi, and also a Peanuts inspired cover.
Moms (and maybe Dads) will love the music as much as the kids. Seriously.
I think my favorite of the 12 tracks is Mary's Song, sweetly sung by Livi Goodgame and using the ESV of Luke 1:46-49.
So there you have it, #5things. Really there are tons more to tell, but I think you should just give them a listen.
You can read a bit more about how we use Slugs & Bugs Sing the Bible to aid in scripture memorization.
Hola.
How would you like to teach your littlest littles Spanish with a
program that is designed *just for them*? Whistlefritz
has a program for 1-7 year old children. Their award winning
Educator's Spanish Collection is specially designed for young minds and
abilities. Foreign language learning has been determined to be
easiest at an early age, just like children learning their native
language.
Whistlefritz
uses immersion learning to introduce children to Spanish without
using English translations, which actually slow down foreign language
learning. My brain likes to slowly process everything, so when
I was learning Spanish (or, more accurately, failing to learn) in
college, I was so slow. I would listen, think "He said..."
and translate to English in my head, attempt to translate back to
Spanish in my head and then speak (poorly, because I knew the *words*
but not the grammar - or flow of a sentence). This earned me a
grade that I quickly had expunged from my record and replaced with
another elective. I would love for my punks to have a much
easier time with foreign languages that feel natural to hear and
speak. What
you receive in the Educator's Spanish Collection?
Spanish
Lesson Plans for Kids, 2nd edition
5
DVDs
3
audio CDs
Matching
Card Game
You
can use this course with multiple children (in a family/classroom)
and we sort of did that. Even though the target age is 1-7
years old and Merrick is the only one I have in that age range, I did
catch each of the bigger punks watching the videos with Merrick.
I even heard Mal translating the words into English, which is
discouraged. I don't think he was doing it for Merrick's
benefit, though, but for himself. He was just trying to have it
make sense to *him*. Xavier sometimes plays the card matching
game with Merrick also. The
Lesson Plans - The 40 lesson, softcover book is a thick 277
pages. Each lesson has several sections; a lesson description,
goal, objective, vocabulary, a materials list, the approximate time
each lesson will take. This is followed by related activities.
The manual is written with both the English and the Spanish for all
scripted conversations. Song lyrics (Spanish only - English
translations are available online) are listed under the lessons that
utilize them. As you move through the manual, you will be
making your own set of Spanish flash cards.
I
love all of the fun, reproducible sheets that are included in the
lesson plan book. There is an option to download some of the
pages in color from the website. I would like to be able to
download the black line pages also, since it is difficult to print
the pages bound into such a thick manual. I think the easiest
thing for me would be to cut off the binding, hole punch the pages,
and place them in a three ring notebook.
Merrick
thought the lesson plan was a workbook. He kept asking for his
big, Spanish mouse book. It took me a while to realize he
wanted to do worksheets with Fritzi. There are a lot of pages
of fun activities that we copy and use, but he seemed to miss having
pages to write on in the book. (Finally, a kiddo after my own
heart!) The
DVDs - Colorful Spanish videos for kids combine lively animation
with live action native Spanish speakers of all ages. The
songs, visual aspects, and dialog are enchanting. Who could
resist a whole house search for an adorable, whistling mouse, while
Maria calls out to him in each room?
Los
Animales - Animals
Vamos
a Jugar - Let's Play
Adentro
y Afuera - Inside and Out
Las
Estaciones - The Seasons
La
Fiesta de Fritzi - Fritzi's Party
The
DVDs did not have chapter selections, so you can't really watch the
video segments as recommended in the lesson plans. Mainly, we
just watched the full episode, rather than a scene, of whichever DVD
was listed in the lesson plan. The
CDs -These three disks are full of fun, lively tunes that make
you want to dance. My visual learners like them, but prefer the
DVDs to see the context of what they are hearing.
Sabor!
Cha,
Cha, Cha
A
Bailar! - Let's Dance
The
Matching Game - These cards are sturdy, glossy stock. The
instruction card has more than just matching game instructions, but
also prompts in Spanish to encourage little ones to think (and speak)
about the card they see. There are optional ways to play with
the very young. Each card shows Rito the fox in the act of
"doing" something. The word is located at the bottom
of the card in Spanish only. They are divided into four colors,
soft shades of blue, green, purple, and yellow. There are 10-16
cards in each color. I started Merrick using just one color of
card at a time. He has trouble remembering to turn the cards
back face down when he turns two over that don't match and knows
where the mate to one card is located. He's worked up to two
colors of cards, but I think all the cards would be overwhelming
right now.
The
games and activities aren't *just* fun, though they are fun.
They're also science and math and art. Merrick picked up a bag
of Goldfish crackers a couple of days before the fish sorting
lesson. He had no idea he was going to need them for school,
but as soon as I realized they were on the materials list, I realized
I had to hide them so he couldn't eat them before we needed them for
the activity!
As an
example, in Lesson Two, Los Colores, Merrick learned about primary
and secondary colors, which we had actually just talked about in an
art class. Fritzi was having a birthday party. I did not
have transparencies, but I have such a stash of "stuff" I
was able to find clear page protectors. I traced the balloon
onto three sheets with a permanent marker and then we colored each
one, red, yellow, and blue. I asked Merrick what new color each
combination of primary colors would make. He did well except
for purple. Then we would lay the two colors down together to
see if he was right. Then we watched a scene from La Fiesta
de Fritzi, where Rito the Fox gathers colored balloons.
Whistlefritz
offers a free 28 page downloadable lesson plan book that is
completely different from the physical book available in the
Educator's Spanish Collection and a fun "Do you like...?" Fritzi
booklet. You do need the videos to make full use of that lesson
plan. But if you are looking for a simplified version of the
program to use with the DVD/CD set or a supplement full of extra activities, do look into it. If
you would prefer to have your child learn French,
Fritzi has that also! The Homeschool Review Crew was able to
review both Spanish and French. Click the banner below to see
what others are thinking of Whistlefritz. Find
Whistlefritz on social media.
There are so many ways to learn Bible verses and to hide The Word in our hearts. I'll be spending this week telling you about some of my favorites. Today, I want to show you (and let you listen to) Slugs & Bugs Sing the Bible.
This is a review, but not a review. I love Slugs & Bugs and want to tell you about it, too.
*My disclaimer about a lack of disclaimer*
Ahem. Slugs & Bugs, Randall Goodgame, and the monsters have never heard of me.
I am reviewing an item I love, and the kids enjoy, simply because we think they're pretty cool.
I was introduced to Slugs & Bugs when I won a copy of the Sing the Bible CD. We have listened to it countless times. The boys sing songs like Two Shirts, Alien, Trust in the Lord, and Old Testament Song all the time. The tunes are catchy and cover many musical styles. The best part about Sing the Bible, though, is that the song lyrics are *word for word* Biblical scripture. Talk about hiding the Word in your heart!
Sing the Bible features Randall Goodgame and his friends. Sally Lloyd-Jones (The Jesus Storybook) and the African Children's Choir appear throughout the tracks on this album. A harmonica solo, songs with a Celtic flair, and African beats are among the different sounds.
TEN COMMANDMENTS SONG from Slugs & Bugs Sing the Bible Vol 2.
Slugs & Bugs friends also include The Count and Franky. Some people may not like monsters in their Christian music, but on the Slugs & Bugs blog recently, Randall said,
For me, reared as I was on Sesame
Street (Cookie Monster, The Count, and Grover’s “The Monster at the End
of this Book” come to mind) – it is easy for me to use monsters for
mildly scary / humorous purposes.
That said, there are deeper message at
work. First, do not fear… maybe the Bible’s most frequent admonition.
Also, things are not always as they seem. What may at first seem
monstrous may prove otherwise, so be slow to judge.
Third, I’m thinking of the great
passage from Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton about bogeys and dragons… his
point was that fairy tales show that there is something stronger than
darkness. In all of the way S&B uses monsters, it is with a similar
spirit – that the context of the Gospel overwhelms fear.
Finally, I go back to examples like
Sesame Street’s Grover and Bugs Bunny’s abominable snowman. By
incorporating “monsters” into fun settings, we bring them onto our
level, which allows not only freedom from fear but the beginning of
empathy for the “other.” (These are friendly monsters!) And after all,
no one I encounter daily is completely evil. most everyone I meet is a
mixed bag (like me)!
The monster are also not on every song (or even many songs), so don't let that deter you. I think they are cute, friendly, and always desirous of doing God's will.
I have Sing the Bible 2, 3, and Christmas arriving in a few months (I got them through the Kickstarter campaign for 3 and Christmas). It feels like it will be forever and I could certainly purchase StB2 and get it right away, but I will be patient. You can order all the current, awesome Slugs & Bugs albums in the store. They are not all scripture, but they are all clean, wholesome fun that moms and dads will like as much as the littles.
Slugs & Bugs and Randall Goodgame combine fun and scripture. Some songs are deeply moving and others raucous good fun.
Hey, some other moms on the Crew are sharing five days of posts. You're sure to find other topics that apply to you and your homeschool. Check them out!
