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"Mrs. VanBibber, you are certainly a teacher after a Mother's own heart. You are reaching the heart of our children through the heart of God in your products!" -- TOSâ„¢ Magazine
Are you overworked, short on time and over budget in your homeschool spending, yet you still want to work with your preschooler? Are you looking for something meaningful to teach your child while working at those "pre-learning" skills? Well, then, you simply must read this review!
Let's talk adorable...I mean absolutely adorable! I have been searching for an exciting, do-able, and colorful preschool curriculum for about a year now. I have tried many of those so-called "award winners" in the preschool curriculum market. I am so thrilled with Jodi VanBibber's Bible Stories Concepts for Preschoolers that I immediately visited her web site to see if perhaps, there were more units in the sequence.
The first 3 Units in the homeschool series: All About Animals, All About God's Love, and The Good Shepherd, along with Jodi's publication entitled, Here We Come Through the Half-Pint Door (Articles About Teaching Preschoolers at Home) ...... adorable, absolutely adorable. I said that already, didn't I? Really, they are just wonderful and jam packed with ideas for those of us whose creative genius is ebbing a little on the "low" side! Just paging through the Here We Come Through the Half Pint Door book made me so excited that I ran upstairs to lay out the entire package before my confused husband who had no idea what I was so excited about. He politely smiled blankly and nodded, "I see." I proceeded to engage my "older" children in my excitement and show them just what their younger brother would be working on. Their eyes met with mine. They saw the brightly colored pictures. They caught my enthusiasm. They asked, "When? When can we do this with Joshua?"
Allow me to explain my excitement... Mrs. VanBibber approaches the preschool curriculum with not only a Biblical mindset, but with total reliance on God. She studied Early Education in college and has a list of credentials a mile long as they say; still, she sought God's help. In her autobiography (I found this on the web site), Mrs. VanBibber states that each time she began to write a new curriculum, she prayed and asked Him to be in charge of pulling it all together..."I am helpless in knowing just what each teacher, parent, or child needs from this lesson. But God knows." To me, this is foremost in choosing a curriculum for my children. The thought that the creator relied on God's Holy Spirit rather than human wisdom to direct them in the design of the program thrills my heart. Mrs. VanBibber's teaching philosophy is God's teaching philosophy, precept upon precept, line upon line. Bible Story Concepts for Preschoolers can be used for 2, 3, 4 and 5-year-old children. It takes just a few minutes of your time and doesn't require a lot of preparation.
Although Bible Story Concepts for Preschoolers will work well for any child, it is especially suited to working with special needs children! Joshua, my son, is just 4 years old. His understanding is somewhat above his ability to communicate and he doesn't yet write. Mrs. VanBibber's curriculum does not require that the child be able to write to complete the work. It is sequential in nature and builds on one skill at a time. It can be used one Bible story each week as she suggests, or adapted to a longer period of time as required by most special needs children.
Bible Story Concepts teaches Bible, prayer, preschool skills, fun and games, co-ordination and spiritual values. Each packet comes with 3 story cards, Bible Bookmarks to be used for various activities and games, as well as, suggestions or instructions for use. There are picture cards, planning sheets, and lots of parenting, money saving, and general learning tips galore! (Note: The story sheets, cards, and bookmarks must be cut out and laminated. You will also need to have blank index cards, glue and a marker.). All of the kits which I received were packed with information including; additional reading recommendations, craft and music ideas, even snack suggestions! Mrs. VanBibber covers it all! You must however, start with Unit I and work through each unit progressively, as some of the materials are for repeated use in future kits.
I just can't tell you enough how wonderful this curriculum is! There are 9 packets in the "Homeschool Series- Teaching Children at Home." At just $14.00 + s/h, I plan to purchase them all. You can view a sample lesson from Bible Story Concepts and all of the other great materials offered by Sunny Hollow Press on their web site www.sunnyhollowpress.com. I just couldn't visit without making an additional purchase of Mrs. VanBibber's Holiday Book! I hope it arrives before Thanksgiving! Mrs. VanBibber, you are certainly a teacher after a Mother's own heart. You are reaching the heart of our children through the heart of God in your products!
-- Product Review by: Teri Lucas, The Old Schoolhouseâ„¢ Magazine
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