"Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17
So, we have resumed our homeschooling efforts officially by beginning our "school year" in the beginning of August. I am pleased to say that things are going great. My focus is Bible, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (3 Rs), so it keeps things simple and easy. I need to work on the "Reading" part, but Nadya is still getting just the fundamentals of it, so I am hesitant to really start prodding for more until she is solid in the basics. Lily is moving forward with reading, yay!
The reason for this post, though, is to talk about something I happened to stumble upon that has been a huge blessing in our life, plus an additional resource for solid homeschool material. I downloaded a free Bible MP3 (New Testament) on my Ipod a few years ago that pretty much got little to no use until recently. I read another blog that talked about how they would put the bible on for the kids to listen to when playing or going to sleep, etc, and that it really helped to re-enforce the concepts and lessons that were being taught throughout the day in the house. We are not really in today's world blessed with the luxury to just sit and read the bible out loud for hours a day, so having an audio reading provides a beneficial source for this listening training. In the words of Kim Brenneman (author of "Large Family Logistics), I am putting to use one of my servants (i.e. my Ipod and sound system) for reading the bible out loud to the children (don't you just love that analogy!)
Well, when I first read about this idea, I thought that it sounded great, but I did not know if the kids would really go for it. I mean, I know tons of families who listen to audio books on CD all the time and the kids love them, but my kids may or may not really give them any attention and they are certainly not really the preferred listening material. So, I was pleasantly surprised that when I initially began to play the bible while riding in the car, the kids all listened intently while the gospels were read and Jesus spoke. In fact, as the days went on, I would receive requests from each one (even Anaya, our almost 3 year old!), which really shocked me. They loved hearing the words of Jesus and would ask all kinds of great questions. We listened to Acts, some of the epistles, Revelation, etc, and they loved them. They are completely absorbed by them, and I am one happy mama! Now, I always have my Ipod with me to have this option available whenever we have the occasion. It is funny, too, because even when we have a really short ride (say 5 minutes max to a store down the street) I will still be asked to turn on the bible. The blessings that this simple little tool has brought into our household have already been significant, and I look forward to the many more to come.
To download your own free bible MP3 (New Testament, NT), go to http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/ambassador/free-audio-bible-download. When I did my download, I did not receive a complete NT, but had a few chapters here and there missing (I do not know why), but the information now says the entire NT, so hopefully you will not get missing chapters. Even if you do, though, at least you have a great resource while you save some money to buy a complete set. Enjoy and be blessed!
