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Ok, so here I sit in Indonesia thinking "I am sure I had that book." I found out today after sorting and catagorizing all my books that I don't have Dinosaurs in Eden as I previously thought. I do have The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible though and I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on using it instead. I looked through it and it seems like a fun learning book, but I am not sure. Is the point more to have a book that coincides with creation or one that is entertaining? I have lots of other books as well plus Carrie's sample list so I could go from that. Please give me your suggestions and I will go through the books I have on my shelves.

Next, in regards to the writing narration, the checklist in the appendix is helpful, but how much do you go over with your child beforehand? He has studied most of the points on the checklist, but I wonder how he will do on wording and making the narration flow. How would you help if you knew that they would have to rewrite it? I would think the end result would be the one to write in the beautiful Student Notebook. Should I just let him rewrite it on plain paper til it is nice and then have him use Day 5 of our week to write it nicely in the Student Notebook?

Thanks in advance,
Sherry

The history read-alouds in CTC were chosen for their ability to further explain the time period - so in answer to your question, they coincide with the ancients time period rather than just being chosen for entertainment value. They are excellent books that give a more panoramic view of history, often helping dc better picture what it was like to live during that part of history. They are matched quite closely to what is read for Reading about History, so I'd try not to substitute for any history Storytime titles if possible, but that's just me. I also got the boy and girl storytime books (at least the ones I didn't already own) too, so I'm a hopeless book lover. I have to go but will try to answer the written narration portion of your question later - or someone else probably will beat me to it!

In Christ,
Julie

Sherry,

Julie did a great job of answering your question. I agree that the books within the packages do the best job of matching the time period. We actually do use "The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible" in the science portion of Preparing Hearts (so normally I'd recommend to save that one).

However, since you're already in CTC , are past Preparing Hearts, and are in Indonesia, you'd probably be fine reading "The Great Dinosuar Mystery and the Bible" in place of your missing book (knowing it won't match quite as well but is such a terrific book that we've included ourselves in Preparing Hearts).

As far as your son's written narration goes, I'd likely lean toward having him do the narration in the student notebook in pencil the first time, so he can erase as needed to make his corrections. If your son is anything like my boys, he'd rather not rewrite when he could erase instead. The notebook pages actually do erase quite well without harming the page itself. They're durable.

Happy reading and writing!

Blessings,
Carrie