Tuesday, May 18, 2010

day 136: "character sketches" review--"faith" books for six to ten year olds

Today we are going to start on “faith” books for six to ten year olds. This is the age to answer all of those questions! And they have plenty of them!



They can sit for much longer than the three to six year old crowd. The vocabulary can be more extensive for this age. After all, you will be there to explain difficult concepts to them.


One of our favorite sources for all faith teaching--one that we have used for over twenty years now (and I continue to use during our three-times-a-week morning reading with my boys) is a series entitled “Character Sketches.”


It is a grab-and-go devotional tool (no prep is needed)—and children love it. Ray used to do it with our olders every morning before he went to work.


The series is a three-book set, though you may purchase them one at a time. They are large, beautiful, hard-covered books that cover various character qualities.


A character quality is introduced, then the book details an animal that does or does not show that character quality and a Bible character who did or did not show that quality.


Each animal/Bible character pair can easily be done in one week portions—covering an animal and a Bible character in a given week. Each quality begins with a one page story about an animal in which something good or bad happens to it based on its possessing or lacking in that character quality. Then it has three or four pages (large pages; the books are about 14” x 8” or so) of information about that animal, complete with pictures, maps, sketches, etc. Has a very Usborne-feel to it.


Following the few pages of animal information, a Bible story is retold in one page. The story illustrates what happened in that person’s life as a result of displaying or not displaying the quality. Then details about that Bible character follow in a manner similar to the animal.


You need to see them to really appreciate them! This is listed here under the six to ten age group, but we often had four year olds joining us for it—and my high schoolers are usually close by listening as they do other work.


I will post a link below in which you can read more and even purchase one of these amazing books. However, I will also tell you that they have been around forever—thus, they are often available used!! Even though the price is great for this sized full color book of this length, getting something gently used is sometimes even more affordable.


New: http://tfths.com/character.php

Used: Search for Character Sketches (may need to denote volume—Volume I, Volume II, or Volume III)

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