Lately, my older girls and I have been reading and doing devotions from Journey of Faithfulness by Sarah Clarkson. This is available through Apologia ($13 softcover), their Apologia Press division – resources for parents. It has been quite enjoyable to spend this time with my girls.
Recommended for girls 12 and older and their mothers, my eldest daughter is nearly 12 (just over a week away – yikes!). Occasionally, my second daughter listens awhile, but mostly she just enjoys the fictional accounts at the beginning of each section. Following the engaging story, a devotional and scripture selection with questions completes each section. There are pages at the end of each chapter for journalling should your daughter desire to. Mine hasn’t, but she is much more a talker than a writer.
There are four parts each with three sections or chapters. The historical fiction stories are based upon well known women of scripture: Mary & Martha, Mary (mother of Jesus), Esther and Ruth. While there is little scriptural fact about these women, Sarah Clarkson has written a story in three parts that draws us in to what could have been their thoughts and reactions to what we know. These stories are very well written and quite enjoyable on their own as the middle girls would tell you.
Because we have another Bible study as a family, we are breaking our time with Journey of Faithfulness into smaller parts throughout the week. One day we read only the story. Another the devotional. I then give my eldest daughter the book to do the scripture reading on her own. This has been a great transition for us rather than me reading and us discussing at that time. This has allowed her to read and really spend time with the scriptures and the questions. We then spend time on another day discussing what she has read, she shares her answers and any other thoughts that have resulted.
Another winner from Apologia! To read more thoughts from other Schoolhouse Review Crew families, be sure and check out the Crew blog for their links.
