Another Heart of Dakota/LHTH Question...

[Guest]

Just received Little Hands to Heaven today in the mail. As I was flipping through it, I was SO disappointed in the Bible activities. They all seem so...violent? Is it just me? Did anyone else think so and modify in some way? I'm thinking of just skipping them. I was considering using the other books over the next few years - if I think LHTH is violent, are the others more so? I read DH some of the activities and he really doesn't want me doing them with ds. Am I the only one?

[PeterPan]

Ok, you've got me curious, lol. What are these violent activities?

[Rebecca]

I don't think the activities are violent at all.

I think in skipping them, you would lose a lot of the uniqueness and specialness of the program. If it is not for you, I would choose something else instead and sell it/return it.

 

 

I am using two full programs and part of a third this year. I have found nothing violent. In LHFHG: The Family Time Bible does have some more explicit paintings. This has not been a problem for our family- but it is a heads up for you.

 

HTH,

Rebecca

[Guest]

Ok, you've got me curious, lol. What are these violent activities?

 

"Lay a stuffed animal on the floor. Kneel over it and say, 'He's dead'." (When learning about the exodus)

 

"Have students make mad faces, hit their stuffed animals, throw them on the ground, and walk away." (When learning about Cain and Abel, eventually learning that was wrong)

 

"Tell David to swing an imaginary slingshot around in the air to kill the lion. Fall down and pretend to be dead."

 

"Have students use props to act out the story of Absalom and his death....Absalom is left hanging."

 

"Have students role play; ideas include knocking over their toy tower, tripping them, saying I don't like you, pointing and laughing at them, and running into them." (When learning about forgiveness)

 

Now, I realize that these were all taken out of context of the lessons, but in or out of context, I don't think they are appropriate for a 2-5 year old. There are so many great stories in the Bible that don't deal with violence (or that you don't have to focus on it so much) and so much time for them to learn about "real life" and I just didn't think it had to be addressed in this manner at this time. I guess I will have to do a lot of praying about this.

[Mommamia]

I had the next manual (Little hearts) and was not fond of the bible activities and choice for reading either. I moved on.....

 

I may try the level after that next year(Beyond).

 

I used a preschool all in one book a couple yrs ago and recently pulled it out to look at. You may want to check it out. I've actually pulled things out I'm going to use again. It's called Bright Beginnings by Tammy Shaw. There is a website, I just can't think of it. The Bible teaching may be more of what you are looking for, plus you don't have to buy any other books-it's all in the manual.

 

HTH

[give_me_a_latte]

Hmmm, I wouldn't be comfortable with those activities either.

 

I'm using the book "First and Favorite Bible Lessons" for our first bit of Bible time. I got the book last weekend and it's FABULOUS! It's definitely geared for Sunday School classes, but can EASILY be adapted to home use. Each lesson has a song, Bible story/talk time, craft, snack, etc.

 

Bright Beginnings was my first choice for Preschool. Their website is here. I'm holding off on buying it though because I think I can piece together stuff myself for now. It'll probably make an appearance in my house at some point though ;-)

[5wolfcubs]

Okay, I've never seen any HOD materials & I confess that when I read your original post about their being violent activities in LHTH, my first thought was "She calls her children Little Vikings and thinks LHTH is violent??"

 

In reading your 2nd post though, I see what you mean. I wouldn't do any of those with my children either (and we pretend to battle a lot of monsters at our house). I also can't think of any "activities" to do for some of those. They are read, comment, move on-stories for me...

 

As a personal side note, when using Tapestry of Grace Year 1 last year, I had a very hard time with, well, God... I'd never done such an in depth study of the Old Testament (and I grew up in a Christian family who celebrated the Holy Days!)...and nearly everything made me so sad. History is violent. But we don't have to tell our kids to make mad faces, point & laugh, and throw their stuffed animals. :(

[Guest]

Okay, I've never seen any HOD materials & I confess that when I read your original post about their being violent activities in LHTH, my first thought was "She calls her children Little Vikings and thinks LHTH is violent??"

 

 

 

Lee - :lol::lol::lol:!!!! I didn't even think of that. My dh is Swedish/Norwegian so that's where the Viking thing originated from....I think I have ds listed as my Viking Warrior - how funny.

 

That is my only concern about TOG, too. I know we've got to be real with our children, but I guess we, as a family, need to pray about how much and how we do it.

[snickelfritz]

For example, some story Bibles will gloss over the Exodus story a bit.

 

I did not go back and read all of your examples. I did look at the Exodus unit and the Cain/Abel activity.

 

1. Exodus:

The key idea is that "God watched over the Israelites, and the king saw how mighty God was." It ends the activity of weeping over the stuffed animals with "Go! I should have listened to your God". The key idea is that the king did not listen to God until the 10th plague killed his son.

 

With my older daughter, I would have glossed over that part of the story. My younger would have been fine and MANY people believe in telling it just like it was.

 

2. Cain/Abel

In the Cain activity. You end the activity by having students pick up their animals and say instead, "Please don't do that! It makes me upset. Let's get along. Tell students to shake hands with their stuffed animal and twirl around. Ask, Which of these two ways does God want us to act when we are mad? What are some things that make you angry?

 

My opinion is that is a great activity to demonstrate the incorrect way to deal with anger and the correct way to deal with anger.

 

*I* am fine with it. If YOU are uncomfortable, definitely return it....no matter what I or anyone else thinks.

[PeterPan]

Krazzy, I agree there are some issues here philosophically. The problem is not role-playing, as role-playing is age-appropriate and a good, valid educational technique. The problem is not even that there is violence in the stories. As you know, the Bible has violence, s*x, murder, witchcraft, all sorts of things in it, but Scripture is very careful how it handles those things (what it emphasizes, clear consequences, clear delineation of right and wrong, etc.) The issue is in encouraging little ones to imitate BAD behavior. You would never ask a little one to imitate Cain in the story of Cain and Abel, any more than you would ask him to be the sheep that dies on an alter, kwim? That's imitating something bad, something they aren't able to process. The imitation should be of the GOOD. Even with an older dc, extreme care should be taken, say in a school play, in putting a dc into the role of a bad character. While it's not wrong to have a bad character in a play and it can be useful, extreme care should be taken to make sure the portrayer is mature in the faith, mature enough to separate and not inculcate that bad role. And it shouldn't be something that is dwelled on.

 

 

So I totally agree with you that there's something questionable about the author's educational philosophy in suggesting these sorts of activities. They certainly are not the types of things I would want my dc to do or would do in say a SS class. That said, do you like the remainder of the curriculum enough to salvage it? For instance, here are your original listings and some ideas on how to change them (if any can come to mind, or I'm sure you can think up more/better):

 

"Lay a stuffed animal on the floor. Kneel over it and say, 'He's dead'." (When learning about the exodus)--Ok, I'm totally trying to figure out what in the world this would have to do with the Exodus. Doesn't seem to be the emphasis. Instead, more obviously you would re-enact the meal with very simple foods and some red paint on your "gate".

 

"Have students make mad faces, hit their stuffed animals, throw them on the ground, and walk away." (When learning about Cain and Abel, eventually learning that was wrong)--Again, you don't imitate the bad. I'd probably leave this one alone and just stick to a coloring page, just me. If you want to act it out, I'd have one person tend sheep, one person farm, and then DISCUSS what happened beyond that. They could wear signs saying their character name as they do it.

 

"Tell David to swing an imaginary slingshot around in the air to kill the lion. Fall down and pretend to be dead." --Well we act out the slaying of Goliath in the children's song, so that's your comfort level. I think that's ok. You're imitating something good, not something bad.

 

"Have students use props to act out the story of Absalom and his death....Absalom is left hanging."--You've gotta be joking on this one. Sorry, but that just blows my mind. Seems to me it would make more sense to have the dc weep over his erring son and discuss how sad it makes parents when their dc make wrong choices...

 

"Have students role play; ideas include knocking over their toy tower, tripping them, saying I don't like you, pointing and laughing at them, and running into them." (When learning about forgiveness)--Uh, do we really have to TRY to provoke bad behavior to get teaching opportunities? In my house they happen all by themselves, lol.

 

Let me give you an example of some positive role-playing we did in the BJU K5 Bible curriculum that my dd enjoyed and still remembers. We were discussing Samuel, and they were to gather a blanket, a mat, etc., and go to sleep. Then you would call Samuel, Samuel and they would come immediately. They're imitating something GOOD and aciting out the POINT of the lesson. If the point of the lesson is to obey God immediately, then you want them acting that. If the point of the David story is to be brave when trusting God, then you want them to act brave while slinging. Acting out death has nothing to do with it, kwim? If the point of the Absalom story was the sad consequences of chosing a direction against your parents and God in life, then that sadness on the part of the parents should be acted out. It's not enough to just do the story. The acting should reinforce the lesson, the point, the thing you want them to remember. Otherwise they remember the wrong thing. It's very easy to have that happen educationally, where you spend time on something and realize what they took away wasn't what you intended. ;)

 

Well that's pretty amazing, but thanks for sharing. BTW, I'm not meaning to step on anyone else's toes if they have no problems with those activities. I'm just saying I see where you're coming from and agree they would concern me. I would definitely modify before using them.

[Rebecca]

The units are connected with The Bible In Pictures for Little Eyes, your own Bible, or A Child's First Bible by Kenneth Taylor...so the activities reinforce and emphasize what those children's bibles are portraying.

 

The dramatic activity about Pharoah's son being dead directly ties into the Bible story used: The King is Very Sorry He Hurt God's People. This is from the New Bible in Pictures... This story directly states that "God's angel came and the boy died because there was no blood on the door."

 

People have different philosophies and convictions on what out of the Bible they read to their children. Charlotte Mason herself recommended careful exposure.

 

Our family shelters our children pretty seriously. However, we do not shelter from the Bible at all during our family bible time or from stories in the children's bibles we have chosen for our children.

 

I agree that this will affect what you choose and your comfort level.

 

I haven't used Little Hands to Heaven. However, my dear sister has... and has loved it and felt that it has really nurtured her little ones in the Lord. I do have it on my shelf for next year with my little guy who will be three. I also know that that was the author's intent- to nurture faith in little ones.

 

It might not be the way you feel comfortable or right doing it...

It is okay not to like something... it doesn't mean that the author is doing something wrong.

[Rebecca]

Monica (Krazzymommy),

reading through your posts on this thread- I wanted to recommend Rod and Staff products to you.

I don't know if you are familiar with them at all. They are very sweet, gentle, and there is no violence. The preschool program has a bible component. My children loved the Bible Stories and the littles ones (four and up) can color in the matching coloring book.

 

They sell sweet children's books that are very inexpensive called Little Jewel Books. They emphasize obedience, God's creation, character qualities, etc.

 

We love them.

 

Just another product to research if you feel led...:)

 

Rebecca