Soli Deo Gloria Resources

I love children's books!  I have always loved to read, and I particularly enjoy reading books that were written for children.  It doesn't matter if they are books written for very young children, older children, or even teenagers.  I love them all!  (Well, I suppose I should clarify just a bit to say that I love well-written children's books.)  I even love reading my children's homeschool books and materials. 

As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I have been introduced to lots of new-to-me companies--many of which produce books, workbooks, or other written materials for children.  Soli Deo Gloria Resources is one of the "new" companies that I have learned about.  The name "Soli Deo Gloria" means "to God alone the glory."  Doesn't that sound like a company you could love?

This company offers unit studies, information on how to do unit studies, information about evaluating your children's writing, ebooks,  and materials covering individual subjects as well.  Some of these subjects are:  Bible, geography, history, and science. 

The resource that I received to use and review is a Bible study called Young Hearts Longing for God.  It is a pre-inductive Bible study of the Psalms.  The book includes 30 lessons which are geared toward students from about 4th to 8th grade.  My daughter, the one who helped me review this book, is 7 years old, though, and she was able to do the study just fine.  Even younger students who aren't quite able to read well enough to do the study independently could do it with a little bit of help.  Older students could benefit from doing this study too, even if they are over the "recommended" age level.  (I personally think that Bible studies for children are a great place for new Christians or those who are just beginning to learn about the Bible at any age to start.) 

This study is actually a workbook.  Each lesson begins with the particular Psalm to be studied that day.  It doesn't just list the Psalm's "address."  It actually has printed right there the scripture that will be read and studied for that lesson.  Even though I like for my children to learn to use their Bibles to look up Bible verses, it is quite handy to have the entire Psalm printed there--especially for younger students who may not be ready to look verses up independently. 

After reading that day's Psalm, there may be a few instructions to follow.  These instructions might include things like, "Circle in green all the things that God has made."  Then some questions follow.  For the sample lesson that you can see here, the question is:  "What is so amazing to the psalmist, David, in this psalm? (vs. 3-4)"  Next follows another instruction that has something to do with a "vocabulary" word from the lesson.  The sample lesson says to "Look up the word 'majestic' in the dictionary and write out the meaning. The last thing listed is that lesson's instructions for journal writing. 

This workbook can be purchased as an ebook for $14.50 or as a physical book for $16.00.  It is meant to be used for 30 weeks (one lesson per week), so the price, at least in my opinion, is very reasonable for a study that will last for 7 or 8 months.  They suggest, for example, reading the Psalm the first day, reviewing the Psalm and answering a question or two the next day, and so on.  Then, on Friday, the student will have read the Psalm, studied it, and discussed it with the teacher or parent.  After all that, the student is asked to do a journal entry and is given instructions for doing so.

My daughter enjoyed this Bible study.  She is very interested in the Bible and in reading it and learning as much as she can about it.  She liked reading the Psalms and doing her best to answer the questions and follow the directions given.  She even enjoyed doing the journal writing part. She was able to do most of the study on her own, but I don't want her to do a Bible study like this one entirely on her own.  I want the chance to discuss with her what she is learning.  I think it is very important for parents to do Bible studies with their children (especially younger ones) to be sure that they are developing accurate attitudes toward the Bible and God and to be sure they understand what they are doing and learning. 

I think if Mary Grace were just a little older, she would have enjoyed this study a little more, but she did have a good time doing the study, and she did learn from it!  The main thing I would have changed is that, for younger students, I would add activities like things to draw or color, etc.  To be fair, though, this study is meant for students from 4th to 8th grades, so students in that age range might not care to do coloring and drawing activities. 

If this study sounds like something you might like, you can take a look at it here.  You might want to take a look at their other resources while you're there.  There are also some great freebies offered besides the products for purchase.

If you want to read some fellow Crew mates' reviews, just click this link. 

NOTE:  I received this product free in exchange for writing this review.  I did not receive any other compensation.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own.