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This fascinating wall chart delineates 100 prophecies of the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament. The prophecies are organized according to the following categories: Jesus' Birth, Jesus' Life and Ministry, Jesus' Death and Resurrection, and Jesus' Titles and Attributes. Each prophecy is briefly summarized and includes the pertinent biblical references from the Old and New Testaments. The back of the chart offers four reproducible sheets - two handouts that list the prophecies in the same format as the chart, one sheet of seven major prophecies with the pertinent Biblical references written out and a worksheet on "Prophecies Undeniably Fulfilled by Jesus" (ones that Jesus couldn't have controlled or planned). The chart is available laminated or unlaminated. Highly Recommended!

This interesting, informative and often light-hearted perpetual calendar offers an event from Catholic history that took place on each date of the year. A brief paragraph explains the event (highlighting many great Catholics people and events from American History) with a "For More Information" bar offering the source of the information (and further reading). Without whitewashing all Catholics as noble (did you know that Dred Scott and the Supreme Court justice giving the majority opinion were both Catholics?), this calendar gives a glimpse of Americans in every walk of life - Hollywood, Sports, Politics - and introduces us to exemplary figures like the nuns who nursed soldiers from the North and South during the Civil War.

This would make a fun family project to share at meal-time and might lead to further "explorations" about particularly interesting entries. It would also make a great gift for a college student, history buff or homeschool parent.

I am always very receptive to this kind of book -- suggestions for activities kids will enjoy completing, factual data presented in a pleasing way, and an author who obviously loves the subject matter. The book recommends the book for children aged nine and up. Sounds like it would be a great resource for homeschoolers, yes?

Well, I think it would be useful for some home bookshelves, but not for all. First, I don’t think the “age 9” is do-able. It seems to me the level of the activities and the text are more suited to a very interested 11- or 12-year-old and up. However, the text contains no pronunciation key for any of the terms, and some of the technical terms do not even have contextual definitions. Although there is a glossary in the back, this too doesn’t tell the reader how to pronounce some of the unusual words and is not an exhaustive glossary – many of the technical terms used in the book are not in the glossary.

Taking into consideration the above shortfalls, this book would still be a useful resource in the homeschool classroom, particularly for a student interested in history or archaeology. The material is written by an author who is very interested in the subject matter. The chapters progress in a roughly chronological way: from “how archaeology works”, through the first peoples, the Ice and Stone ages, the first civilizations (including their economic base), and then on to the Greeks and Romans and the ancient cultures of the New World.

Mr. Panchyk is covering much ground here and so his information is going to be broad-brush rather than fine-point. But this book would be useful as a supplementary resource when studying ancient cultures or to pique the student’s interest in archaeology and help them to follow-up with other resources. For a high school student, this would be a wonderful “elective” to tag onto history class as he goes into detail of how archaeology is done.

The Armor of God pictures a soldier in full battle gear - sword, shield, helmet, etc. - with descriptions explaining their figurative meaning according to Ephesians 6:10-18:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication for all the saints.

This attractive chart is great in a classroom or on a bedroom wall. The back of the chart includes four reproducible worksheets. Available laminated or unlaminated.

My son Gus (age 8) says: "I think that it is especially good for boys."

This is a lovely gem of a book, covering about thirty saints, organized according to the calendar year, by their feast day. Like her previous publications from Bethlehem Books (Once Upon a Time Saints and More Once Upon a Time Saints), these stories are intended to capture the essence of holy men and women through the sometimes fantastical stories that are likely to capture the imagination of young children. Here is what the author wrote about her own stories:

Fairy tales clear the way for sanctity. They are the child's first morality play, clear-cut, no-nonsense black and white, good and evil, life and death - with a bit of fun thrown in to alleviate the pain. The lives of the saints, so filled with derring-do, gaiety, charm and courage, are all the more fantastic because the persons are real, even though they might seem right out of the pages of Hans Christian Andersen.

You will not find dates and statistics here, except where they seem necessary to explain how or why a saint got to his particular spot. And I have used the embroidery of legend because I feel that under its eye-catching trivia, there is the good homespun of fact. Sometimes it has been hard to discover which facts are the real facts. In reading six books about one saint, you may have as many versions of his or her death - he may have died on the battlefield, in the arms of a wife or son, pinned to a tree with seven arrows... or a combination of all three.

There was a little bit in the story of Juan Diego that bothered me (a little off on the Aztec story) and an aspect of the story of St. Nicholas that I thought pretty disturbing for young children. These little things make it probably better for a read-aloud with younger children (and really, it makes an excellent read-aloud!). A few spots made me furrow my brow or seemed just a little too silly, but these have been more than compensated for by some incredibly beautiful stories that are really well done.

One story that particular stood out for me was the one St. Paul Miki and St. Charles Lwanga. It has an absolutely stunning and incredibly appropriate explanation of the martyrs for children. Fabulous stuff and my children and I enjoyed the book very much.

Oh yes, and Ben Hatke's illustrations (he also illustrated Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman) are wonderful!

This is an exciting and fun art supplement that kids are sure to love (makes a great gift for Christmas or a birthday). There are three main parts to the book. First is an introduction which explains a problem the art museum is having with forgeries. Several gangs of artists have copied original works, but made very slight changes to them. The object of the book is to identify who is responsible for the various forgeries by looking carefully for very specific clues.

The rest of the book is split into two books on top of each other. The upper part is composed of the forgeries - which look like real art until you look very closely (and thus the magnifying glass). A small symbol on the forgery will tell you how many changes the forger made to the original work. By studying the lower book - which is an art catalog with prints of the real paintings, the reader will discover the differences and solve the crime. The catalog includes information about the type of painting; the artist and when he lived; and a brief story about the painting and its subject. There are a total of thirty-four paintings and there is a complete answer key in the back of the book.

What a creative way to get kids interested in art and...fear not! You'll find no twaddle here. I was very pleased to see the practice in attention-to-detail that this book requires and encourages. It's enjoyable enough that my daughter has enjoyed working through it with friends on sleep-overs. There is one picture that jumps out at me as being a little on the shocking side. It's a picture of a very ugly old lady in a very low-cut dress. The book explains that it is a caricature of older women who try to dress younger but really make themselves look ridiculous. I don't really like the picture, but I don't think it really detracts from the book (it also offers the idea of additional purpose in art and an unusual way of making a point).

We enjoy CHC products a great deal because they fit naturally into our homeschool and family life. This little art appreciation course is no exception.

Arranged around the liturgical year, the package includes ten beautiful 8" x 10" full color, masterpiece reproductions featuring ten different artists (e.g. Michelangelo, Botticelli, Rembrandt, da Vinci) and a 25 page art appreciation guide. The guide provides excellent suggestions for teaching art appreciation in general (those who are familiar with the Charlotte Mason approach will be right at home) as well as specific suggestions for individual masterpiece focusing on content, line, color, pattern, and design. The information gleaned from this guide can easily be applied to other works of art you may already have in your home too.

In addition to the general use section, the guide devotes one page per month to the study of a particular masterpiece. A monthly theme is suggested along with ideas for integrating the study of the particular artwork into family life. Like other CHC products, this package has incorporated Catholic ideals into a program that is enlightening and edifying while remaining something that real families can easily work into their daily school and family life.

When we first received our package I immediately put all of the pictures into a frame, with the June masterpiece on top. I made a pocket on the cardboard backing to hold the booklet and we have weekly discussions about the picture that now hangs in our living room. Occasionally I take the booklet out of the pocket behind the picture and flip to some discussion prompts about line, form, etc. The children enjoy the looking at all the details in the picture while I ask questions and my husband is delighted to have a variety of religious pictures to brighten our room.

We've found "Augustus Caesar's World" by Genevieve Foster to be a wonderful resource. The book covers the period from 44 BC to 14 AD with events and ideas for that time, all over the world. I feel the stories really give my son a great sense of life during this period. The illustrations are outstanding line drawing of characters, maps and especially the time lines. Just wanted to share a great resource.

Note from the Webmaster: A number of Catholic homeschool parents have commented that the book has some problematic sections of a secular nature - soft on paganism, etc. It may well be a worthwhile book, but should only be used with a reasonable amount of caution and parental supervision.

Each set in this series contains two or three tapes and a book. The books contains the lyrics and music to a wide variety of folk tunes from around the world, hymns, and Gregorian chants. The Gregorian chants are relatively difficult, but the other songs are fairly easy to sing. I didn't know many of the songs, but we have enjoyed learning them. Each set of a book and tapes is roughly aimed at different ages, but I am having no trouble using the 4th-6th grade set with my seventh grade daughter. The sets are 1st-3rd grades, 4th-6th grades, and 7th-8th grades. The number of tapes in each set is the same as the number of grades covered. I recommend this program.