16 November 2013

Book Review: Mealtime Devotions The Second Helping



Title: Whit's End Mealtime Devotions The Second Helping
Subtitle: 90 More Ideas Your Kids Will Eat Up
Author: John Avery Whittaker
Genre: Children's Devotional

 Children benefit when families eat dinner together.  According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Colombia University: 

10 Benefits of Family Dinners

  • Everyone eats healthier meals.
  • Kids are less likely to become overweight or obese.
  • Kids more likely to stay away from cigarettes.
  • They're less likely to drink alcohol.
  • They won't likely try marijuana.
  • They're less likely to use illicit drugs.
  • Friends won't likely abuse prescription drugs.
  • School grades will be better.
  • You and your kids will talk more.
  • You'll be more likely to hear about a serious problem.
  • Kids will feel like you're proud of them.
  • There will be less stress and tension at home.

 I know how hard it is to get everyone in the kitchen at the same time but it is worth the effort!  So what should you talk about once you have all the kids gathered around? Whit's End Mealtime Devotions are a great way to get the conversation started in the right direction!

This book contains 90 devotionals to read with your family.  Each devotional is broken down into  five-course meal. Each one includes:
  • Mealtime Prayer—a fresh way to bless your food
  • Appetizer—a fun question or activity
  • Main Course—an object lesson or thought to chew on
  • Table Talk—questions to spark interesting discussions
  • Vitamins and Minerals—a closing scripture

 In my opinion, the book would be most interesting to an elementary aged child.  My daughter, Sydney, is 8 and she loved the book.  My son, Lucas, is 3 and he was not really able to understand the content yet.   Sydney, at 8 years old,  was the perfect age to understand the topics being discussed and she was able to answer the questions that were asked.  

My only recommendation for improvement  would be that the author include a scripture and topical index at the back of the book.  It would be helpful to be able to locate specific devotionals in the book when they are needed. 

You can read the first several pages of the book here:   http://goo.gl/XUVHBs

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the Tyndale House Publishing Company in exchange for an honest review.


03 November 2013

My New Business Idea...


This fall I went back to teaching after a three year break to stay home with the kids.   I am teaching middle school science at Timothy Christian School.   Middle Schoolers are hilarious!  One thing I noticed is that their lockers are an abyss!  They make a toxic waste dump look like the botanical gradens. 

Last week I noticed that one of the 8th grade boys could not close his locker door because of all the papers hanging out.   I asked him if he would mind if I cleaned out his locker for him.  He was so excited and said that would be "the best thing that ever happened to him." 

This was the pile of papers that I pulled out of his locker!

Since it was the last day of the first marking period, it was safe for me to throw out most of those papers.  I just saved the tests and quizzes that I found so that he could use them to study for midterms.   I put those papers in the top of his locker.  

I hung up the jacket that was at the bottom of the abyss.  I guarantee that he hasn't seen that jacket since the first week of school.  I also neatly stacked his books at the bottom of his locker.  I was lucky that there was nothing smelly in there!


The finished product! 

I think it will be much easier for him to get to class on time.  I plan to check in with him during the week to make sure that he is keeping his locker clean.  He needs to learn to get organized so I think this will be an ongoing process. 

  So what is my new business idea?  If you haven't figured that out yet, I am going to offer my locker cleaning service to the students.  I think they would pay $10 that.  What do you think?  :)