Mrs. Risinger

 

For students to read (I would also recommend parents read and discuss these with their kids):

 

• "Yoko" by Rosemary Wells.  A great little book for young readers.  Though not a Christian book, it is a good book for demonstrating the concept of loving your neighbors, including those from different cultures than your own.  My own kids have loved this book, especially as very young kids, because it is easy to identify the "loving" classmate from the "unloving" classmates. 

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• "Brave Young Knight" by Karen Kingsbury.  A beautifully illustrated book with a great story that young boys and girls will both enjoy.  I always pointed out to my own kids that the King clearly told the competitors that he, himself would declare the winner of the competition (God, Himself is the ultimate judge) and that HOW you do things can actually be more important than WHAT you do (the hero doesn't actually seem to "win" any of the competitions, but God knows his pure intentions and honest efforts). 

 

 

For parents to read to their own kids:

• "Horton Hears a Who" - this book was apparently NOT written to support the protection of the life of the unborn, but it is no doubt a conclusion that will come to mind as Believers read it.  Love the use of the word, "Who" as opposed to "it" and the repeated theme, "A person's a person no matter how small."

 

• "Satellite Bible Atlas - Historical Geography of the Bible" by William Schlegel.  Might sound dry, but it is a great Bible study tool for your family.  The book follows the Bible chronologically and will include story summaries from the Bible along with detailed, amplified maps for that time period.  My kids enjoy finding the cities of interest for each story on the map, themselves, and by using this, you will develop a working knowledge of the geography (cities, mountains, valleys, etc.) mentioned in the Bible.  I have really enjoyed reading this, myself. 

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For parent to WATCH (I love documentaries): 

• "Patterns of Evidence - Exodus"  This documentary is an interesting possibility to resolve the difference in Biblical chronology vs. Egyptian chronology.  I'm certainly no expert in this field, so I am open to other ideas, but this movie is well made and seems to have a rational explanation that starts by assuming the Bible's narrative to be true before looking at archaeology, extra-Biblical history, etc. 

 

• "Patterns of Evidence - the Moses Controversy" - I took our kids to see this film when it was released in theaters this year.  It is a bit dry and they do repeat their findings (helps with memory, though!), but I LOVE the conclusions at the end of the film (spoiler!): Believers - even those who are well-educated Bible scholars - will tend to turn away from God and even wonder if He is real, once they deny the historicity and inerrancy of the OT.

 

• "Alien Intrusion - Unmasking a Deception" - Mark and I took all of our kids to see this in the theater a year or so ago.  On account of the somewhat scary nature, it might be better to watch it without the kids the first time, but we talk about everything with our kids, so they seemed to handle it well.  This video is also a bit long, especially at the beginning when it discusses the history of "alien encounters" but so worth it in order to build their case.  Of special note is the VERY gentle approach the producers take to discuss victims of encounters - there is NO ridicule at all; rather, a very loving, Christian approach to reaching and rescuing them.  There is also a book version, but the video is very well done, and again, so gentle and with such a loving message of hope through faith in Jesus Christ.