Review - Amish Values for Your Family

Amish Values for Your Family

What We Can Learn from the Simple Life

Suzanne Woods Fisher

I have always been fascinated by the Amish.  They aren’t afraid to live out their faith while eschewing the conventions of the modern world.  They seem to me to be somewhat unblemished.  Their values are based on their simple life and not on what the media feeds them. There’s something about an agrarian society that focuses on faith and family that really appeals to me.  That doesn’t mean I’m ready to “go Amish”, but it does mean that I know I have a lot to learn from them.

Suzanne Woods Fisher’s book does an excellent job of bringing the life of the Amish to the reader in small digestible bits.  There are four sections with several chapters that last only a few pages each.  It’s the content of those small chapters that really resonates with the reader.  Each chapter opens with an Amish saying or proverb, and then shares a little  window into the values of the Amish and allows us to see how they can be applied in our own lives.  The chapter is followed with a “Getting from Here to There" to help us apply the lesson to our daily lives.  At the conclusion are short clips shared by the Amish community through their local paper. 

When thinking about what I took away from this book, the first thing that comes to mind is the title of the first chapter “Children are Loved but not Adored.”  How many times do we find ourselves adoring our children to a fault?  Through adoration they never learn their weaknesses, they are never allowed to stumble, and they find it difficult to be self-sufficient later in life.  I believe I see my own folly in this one as I have tended to adore my children making them less equip than they need to be for the adult world. 

Throughout the book, the focus is on family and the bond they have.  However, this bond does not exceed their faith, it comes through it.  We all need to spend more time with our spouses and our children – working, playing, worshiping.  It’s easy to let those moments get displaced by work, busyness, distraction, media.  I know I’m guilty.  I took away a deeper need to focus on the value of family rather than the value of things.  So what if we earn a lot of money and have a lot of things if our family suffers for it?  A friend the other day asked (on Facebook) how we define success.  Money wasn’t what popped into mind, it was a healthy, well adjusted family. 

Suzanne created a work that truly gives us a glimpse into the window of the lives of the Amish.  I count this book a blessing.  One day, I hope to visit the Amish communities and see their lives first hand, but until then I appreciate this opportunity to evaluate my life against the simple life and reevaluate what is important.  

I encourage all seeking to simplify life to check out Amish Values for Your Family.  In addition, Suzanne is running an exciting giveaway to coincide with the publishing of this book.  Take a look...
 

Enter 8/15 - 8/31!

Suzanne Woods Fisher is thrilled to announce the release of Amish Values for Your Family, her latest non-fiction release. "It offers loving ways to bring your fractured home back to life-Amish style. Read it and apply generously! It’s a beautiful book-funny, charming, soulful, and beautiful." -Mary Ann Kirkby

Read the reviews here.

To celebrate the release of Amish Values for Your Family, Suzanne has teamed up her publisher Revell Books to giveaway a Kindle, and with Bill Coleman (the amazing photographer used on Suzanne’s book covers) to give away a signed Bill Coleman original.

One Grand Prize winner will receive an Amish Values Prize Package (valued at over $200) and includes:

* A brand new KINDLE
* A Signed Bill Coleman original
* Amish Values for Your Family (for KINDLE)
<><> <><><><><><> <><><><>Click on one of the icons to enter. Winner will be announced on 9/2 at Suzanne’s blog. Be sure to stop by the blogs on Suzanne’s blog tour – many have copies of Amish Values for Your Family to give away.

But, wait there's more! Suzanne is running a Bill Coleman caption contest during the month of August on her blog. Title one of Bill’s gorgeous photos for a chance to win a print from Bill’s Amish Photo site and/or a copy of Amish Values for Your Family.

***  I was given this book free from LitFuse for my honest review.

Judgment Day: A Novel Review

Judgment Day: A Novel

Author: Wanda L. Dyson

I recently read a fiction book by an upcoming author and thought it would be neat to read another Christian fiction story since most of my reads are non-fiction. This time it is Judgment Day by Wanda L. Dyson. This is a story of intrigue, murder, relationships and a little redemption.

What I really liked about this book is that I didn’t want to put it down. Judgment Day is a cover-to-cover read. The chapters are fast-paced, engaging the reader in every scene and leaving him sitting on the edge of his seat wondering what will happen next. The characters are relatable. You feel you know them and yearn for their success or failure. I could go into detail, but spoilers are no fun! Dyson takes a frightening crime as the cornerstone for building a series of events that leave us both cheering and infuriated as the story unfolds. Some overly coincidental moments can be overlooked in order for the weaving to be complete. This book would make a great beach read. In fact, I’m passing it on to my mother-in-law to enjoy on her next beach trip.

What I didn’t find appealing were the Christian aspects of Judgment Day. Not because they were there, but because they seemed forced. The short comments alluding to faith or Christianity just didn’t fit in with the rest of the story. One could easily remove all references and the story would remain completely intact. I see no reason to force something like that – either it’s an integral part of the story or it isn’t. But, it shouldn’t be awkward.

However, these forced moments didn’t take away from the pleasure of the read. I would recommend the story if you like crime novels or mystery. There is plenty of both. I look forward to reading some of Dyson’s other novels.

***I was given this book free of charge through Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Timberdoodle Review - The Critical Thinking Company

Building Thinking Skills Level 3 & Editor in Chief
The Critical Thinking Company

Age: 12+ & 14+

Price: $29.99 & 18.99
    

I was thrilled when Timberdoodle asked me to review critical thinking books for them. Critical thinking is one of the areas I have always felt is lacking in today’s college aged students. My experience in the college classroom is that students are not used to being asked to think for themselves. Perhaps this is due to the prevalence of multiple-choice tests?

In any case, I want my kids to think critically. I hope you do too.

The first product I am reviewing is Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Figural by the Critical Thinking Company.

As noted on the Timberdoodle web site, the “activities are sequenced developmentally. Each skill (for example, classifying) is presented first in the semi-concrete figural-spatial form and then in the abstract verbal form. Children learn to analyze relationships between objects, between words, and between objects and words as they:

Observe, recognize, and describe characteristics.
Distinguish similarities and differences.
Identify and complete sequences, classifications, and analogies.

My boys really enjoy this book. They actually look forward to the time of day where we pull out our critical thinking to do exercises. Typically, we do between five and ten pages per day depending on how extensive the exercises are. You can view sample exercise pages here.

What I like is that they are being asked to be aware of what they are viewing and then look deeper to complete the exercise. At first, my younger son will tell me, “Mom, this is hard.” Then, shortly thereafter, a light bulb will come on and he’ll get busy working through the problem. The more he sees that he can take on the challenge and use his brain to discern the answer, the more excited he gets.

I would encourage all homeschool families to incorporate critical thinking skills into their schedule.
 

The second book I was asked to evaluate is Editor in Chief also by the Critical Thinking Company. I loved the concept of this book when I saw it. I teach English online and grade numerous papers every semester. There are common errors that students typically make. One way instructors try to help students develop editing skills it through peer feedback: students providing feedback on one another’s papers. This concept helps students see errors they make by finding them in other’s work. Sometimes it’s easier to find the errors when the content isn’t yours.

Editor in Chief is the same concept. Students are asked to edit papers with numerous errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and formatting details. The student is told how many errors there are and then must go through the piece to find them. I find this to be excellent. The boys enjoy the hunt and end up helping one another if there are errors they just can’t seem to spot. In addition, the book provides great detail on where the errors are, what they are and how they should be corrected.

I believe this will help them not only improve their own editing skills, but to help them become better writers. They will be asked to peer edit when they get to college. Providing strong feedback is an asset to their peer, for their own benefit, and demonstrates to their instructors their ability to recognize strong writing.

I plan to continue to incorporate these exercises into our home school and to have the boys use those skills to peer edit each other’s work.

As you can see, I was very impressed with both texts. I’m grateful for being able to review the books and look forward to using other products by the Critical Thinking Company.

*** As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of these books in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.