education/parenting

Rethinking School by Susan Wise Bauer

In Rethinking School, Susan Wise Bauer offers practical suggestions and background information for crafting the best education for your unique child.  Rethinking School: How to ...
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The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie

Sarah Mackenzie offers a welcome and updated look at making connections with your family through books in The Read-Aloud Family. The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and ...
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8 Great Smarts by Kathy Koch

8 Great Smarts shows parents how to recognize, encourage, and build on their child’s particular kinds of “smart.” 8 Great Smarts: Discover and Nurture Your ...
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The Vanishing American Adult by Ben Sasse

U.S. Senator Ben Sasse diagnoses a serious problem with today’s young adults and writes a prescription for restoring the American spirit. The Vanishing American Adult: ...
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*Honey for a Teen’s Heart by Gladys Hunt

Honey for a Teen’s Heart applies the wisdom of Gladys Hunt’s read-aloud approach to the adolescent years.  Adult *Honey for a Teen’s Heart: Using Books ...
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Portrait of a Reader: The Nurturer

Portrait of a Reader is a new feature in which we try to "unpack" a particular kind of reader. The portraits will overlap; most people will ...
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*Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt

Honey for a Child's Heart was one of the first books advocating for building a Christian family culture around books. *Honey for a Child's Heart by ...
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The Literary Nightstand

The Literary Nightstand: Our Professional Reading The Literary Nightstand is a peek into what's on our professional nightstands. Most of us here at Redeemed Reader ...
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*Comforting, Training, and Teaching Minds: Catechism Devotionals by Starr Meade

Family devotionals centered around the Heidelberg and Shorter catechism are based on Scripture and are designed to help families memorize the catechisms. *Comforting Hearts, Teaching Minds: ...
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echoes of eden cover

*Echoes of Eden by Jerram Barrs

Starred review for Echoes of Eden, in which Barrs offers guidelines for evaluating art and literature from a Christian review. *Echoes of Eden: Reflections on ...
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*The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch

Starred review for this book about a tech-wise family that is characterized by 10 commitments reflecting the proper pace of technology in a family's life ...
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How to Read Aloud Hard Books: 5 Steps

Love to read aloud, but stumble over the hard books? You're not alone. Hard books are hard to read aloud. They just are. Even for ...
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Teach Literary Elements With … Movies!

All stories share the same literary elements, be they written or acted, books or movies. Summer Blockbusters For the Win And movies are a terrific ...
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Wisdom and Wonder: Linked Reads – Week 1

This week's theme: Turning to God and Away From Sin To further engage with the theme, here is a list of archived posts that we feel ...
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Ask-a-Librarian: Professional Development for Nonprofessional Readers

Ask-a-Librarian is an occasional feature in which we answer a reader's question. Feel free to send us questions you think would be good for this space! (Use ...
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The New City Catechism Devotional

The devotional guide to the Gospel Coalition's New City Catechism is a helpful resource for re-discovering the lost practice of oral instruction and memorization. The ...
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Musical Mondays and Theology Thursdays: How to Use Christian Resources with Kids

We love to track down solid biblical resources for you to use with your families, Sunday School classrooms, and Christian school classrooms. Not only do ...
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Straight Talk About the Birds and the Bees

This is a review specifically for parents; librarians and teachers may benefit as well, but children should ask their parents first before reading further. This is also ...
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Shakespeare Summer: Some General Principles (applied to a difficult play)

Last year we covered A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is readily available in numerous retellings, picture books, and even coloring pages. We chose this play ...
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Help! My Kid is Developing Brain Cavities!

  Maybe your kids, like mine, have recently read classic novels. Maybe your family, like mine, has been reading a biography of a famous scientist ...
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Reading Aloud to Teens, Part One

The last time I talked to my daughter on the phone, she said, “Guess what Adriel is doing now.” That’s my nine-year-old granddaughter, and of ...
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What Makes a GREAT Novel?

When was “The Novel” as a literary form invented? The answer is, it wasn’t. The type of long-form fiction we call a novel was not ...
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Reading with Discernment: YA Literature

One of the high school classes I teach is devoted to helping students become discerning readers. Modern young adult fiction can be a minefield of ...
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Laid-Back Homeschooling: a Word of Encouragement for the Year Ahead

I’m not quite ready to retire to a rocking chair in front of the general store, bending the ear of hapless passers-by: Yessir, it was ...
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*Finding Truth by Nancy Pearcy

*Finding Truth: Five Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes by Nancy Pearcey. David C. Cook, 2015. 383 pages Reading Level: Young Adult, ...
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*What’s Up? by Jack Klumpenhower

*What’s Up?: Discovering the Gospel, Jesus, and Who You REALLY Are (Teacher Guide), by Deborah Harrell and Jack Klumpenhower. New Growth Press, 2015. 228 pages. ...
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Hymns for a Kid’s Heart, Vol. 1-4 by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada

Hymns for a Kid’s Heart, Vol. 1-4 by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada. Crossway, 2003-2004. 96 pages. (Audio CD included) Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages ...
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Reviewing School Book Lists, Part One

Reviewing School Book Lists: Part One. Part Two. Part Three.Part Four. This post by Emily Whitten, co-founder of Redeemed Reader, is part of a series ...
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SRC, Week 6: Time Travel Devotional (Finale!)

Other Summer Reading Challenge posts: Introduction, Week One: 1) Kids, 2) Teens, 3) Devotional.  Week Two: 1) Kids, 2) Teens, 3) Devotional.  Week Three: off Week ...
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SRC, Week 4: The House of Arden

Other Summer Reading Challenge posts: Introduction, Week One: 1) Kids, 2) Teens,  3) Devotional.  Week Two: 1) Kids, 2) Teens, 3) Devotional.  Week Three: off Week ...
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SRC, Week 2: Time Travel Devotional

Other Summer Reading Challenge posts: Introduction, Week One: 1) Kids, 2) Teens, 3) Devotional.  Week Two: 1) Kids, 2) Teens, 3) Devotional.  Week Three: off Week ...
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Raising “Wild” Readers

How do you teach the pleasure of reading to non-readers? Convinced by research studies and personal experience that worksheets and conventional methods of teaching literary ...
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Beowulf: Legend, Worldview, and Contemporary Narratives

When I used to teach high school British Literature back in the day, Beowulf was always our first big study. It's first chronologically, and it's ...
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How to Skim a Book: The Lost Medallion by Bill Muir and Alex Kendrick

To Skim or Not to Skim It's seven o'clock, and you remember you have a book review due in the morning.  But alas, you haven't ...
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What Flannery O’Connor Can Tell Us About Teaching Literature

Near the beginning of her essay, “The Teaching of Literature” (in Mystery and Manners), Flannery O’Connor writes that fiction has no dearth of critics, because ...
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Core Conundrum

In case you haven't noticed, it's back-to-school time. We will observe the season with curriculum-related posts this week and next.  First, a look at the ...
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The Hero’s Journey: A Teaching Tool

On Tuesday,> Janie talked about the Higgs boson, and the search for what's under the surface in physics.  Today, I've invited Nathan Huffstutler, a writing ...
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Japanese Literary Adventure: Study Notes

I hope you guys have enjoyed learning a little more about Japanese literature with our guests Roger Lowther and Dr. Mike Sugimoto this month.  As ...
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Mike Sugimoto on Japanese Literature for Kids

In case you missed it, here is the Introduction post to our Japanese Literary Adventure.  And here's a link to our interview with Roger Lowther, ...
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Pleasures and Distractions

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, by Alan Jacobs.  Oxford University Press, 2011, 150 pages.  Age/interest: adult. Heads-up: Watch for our interview ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 8

Today's Theme: Finishing Well From the clutches of Giant Despair, Christian and Hopeful escape into pleasant places of the Delectable Mountains.  We see them refreshing ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 7

Today's Theme: The Key of Promise After surviving Vanity Fair and the hill of Lucre, Christian and Hopeful "espied a stile which led into a ...
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The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part 4: Home At Last

If you're just joining us, here's the Introduction, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. For the Project Gutenberg online version, go here. The worst ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 5

  CHAPTER FIVE: The Valley of the Shadow Today's Theme: God With Us Today, following on the heels of his fight with Apollyon and his ...
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The Pilgrim’s Progress 2: Salvation Highway

Introduction Part One Slackers and Interlopers Right away, Christian learns that salvation is not for sissies!  The sleeping men have for various reasons failed to ...
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Dangerous Journey, Part 2

  Chapter Two: The Interpreter's House Today's Theme: A Burden Lost, Heaven Gained In this section, Christian comes into the Wicket Gate, is taught by ...
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Pilgrim’s Progress: From the City of Destruction to the Cross

This is Part One of our read along of The Prilgrim's Progress for high school age and up.  Here's the Introduction. The City of Destruction ...
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The Abolition of Man, Part One

(Beginning a three-part study intended to accompany our reading of  That Hideous Strength this month.) In February of 1943 Lewis delivered three evening lectures at ...
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What Would You Do Differently?

While we are awaiting a post by Dr. Gene Veith later in the week, I thought it would be fun to ask some of our ...
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