The Hidden Message of the Great Seal

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I have been reading an interesting book called The Hidden Message of the Great Seal: How Foundational Truth from The Dawn of Liberty May Rescue a Republic in Peril by Michael Kanis. This book is over 250 pages long and full of colorful pictures, helpful charts, and inspiring quotes.

The Hidden Message explores our national seal and the message our founding fathers were trying to convey through it. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Charles Thomson designed the national seal in 1776, the same year the Declaration of Independence was written.

There are twenty-four chapters in the book:

• Introduction
• Time Capsule
• The Significance of the Seal
• Setting the Stage
• A Tale of Two Systems
• Studying the Seal
• How Could it Have Been Hidden So Long?
• Charles Thomson
• Francis Hopkinson
• The Pyramid
• Annuit Coeptis
• Novus Ordo Secorlum
• The Eye
• The Early Designs, Part One
• Early Designs, Part Two
• The Covenant
• The Front of the Seal
• The Four Pillars
• Virtue
• Freedom
• Providence
• Unity
• Unexpected Connections
• Conclusion

As you can see from some of the chapter titles, this book covers some very fascinating and unusual topics! The book opens up with an introduction to the national seal and why it is significant to our country. He explains how and why he began studying the seal, and then he jumps right into history with a chapter on Charles Thomson followed by one on Francis Hopkinson. I had not heard of Thomson, and this chapter started with his early life as a boy immigrating to America and ending with his role as "keeper of the seal". I also learned the Hopkinson designed the nation's flag and had an influence on the design of the seal.

The chapters "The Pyramid" and "The Eye" were extremely interesting to read. Michael Kanis debunks some theories about the seal, including the belief that the pyramid and the eye on the seal and dollar bills were adopted from the Freemasons or were connected with ancient Egyptian mythology. He includes documents and quotes from the designers of the seal indicating their meaning and inclusion on the seal. I really enjoyed reading the quotes from people such as this one from Thomas Jefferson, "We in America do not have government by the majority - we have government by the majority who participate...All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

He also has a chapter on an "unusual connection" he found with the seal's images - the Bible and the oratorio Messiah composed by Handel. This chapter is fascinating to read and to see the connections to the Bible and the founding of our nation! 

Michael Kanis's concludes that the hidden message of the seal is virtue, freedom, providence, and unity. He also includes a completely accurate representation of the United States seal, drawn by Matthew Nemecek according the congressional report with the description of the seal. 

This book is very high quality. The pages are thick and glossy and the pictures are clear and bright. There are many charts that break down information and compare and contrast ideas. I am a visual learner, so these charts really helped me. For example, he has chart titled "Values versus Virtues" on page 196 that details the differences in values and virtues. He also includes tons of bright, colorful images of the seal, draft designs of the seal, original documents, paintings, and portraits. His book is easy to read, full of history and information in a very organized manner. It really challenged me to think and study about things that I don't normally give much thought. If you are interested in the beginning of our nation, the national seal, and history, you will love this book. Michael Kanis is offering it for 50% off if you buy it from his website. The book is normally $29.95, but you can buy it using the coupon code for about $15! This is a really great deal. 

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My Thoughts on Expedition Earth

*This is not a sponsored review.* I bought the digital download of Expedition Earth several years ago and never used it. I found it in my files last summer when I was planning our homeschool year and thought it would be fun to use with Mercie, Silas, and Titus. I wanted us to have a "together" subject, or "family school" as we call it. Mercie is 6th grade, Silas is 4th grade, and Titus is 2nd grade.

We loved Expedition Earth. It has been a really fun year, full of crafts and books, learning about other countries. In all, we will have "visited" 29 countries (we still have three left - New Zealand, Antarctica and The Poles and we skipped two countries). Expedition Earth consists of two downloads - the Teacher's Guide and the Student Workbook. I bit the bullet and printed out the entire Teacher's Guide and three copies of the Student Workbook and I am *so glad* I did! It was wonderful to have everything we needed already printed out and in binders. I put the Teacher's Guide in page protectors in a 2-inch binder. I put the Student Workbooks in 2-inch binders, as well, but I wish I would have put them in 3-inch binders! Our binders are overflowing!

I put 8 dividers in each binder - one for the world, one for each continent. Behind each divider, I put an empty page protector to put all of our flat crafts, postcards, fold-outs, and anything else flat that went along with that continent. Then I put all of the worksheets for that continent behind each divider and page protector.

The go-along books I used with Expedition Earth are:

• A Trip Around the World
• Another Trip Around the World
• Galloping the Globe
• Children's Atlas of God's World
• Usborne Encyclopedia of World Geography
• Children Just Like Me

Planning was super easy. Each week, I would go to the library and get books for the country we would be studying the next week. If we couldn't find any or there was a book I really wanted that the library didn't have, I would place an Amazon order. I also looked on our bookshelves for books that would tie-in. Each Saturday or Sunday, I would look ahead in the Teacher's Guide and get a general idea of what we were going to learn. I looked in the Trip Around the World books to see if it covered that country, and if so I would look for additional activities or worksheets and make copies or gather supplies. I also looked on Pinterest for a few fun crafts from that country. If I needed to buy something extra for the crafts or activities, I would run to the store that weekend.

Our weeks followed a similar rhythm:

• Monday: We would fill out our passports and glue the flag inside along with the date. We would read from the Children's Atlas of God's World, then find the country on our map, color and label it. Next we would fill our "Country Fact Sheet" with the country, capital, population, language, religion, and government type. We usually did a craft on Mondays.

• Tuesday: We would read a library book and then color the flag worksheet, reading about the flag design. We would finish the craft from yesterday if necessary.

• Wednesday: We would read from "Children Just Like Me" and complete the accompanying worksheet. We would read library books, too. Sometimes we did another craft.

• Thursday: We would read from the "Trip Around the World" books if they included that country, and do a worksheet or activity from the book. If the books didn't cover the country we were studying, we would usually do a worksheet I found online, sometimes just a crossword or word search, sometimes a map or learning worksheet. We would also do any experiments or extra activities that were in Expedition Earth.

• Friday: We would make our postcards and fold-outs. We would read any library books we had left. We would finish any crafts or activities from the week. We would review the country facts and some from previous countries.

postcard and fold out for Panama

Here are just a few of our favorite activities from the year:

Australian Aboriginal Boomerangs

Nigerian Quicksand Experiment

African Savannah Dioramas 

Kenyan Beads

Panamanian Molas

Peruvian Pan Pipes

Mexican Sombreros

Balloons on the first day of school to kick off our world geography lessons!

Cinnamon rolls with little world flags to make things fun!

Kites when we studied Korea!

Homemade fortune cookies when we studied China!

We had a blast this year with Expedition Earth! It was simple to plan, fun to implement and I think the kids learned a lot about different world cultures. In fact, we loved it so much, I bought Road Trip USA from the same author to use with Silas and Titus next year! It looks even more fun, and I'm already collecting books. 

Homeschool Highlights: 4/20/20 - 4/24/20

G'day, mate! In geography this week, we "traveled" to Australia! Our libraries are still closed, which is affecting our geography studies quite a bit, but I did have two books on Australia sitting on my bookshelves. We did our usual flag sheet, country fact sheet, Children Just Like Me sheet, postcard, and a few extras from "A Trip Around the World."

We made Aboriginal Boomerangs using cardboard and dot painting with q-tips.

We are still in the book of Numbers, and we are still working on memorizing 1 Corinthians 13. The kids are so close to being finished with their language arts and math curriculum. It's mostly review now, so they're done with school by 10:30 or 11:00 each day. 

Titus has been using a penmanship curriculum that we are reviewing. His penmanship needs a lot of work! He has also been reviewing nouns, verbs, and punctuation. In math, he is reviewing addition and subtraction with borrowing and carrying. He has also been using Reading Kingdom, a review product.

Silas has been practicing cursive. He is also working on 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication. He is reviewing all of the grammar he learned this year.

Mercie is reviewing everything in math and language arts. I've had them doing a lot of free-reading lately. She is also starting Artistic Pursuits, a review item, and we've done several lessons in Beyond the Stick Figures, another review product!

Eli went to his follow up appointment on Wednesday. His incisions are healing nicely! The doctor said we don't have to go back. Mikaela also had her first prenatal appointment on Wednesday. She got an ultrasound, so we got to see the baby kicking and moving and hear the heartbeat. It made everything seem so much more real. Her due date is November 7. We go back May 19th for her gender scan. I'm getting excited and am still in disbelief that I'm going to be a "Grammie".

Random shots from the week:

Zeke loves putting rocks in his dump truck and dumping them out.

We got Zeke a toddler bed! He hasn't slept in it yet....he still likes co-sleeping.

Mikaela made Zeke a flower crown and he wore it for a long time. He loves picking flowers.

I got the boys old kitchen out of our shed, and Zeke has had the best time playing in it!

I cut a bunch of shapes from foam and made Zeke some bath stickers. He loves these!

Mikaela has been doing a lot of baking and cooking!

How was your week?

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30 Prophecies: One Story

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I love reading and learning about Biblical prophecy, especially because some of it is being fulfilled even today. That's why I was super excited to be given the opportunity to review 30 Prophecies: One Story, How God's Word Points to Jesus by Christian Focus.

30 Prophecies: One Story is a beautifully illustrated, 93 page, hard cover book that covers thirty Old Testament prophecies about Jesus and how and when they were fulfilled. The book includes ten key memory verses about Messianic prophecy and eleven character profiles on the prophets featured in the book.

I am very impressed by this book. It's a great tool to use with your children to introduce the concept of Biblical prophecy. The book is written in a very easy to understand narrative. Each prophecy is broken down into 7 sections. I'll describe each one below.

Prophet and Date: This section names the prophet giving the prophecy and the approximate date it was given.

Prophecy Made: This section includes the scripture from the Old Testament containing the prophecy.

Then and There: This section is a commentary on the scripture and the circumstances surrounding the prophecy. It explains what the prophecy originally meant to the prophet because the prophet didn't always realize he was giving a prophecy at the time.

Prophecy Fulfilled: This section has the New Testament scripture containing the prophecy fulfillment.

Scarlet Thread: This section weaves together the prophecy with God's story - the gospel. It explains the prophecy fulfillment further and brings it all together in an understandable way.

Application: This section has questions and commentary on what the prophecy means for us. It shows you that even prophecies from long ago can be applicable to our lives today.

Prayer: This a short prayer you can pray in response to what you've read.

We love this book. I read a prophecy aloud during our Bible Time in the morning. It's very interesting to learn about how the Old Testament really does point to Jesus. I have learned about most of these  prophecies before, but this book really helps to explain them and their fulfillment. Even though it's written for children, adults can glean so much from it, too! I've had several "aha" moments when  reading this to my children. My favorite section is the Scarlet Thread. It really ties everything together nicely, helping me to visualize the connections between the Old Testament prophecy and the New Testament fulfillment. I highly recommend this as a family devotion! It is a great way to get the whole family involved in learning about Biblical prophecy.

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