How is everyone doing with their Bible in 90 Days reading? I am currently a day behind, but I hope to catch up this afternoon since I am hosting the Twitter chat tonight.

If you haven’t been participating in these chats I encourage you to join us tonight at 9pm EST. It is a great way to discuss the week’s chapters, ask questions, and receive encouragement. To participate in or read the chat, follow the Twitter hashtag #B90Days.

See you tonight!

I’ve posted my Bible in 90 Days update over at Mom’s Toolbox today. 11 days down 79 to go!

I am so excited to begin reading my Bible in 90 Days on Friday. The Twitter party last week was really motivating and I am thrilled to be doing this with so many other great women.

Amy has said that one of the keys to success is having the The Bible in 90 Days Bible. I wasn’t sure if I believed it until my Bible arrived last week in the mail. There really is a difference. While it is possible to read through the Bible in 90 Days using your own Bible and the reading chart, the 90 Days Bible makes it much easier.

To that end, if you are genuinely committed to completing the reading in 90 days, yet the cost of buying another Bible is keeping you from using a Bible in 90 Days Bible, or participating at all, Bible in 90 Days.org will provide you with a Bible free of charge. Yes, you read that right– If you want to do this, Bible in 90 Days.org wants to equip you. Even for free, if need be.

Hop on over to the Contact page at Bible in 90Days.org and make your request. Since the challenge begins Friday, your new Bible will not make it to you in time… just start with whatever you can and pick up when the new one arrives. You’ll be glad you did.

The following is a guest post from my sister-in-love who blogs at Mom’s Toolbox. If you want to know why I am joining her in this challenge you can read my perspective over at Mom’s Toolbox.

Have you ever thought about reading the Bible… the whole thing, from start to finish?

I thought about it for years, and even attempted a few times on my own, before I discovered Bible in 90 Days, joined a group at my church and read the whole thing without stopping, cover to cover.

I was so blown away by the experience that I offered to facilitate it at my next church and have since facilitated several more times, trained facilitators and now plan to host an online community via my blog, Moms Toolbox.

If you have ever considered reading the whole Bible, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you join me January 1- March 31, 2010, as I read and blog through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, bit by bit, in order, every day.

If you would like to join our online community, here’s what you’ll need to do:

• Plan to set aside about an hour each day from January 1- March 31 for an incredibly enriching experience.
• Get your hands on a Bible in 90 Days Bible from www.biblein90days.org, or your local Christian bookstore.
• Consider also purchasing the Bible in 90 Days Participant’s Guide which offers weekly questions for you ponder to gain more insight from your reading. (I’ll be using these questions for our weekly Twitter meet-ups.)
• Consider purchasing the Bible in 90 Days Essential Bible Companion, which offers a snapshot of information to help you make it through each week’s reading without getting distracted by researching on the internet.
• Bookmark my site, www.MomsToolbox.com, and plan to visit January 1- March 31 after you have completed each day’s reading to see what I learned and report in that you have read for the day.
• Follow me on Twitter and plan to be on Twitter every Monday night of the program from 9-10 CST (much like a study meeting—just online!) when we can ask and answer each other’s questions. Use and look for the #B90Days hashtag for our group discussion.

I would bet some of you are asking “Why this particular Bible?” Here’s why:

The official The Bible in 90 Days Bible is an NIV Bible, so it is an easy-to-read direct translation. This edition has large type, minimal footnotes and indicates where you should start and stop reading each day. Sure, you could accomplish this goal using your own Bible, but the statistics point to a huge success ratio for those using this official Bible.

Although we won’t be meeting in person, my prayer is that via almost-daily online communication on my blog, as well as on Twitter we can still hold each other accountable, helping each other to accomplish our goal to read every word of the Bible attentively in 90 days.

I’d love to encourage you in this endeavor. It has been life-changing for me.

I cannot express how much reading the bible in 90 days has helped me with every study I have participated in and every sermon I have heard since then. I now know the context of the stories. I know where to find them… and I can clearly see how they are related. And to read about Christ and the fulfillment of countless prophesies just after you’ve read about those prophesies is amazing!

If you’re up for the challenge, I’m up for encouraging you every step of the way.

Pray about it. Think about it… And click on over to Mom’s Toolbox to let me know if you’d like to join in the challenge and to learn more. But do it soon so you’ll be ready to start 2010 in His Word… all of it!

Hope to see you there!

** If you still have questions, plan to follow me on Twitter and join me for our first Twitter chat this Monday, December 21 from 9-10 CST.

Bible in 90 Days Giveaway

For those of you who are interested in reading along with us, I have one copy of the Bible in 90 Days Bible plus a study guide to give to one reader. Please leave a comment letting me know you are interested in participating.

Due to my upcoming move I have decided to postpone the book basket series until July 30th. I have really enjoyed visiting your blogs and getting ideas from your reading lists, but last week I wasn’t able to check out any list for lack of time. Since I started this series to help give book ideas to each other, I want to be able to visit everyone’s post and create my library list off of your suggestions.

Sorry for the last minute notice, but I have been off the computer for most of the week packing.

Thanks to all of you who participated, and I hope to see you again in July!

This week I really wanted to video my son reading so I could officially begin my experiment. Unfortunately it didn’t happen this week, so I will try to get a video next week and post it with the next book post.

I had a great weekend looking over many wonderful books at the Home Educators Association of Virginia convention. Homeschool conventions are one of the few places I go where I wish I had unlimited funds! So many of the books look wonderful and I want to buy them all! I didn’t buy too many this year, since our bookshelves are overflowing and we have a great library system. I did purchase a few audio books though. I love that these books are now in MP3 format. My older child with reading difficulties loves to listen to audio books, so now he can use his iPod to listen to some great literature before bed.

Speaking of reluctant readers a few years ago we stumbled upon a series that is sure to capture the attention of any young boy. If your son has not read My Side of the Mountain, reserve it at the library today! This is the story of Sam, who runs away and ends up living in a hollowed out tree. His new friends are a falcon and a weasel and he has to learn to survive with limited resources. This book took my son from a reluctant reader to someone who was reading any and every book he could find on falconry.

He even wrote the author, Jean Craighead George, an email, and much to our surprise she responded! There are two other books in the trilogy, On the Far Side of the Mountainand Frightful’s Mountain. My son enjoyed these as well and has read many other books by George. It is amazing how one good book can transform a child.

How about you? Do you remember a book from your childhood that got you hooked on reading? For me it was Nancy Drew, I loved those books! I wanted to be Nancy so bad! Anyway, I always liked to read, but those books got me hooked!

It is time to link up with your book basket posts. What are you reading this week? Please link up with your actual post, not your blog’s homepage and visit other book basket participants to see what they are reading.

Here is a tip to help grow your family library. When shopping yard sales, thrift stores, or used curriculum sales (as I will be this weekend) don’t forget to check out the book tables. Children’s books are often sold for a ridiculously low price and I almost always find great classics my children will enjoy for years. A well-stocked home library can change your child’s future.

I make reading lists because it helps me stay on track during the year. It also helps me keep track of what my kids are reading. If I find a new book, I add it to the reading list so I will remember to check it out from the library. Since I reserve my library books online, I just cut and paste from my list, making at least one part of my life a bit easier.

I don’t have any books to share with you this week because I was busy creating our reading lists and getting ready for the Home Educators of Virginia Homeschool convention. Hopefully I will be able to hit the used curriculum sale early and find some great books to add to our home library.

I have included links to my first grade summer reading list (for children going into the first grade) and my 4th grade summer reading list. If you click on the links you can download the files.

The first grade list includes books that my son can read to himself as well as read alouds. He is still learning how to read and I hope to improve his reading skills this summer with my read aloud experiment.

4th grade summer reading list

1st grade summer reading list
Now it is time to link up your book basket post. Please link to the actual post and not your blog homepage so people can easily find your post. Then visit the other participants and see what they are reading!

Summer reading programs are a wonderful incentive for reluctant readers. Most if not all libraries have some sort of a summer reading program. These programs encourage kids to pick up a book this summer and in some cases are rewarded for reading a certain number of books. If a library in your area does not have a summer reading program you can participate in an online reading program. I am sure there are many online options available, but the two I am familiar with are the Scholastic Summer Challenge and the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program.

You can also create your own summer reading program for your children. Help them set a goal for how many books they should read this summer and reward them in August with an ice cream cone, mini pizza or some other treat they will enjoy. Summer is a great time for kids to develop a habit of reading every day.

Here are some of our favorite books from the week.

The Button Box by Margarette Reid Cute book about a boy who discovers his grandmother’s button box. If your kids like to play with buttons they will enjoy this book. This book can also be used to improve counting skills for higher numbers. Be prepared to break out the buttons if you read this book!
Animal Stackers by Jennifer Belle When I was in school I loved to write acrostic poems. This book is full of animal acrostics. A great way to introduce this form of poetry to your elementary aged child, but younger children will love the colorful illustrations and fun poems too.
The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow My children enjoyed the pictures more than the story in this book. What I did not like about it was that you have two pages of words and then two pages of pictures. My little kids could not sit through the long reading sections, but loved looking at the pictures. Finally about half-way through I gave up reading and we just talked about the pictures.
Hank the Cowdog by Jon Erickson Have your elementary aged boys discovered Hank yet? My boys love Hank the Cowdog and look forward to reading every book in the series. Hank is a farm dog, although he calls himself “Head of Ranch Security.” Your boys will love reading about Hank’s misadventures on the farm with his partner Drover, Pete the barn cat, and a hilarious cast of characters. One of the funniest aspects of this series is that the author has recorded many of these books on cd, using a variety of “voices” for all the characters in the book. These audio books are perfect for long road trips and will keep kids and parents laughing all the way to grandma’s.

Now it is time to link up your book basket post. Please link to the actual post and not your blog homepage so people can easily find your post. Then visit the other participants and see what they are reading!

In order to celebrate summer let’s link up next week with our summer reading lists. Feel free to link up with your book reviews too, but I will be posting our reading lists.

Thank you all so much for linking up your book basket posts. I really enjoy seeing what everyone else is reading and we have found some new favorite books thanks to your posts.

I also thought I would add a little PSA for my readers… DO NOT BEND THE PAGES OF LIBRARY BOOKS IN PLACE OF A BOOKMARK! Hopefully all the librarians who read this blog will like me again .

Most of our read alouds this week were repeats. Do your kids seem to want hear the same stories over and over? Mine do. I don’t mind as long as I like the stories too. Since I don’t have anything new to share with you, here are 13 books that your boys will love ~ and you will too!

Thirteen of my favorite books for little boys.

• Make Way for Ducklings
  by Robert McCloskey
• The Snowy Day
  by Ezra Jack Keats
• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
• Caps for Sale
  by Esphyr Slobodkina
• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
  by Virginia Lee Burton
• Billy And Blaze: A Boy And His Horse
  by C.W. Anderson
• Days with Frog and Toad
  by Arnold Lobel
• Big Dog… Little Dog (A Bedtime Story)
  by P.D. Eastman
• Gus and Button
  by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers
• A Tree Is Nice
  by Janice May Udry
• The Big Snow
  by Berta Hader and Elmer Hader
• Green Eggs and Ham
  by Dr. Seuss
• Little Bear
  by Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak

Now it is time to link up your book basket post. Please link to the actual post and not your blog homepage so people can easily find your post. Then visit the other participants and see what they are reading!
Mr. Linky isn’t working for me right now so if you have a link leave it in the comments section. I can link them up once it is working again.

Today you can download one of nine audio books from Barnes and Noble for free! I had not heard of many of the titles, but Tom Sawyer is one of them so I am going to download it for our bed time audio book.

You can find details and books here.

Hurry offer ends May 16, 2009 at 2:59 a.m. Eastern Time.

You can also win a free travel book by entering my giveaway here.

Thanks to my sis, who let me know about this deal.