My Friend Phil the Praying Mantis
By Bruce Larson

Did you know that as many as 80,000 ladybugs will fit inside a gallon bottle? Or, that praying mantids have one ear on their bellies? Ants, on the other hand, can lift 20 times their own body weight. WOW. So what have I been reading? Bruce Larson's study guide, My Friend Phil The Praying Mantis, of course! Bruce obviously loves nature and provides a resource with details that draw our children in to the Lord's amazing design and sense of humor in creation.

Bruce has chosen three insects for his study guide: the praying mantis, the ladybug, and the ant. Each section gives anatomical details, the lifecycle and then fun and unusual facts.The praying mantis section includes details on hatching praying mantids and creating a habitat for them, and the ladybug portion has an anatomical chart to be filled out by the student.

This is a fun introduction to insect life!

-- Product Review by: Diane Wheeler, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine

Here's another Sequoia Ministries review!

I had the opportunity to meet with Bruce Larson, founder of Sequoia Ministries, at a recent homeschool convention. What a neat guy! Mr. Larson has a true heart for God, and uses his gift of expertise knowledge about nature (he was once a California Park Ranger), by offering truly intriguing, God-centered unit studies. If you are looking for an in-depth, affordable, student-friendly resource to use in your science and/or history class, Sequoia Ministries is definitely the way to go! These are perfect for the "one-room-schoolhouse" approach, as these lessons are relevant for both the elementary and high school grades alike! They are written in an easy, relaxed way, and have a cozy "sit and learn around the fireplace" feel about them.

Johnny Appleseed is an especially fun lesson, with a hidden picture puzzle, an actual copy of an article written about Johnny Appleseed from the Harpers New Monthly Magazine dated 1871, coloring pages, and great comprehension questions that go with the text. My 13-year-old and eight-year-old are going through this. It's so great that they can work through a lesson together, and there is something age-appropriate for them both! It's absolutely delightful! Sequoia Ministries offers a whole plethora of great unit studies to choose from - you will want to contact Bruce Larson and find out all about his ministry, it's roots, and the group presentations he offers (these are really neat!). He is such a friendly man - he would love to hear from you!

Thanks Bruce Larson!



-- Product Review by Jenefer Igarashi, Senior Editor of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine

Publisher's note: As with any faith-based curriculum, it is important for parents to fully investigate the content in order to ensure that the philosophies/values/doctrinal accuracy line up with God's word. While everything we've taken a look at from Sequoia Ministries have been examples of great resources for homeschoolers, we did discover two that could be considered controversial: The Star of Bethlehem and Gospel in the Stars. Overall, we find Sequoia Ministries to be an awesome distributor of Christian unit studies.