Unfortunately, fate had it that the other mom, who was supposed to teach it, got put on bed rest due to some complications in her pregnancy (prayers for Joy, please!) So, I was on tap to pick out how to proceed. She didn't mind me stepping in and taking over (thankfully) and so I found a short curriculum. However, my kids were not enjoying reading the Acts of the Apostles straight from their Bible. They read it, but did not enjoy it. But, they did realize we were reading it right along with the daily readings.
Last year, I had picked up Marigold Hunt's The First Christians, which is a re-telling of the Acts of the Apostles that is extremely accessible to kids, but it got put on the "read later" shelf. This week we've been reading it out loud and the kids have been following up with their workbooks.
One of the things I love the most about this book was Hunt's mentioning that what the Apostles were doing was creating the "Active Orders" of the church and what Our Lady was doing was creating the "Contemplative Orders" by praying for the Apostles, their work and the world in general.
I recommend the book, especially this time of year, where we get the Acts instead of the Old Testament for our first reading. The kids have been getting a charge out of hearing the daily readings, which we do together at the beginning of the school day, and seeing how they correspond to how Marigold Hunt tells the story. If you've never read St. Patrick's Summer or The Life of Our Lord for Children or A Book of Angels by Marigold Hunt, you might consider picking up a copy, especially St. Patrick's Summer (my favorite of all of them).
