Bible Study Guide for all ages

I consider Bible an important subject in school. Not spiritual character-building, which, in my opinion is learned by osmosis as we raise them, but learning where to find what you are looking for, memorizing such things as the Ten Commandments, understanding some of the cultural differences between Abraham's time and ours, and just being exposed to the details of the stories that we miss when we just hear them read to us.
So, for a couple of years, I have been looking for a curriculum for such a subject. Cathy Duffy doesn't have a category for such a thing. Neither does homeschool reviews. And anyone I asked personally just said, "We just use our devotional books to cover Bible."
But finally, Brenda blogged about this curriculum: Bible Study Guide for all ages. So I checked it out, then I hemmed, and hawed, and checked it out again. Finally, I ordered it.
We have been working on it for two weeks now. I did not order the Teacher's Guide, nor any of the supporting materials.


Pros:

1. The kids love it. As in, when we finish with a topic or a project they say, "Can we do Bible, now? Is it time for Bible, yet?"


2. It's on their level. (I am only using this for Kaytie and Nate, so consider this K to 2nd grade level) I ordered the intermediate and it is simple enough for them to do "on their own" but difficult enough for them to feel challenged and to be gleaning new information from it.


3. It has the perfect balance of circling and coloring/ actual writing. We are only five and six, so our writing skills are still weak. I want them to learn to write answers to questions, but right now writing is very time-consuming, especially for Nate. So being able to underline the correct answer, or color the correct person is really helpful. On the other hand, they do have to write some answers, and there are no full-page pictures to color, so if your child (like Nate) is not into coloring as an art form, that will not slow you down, either.


4. The map work and timeline are great for my visual learners!


5. (and this should really have been #1) They are assigned brief passages of actual Scripture to read. This isn't a Bible story book. They are expected to get their answers from the Bible itself. But the passages are manageable for them. (I read them aloud from our NIrV Discoverer's Bible.)

Cons:

1. We have only been using these for two weeks and the binding is already shot. The pages are falling out. This wouldn't be such a big deal if I could just slap them into a binder, but since the books are not 8 1/2 x 11 size, I don't know what to use to keep them together. This is very frustrating for me!


2. They started with Joseph. I "get" their reasoning for doing some Old Testament and some New Testament in each book, but seriously, starting with Joseph instead of Creation is driving me straight up the wall. I would have sent the books back straightaway if the kids had not already just had an in-depth look at Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in church the past few months. This might not bother you at all, but I'm a linear thinker and a strong advocate of starting from the beginning.


3. The books were $5.95 apiece, (a bigger deal for me, because I had to buy two and will have to buy more for the little kids later, and had to pay shipping and we are on a VERY tight budget around here) and there is only 26 short lessons. So if I followed their recommendation of two lessons a week, we would be done and needing more in December. We are only doing one lesson a week, working on a little bit each day. So this isn't as much of a con as I originally thought it would be. And at least we are not being overwhelmed with a lot of work!

All in all, we are happy with this curriculum. And I really believe I will order the next book when we are done with this one. The kids said they would like it if I did. :) I will probably also get the CD, but I still don't see a need for the Teacher's Guide.

Kaytie logic

This week, we are learning about Haiti. The book we were reading said that a lot of Haitian kids can't go to school because they live too far from one.
Kaytie's response?
"Haven't they ever heard of homeschooling?"

Week Three

This week, the kids made "gold coins" after we read about Columbus and the other Spanish explorers quest for gold. We read online about Spanish coins and how it was more important how much a coin weighed than what it looked like. The kids used sculpy, playdough tools, and plastic coins to create their own money.

In art, they drew around shapes. They really enjoyed this, and loved the way it looked when they were finished.

I drew two black lines on their paper and they had to come up with the rest of the picture. This was our most "successful" art project to date. :) Kaytie's pictures are on the left and Nate's are on the right.

For science, they learned about bird parts, and then reviewed by matching cards. I found these online somewhere last spring for free. I knew I would use them so I printed them off and cut them up, and then forgot where I found them!

They also read about animal habitats and played with our habitat set.

We started our new Bible curriculum.

We practiced our dictionary skills.

And had some fun "free choices". I don't know what he is doing with his hand! lol This is a bowling set I found at Dollar Tree many moons ago.

In Geography, we learned about Canada,

and put together puzzles.

This is one of our math games: grocery shopping!

Preschool: C, clouds and Elijah

This week, Daniel learned about the letter C and what it "says", clouds and weather, and the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

Our C box.

Daniel had a lot of fun blowing clouds across the table.

And off the table.

He enjoyed the bear puzzle. This picture distressed him greatly, because he thought the bear wasn't wearing any pants.

He played with the abc puzzle.

Daniel did a LOT of coloring this week.

And a lot of reading. These books have been on their shelf since we started school, and they just noticed them this week. Here, he is pointing out a circle. He has known his shapes for years, long before I would have gotten around to teaching him. He's good at osmosis-learning.

Alphabet Bingo was a favorite. On this particular day, he was taking pleasure in informing his sister, "I have one and you don't." It was driving her insane, so we had to stop the game for some hugging.

He loves to stamp. I give them the letter and number of the week and a small ink pad just for them.

He played a lot with these tiny pattern blocks. He made pictures, he stacked them into towers, and I showed him how to make letters with them although he was not impressed by that, at all.

I put their geometric shapes into the Mystery Bag. They enjoy playing with this, although they will not do it right. :) They stick their hands in there, say, "What is it?" Then pull it out and ask me, "Mom, what is this called?" Although Daniel knows what they are, mostly, he just wants to hear me say it.

(and yes, he dresses himself)

He chose the weather puzzle often. He is into puzzles right now. Usually, this one would be too easy, but with the edges missing, it gave it a twist that made him have to think about it. :)

His favorite this week was pouring water. He had a few spills, (the sponge was for clean up) and dumped all the water out (I only had a teeny bit in there) once. But I made him put it away immediately, and the next time he chose it, he was very respectful.

And one evening, we put on music and danced the night away. Daniel dressed for the occasion, as you can see.

Our favorite books this week were:

Little Cloud by Eric Carle

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G Shaw

Shapes in the Sky by Josepha Sherman

Hi, Clouds and Rain! Rain both by Carol Greene

Clouds by Alice Flanagan

For more Preschool Corner, click here

Totschool: C, Clouds and Elijah

This week, Abbie learned the letter C, read about clouds and weather, and listened to the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

The C box.

Alphabet Bingo. That's what we call it, but we play it differently than real Bingo, because they have to cover all nine letters to win. And Mommy knows how to manipulate the deck so that the kids see all twenty-six letters before the game is over. :) I made these cards way back when for Kaytie and Nate, that is why they are uppercase. I'm in the process of making a lowercase set.

Abbie LOVES this game. Since they are still learning letter recognition, I will show them the card and say, "Does anyone have a C? It looks like this." And we will say it's sound, trace the letter, whatever, as much as I am not distracted with other kids at the time.

So Abbie picked this over and over and over all week. Then, on Friday, I looked up from helping Nate with his math, and saw her in the middle of a game, flipping over the cards herself, asking, "Do I have one of these? No? Nope!" or "Yes! Here it is! Put a dot on it!"

She played two games by herself, then spent a good amount of time making a caterpillar with the dots.

She played with legos. Technically, this was not school, but on her own time. She had put her mat away and gone outside with the little boys, gotten bored, and came back in to build. But I love her little tongue in this picture, so I stuck it in. :) I guess this could be considered "extra-curricular activities"?

This one, too. This was Dance Night. One of the kids favorite things to do.

She did stamping and coloring: a favorite every single week.

Do you notice a theme in her color choices?

She drew on the wipe-off ABC cards.













She read a lot of books.









And she made some more rainbows. (This day, Ballarina Bear came to school, and napped beside Abbie as she worked all day long.)





This was their favorite work all week long. I put a thimbleful of water in the container and outlined the rules VERY firmly.

There was some spilling, but she cleaned it up very very well. :) At the beginning of the week, I had to guide her in picking up the jars with her whole hand, not just the tips of her fingers, and demonstrate how to slowly and carefully pour the water. But by the end of the week, she could do this totally on her own, including taking the lids off without spilling any water.

Blowing clouds was also a hit this week.

As were the geometric shapes in the Mystery Bag.

"What is it?"

"It's a hemisphere!"

"This is fun!"

She played with the dress-up bears.

And built with tiny pattern blocks.

For more Totschool, click here