For Chipette’s kindergarten year, I tried to go
cheap on the “extras”. You know, science, history/social studies, etc. to
really focus on the 3 R’s. One of the items I skimped on was our Bible
curriculum. About two months into the school year, I had the following
conversation with myself.
Me:
Why are you trying to go cheap on the most important subject your children will
ever learn?
Me
2: I don’t know. Because this home schooling stuff can get expensive quickly.
Me:
Is it more important that your children know math or that they know the word of
God?
Me
2: Point taken.
Sometimes I do not like myself. She can get a
little blunt and testy.
So I went with the Bible curriculum I’d been
dreaming about owning one day. And I have never regretted it. The best part is
that it’s not expensive either.
I want to share with all of you my review of Bible
Study Guide for All Ages (BSGFAA).
BSGFAA is set up to cycle through the entire Bible
in four years if you do two lessons a week each year. We do a lesson every day.
*****UPDATE***** I went through and put all of the lessons into chronological order so that if you want to study straight through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you now have that option. My schedule is based on doing one lesson a day based on a four-day a week school schedule. If you do a five-day a week schedule, I suggest using the fifth day as a review of what you learned that week. If you follow this schedule you will study through the entire Bible in three years (based on a 36 week school year) with some free weeks at the end of each year for deeper study of a topic or review of the year. Here is a link to the file: Bible Study Guide for All Ages Chronological Order ******UPDATE********
All children are studying the same Bible passage at the same time, but doing different
student worksheets based on their level.
The program takes you through the Bible, but not
chronologically. Rather you will do some Old Testament, then some New Testament
and vice versa showing how the entire Bible is interwoven and points to Jesus.
At first I was worried that this would be confusing to my kids, but they seem
to have no problem with it.
The Lesson
We do the review section from each girl’s
worksheet which asks questions from previous lessons. Usually the questions are
the same, but sometimes they are different.
Chipette:
Magpie:
Next, we do the memory work section which usually
has us working on memorizing books of the Bible, lists from the Bible, and
Bible summary cards or timeline cards.
Now it’s time for the Bible lesson. I read the
Bible chapter or verses that the day’s lesson is from. I use my daughter’s ESV
Bible, but the lesson questions are written using the NIV. Using two different
versions is not usually a problem. As I’m reading Magpie colors the picture on
the front of her worksheet, while Chipette just listens.
Once we’ve finished the Bible reading, we flip the
worksheets over to the comic strip looking section. There are instructions to help
review and cement the story in their heads. I read Magpie’s sheet to her while
Chipette follows the instructions on her own asking for my help if she needs
clarification about what to do. The best
part is that if she gets stuck on an answer the verse citation where the answer
is found is in each frame of the comic strip so she gets the extra practice of
looking up verses!
This is what their finished worksheet pages look
like:
Chipette:
Magpie:
Now we turn the sheets back over and do the Apply
It section. This is my favorite part! You take the Bible story and apply it to
situations in the child’s own life. I do Magpie’s first, then Chipette’s.
Usually the point of the story is the same for both girls, but the scenarios
presented are different which is good for them to understand applying scripture
in many different circumstances. We finish by saying a prayer about what we
learned today.
At this point Magpie can leave the table while
Chipette and I finish her extras on the front page (timeline, maps, lesson
review).
The Setup
I wanted to share some pictures of the actual
materials so you could get an idea of how the program is set up.
Timeline section from Chipette's sheet.
Map section from Chipette's sheet. Map and timeline are not on the same day.
The lesson part of Chipette's sheet.
Coloring page on the front of Magpie's sheet. This ties into the Apply It! Section.
The lesson part of Magpie's worksheet.
The Extras
Just this year, I discovered a new product (new to
me anyway) that the folks at Bible Study Guide sell. They are called Bible Book
Summary Cards and they are AMAZING!!!!
The girls and I are focusing on learning
one card each week of school. What makes these so great is that anybody of any
age would benefit from learning the information on these cards. Plus the cards
are not tied specifically to this Bible study, so if you wanted to use these
cards with your current Bible program they would be extremely useful.
The front of the card is a picture that symbolizes
what the book of the Bible is about.
On the back is a quick synopsis of the book that
explains what the picture is referencing.
At the bottom of the back, under the synopsis, are
review questions to ask your children until they learn all of the information.
We’ve already learned the card for the book of
Genesis and are currently working on the book of Exodus which is pictured
above. I am looking forward to using these cards so much for increasing my own
Bible knowledge.
I think this is the perfect setup for any family
(even non-homeschoolers!) to all study the Bible together. And in case you are
curious there is absolutely no doctrine taught. These are just the Bible
stories so families can add in their own beliefs.
The final analysis this Friday about Bible Study Guide for All Ages is that we are using this program for the long haul. For our
family, this is a perfect 10!
Knowing and loving the Bible is the number one
goal in the tree house,
Chelli
