2011-2012 in Review: Bible Study Guide for All Ages
The end of our second year of homeschooling has come to an end. I thought I would close up the homeschool year with a series of posts about our highlights, hits and misses of the year.
Our first major hit was Bible Study Guide for all Ages. E and C beg to do this. I am simply amazed at how much they love it, and at how much they have learned. We used the beginner student pages for both (first grade and pre-k) to keep it simple this year, and it worked perfectly. The front of the student page has a section for review and memory work and a "get active" section (in the interest of full disclosure I usually skipped the "get active" section because I never looked at it ahead of time to gather supplies...often I just summarized it or told the story.) The review and memory work were the key to the program for us. The front of the page also has an application and picture to complete after the back is done.
The back is the Bible study part. It is interactive and really keeps the kids engaged. E and I would often take turns reading, and yes it thrills this mama's heart to hear her read things like Israelites, Jerusalem, and pharisees without a hitch! ;)
Along with the student pages, I absolutely love the memory work built in. This year besides our Scripture memory that I added in, just through BSGFAA we covered Old and New Testament books of the Bible, the 12 Tribes of Israel, the 12 Apostles, the writers of the New Testament, and the 15 Judges, all to music found on their Children's Songs CD. Can you imagine your 6 year old begging to listen to a CD of the Judges of Israel? We also memorized the Beginner timeline which is 34 questions and pictures of major people and events in the Bible. We also used the Bible summary cards that teach the 66 books of the Bible. On the front is a picture of themes found in the book to help you remember what it is about. The back has a basic summary of the content of the book along with questions covering main themes, author, etc. I absolutely love the foundation our kids are getting, and how much I am learning as well! Ron calls it seminary for littles. :)
Bible is the core of our homeschool and choosing a curriculum was not easy for me . . . I am ummmm a little picky! ;) I am so very thankful to have found something that really meets our needs. We usually spend about 30 minutes for Bible right after breakfast. We begin with the BSGFAA student pages, then memory verse work that I add in, and end with a song and prayer. The kids then spend a few minutes finishing coloring their picture while I take 5 minutes for clean up.
When choosing curriculum for next year, I loved that this was an easy decision. We will be using two different sets of pages next year as C will continue with the beginner pages, but E will move onto the intermediate ones. I am not sure how the details of that will work out, but I will keep you posted!
Even if you don't homeschool, this would be a great resource for family worship or a home Bible study with your kids. There are levels for all ages preschool to adult and the great thing is everyone studies the same thing at their level. I love that!
Our first major hit was Bible Study Guide for all Ages. E and C beg to do this. I am simply amazed at how much they love it, and at how much they have learned. We used the beginner student pages for both (first grade and pre-k) to keep it simple this year, and it worked perfectly. The front of the student page has a section for review and memory work and a "get active" section (in the interest of full disclosure I usually skipped the "get active" section because I never looked at it ahead of time to gather supplies...often I just summarized it or told the story.) The review and memory work were the key to the program for us. The front of the page also has an application and picture to complete after the back is done.
The back is the Bible study part. It is interactive and really keeps the kids engaged. E and I would often take turns reading, and yes it thrills this mama's heart to hear her read things like Israelites, Jerusalem, and pharisees without a hitch! ;)
Along with the student pages, I absolutely love the memory work built in. This year besides our Scripture memory that I added in, just through BSGFAA we covered Old and New Testament books of the Bible, the 12 Tribes of Israel, the 12 Apostles, the writers of the New Testament, and the 15 Judges, all to music found on their Children's Songs CD. Can you imagine your 6 year old begging to listen to a CD of the Judges of Israel? We also memorized the Beginner timeline which is 34 questions and pictures of major people and events in the Bible. We also used the Bible summary cards that teach the 66 books of the Bible. On the front is a picture of themes found in the book to help you remember what it is about. The back has a basic summary of the content of the book along with questions covering main themes, author, etc. I absolutely love the foundation our kids are getting, and how much I am learning as well! Ron calls it seminary for littles. :)
Bible is the core of our homeschool and choosing a curriculum was not easy for me . . . I am ummmm a little picky! ;) I am so very thankful to have found something that really meets our needs. We usually spend about 30 minutes for Bible right after breakfast. We begin with the BSGFAA student pages, then memory verse work that I add in, and end with a song and prayer. The kids then spend a few minutes finishing coloring their picture while I take 5 minutes for clean up.
When choosing curriculum for next year, I loved that this was an easy decision. We will be using two different sets of pages next year as C will continue with the beginner pages, but E will move onto the intermediate ones. I am not sure how the details of that will work out, but I will keep you posted!
Even if you don't homeschool, this would be a great resource for family worship or a home Bible study with your kids. There are levels for all ages preschool to adult and the great thing is everyone studies the same thing at their level. I love that!
Nicole, thanks for sharing about the Bible Study curriculum. Will you do it with J this year or do you think that it would be more appropriate in another year? I am going to start some very basic preschool activities with James starting in August from some of my early childhood material from college and would love a great Bible curriculum that was age appropriate for James. Let me know what you think. Thanks so much for all this valuable, homeschooling info. As we look towards the future, this is so helpful for me!
ReplyDeleteHey Kassi! J will do it with us this year but mainly because she tags along with the other two. I think in another year or so she will get much more out of it. At this age with the other two I read through a good children's Bible and printed free coloring pages online to go along with it. We played puppet shows, play dough, dolls, coloring, and lots of songs and Bible memory. One thing with this curriculum you certainly could start now is the beginner timeline. J has learned so many of them and I think it provides an excellent foundation of knowledge with Biblical events and people. It is question and answer form so almost like simple catechism questions. I am amazed at how much Scripture J has memorized this year. One day in the car the kids were practicing I John 1:5-10 and J asked for a turn. I laughed and said sure. Crazy enough with some help she filled in words for the whole 6 verses. I was shocked. It also woke me up to not forget how much these little ones can learn. Hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that definitely helps a lot. I definitely want to start slow. I mean, he'll be 2 1/2 in August but at the same time they do pick up so much even at this age but definitely want the Bible to be the heart of what we do. I will definitely be reaching out to you with more questions in the future (via blog or phone since I don't have facebook anymore). :) You are such a mentor and encourager (even if you didn't mean to be!) to me. :)
ReplyDelete