Part 1 - Bible Study Guide

Teaching my children about God is one of the most important  jobs I have as a parent, so I wanted to find a special tool to help me do that. I had never heard of Bible Study Guide, but literally found them through a Google search of "homeschool Bible curriculum multiple ages" or something like that. I really wanted to find a Bible curriculum that my boys could do together, despite their age difference (second grade & K4). I have a lot of good things to say about this curriculum and plan to continue using it through the summer and into next year.

Their website www.biblestudyguide.com describes the curriculum like this:
The Bible Study Guide is a Bible curriculum that takes all ages through the Bible at the same time, studying some Old Testament and some New Testament each year.

Students learn the "big picture" of the story of the Bible, in-depth knowledge of the Bible and, best of all, how to apply it to their lives.

1 - For me obviously the biggest "pro" is that my 2 boys can study the same content with grade-appropriate material. Will uses the Beginner Level Material (K3-K5) while Alex uses the Intermediate Material (gr. 3-4). I chose a higher level for him because of his exposure to a lot of Bible teaching already in Sunday School, children's church, AWANA, & 3 years in Christian school. The one "con" I have fits here too. It has been a little tricky to "teach" both at the same time, as their application activities are different and require different instructions from me, but I think our system is working.

2 - The material is cost effective. The website recommends materials based on how many students you are teaching whether your own family or in a class setting. We pay just $5.95 per set of 26 lessons. The only level that requires a teacher guide for homeschooling is Primary level. Each set of student pages has a page of teacher instructions. I also purchased the Bible Book Summary Cards and music CD (sung lyrics only).

3- My boys are learning SO MUCH about the Bible,  not just stories. Let me walk you through a typical lesson for each boy .

Will's Sing & Remember section reviews content from each section of stories we've studied over & over again. Lesson 36 which we just finished asks about Lesson 1! This section also has students sing songs (There is an optional CD.) such as praise songs, Sunday school type songs, and songs that teach.  The Learn the Basics teaches a Biblical time line (I do not use this with Will) and information such as the books of the Bible. All of this is on one side of the Student Page. On the same side is the Get Active introduction activity (I do sometimes) and the application picture & discussion thoughts. The back side contains the story. There are Scripture references for me to read or I can use the included story paraphrase to tell the story (usually what I do for Will). Each story has a panel with cartoon-type illustrations, with things for Will to do in each pane. For example, if someone is mad, he may color their face red. God is illustrated by a cloud that says "God," which Will is always instructed to color yellow. Simple DOing things. See an example of the Beginner pages here. Beginner student pages sample

Alex's lesson has a Remember It? section where he is asked questions on the past stories. Sometimes it's fill in the blank, sometimes matching, things like that. He also has a Memory Workout section where he reviews stuff like books of the Bible and Bible Book Summary Cards (optional visuals that teach a summary of each book of the Bible). The Guess What. .. section teaches a definition of a word or defines a custom in the Bible. For example, you may know that Joseph was in charge of everything in Potifar's house except what he ate, but did you know that is because in their culture Egyptians did not eat with Hebrews? I didn't, but my 7 year old learned that! Alex's front side also contains a Get Active activity like Will's, an Apply It section, as well as a Prayer List (We do not do these parts as often as I'd like us to.). The front also contains my favorite part - Time Line or Map (every 3rd lesson). Alex is learning how all these stories relate to each other on a timeline of Biblical history as well as learning a LOT of Bible geography. The back contains the story panel too, but with age appropriate activities. Where Will is coloring or circling, Alex is labeling, underlining, matching, and drawing. These kinesthetic (hands-on) activities really imprint these stories in my boys' minds. See an example if Intermediate pages here. Intermediate student pages sample

4 - This may sound funny to you, but I like that the male characters do not look sissy or have long hair. Think about the Bible illustrations you've seen and you know what I mean.

5 - Another plus is that since no Scripture is actually printed on the pages, users are free to use whatever version of the Bible they choose.

Our review, story time, and application time takes about 30 minutes, which is our longest class of the day, but the most important, so I do not mind. If we are pressed for me, we sometimes do the review work one day and the story the next.

My Homeschool Curriculum Preface to 4 Part Series

I am a terrible blogger, but I do not promise you a daily or a frequent blog ever. I love reading; I love sharing what I've read. I will do it when I can. And I have not forgotten about those books I mentioned in my last post; I just think this is more important.

Today I am starting a series of blogs about the curriculum I use homeschooling my boys. I think it's a great time of year for this, as my homeschooling friends and friends who may be considering homeschool are starting to think about next year. Or maybe you're not, but I am! The reason I have recently solidified my curriculum choices for next year is that I am trying to buy used/preowned or take advantage of sales/convention specials. So far I have saved close to $200.

Before I began, let me preface that your WHYS of homeschooling are a very important factor in the curriculum you choose. When I started homeschool this fall, my why for my son Will was different than for my son Alex. Alex was basically just along for the ride, and I wasn't sure that I was going to like the ride, so I ordered pretty much all the same material he would be using if he had continued at our church's Christian school, where he attended last year. A number of my friends homeschool because they cannot afford a private school's price tag, because they live too far away from their local Christian school, because public school is not an option that meshes with their belief system, or because there is no Christian school in their area. . . those reasons are different than mine, and those reasons allow for different curriculum choices. I get that and don't knock their reasons or their curriculum. I wish they'd stop feeling like they have to defend their choices to me; it makes me feel awkward.

One of my main WHYS is "to give my sons an customized education that fits them as individuals." That being said, I will take the next four posts to share the curriculum I use with my boys and why I have chosen it for our program. Happy Reading!

Been a Long Time. . .

Sorry, faithful readers (if I have any), for not posting for a long time. My life as a wife, mom, and homeschool mom is very busy, and I do not take much time to sit down and read on a regular basis. However, it is our Christmas break, and I have been reading a bit this week, so will have some titles to review soon. I have read some of the Jim Erskine Easy Homeschooling series titles, and just finished Andrew Zahns's 10 Commandments for Creatives.

I think I was planning a series of reviews back in September, but since I don't remember what that was, obviously we are not continuing that at this time. I appreciate those who blog every day, but this blog is not THAT. I will reread my past posts to see if there is something I need to finish up. 

Curriculum Games - Part 2: Hands-On Homeschooling

I have a number of friends that homeschool their children, and the reasons for doing so differ. Some friends desire a Christ-centered education for their students, but a Christian school is not an option or not an affordable option. Some travel and need the flexibility. Some are trying to meet special needs. I decided to homeschool (Well, deep down I believe God led me to it, but here is my thought process.) because of my four year old Will. Will is gifted in the area of mathematics. He is almost at the same level as his second grade brother Alex. With this ability, I knew he would be bored in K-4 math. . . and what do bored, active little boys (or girls) do in school? Get in trouble! I did not want his educational experience to start this way, so I decided (again, I 100% believe God led me to this decision.) to homeschool Will this fall.

Since Will is a kinesthetic (hands-on) learner, I started looking outside the afore-mentioned curriculum options and found Hands-On Homeschooling. HOH is the brainchild of Texas mom and former Christian preschool teacher Terri Wilson. You can read her story here - http://www.handsonhomeschooling.com/about_me.htm. HOH has 2, 3, 4, and 5 year old options. You can see the scope & sequence of each level on her website www.handsonhomeschooling.com. For Will, I chose the 4 year old program, although he is above some of the items. I believe the 4 year old program cost $90 + shipping and came in a big binder - yep, that's right! Everything for the year is in one binder - all teacher's material, all weekly outlines, all daily notes, all patterns - in one binder!

The different aged programs may be set up differently, but for Will's there is a Bible lesson every day + 3 other activities - reading skills, writing, readiness skills (think: patterns, shapes, etc), math, science/health, social studies, physical movement, manners, and personal care. Field trips are suggested throughout the year. As a teacher, I LOVE the fact that Terri outlines each WEEK with it's own page, then each DAY with it's own page of what classes to do, what materials we will need, what preparation I need to do. I think teacher-parents will appreciate the organization that Terri has done with her program, while regular-parents will appreciate not having to organize everything on their own!

As the name implies, the activities are hands-on. We do not use her Bible lessons, but each week revolves around one story. Day one, you read the story. Day two, make a craft. Day three, do an application activity. Day 4, review the story using the craft. Day 5, reread story and say verse.

She recommends, but does not write lessons for, phonics as part of the reading skills part. She does, however, recommend several programs in the teacher's materials. Oh the teacher's materials! Love them! Her program utilizes books frequently, which has caused me to patronize my local library a lot more often. All necessary patterns are included in the back of the binder, which you may use or reproduce for your student(s).

Will's favorite classes are Letter Book and Cooking, which his 7-yr old brother enjoys joining. For Letter Book, each week we cut out pictures and place them in a photo album on the page of the letter of the week. This has greatly improved his cutting skills as well. I will include some pictures at the end of Letter Book, as well as Cooking Class, and the science/health lesson where we made a life-sized Will out of paper! A teacher with a class full of kids would not have been able to do that with each student, and I greatly appreciate the opportunity to work one-on-one with Will and his brother.

Overall, I am very pleased with this program. I liked being able to look at the Scope & Sequence online before purchasing so I could decide which age level was appropriate. Currently, I use about half of the activities for the week. Since Will has an older brother, he is advanced in some of the skills, so we just skip them. HOH is Will's main curriculum, but he uses different math, Bible, and writing, as well as some readiness activities. I think the content of HOH would be appropriate for most four year olds, but the beauty of homeschooling is the ability to customize the program for each child.

 Life-sized cut-out of Will. The next week we made internal organs and skeleton on the back! 

Working on Letter Book. We usually take 20 minutes at least to work on this each week. It is a fun activity for the two of us to do together. 

 Cooking applesauce for the letter "A." Big brother helps by reading the directions. 

Curriculum Games - Part I

I have been active in Christian education for almost ten years, in addition to the six years before that when I was earning a B.S. in elementary education and an M. S. in secondary education. In the Christian schools I associated with, the big curriculum question was "ABEKA or BOB JONES (University Press)?" Considering my 2 degrees are from Pensacola Christian College that is part of the same ministry that publishes ABeka, I am sure you can see where my allegiance was in that issue.

When I made the decision to homeschool my two sons last spring, my knowledge of homeschool curriculum was limited to ABeka, Bob Jones, and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). Boy was I in for a surprise! There are many, many more players in this homeschool game! I have found so many curriculum options, it is overwhelming at times! But I love the fact that there ARE so many options, I can pick and choose to make a customized program for my boys!

I am going to attempt to give an overview of some of the options I have discovered that I love. If you are interested in writing a guest blog about a curriculum you use and love, please message me.

Art with Anything by MaryAnn F. Kohl

If you know anything about our family, you know we have a budding artist for a 7 year old, so finding a good art resource for home school was very important to me. At the same time, I wanted something that my two boys (7,4) could do together. I found MaryAnn F. Kohl on www.amazon.com, and could've purchased any of her titles (such as Discovering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters or Story Book Art: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of 100 Great Picture Book Artists), but settled on Art with Anything: 52 Weeks of Fun Using Everyday Stuff (Gryphon House, Inc., 2010), which is aimed at ages 4-10, a great age range for homeschooling families.  First off, let me say that this contains more art projects that I would ever care to do - 5 a week for 52 weeks, so there are plenty to choose from. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about the format of the book.

Each week uses an art medium that you probably have around the house, or given a month or two, could save up. Some examples are: Address Labels, Aluminum Foil, Berry Baskets, Buttons, Coffee Filters, Hole-Punch Dots (NO THANK YOU), Gift Wrap, Leaves, Lids, Rain, Socks, Toys, Yarn, Zip-close bags. Each week's contents starts with a list of what you will need for each day, followed by simple directions for each week's project. The projects advance from basic to more complex as the week goes on, sometimes using pieces from one day for another day's project.

Not being particularly adventurous (but I'm working on it), I decided to start at the first week which was Address Labels. The projects are Label Collage, Painted Label Art, Woven Look Painting, Label Puzzle Craft, and Fancy Spaced-Out Labels (p. 12-13). Today, on the first day of homeschooling, my boys and I completed the Label Collage craft. Each person received a sheet of blank address labels to color (We used watercolor paints and markers.). When we were all finished, we shared our labels, and pulled them off the sheets to make collages on construction paper.  Simple, but the process took at least 30 minutes, and my artist 7 year old declared, "This was fun!" at the end of art time! I cannot wait to do more of MaryAnn's art projects. 

Above you can see Will's (4), Alex's (7), and my art projects from today.

Most posts coming soon

I apologize for the lack of posts, but I just downloaded 3 titles on my Kindle about homeschooling, so look for those soon. I have been ill, and we are starting school on Monday, but my goal is to blog at least once a week on my reading.