Journey into the World of the First Christians with Drive Thru History® {Product Review}

Last year we were introduced to the amazing Dave Stotts and Drive Thru History®, when we reviewed The Gospels curriculum. My boys quickly fell in love with the program and Dave Stotts. When we had a chance to review the newest addition to the Drive Thru History® family, Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation", we were very eager to go on a trip through the New Testament with Dave as our guide again.

About The Product

Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" explores the world of the First Christians during the time immediately after Christ’s death and resurrection. Starting in Jerusalem and using the Book of Acts as a roadmap, we are taken through the Mediterranean region with Dave Stotts as he shares the people, places, and events that launched Christianity. The DVD’s contain 18 episodes (30 minutes each for 9 hours of footage) which explore

Drawing Closer to God~ Our Biblical Studies Curriculum for 2018-2019

In my current series of discussing the curriculum we are using and our routine, I have pointed out that one of the most important things that I’ve included this year relates to increasing biblical knowledge. In my last post, I shared the memorization system that we are using to “hide scripture” in our hearts.

(You can snag a copy of my printable if you check out that post!) 

Today, I want to share the two bible study programs that we are using with each boy to further increase their overall bible knowledge. These studies are enjoyable and only add about 15 minutes of time to our day!

Your Word Have I Hidden In My Heart: Memory Verse Work System with Printable

As I mentioned in my post about our daily homeschool routine, one of the most important changes to our schedule this year, was incorporating a system for memorizing scripture and other Bible related passages. This is a priority in our classroom, and how we start every day. I have looked at many official "programs" for doing it, but I needed something simple that worked with ANY scripture I wanted, as I had personal favorites I wanted to make sure we went over. Thus, my current (successful, I will add) memory verse system was born! Today I'm going to share with you, not just WHAT it looks like over the course of the week, but also a printable that you can use to easily and quickly add it to your own day!

Creating an Old Testament Activity-Pak with Home School In the Woods {Product Review}

I have written many times about unit studies and lapbooks and why our family enjoys them. One of the favorite companies for us is Home School in the Woods. We have reviewed several of their products over the last few years with great success. We recently had another chance to review on of their great products and have been enjoying putting together another one of the Hands-on History Activity-Paks, this time working through The Old Testament.   

About The Old Testament Hands-on History Activity-Pak

The Old Testament is just one of the many products in the Hands-on History Activity-Paks series from Home School in the Woods. Other products in the series include: Make-A-State, The New Testament, Artists, and Composers. Each of the Activity-Paks includes projects on the topic that together create an entire lapbook. Providing a hands-on experience for gaining and demonstrating knowledge on a subject. Home School in the Woods prides themselves on being a hands-on history company with multiple product lines. 
Every Activity-Pak includes step-by-step directions for each project, directions and photos for all the aspects of the lap book assembly, and all the printable pages needed to complete each activity. They can be used to accompany any text you are using--curriculum, unit studies, or just books in general! Another option is to use the lap book as a guide for your studies, simply add the reading and research each project as you do it! (Scripture references accompany the New and Old Testament projects.)
The Old Testament Activity-Pak includes 15 different lapbook covering different parts of the Old Testament including:

Bible Study Guide for All Ages {Product Review}

We are a Bible loving family. I am always on the lookout for ways to bring bible stories to life for my children and I'm rather picky about the type of curriculum I like to use. It is sometimes hard to teach both of my boys at the same time using the same curriculum or program. Enter our review of Bible Study Guide for All Ages. Could our review of the Advanced (5th & 6th grade) and Intermediate (3rd & 4th grade) student guide pages be just what I was looking for?

About Bible Study Guide for All Ages

The Bible Study Guide for All Ages is a bible curriculum that takes the whole family (all ages) through the bible at the same time. Every year, some of the Old Testament and some of the New Testament is studied. Not only will the students learn the big picture of the bible, but they will also be able to memorize key points from the bible stories as well as practice applying the lessons to their own lives. There is different material available for the different age groups. If you are studying as a mixed aged class or as a family, getting the Unit Teacher's Guide would be the best bet. If however, you want to hone in on different age groups, you can check out the student study guide pages for the following ages:

Explore Riveting Tales of Adventures with Brinkman Adventures Audiodrama {Product Review}

Audio adventures are always enjoyed by our family. Back in 2014 we had a chance to review the Brinkman Adventures Season 2 and had mixed thoughts on it. We lately have been reviewing the Brinkman Adventures Season 4. Join me in discovering if our thoughts on these Christian audiodramas changed!

About Brinkman Adventures

Brinkman Adventures is an audiodrama series that follows a family of missionaries on their journey's around the world. The family homeschool their many children (8+!) and the oldest daughters blog about their escapades. All of their journeys and many of the people they meet are based on real life experiences by

What Will My Story Be? {Five Minute Friday}

I am currently away in Lake Junaluska, NC worshipping with about 600 brothers and sisters in Christ as we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles this year. It's been an amazing few days thus far--and I've been thinking a lot about the topics that have been covered by the speakers. Interestingly enough, I believe that they tie in with this week's theme of STORY for Five Minute Friday...

AND START

Story
A Tale
An adventure of some sort. Be it through a romance. A trial. A quest. Or even just the adventure of life.
Stories move us. Stories encourage us. Stories teach us.
Some of the most inspirational stories can be found in the pages of God's Holy Word--the Bible. There are oh so many tales to be discovered. And they teach so many lessons. Faith like Abraham. Patience and Meekness of Moses. Courage of Joshua. The boldness of David. The persistence of Hannah. The cowardness of Jonah. The stubborness of Balaam. The passion of Paul. The Strength of Christ.

All these stories are there for our benefit. I know I learn much from them. The psalms of David can lift me up. His life story and his ups and downs bring me comfort in his humanity.

What about my story?
What kind of legacy will I leave for those who follow behind?
Will my life's tale encourage someone? Will it build them up?

This is when the chorus lyrics from a song pop into my head. They are very profound and something I need to be thinking about every day...

I want to leave a legacy

How will they remember me?

Did I choose to love?

Did I point to You enough

To make a mark on things

I want to leave an offering

A child of mercy and grace

Who blessed Your name unapologetically

And leave that kind of legacy

Not well-traveled, not well-read

Not well-to-do or well-bred

Just want to hear instead

Well done, good and faithful one

("Legacy", Nichole Nordeman)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend surrounded by family and friends! If you have a blog, I encourage you to join in our weekly Five Minute Friday posts!

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls...A New Christian Fiction Series for Kids {Book Review}

I am always on the lookout for quality books that aren't filled with smut. This is especially true when it comes to book selections for my boys. So much of the children's literature available--especially for chapter books--is filled to the brim with smut and political agendas. And that's not coming into our house! Thankfully there ARE other options out there. Over the last few weeks, we have had the pleasure of reviewing the first two books in a new children's chapter book series from WorthyKids/Ideals called The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls. I am happy to say that I have found a series that meets my approval for quality AND entertaining chapter books!

About The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Book Series

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls book series is published by WorthyKids/Ideals of Worthy Publishing Group. This book series is geared for ages 6-9 and is biblical fiction. The series revolves

Alone with God Bible Study for Kids {Product Review}

I recently discovered that my oldest son (age 11) declared that he knew the Old Testament much better than the New Testament. This came about while playing a game of Bible Trivia. After thinking about it, I realized that most of our Bible curriculum has had an Old Testament focus. He does know about the life of Christ very well, but when it comes to the Apostles and the events surrounding the start of the church, he wasn't strong. I had been thinking about how to go about doing a study into the life of the Apostles, but didn't have a plan. Enter I Can Study Acts Alone With God Bible Study (52 week study) from Greek 'n' Stuff, a product that came up for review several weeks ago. After discovering that this was a bible study program for late elementary geared to studying the book of Acts in detail, I hoped it would be exactly what I needed to strengthen my son's knowledge in the area he was lacking.

About Alone with God Bible Study

Greek 'n' Stuff offers a series of independent bible study resources for children called the Alone with God Bible Study series. In each of these books, a workbook helps your child read a book in the Bible over a set length of weeks. The workbook consists of 6 lessons each week. Every lesson

Independence Day 2017~ A Christian Reflection on the Declaration of Independence

It is hard to believe that we are already at the 4th of July celebrations for 2017. Time just speeds along so quickly. Even though it was 241 years ago, I'm sure that our forefathers of 1776 felt the same way. Time was hurrying them to major events. Their colonies were in the midst of the first "Brexit" and in the heat of war. They were trying to determine what was going to happen next. And so a red headed young man named Thomas Jefferson, with much guidance from men like Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, drafted up their official Declaration of Independence from their former governing body to explain why they believed in what they were doing.

Have you ever read the ENTIRE Declaration of Independence? Not just the part we are familiar with--but the whole thing? I encourage you to do so. It is only when you read the declaration in entirety that you realize WHAT they were saying. What they were truly declaring their independence from and their dependence on. One of the most useful activities I had to do in a literature class in college, was to read the entire text and then write in "language for the common

Adventures in Hand Lettering

Are you into the latest craze of Bible Journaling? I have several friends who love the hobby and I admire their gorgeous creations. I started getting into the world of Hand Lettering towards the end of last year. I just admired the beautiful creations and quotes that so a few artsy friends were making--so I decided to start small and start playing around with it--and so I began my adventures in Hand Lettering!

Open Wide Your Mouth {5 Minute Friday}

It's time for another week of Five Minute Friday--where I set my timer and get to ramble about a word inspired theme for 5 minutes. Last week, it revolved around the word enough. This week, we have another e word--empty.

AND GO

Empty
What do you think of when you hear someone say they are empty? In my mind, I assume this means that they need to be fed. But fed what? Are they empty in their belly? Are they empty in their heart? Are they empty in their minds?
I know there have been times when I had a deep deep hunger. This usually happens around the Day of Atonement--a Holy Day of God that I observe--which requires a complete 24 hr fast. Boy, do I feel EMPTY as that 24 hr mark nears. And if I could just get anything--even the smallest bite, or smallest glass of water, I knew that my hunger would be satiated. My emptiness, maybe for a moment, less. Or other times where you feel the need that you HAVE to have _____________ or you will STARVE! Desperate to eat anything! Just give me something!
But what about God? Do you treat the desire to seek out His word, His gospel as if YOU are empty? Do I do this? Do I reach for spiritual food with the same desire as physical food? We are supposed to. We are supposed to seek Him out in the good times, as well as the bad times. To be that one thing we crave, as if we were empty inside. For we ARE all empty without Him. And He PROMISES that He will fill us. 
We can read in the gospel accounts of His Son, Jesus Christ referring to Himself as the bread of life and the living water. That if we eat and drink of Him (as in partake in His way of life, commandments, and gospel) every day, it will sustain us forever. We won't be empty.
One of my favorite Psalms reads:

I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. ~ Psalm 81:10

He promises to FILL our emptiness inside--that emptiness of heart and mind. That emptiness that can wear us down. That emptiness that drives us to try to fill it with something--ANYTHING to make it go away. But the emptiness will continue to grow like an all consuming black hole, unless we choose to FILL it with God. So many broken people out there...who believe that they can live life without choosing God. And so they stay broken. They stay empty. Hungering for something...but they just can't seem to find it.

If only they would look up... He's there.  He's waiting.  He will FILL your emptiness. If only you will let Him.

AND STOP

Thanks for joining me in this week's 5 Minutes Friday post! We are finishing out our Spring Break today and Monday, returning to "school" on Tuesday. I am hoping to have some fun with the boys in the first week back to get back into the groove--but only Tuesday to Thursday because...FRIDAY is the Great Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati! I am so excited to go this year--mostly because for the first time ever, my mom is going with me! It will be great to have her around for picking her brain about things. I am also eager to try doing some LIVE footage of the convention while I am there that day. 
And don't forget that NEXT WEEK (April 17-21) is the first of our 5 Days of Homeschool...Blog Hop with the Schoolhouse Review Crew! I will be sharing my topics for next week's posts on Sunday--so make sure you come and check it out!
Have a simply marvelous weekend, my friends! 

Biblical Wisdom for Wednesday: Faith Like Gideon

Here I am back for another lesson to share from our family bible lessons this week. As I explained with my initial blog post in this series, this is nothing more than a journaling of some thoughts that I've had while studying God's Word with my boys. Last time, I shared a lesson I learned from the story of Job, but we have moved forward in our story. We are now reading the book of Judges right now--and let me tell you. If you want to pack the lessons of obedience and disobedience succinctly? Read your children the book of Judges. There are some super awesome stories in there of men and women who did incredible things. My boys were nearly bug-eyed during a few stories (Um. Like General Sisera's death via tent peg. LOL). But one of the stories that I loved sharing with them the most, was that of Gideon. I think in many ways most Christians can identify with Gideon. Because most of us have faith like Gideon. 

So Gideon's story can be found in Judges 6 and it isn't pretty when it starts. We find the tribes of Israel under attack on nearly all sides by their age old enemy the Midianites. It's gotten so bad that the Midianites have driven Israel to move into the mountains, to hide in caves and dens (Judges 6:2). But you know, it was Israel's own fault. They were yet again suffering the consequences for their disobedience to God with their abhorrent idolatry. But there they were. And as before oh so many times, they begin to cry out to God to have mercy on them. To save them. Again. 

Biblical Wisdom for Wednesday: Everything is Mine, Job!

I thought that this week, I would try starting a new feature. I would technically call it, Lisa's Ramblings about What Struck her Fancy during Bible Study...but instead I decided on Biblical Wisdom for Wednesday. LOL. I plan on sharing tidbits of thought that came from either my own studies, or things that pop in my head after my bible studies with the boys. Just extra tidbits that I wanted to share. I hope they will maybe encourage you. Or inspire you.
This week, we started learning about the story of Job from the Old Testament. Job has always been a favorite story of mine--I LOVE

Zonderkidz: The Beginner's Bible, new edition {Product Review}

I remember the year my little brother received The Beginner's Bible when he was a little boy. It was so exciting to go through the stories, and he LOVED acting them out. We read it sooooo many times, he had passages memorized! When my oldest was born, my parents gifted us with that Bible for us to read to him. He too LOVED it, and cherished being able to read it by himself when he was old enough. This past year, that same Bible--now in our family for 25 years was passed to my youngest son and he too began reading it all by himself. As soon as I was told I had a chance to review a NEW edition of The Beginner's Bible by Zonderkidz, I leaped at the chance to get it and hoped the new edition still had the wonderful traits of the one we had been passing through the family.

Product Information

The Beginner's Bible by Zonderkidz is a MUCH loved picture bible recommended for ages 6 and under. The new edition of this beloved Bible has updated 3D artwork, new stories (over 90!), and new text. The text is written with beginning readers in mind, and features a LOT of sight words and easy to phonetically sound out words. There are also online coloring sheets, apps, games, and more that coordinate with the new edition of this Bible--perfect for letting your children or students enjoy their favorite bible stories even more! This new edition is affordable--retailing for just $16.99 at most retailers.

Our Thoughts on This Product

The first thing I noticed about the bible, was that it had VIBRANT colors and still featured many of the same cover characters our beloved classic edition did. In fact, the boys immediately recognized that it was a newer version of their now worn out edition. Both boys--even though Little Britches is well beyond the age it was designed for--eagerly wanted to get their hands on it. 
I have enjoyed seeing my youngest find joy inside the covers of this version of the bible. He LOVES the bright colorful photos and most important, that he can easily read the text. He enjoys that the words are either recognizable or easy to sound out. Baby Britches takes this bible to church with him each week, and at any given time during the service, I can find him with it open on his lap reading silently to himself. It really makes me happy when I see that...gives me warm fuzzies.
This past week, he has asked if he can have it during meals--we are book friendly family and everyone is allowed to read during lunch if they want. I loved watching him read while he ate his meal! Bible study is always welcome!

Do you have the older edition? If so, I'm sure you want to know what the difference is. That was what my main question was too. Here are a few pictures to show some differences:
First, the table of contents is much easier to navigate. The stories are clearly marked. They also have some new titles--and also some of the stories have been switched out.

Classic Edition

New Edition

 You would also find some of the text reads different. Here are some pictures of photos of the same story in each edition. You can really see how the illustrations have been changed to the brighter 3D version. 

 Because I really wanted to share more about how these two versions compare, I have created a video review for you--I hope it will help you get a feel for this product. 
(I apologize for the cuts to and away--I was all by myself and my editing program wasn't working properly!)
Now, before I quit, i do want to share a couple of the cons I have with this bible. For me, one downside of children's bibles is that too many of them don't quite line up with our family's doctrinal beliefs. This one has elements of that present. For instance, there are several mentions of heaven as an eternal resting place, a few of the men (some non-Nazarite vow keeping ones) have long hair, photos of angels with wings, the age of Jesus in the beginning of His story (has Christmas elements to the story--and I don't celebrate Christmas), the age of David in the battle with Goliath (he should be more of a teenager), and a few other odd ball things. It truly is what you would expect in just about any contemporary children's illustrated bible. BUT if you don't have issues with these things, then it won't be a problem! I will add, that I was pleased to see the FULL and biblically correct 10 commandments listed. Sometimes children's bibles don't get that accurate. Now in regards to the cons, they are not enough for me to not use this bible. I am not above making text changes if there is something that doesn't completely match the Bible. This version's error is mostly in the illustrations, NOT the text. And really it DOES do better than many of the children's bibles available.
In short--I would definitely recommend this children's bible. It is a great book for beginning readers. The illustrations are vibrant, the text is age appropriate, and there are many beloved children's stories included. I know that we will plan on getting another 25 years out of this new edition as we enjoy it's treasures!

Want to Know More?

You can see how much we loved The Beginner's Bible from Zonderkidz--but why not hop over and see what other families in the review crew thought as well? Make sure you connect with Zonderkidz via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest for more news! *** If you have any questions, make sure you tune in for my LIVE review of this product on Thursday, January 5, 2016 at 1pm EST over on my Facebook Page!

Park yourself {Five Minute Friday}

I almost forgot about Five Minute Friday, because we are down here in Panama City Beach, FL keeping the Feast of Tabernacles with about 1100 other brethren. I'm busy with worship services, music practice, and family adventures--so I can hardly recall what day of the week it is! LOL. But here we go. 

AND GO

Park When I think of park, I come up with three concepts. 1. A place to relax outside--with a playground maybe. A nature escape. (a noun) 2. The act of putting my car between two lines in a parking lot or on a road (a verb) 3. To put yourself in a place to stand still or sit. "park yourself here in the chair!" (a verb)
It's funny, but the first one of these that really hit me, was the third one. Park yourself. I always think about that in regards to going somewhere and STAYING there. Park...stay...Go there and stay there. 
When it comes to God and His way/truth/life, I want to PARK myself in His word. I want to go there and stay there. I did a search to see if the words park or stay are used in that sense in my Bible translation. They aren't. But I can find cases where I can read "remain" or "keep" in the same sense.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. ~John 15:4

Do you park yourself in God's word? Do you do a focused attention to it and STAY in it every day? I know I need to work on it. That's something that I am learning while down here listening to the messages. Over and over they are reminding us that we need to OWN our faith. To STAY in the faith. To PARK ourselves in God's word.
May God help me to do so.
AND STOP

Want to Join in?
***

We have a few more days left, and a lot more worship and adventures to do! I hope you and yours have a beautiful Sabbath day, gorgeous weekend, and blessed week!

Veritas Press Self-Paced Bible: Old Testament 1 ~ Genesis to Joshua {Curriculum Review}

One of the things we have reviewed and loved but weren't able to actually purchase for ourselves, was the online self-paced courses from Veritas Press. We loved our history course we reviewed, and have been hoping we'd have another chance some day to try a different one. Needless to say, we were thrilled to have a chance to review the Self-Paced Bible Old Testament 1: Genesis to Joshua and looked forward to another excellent review.

Product Information

Veritas Press is a company devoted to providing a classical Christian education for homeschooling students. Their goal is to teach children in a way to compliment their development and use the minds with which God gifted us the power of learning. Their primary focus is teaching according to the Trivium of dialectic, rhetoric and grammar.

Veritas Press has designed five Self-Paced Bible courses ($179 each) that have 128 class periods covering 32 biblical events. With a mix of talking characters, interactive teaching, fun games, video footage, the courses provide multi-sensory learning experiences that will help your child memorize names, dates and places of the Bible with ease!

The five Self-Paced Bible Courses are:

Old Testament 1: Genesis to Joshua
Old Testament 2: Judges to Kings
Old Testament 3: Chronicles to Malachi (coming soon)
New Testament 1: The Gospels
New Testament 2: Acts to Revelation (coming soon)

Every course includes 32 major biblical events, music to help memorize the events, memory tools for the names, dates and events, exploration activities in art, music, and geography, and much more! Every course also comes with lesson reviews and exams that are automatically graded and printable. These courses are geared for grades 2nd-6th grade.

We were given Self-Paced Bible~Old Testament 1: Genesis to Joshua to review in our family.

Grapevine Studies: New Testament Overview Part 1 {Curriculum Review}

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!
I have always found that bible studies with children go best when you can get them involved...especially if there is pictures. Grapevine Studies provides a bible curriculum designed with that idea in mind. We recently reviewed their New Testament Overview Part 1 (specifically New Testament 1: Level 1 Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry, New Testament 1: Level 2 Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry, and New Testament 1: Beginner John to the Apostles) with our boys ages 5 and 10.

Product Summary

Grapevine Studies is a leading Bible method and curriculum for teachers desiring to teach biblical studies with simple, practical, and easy to implement studies for children of all ages. Their method for the early students of "Hear-Draw-Review" ensures an understanding of the stories even from a pre-school age. As the child gets older, the program switches to a Read-Draw-Review approach to encourage them to dive into the Bible themselves. One thing that sets the curriculum apart is the use of simple stick figures to help share the Bible stories! With simple drawings, even the youngest bible student can document the stories they are learning! All of the products are available as printed or digital books.

The company has this great graphic to give you an idea on how the program changes in difficulty with each level...

Grapevine Studies offers the following curriculum:
*Biblical Feasts and Holy Days
*Birth of Jesus
*Esther
*Joseph
*New Testament Overview (7 units)
--John to the Apostles
--Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry
--Jesus' Ministry
--Jesus' Ministry to His Trials
--Jesus' Last Week
--The Cross to the Upper Room
--Acts to Revelation
*New Testament Catechism
*Old Testament Overview (8 units)
--Creation to Babel
--Creation to Jacob
--Abraham to the Tabernacle
--Joseph to the Promised Land
--The Twelve Spies to Solomon
--The Jordan River to the Temple
--The Temple to Nehemiah
--The Prophets to Nehemiah
*Old Testament Catechism
*Ruth
*The Resurrection
*Timelines (6 different units)
*Moses and the Exodus

Each unit contains from 9 to 14 weekly lessons which are laid out for you in a very easy to each manner. In fact, the company provides you instruction on How To Teach their program to make it even easier for you to get started. You can also visit their website to figure out which level to start with!

There are several levels within each unit which can be purchased to match the age range and ability of your child:

Traceables (Age 3-5)
Beginners (Age 5-7)
Level 1 (Age 6-8)
Level 2 (Age 8-10)
Level 3 (Age 10-13)
Level 4 (Age 13+)
Multi-Level (Age 7+)

We were given the digital downloadable curriculum for New Testament 1: Beginner John to Apostles, as well as the traceable version of New Testament 1: Level 1 Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry, New Testament 1: Level 2 Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry, and the accompanying teacher books. All were downloadable e-Books. We reviewed these with our boys age 5 and 10.

How Did We Use This Product?

I initially picked the NT 1: Beginner John to Apostles, not realizing (aka. READING on the website. LOL) that it wouldn't be compatible with the NT 1: Level 2 Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry that I was going to use with Little Britches. I think I thought it was the Level 1 Traceable version which IS compatible, and what we used last year.

The NT 1: Beginner John to Apostles uses the same method as the others, except it is geared specifically for ages 3-5 and not available in a higher level. It is traceable (though also available blank for independent drawing) and ideal for introducing the NT stories to preschool and Kindergarten aged kiddos. It has 11 weekly lessons and contains memory verses and reviews. This will take you from the birth of John to the choosing of the Apostles.

After looking at what I had printed off and comparing it to the Level 2 that I had printed off, I realized it wasn't going to work for us as a simultaneous lesson! Fortunately, Grapevine generously had sent over the Level 1 Traceable version with the Level 2. This allowed us not to lose any time as we switched over to the Level 1 Traceable for Baby Britches, so he could work in unison with Little Britches. This makes it much much easier for me to teach them together.

As I did the last time we used the program for review, I printed out the boys' lesson pages and kept them in a 3 hole binder. This time, however, I kept the Teachers manual on my Kindle for reference which saved me a lot of printing!

This is the suggested schedule for the program:
 Daily Schedule                                                
 Day 1: Timeline Review  Page                             
 Day 2: Lesson page 1                                           
 Day 3: Lesson page 2                                           
 Day 4: Student Drawing Page

With a Weekly Schedule suggestion of:
Timeline Review (5-10 minutes)
Lesson Pages 1 and 2 (30-35 minutes)
Student Drawing Page (5-15 minutes)

We operate on four day a week school routine with half days on Fridays, thus this schedule from Grapevine fits very well into our routine. There are some days I might mix Day 1 with Day 2's work, but that was dependent on how quickly the boys finished their Timeline reviews.

There aren't many supplies required for the program. Each curriculum shares the supplies needed to teach the program--it's pretty simple:
Student: Bible, Colored Pencils, Student or Traceable Book
Teacher: Bible, Bible Dictionary, Dry Erase Board & Markers (8 colors), and the Teacher Book

If you don't have a dry erase board, then a big sketch pad and colored pencils or markers would work perfectly fine. We just happen to have a big dry erase board.

This is an open and go product, as the teacher book shares notes on how to go about teaching the curriculum, as well as little tips to remember. It describes what each portion of the lesson is for and how it can be done. It also gives you visuals of what the child's completed work will/should look like in every day's lesson. There is no guessing on what they need to do. It tells you!

Elizabeth and Zacharias and Zacharias visited by Gabriel

The curriculum began with a timeline narration that goes over all the events (drawings) that will be covered in detail throughout the course of the curriculum. Once this is done (takes about a week of doing a page a day), you start the normal lesson plan schedule that I mentioned above.

As of today, we are finishing up our 5th week of working on this curriculum. We will be starting Lesson 5 next week. We have been working on this product 3-4 days a week.

What Are Our Thoughts On This Product?

We all enjoy this product! The boys would remind me when it was time to pull it out. They liked drawing the pictures best of all. I find that Little Britches is able to answer the lesson review questions a lot better than his little brother (as expected), but both of them do well in their overall memory of the lessons.

This program is very easy to implement and truly only takes 15-20 minutes tops to do. We tried to follow the basic schedule that was provided in the teachers guide just as we did last year.

I made a few revisions to the stick figures in this unit (the angels, and a few other minor things)--but these are just related to our own personal beliefs, and not something that others might necessarily do. This is why this program is really great--you can adapt it if you need to, in order to meet your needs.

Shepherds hearing angels singing

We chose not to really do anything with the vocabulary, although I would ask them random questions relating to their meanings if I was curious if they knew a term.

The boys enjoyed doing the event cards as usual, and they always add far more than whatever was part of the original stick figure.

The program includes a section review to go over everything covered after week 6, and then again after week 12. This is just a couple pages of nothing but questions--can be done orally or written--and then a couple timeline reviews. I like to have Little Britches write his answers down (they are all short answer) and I have Baby Britches give me his answers orally. This is a great way to check their comprehension of the stories that we went over.

Each of the units sells for about $28 ($18 for Teacher e-Book, $10 for Student e-Book) which may be a bit steep for my budget if I want to continue to do the curriculum for several future units; however, it's a 10-14 week curriculum, so it's going to provide lessons over a few months, not to mention that it is really a very good program and reusable (if you go with the digital version), which makes the cost much more frugal!

I really don't have anything seriously negative to say about the program, because it has worked well for us so far!

Will we continue to use this curriculum?
Yes! I plan on using it to completion and then possibly picking another one from their unit studies.

Would We Recommend This Product?

Yes, I would! I think that if you are looking for a program that does the "hard work" for you by laying out the stories in small pieces for easy retention, this is perfect! If you want a program that incorporates memory work, this is a great one! If you want it to be fairly open-and-go, this is it! If you want to do one unit with age appropriate work for each child, this would be something to check out! I really appreciate that I can do the same program with both boys, yet have age appropriate work for them. I also love that it's designed to have material for even the very young--beginning at age 3 with the traceable options.

Want to Know More?

We have reviewed the New Testament Overview Part 1(New Testament 1: Beginner John to Apostles, as well as the traceable version of New Testament 1: Level 1 Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry, New Testament 1: Level 2 Birth of John to Jesus' Ministry) from Grapevine Studies with our family. You know what we think, but what did the rest of the crew think about this program? 

Want to stay up to date on the latest releases and sales from Grapevine Studies? Make sure you get connected on these social media outlets.

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I am so happy that this program worked for us as well as the previous unit study did. I will continue to be recommending Grapevine Studies to anyone looking for a simple and effective biblical program to use across a wide age range of students. It's fun too!

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Faith Builders Bible from Zonderkidz {Product Review}

We were recently given the opportunity to review Faith Builders Bible from Zonderkidz, a brick-building toy themed Bible for ages 5+. Considering my family is a LEGO family and that we regularly read from our Bibles, I was curious to see if this would be a version of a children's Bible the boys would enjoy. 

Product Summary

Zonderkidz is the children's division of Zondervan publishing company. Zonderkidz is dedicated to offering everything from novels to devotionals to Bibles designed to keep your child immersed and interested in God's word. One of their newest products is the Faith Builders Bible.
Faith Builders Bible was designed with the brick-building toy lover in mind! There are 24 full-color illustration pages all with a brick building theme--to make the Word of God more...hands-on! The Bible encourages the young readers to replicate the scripture themed brick building creations for themselves. This edition of the bible is the complete New International Readers Version (NIrV) designed for early readers, and ESL readers.
Faith Builders Bible is hardcover, measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", and retails for $24.99. 
We were given the Faith Builders Bible to review with Little Britches, age 10.

How Did We Use This Product?

Because we use bibles daily in our homeschool for our biblical studies, this product was put to use straight away! I had my oldest use it for all his scripture reading for a week, and he happily did so. 

The other aspect of the bible that we checked out were all the brick-building illustrations. Little Britches looked through them all and then pulled out his big tub of LEGOS to give a few of them a try. 

A multi-colored giraffe!

Little Britches was intrigued by all the bible scene creations and has decided he's going to attempt a few more. 

Our Thoughts on the Book

I think the cover of the book is very eye catching and the LEGO themed cover drew my boys in right away. They practically snatched it once I opened the package, eager to check it out. "A LEGO BIBLE!" they both happily cheered. I told them I wanted to look at it first, but would let them look at it very soon. 

The boys reached for it right away to touch it!

Our family's preferred bible translation is NKJV and this one was a NIrV (New International Reader's Version). We try to avoid the NIV for personal reasons, so I wasn't very hot on this being a NIV. Neither my husband nor I are big fans of the readers versions, as they seem to drastically "simplify" God's word, and that's not something that we are comfortable with--especially if it's going to be for our kids to use. Maybe that seems odd, but we were both taught right from the King James or New King James version of the Bible without needing it simplified for us. It wasn't difficult and I used a dictionary when I had a word I stumbled on. We both agree that we learned more having to look up words on our own than having someone else tell us a synonym. I also have found that the readers versions sometimes pick words that the original Hebrew or Greek doesn't match in regards to meaning. I use a concordance a lot, so I've found this to be true time and time again. (even in the NKJV it happens). 
That being said, I decided to go through it and use this Bible in conjunction with one of my own so that I could keep an eye on the translation text.
How is it different?  Here are a few examples...
Example 1: Genesis 1:2 "The earth didn't have any shape. And it was empty. There was darkness over the surface of the waves. At that time, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." (Faith Builders Bible-NIrV)
Genesis 1:2 "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." (NKJV)
Example 2: Matthew 1:18 "This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary and Joseph had promised to get married. But before they started to live together, it became clear that she was going to have a baby. She became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Faith Builders Bible--NIrV)
Matthew 1:18 "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit." (NKJV)
These are both good examples to show how the version is designed for those who have a "hard time understanding" other versions of the Bible. In general, they take out a larger word and replace it with shorter words or series of shorter words to explain what the big words meant. 
Completely unnecessary in my opinion, and not something that I really think is a good idea. HOWEVER, it IS very helpful when reading the Psalms and Proverbs. Those are the best books of the bible for easy reading versions. 
The boys did like the LEGO photos in the Bible and had fun replicating a couple animals from the picture of Noah's ark. Little Britches is trying to figure out how to do the one of the fruit of the spirit, but has said he doesn't have enough of the same colored pieces.  As an aside: Some of the illustrations had things that our family doesn't agree with according to our belief system: images of the cross, Noah with only a pair of each kind of animals (some kinds had 7 pair!), not quite right nativity scene, and then a much too simplified explanation on becoming saved. But these are things that most Christians don't and wouldn't have any issues with. But I know that some people might want to know about it, so I am mentioning it here. This totally boils down to personal beliefs though, so everyone would have a different viewpoint on it.
I also did appreciate the font that was used. It is very good for reading--especially for younger eyes still working on sounding out words. Little Britches said it was a good font and size to read.
Another extra tidbit--if a passage of scripture was found elsewhere in the Bible--like when the NT quotes the OT, it was written right into the passage using parentheses.

And lastly, I was expecting this version to have extra notes, or photos or something relating scripture to brick building. More than just the illustrations they included. And I think the boys would have appreciated some kind of brick-building guide for making some of the creations, instead of having to come up with it all by looking at the photos. But I'm sure there is a reason why they didn't do that...probably conflicts with LEGO or something.
In summary, the main reason I didn't LOVE this Bible was that it was a NIrV and not the NKJV that our family uses all the time. If it was available in NKJV, I am sure that I would give it two big thumbs up!

Would I Recommend This Product?

If the version or style of the text of the Bible isn't that important to you, and you want an easy to read bible for children, I would say that this Bible might be a good fit! I think that it will work for both genders, however, my boys said it was more for boys because it was blue and had LEGO pictures. Obviously they are not accurate in their assumption. LOL. 
If version and scripture accuracy is important, than I would probably pass on this bible as it is more of a loose translation to make it "easier" for reading. That's what it was DESIGNED to be for and it does it well. It just isn't what I want in a Bible for my kids to use on a regular basis. If you were hoping for some kind of devotions or tidbits tying brick building into scripture (like I thought there would be), then no you won't find that.
Will we continue to use this product? It will be a good one to pull out whenever some wording in our NKJV might be a bit beyond the boy's understanding--when there are LOTS of more complicated phrases and such. We own many translations, and this will just be another one in our stack to reference when needed.

Want to Know More?

We reviewed Faith Builders Bible from Zonderkidz. You have read our thoughts on it, but what did other families using this bible think about it? 

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This is a Bible that the boys enjoy using--but almost exclusively because of the colorful illustrated photos showing various brick-building creations, not the actual bible itself. As expected, I am still not a big fan of the NIrV, but I already knew that going in. We will be sticking with the NKJV that we already have and use frequently.

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If you want to stay in touch with all things Zonderkidz, make sure you check them out on these social media outlets:

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/Zonderkidz/

Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/zonderkidz

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