This blog is my attempt to document our busy but BLESSED lives raising and educating our children for His glory. A child of God, wife to one, and mom to 6 fabulous kids. We are in our 15th year of homeschooling using a Classical ~ Literature based approach.

Come along for the good, the bad & the ugly.



Sunday, August 11, 2013

Bible Study Guide For All Ages: Beginner & Advanced levels ~ a TOS review

 

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You know the saying, “Good things come to those who wait?” Well that’s what I ended up with; a really good Bible study program for my family just by waiting an extra few weeks. I have waited patiently this whole Crew year for  Bible Study Guide For All Ages to be offered. I was ecstatic when I found out our family was picked to review the Beginner and Advanced Student pages.

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The Bible Study Guide is the brain child of Mary Baker, a mother of four, who in the late 70’s was searching for a Bible curriculum that she felt was adequate enough to teach her children to understand the Bible. Mary and her teams main goal is to present the infallible truth of the Bible alone. They have not written there program to any particular denomination nor do they teach a specific church doctrine. Rather, they believe:

“what Paul said in his letter to Timothy: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)” ~ website

Wow! This is exactly the program I want to use to teach my children about the Bible. The 4 Unit set of The Bible Study Guide includes 416 lesson plans that will take you completely through the entire Bible with four levels of study to choose from: Beginner (Ages 3- Kindergarten), Primary (1st – 2nd grade), Intermediate (3rd – 4th grade) and Advanced (5th – 6th grade). With this unique design template all of your children, even at varying ages will be able to study the entire Bible in just four years. All the while studying a little bit of both the Old and New Testament each year. We were blessed to receive:

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  • Unit 1 Beginner Student Pages {lessons 1-26} (2)~ geared towards both students as young as 3 years old to 1st graders a whole interactive learning experience. This set is imageideal for students that that are not reading yet or those that struggle a bit. Retailing for an affordably price at $5.95 each and printed on legal size paper. I should note that it is NOT ok to copy the pages within your own family unit. BSG would like you to purchase a set of student pages for each student, in each individual level you have.

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  • Unit 1 Advanced Student Pages {lessons 1-26}(2) $5.95 ~ designed to challenge 5th & 6th imagegraders to think critically while applying Biblical applications learned to their own real lives with interactive lessons.

Each of the student pages is divided up into real life applicable sections. For the beginner pages there is a large picture to color while the Advanced pages focus on a time line and comic book like story to focus Discover the Bible.

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  • Beginner Time Line ~ is an excellent resource bsg4for the beginner level group. With 34 sturdy 8 1/2” x 11” full color pictures provide single question about each picture for $24.95. These cards are perfect for the younger group as they teach one single fact about a major person or event in the Bible. A key foundation as your child progresses through each additional level.

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  • Children's Songs CD set ~ a 2 CD set that contains 91 a cappella songs and memory work to correspond to your lessons. Retailing for $19.95 the song selections include drills for the writers of the New Testament, attitude, Heaven and praise. My girls love this CD and we have listened to it over and over again daily. Montana’s favorite is “I’m inn the Lord’s Army”, while McKenzie loves to dance to “Father Abraham”. A great handy resource to have!

 photo bible-book-summary-cards_zps28dfa8ff.jpg Bible Book Summary Cards ~ 66 sturdy flashcards that contain one or more pictures on the front of the bsg3card depicting the main concept or message from a book of the Bible. On the back of each card there is a brief description that further explains the picture(s). Also included are comprehension questions for the teacher to ask while reviewing each card. Available in two sizes for $24.95 each,  8 1/2” x 11” full-color cards or 11” x 14”posters that allow you the creativity to color in yourself.

The Bible Study Guide follows a unique plan of study throughout the four Units. Beginning in Unit 1, you start to outline the biblical history with an in-depth study of Joseph, Daniel and Jesus. Utilizing the time line within the student pages helps to fill in whatever gaps there may be as you study the whole story of the Bible. This innovative plan lets you study some of the Old Testament and a little of the New Testament each year, filling in the parts of Jesus's life yearly while holding student interest. Click HERE to see the full Unit study break down.

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Can I just tell you right now that I absolutely l-o-v-e this program!!! It just makes sense to me and most importantly to the girls! We were able to use this program for 1-2 lessons a week during the summer as a part of our Morning Time Recitations. Now that we have started back to school I look forward to bumping that up to a solid 3 lessons a week spending 30-45 minutes on each lesson as necessary. We school 4 days a week so I really want to use the fourth day as a review of the 3 previous lessons.

Pretty early on I was able to see that the Advanced Student pages were a little less challenging for Madison. While they are a perfect stretch for Mikayla I needed to make changes for Madison. After doing some research I found a used Teacher’s Guide for Unit 1 for sale for $18.00ppd. Regularly the Unit Teacher’s Guide sells for $29.95. I jumped on this deal and waited for the binder to arrive. I should mention that it is unnecessary for you to use the Unit Teacher’s Guide if you are using the Student pages. In my families situation I needed something that would keep Madison on the same schedule as us and yet still provide that same Biblical foundation.

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The Unit Teacher’s Guide is an oral study that contains the same 104 lessons with story visuals, memory work, drills and teaching suggestions found in the Student pages. I was able to incorporate Madison into the study by having her do more of a notebooking style of learning with the review questions given in the Unit Guide. She enjoys notebooking so this system has been working for us while keeping us all on the same lesson each day.

Can I tell you again that I love this program?! I have found our families perfect Bible study for our Morning Time Recitations. It has exceeded my expectations of a Bible program and then some and I do not see us leaving anytime soon. If you ask my opinion on a Bible study program, I wholeheartedly recommend you check out Bible Study Guide For All Ages if you are still searching for a Bible curriculum for the upcoming school year. You will be so glad you did. At such an affordable price for each Student pages lesson plans I honestly recommend you take a look and see what you think.

Be sure to check out what my Crewmates thought of the different levels of Bible Study Guide For All Ages available for review by clicking the link below.

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Company ~ Bible Study Guide For All Ages

Product ~ Unit 1 Beginner Student Pages, Unit 1 Advanced Student Pages, Beginner Time Line, Children's Songs CD set, Bible Book Summary Cards

Price ~ Student pages: $5.95 each, Beginner Teacher Visuals: $9.95, Beginner Time Line: $24.95, Bible Book Summary Cards: $24.95

Ages ~ PreK3 – all ages

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