Favorite Bible studies?

[Sparrows-Song]

I'm just wondering what your favorite resources are to study the Bible. This would be for children (mom directed) in mid-elementary to junior high.

Also, any you've found that would coincide with TOG yr.1?

Thanks!

[Lisawa]

I'm just wondering what your favorite resources are to study the Bible. This would be for children (mom directed) in mid-elementary to junior high.

Also, any you've found that would coincide with TOG yr.1?

Thanks!

We love and use Explorers bible study... Here is the link. http://www.explorerbiblestudy.org/homeschool.htm

In year 1 TOG... you will not need to use another bible study, and doubt you will want to use one. Year 1 uses the bible for a lot of its literature and history.... its a wonderful study....

Maybe a devotional? Just a thought....

Warmly,

[LindaOz]

My 11 and 12yo's have just started Remembering God's Awesome Acts which looks good. It combines Bible, history and other activities like art, writing etc. If TOG yr 1 is Ancient History (sorry, I'm not really sure), then I think they would go great together.

Linda

[mcconnellboys]

I like Memoria Press Christian Studies. There are three levels of it right now.

Regena

[Janis in DE]

Since it has a lot of bible reading we are going to use Kay Arthurs Discover 4 Yourself "How to Study the Bible" We tried Explorers Bible study this year and my daughter didn't like it. We switched to Kay Arthurs and she likes it. She does it independently. She is doing two books on Revelations.

[Wendy in ME]

Rod and Staff is working well for us. Grade 5 starts at the beginning and over 4 years will will cover the entire Bible systematically. I did not have a strong Bible knowledge from my own childhood so I felt like I needed to just go right through the entire Bible with the boys.

[ArwenA]

Veritas Press has good Bible studies that my eldest (9) uses.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

I'll give a 2nd to Memoria Press for Christian Studies. We are very much enjoying it.

[Jean in IN]

We just started this too, this year and really like it. Ds is doing the 5th grade book on his own.
I'm also using the 2nd grad reader and reading workbook for dd for Bible. I just have her read the story and I pick what I want her to do in the reading workbook.

Jean

[Trivium Academy]

Yep, what she said.

[WTMCassandra]

My children are enjoying Kay Arthur's Inductive Study series for children. We have done several of them. My children are 11 and 9 and do them independently (reciting to me afterwards each day).

[Lori in MS]

This is my favorite resource for Bible Study. They have something appropriate for all ages. I love the children's studies. They really teach skills and application both. They have some great teen courses as well. Daniel for teens is great for an Ancients study.

www.precept.org

[Zee]

I third Precept Ministries. :)

[GraceinMD]

This is what we're doing with TOG Yr1 this year - and it's working well, imo.

[Testimony]

Keys for Kids as a devotional.
How to Study your Bible for Kids by Kay Arthur: This is a great Bible study that helps the children dissect the Bible in a kid-friendly way. I love it because it keeps the heart of the word in focus.

Blessings,
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[strider]

When I evaluate a Bible curriculum, I look for what percentage of questions require the student to answer from the Bible text itself (I shoot for 2/3--most studies unfortunately only hit 50% or less), how factual versus opinion-based any notes are and to what degree there is denominational bias.

I also look for how much a good inductive process is reflected in the study--there should be factual observations, an opportunity to summarize the main point of the passage in one concise statement, and finally, application to real life.

I also think that younger children do well with circling the right answer, puzzles, and drawing in response to the text. However, as your child reaches fourth and fifth grades, their Bible study should include more short answer and independent work. (SWB's SOTW reflects this same progression--SOTW 1 has a lot of coloring and multiple choice on tests, whereas SOTW 4 has more short answer and not so many coloring pages.)

I have not found one single Bible curriculum or study anywhere, ever, that asks for a one-sentence summary of the main point of the passage. I highly advocate adding this feature in to whatever Bible study you use or teach, in any setting. A good way to do this with kids is to ask a question like, "What did you learn about God in this passage?" or "What do you think is the very most important lesson in this passage?" Keep it to one short sentence--there may be many subpoints that are good to know, but it is very valuable to be able to distinguish the main, most important point.

My number one pick would have to be the Explorer's Bible study, which is available at www.explorerbiblestudy.org. Many thanks to Jessica at Trivium Academy for recommending it. I was impressed. It has a good amount of factual observation questions, is very Bible-text focused but still includes some cultural/geographical/historical notes here and there, and has a small proportion of application questions in each unit. Information is presented from an evangelical perspective but seems more factual than opinionated. For those who may be familiar with Bible Study Fellowship or Community Bible Study, this curriculum follows the same pattern. Each unit is also laid out into five days of homework--a decently challenging but not overwhelming amount. Another key feature of this curriculum is the fact that there are corresponding adult studies as well. For a logic stage student either their older elementary OR high school study would be appropriate depending upon reading fluency and maturity.

I also, by the way, recommend both BSF and CBS children's programs. I evaluated both. I think the CBS program has slightly more challenging homework, but also really like the way older children and teens are led to do homiletics at the BSF meetings. (Homiletics is a process of generating an outline of the passage with a final, summary statement.) I recommend either program without reservation in addition to the Explorer's curriculum.

I also have used and liked Kay Arthur's Bible study series for children. My own dd has used several books in this series successfully this year. However, I would steer away from *How to Study the Bible* as it is unnecessarily wordy and proved to be quite challenging for the 4th-5th grade girls I taught. The material is not hard--the presentation of it in this book was terribly convoluted, though. If you choose to do that book, take two weeks per unit and plan on really holding your child's hand through it. The other books in the series are much easier and quite doable, though--we have been satisfied with several others in the series. These books have five or seven days of homework per unit, include both factual questions and marking things directly in biblical text, and some application.

After that, I consider Rod and Staff to be a decent alternative. There is a solid amount of factual questions and some good information on history/geography/culture. However, there is virtually no application, and no summary statement opportunity (none of those I reviewed include this). And, even at the older grades there is virtually no short answer--format is still multiple choice and simpler responses. There is more denominational bias in the notes but can be overcome by careful Bible study. This curriculum would be acceptable even if it's not my favorite.

Christian Light was a lot like Rod and Staff but not quite as challenging. I also thought Christian Liberty was middle-range--not the greatest, but not terrible either.

I was really NOT impressed in the least with either Abeka or AlphaOmega and would not recommend those at all. They were simplistic, passive, lacked depth and do not require much from the student at any age.

One final thought--for high school I would gravitate towards the Explorer's adult series or towards NavPress study guides. I also think teens should be generating their own inductive notes (observation-interpretation statement--application) rather than passively responding to a Bible study guide.

There may well be other wonderful resources out there. This is just what I have reviewed. I'd be happy to answer any further questions.