VP Bible / Explorer's Bible or a combination?

[ELaurie]

I've been using VP's Bible study materials with my dc, ages 8 and 5 this year. We usually listen to the song a couple of times each week, look at the cards, read the selected passages from Scripture and read several commentaries throughout the course of the week.

My dc respond to questions on the worksheets orally, and we do the projects occasionally. We also discuss life application questions informally as they come up.

The questions are generally "just right" for my 5 yo, but my 8 yo complains that they are too easy, and he is bored by them.

I been doing some sample lessons from the Explorer's Discovery program, with my 8 yo this week, and he seems to find them somewhat more challenging.

I'm somewhat reluctant to combine the programs, primarily because I don't want to add another subject to our day (Discovery seems a bit daunting for a 5 yo). On the other hand, I want my dc to be interested and engaged in Bible study!

Another aspect of this may be that we're studying Genesis - Joshua this year, and the stories are so familiar to them at this point that they may be finding it repetitious.

I like the idea of studying the Bible chronologically with them over the course of several years, and I like the historical context provided by the commentaries we're reading using VP. If I stick with VP, I'm hoping VP's Judges through Kings will be a better fit because the material will be new to them.

Perhaps I'm just "thinking online" here, but I would welcome suggestions.

[OhElizabeth]

Just as a thought, you might consider whether your goals are memory work or devotional. Yes, the content of Gen-Josh is very familiar, but are they memorizing the chapter content? That is HIGHLY important and will be useful all the rest of their lives! (Quick, where are the 10 Commandments found?) I let my dh read to dd daily for devotional purposes, and I do the memory work, the academic portion of it. Takes just a little time daily or at least a few times a week, but it really adds up. And the time he has spent reading and re-reading through various children's bibles with her has left her familiar enough with the stories that they go quickly. So if your dc seem bored, do what seems best to you for them devotionally and continue the VP content as brief memory work. We too sort of fizzled on Gen-Josh, precisely because it was so familiar. This year we moved on to the next deck (Judges to???) and have been slowly working forward. We're continuing to memorize the chapter locations for the Gen-Josh deck to finish that out, even as we work through the Judges deck. One day we read the card and discuss, next day she does it on the flannelgraph. It's very low-key for us, because like I said, my goal is memory work, not devotional as I leave that to dh. I also try to make time to sing with her and memorize hymns.

There are lots of good ways to approach this, so I guess just find the combo that seems best to you. I have my dd read her Bible nightly and use the Keys for Kids devotional (free). I like that she's developing the life-long habit of personal Bible reading! In fact, it was the first thing we did after she started reading, to get her a Bible. She still uses the NIrV Adventurer's Bible. Probably I'll buy her a regular Bible (not the kid, 3rd grade reading level version) for her birthday this year. I'm not sure what age is good to start personal Bible studies that they use in their individual time, but that might be another thing to consider. Strider around here knows a lot about Bible study materials and would be a good one to ask. We should start a thread! :)

[Julie in PA]

I would agree that the memory work is the challenge for us as well. The information on the cards and worksheets do come easy, but trying to remember the dates and Bible references is where most of our "academic" time is spent. I have also found it easier to do it orally. When they have to think through their thoughts enough to write it out and then use proper grammar and spelling along with complete sentences, it is a little more challenging. Maybe your oldest could write out the answers that you have decided upon while working as a group. This may challenge him a little more.

[OhElizabeth]

Hey Laurie, I just looked over that Explorer's Bible Study some more. It's really redundant if you're doing VP, as it's so similar in style. And with Explorer's, the lines are too small to write answers in complete sentences. I'm a real stickler about, requiring complete sentences even orally, so that would bug me. It seems very thorough, but I'm not sure it's more effective than simply reading a quality story Bible to your children over and over. My dd has had readings every night for years and years (not perfect, but we try), so she's already pretty familiar with those stories. It sounds like your kids are too.

You know what struck me, as I read your post again? You might like something totally different like the BJU Bible. It covers terms, mapping, hymns, application stories, and a lot of the things that take it BEYOND just being a Bible story. I've got a couple years of it and have done bits with my dd. I like it, but I didn't want to duplicate (or undermine) what I'm trying to help my dh do. So in our house, I leave that to dh and focus on the memory work, etc., just how it works for us. I'm certainly not opposed to it though and could see us doing it more formally later. Right now we're memorizing the BJU student catechism. VP encourages catechism memory too I think. I'm working through hymns from the back of the BJU tm with her. I really like how they bring in the more academic stuff (mapping, theology terms, etc.) in the later grades and I think that's really important. There's really not a lot of pizzazz to the VP Bible, because their main focus is the memory work, pure and simple. So I guess, like we said earlier, you have to decide what you front from it. We're enjoying the way we're doing the cards now, discussing, using the flannelgraph, memorizing the important stuff. It certainly isn't that full, 30 minutes daily of a Sunday-school-style Bible curriculum that someone could wish for. You'd have to go more into BJU or something to get that. The Lamp and Quill thing another post recommended looks very thorough in that respect too.

[ELaurie]

It's a bit tricky for us because we are a Messianic Jewish family. DH is a Jewish believer, and we practice a Jewish lifestyle, as Believers in Jesus. My dc are learning Hebrew, and memorizing Scripture verses that are relevant to the divisions in the Torah, which is divided into stories, but doesn't have chapters and verse numbers.

I do feel like it's important for them to be familiar with the chapter headings and verses found in a more typical Bible, but I have really focused more on them knowing that the ten commandments are found in the portion Yitro (Jethro), than knowing exactly which chapter they are in. A secondary goal related to this example would be for them to memorize the ten commandments (in English) and to learn to chant them in Hebrew (when they are older).

My third priority is to emphasise the connections between the Torah, and other Old Testament stories, with the life of Jesus. For example, there are an important connections between the ten commandments given at Sinai and Jesus' teaching when He gave the Sermon on the Mount.

As I am writing this, I think I am answering my own question - I've been drawing on the adult study materials we use in our congregational Bible study to help them see these kinds of connections, and perhaps rather than adding another Bible study program I just need to continue doing what I have been doing!

Thank you for helping me think it through - and I hope you find what you are looking for for your dd :)

[Pilgrim]

This website http://www.devaremet.org/ is done by a college friend of mine. There are some resources (like the weekly Parashah) that you might fine helpful.

Shalom

[ELaurie]

Thank you Pilgrim. This congregation is in our area, and we have visited them a couple of times, although we are members at a Messianic Jewish congregation elsewhere. In fact, the leaders of our congregation have published Messianic Jewish Shabbat School curricula for children and adults. Here's a link if you're interested http://www.flamefoundation.org/