As part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I received a digital download of The Judah Bible Curriculum to review.
From the Judah Bible Curriculum website:
- A Principle Approach curriculum for Bible class.
- Develop a comprehensive knowledge of the Bible.
- Build strong, Godly character in your children.
- Study the Bible together.
- Study the hand of God in the lives of individuals and nations.
- For homeschool, Christian school, Sunday school.
- Teach your children living Biblical principles to guide their lives.
- Apply God’s word personally in every area of life.
- The Bible is the textbook.
The purpose of the Judah Bible Curriculum is to make Bible Literacy the hallmark of the new generation of Christians. The Judah Bible Curriculum is designed to help you teach your student how to study and research the Bible, extract true understanding from it, and apply Biblical principles to his or her own life and character.
The Judah Bible Curriculum is a “Principle Approach” Bible curriculum whose distinctives are the following:
- The BIBLE is the textbook. The student studies and learns the Bible.
- The student learns God’s purpose in history, studying the hand of God in the lives of men and nations through the Bible.
- The student develops his reasoning ability, helping him to apply Biblical principles personally.
- The curriculum helps you shift from rote learning to Biblical reasoning.
- The student learns the relationship between the sovereignty of God and the personal responsibility of the individual.
- The student learns the relationship between individual character and national liberty.
The Judah Bible Curriculum is not a curriculum. It’s more of a guide to using the Principle Approach to study the Bible. There are no student lessons, etc. The purpose of the Judah Bible Curriculum is to help you teach your children how to study and research the Bible at a depth that will enable them to apply it to all of life as they grow up. The Judah Bible Curriculum is a Bible study method that your children will be able to use for the rest of their lives. You can, too!
There are weekly guide sheets that tell you the theme of the week, and what section of the Bible is being studied that week. The only student paper that is included in the curriculum is a Key Sheet. A Key Sheet is what is the student writes the key people, places, and lessons learned in each weeks study.
Our family Bible study normally includes us reading the Bible together, discussing what we have read, and answering any questions the kids have.
The Judah Bible Curriculum is a good fit for families who study the Bible together in this way. I think this curriculum is best used as a family. So if you looking for a Bible curriculum for the kids to use by themselves for homeschooling, this curriculum would not be a good fit for your family.
With the Judah Bible Curriculum, your family will study through the Bible each year. You will not be reading through the whole Bible but analyzing one key topic each week.
Here is what I have done and would recommend for using the Judah Bible Curriculum.
Read more about the Judah Bible Curriculum on their What is the Judah Bible Curriculum page.
Listen to the audio downloads. These are your teacher training in how to use the Judah Bible Curriculum and the Principle Approach to study the Bible. These lectures will give you an in-depth practical view of the Scriptures that you can then teach to your family in bite-sized pieces.
Start making your lesson plan using the Weekly Guide Sheets. The curriculum starts with Creation. You will also need to print out the Key sheets from the website. You will use one a week per student/adult. These will go in the notebooks I’ll tell you about in a minute. If you have younger students, K-3, you’ll also want to find printable coloring or activity sheets that go with your weekly theme for them to do. The Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet included with the curriculum has sample pages of what other students in this age group have done. So you can get ideas for what kind of activity sheets to find.
Start studying the Bible. Read the Bible selection for the day. Discuss it. Fill out the Key Sheet and/or activity sheets and place them in your notebooks. The Bible keys include individuals, events, institutions and documents
You will study one theme per week. There are enough themes to study for an entire school year. The Judah Bible Curriculum is not just a one year curriculum. Every year, you start over and build on what you studied last year. As the students (and adults!) grow and mature, they will be able to study the Bible more in-depth. You can view a Scope and Sequence on the website.
Now for the Bible Notebooks…Each of your children will create a “Bible Notebook” of their own work and study at his or her own level. You will be creating your own teacher’s Bible Notebook, too. The purpose of the notebook is not to fill it with busy work. This will be a 3 ring notebook filled with the students notes, key sheets and activity sheets. These will be the students best work, in their best handwriting. This will be a notebook that the student will be able to refer to for years to come. As the student advances, and does the study in subsequent years, more pages can be added. Maps, timelines, essays or other student writings, even notes from Bible commentaries.
You will be teaching the “big picture” of God’s kingdom and purposes in history through the Bible. You will teach your students how to analyze and categorize the details as they study the stories from the Bible in that context.
What is included in The Judah Bible Curriculum?
You get:
1) Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual
2) Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet
3) Eight-lecture Teacher Training Seminar
The hard copy of the curriculum, book and audio cd, sells on the website for $69. You can also purchase the E-version of the curriculum. For $44. you get the Manual E-book. the elementary Notebook Ideas booklet and the Teacher Training Seminar can be viewed/listened to online or download. Whether you order the hard copy or have the curriculum delivered online, you get all the same curriculum materials.
I really like that The Judah Bible Curriculum is a family oriented Bible Study. However, if you have never used this approach to Bible study, it will take you awhile to get the hang of it. The audio lectures help, so make sure to listen to them before you start using the curriculum with your students. Since this curriculum can be used for all 12 grades, and into adulthood, this is a very cost effective curriculum for your homeschool. No need to buy new Bible curriculum each year for each student.
Instead of just including sample elementary pages, I think this curriculum would be much better if actual printable activity sheets were included. At the very least, links to websites that you can print from would be a great help.
The Judah Bible Curriculum is very labor intensive for the teacher. The rewards of studying the Bible for yourself, your students and your family will be great, though.
See what other The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew Members are saying about Amazing The Judah Bible Curriculum.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a free digital download of The Judah Bible Curriculum in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. My opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”