TOS Crew Review: Judah Bible Curriculum

I was intrigued by the Judah Bible Curriculum from the beginning.  As a Children's and Middle School Minister and as a Mom and Home Educator, I want to make sure that all of my children have a solid grounding in GOD's Word.  If I do nothing else, that's what I want to accomplish with my life.  I want my children to KNOW HIM and make HIM KNOWN.

My study and understanding of GOD's Word was deepened immensely a few years ago when I took the personal challenge to read through the Bible with purpose.  There is NO better way for any of us to draw closer to our FATHER than to study HIS WORD.  One of the things that I like best about Judah Bible Curriculum is that it gives you the tools to teach your students how to purposefully study the Bible.

The Judah Bible Curriculum is a teacher-intensive curriculum designed to help you help your student draw closer to GOD.  What do I mean by "teacher-intensive"?  The teacher learns the material then teaches it to the students.  Judah Bible Curriculum has training tapes that teach the Bible to the teacher and the teacher in turn passes this knowledge and understanding on to the student.

The textbook for Judah Bible Curriculum is the BIBLE.  The BIBLE is the only text so that the student learns to understand what GOD is doing in their lives.  Students are directed to read and study through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation each year.  Because you are studying the ENTIRE Bible each year, you can easily use the curriculum with your family together -- you will simply cover the concepts, key people and events in more detail based on the ages of your children.  GOD's WORD is alive and it never grows old.

In the first year of studying Judah Bible Curriculum, students (and parents) are learning how to research and document.  Included in the curriculum are pages to record Key Concepts taught, Key People studied and Key Places and Events visited.  These sheets are filled out according to the age level of your child and each year they will be filled out more in-depth as your children mature.  Students are encouraged to place their completed pages in a 3-ring binder and create a Bible Notebook.  After continued study, they will have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips -- a veritable commentary of what GOD has shown them throughout their lives.  Parents are also encouraged to design other pages (coloring sheets, worksheets, etc.) in order to help their children grasp the wonderful love of GOD.

I began our review by listening to the Training Sessions available for download.  Here is a sampling of the things that I learned:

• Education is the process of training character.  I am either training the character of my children in a GODly way or an unGODly way.  {I want to be training GODly character at my house!}
• It is the responsibility of the home to train the next generation.  Children should be educationally trained in character at HOME.  It is not the responsibility of the church or the government to train character.  {I agree with this wholeheartedly!  As a minister, I see so many families that expect the church to give their children character training.  Instead, the Church is responsible to educationally train the conscience.}  It IS the responsibility of the Government to protect its citizens. 
• The Biblical basis for education is understanding what GOD is doing through history and reasoning from it.  {I desperately want my children to see the sovereignty of GOD and see the big picture presented in the Bible.}

Although we do study the Bible together in our home inductively, I was most excited to see and explore the layout for studying presented by Judah Bible Curriculum.  For this study, the Bible is divided into 5 themes based on what is happening governmentally throughout the Bible.  These themes/divisions are as follows:

1. Creation -- GOD creates men for blessing.  In this division of study, families study from Genesis to the calling of Abraham.  This Creation theme is introductory in nature to the rest of the Bible.
2. GOD's Plan of Redemption begins. In this division of study, families study from Genesis 12 to Ruth. 
3. Kingdom of Israel -- During this time period, the people didn't recognize GOD as KING any longer.  In this division of study, families study from 1 Samuel to Malachi.
4. Kingdom of GOD -- GOD's New Covenant.  GOD rules in the heart of individuals.  In this division of study, families study the Gospels.
5. Early Church -- This is the establishment and expansion of the early church.  In this division of study, families study from Acts to Revelation.

Following this layout, families will study the entire Old Testament for the 1st semester of each school year and will study the entire New Testament for the 2nd semester of each school year.  How cool is that!

The entire focus of this curriculum is on GOD's Sovereignty with the focus on what GOD is doing as you trace HIS very hand in history.  Through this focus, Judah Bible Curriculum helps families explore and understand what GOD is doing in their very lives to establish what HE wants to accomplish.  We "see" how we fit in HIS PLAN by reading through Scripture.

One of the key components of Judah Bible Curriculum is to teach our children how to read Scripture and then extract from the text in order to categorize and summarize information so it is meaningful on Research Sheets.  These Key Sheets focus on the biblical keys of individuals (people), events, institutions and documents.  By teaching the same basics (or seeds) each year, students have an in-depth study of WHERE they fit in GOD's purposes.  The writing exercises encourage students to form opinions and understand why they did.    Through this study, parents are teaching their children to think and reason -- with GOD's WORD as the core.  Testing is done by essay in order to focus on the understanding of ideas and principles from the Bible and not just the details of stories. 

The goal of Judah Bible Curriculum is making GODly men and women of our children so that they will have the ability to govern themselves when no one is there doing it for them.  Of course, that is the goal of all Christian families.

Available in print or pdf format, Judah Bible Curriculum can be purchased HERE.  The hard copy pack which contains the K-12 Manual, the Elementary Notebook Ideas Booklet and the 8-lecture Teacher Training Seminar on CD is $74.  The online curriculum offers a 40% discount and includes the K-12 Manual e-book format to download, the Elementary Notebook Ideas Booklet to view online or to download, and the 8-lecture Teacher Training Seminar to listen to online or download for $44.

A comprehensive Kindergarten - 12th grade Bible study, Judah Bible Curriculum is NOT a "pick up and begin" curriculum.  It will take a good bit of time to study and implement.  If you are interested in diving deeply into GOD's WORD and are not daunted by the study required, this will be a great complement to your school.  I plan to continue using the Theme breakdown and discussion in our home.

~~Disclaimer:  I was given the opportunity to use and review the Judah Bible Curriculum as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  The opinions stated are mine and mine alone.  I was not paid to share my thoughts and feelings with you.  I received a download of the curriculum in exchange for my honest review. You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the TOS Homeschool Crew thought of  Judah Bible Curriculum  HERE.~~

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