Like I hinted at, we separate our religious education from our academic homeschool curriculum. No, it's not that we only take out the Bible on Sundays, but as far as school is concerned, we take a more secular approach. However, we're in the process of switching churches, so our Sunday school attendance has been more sporadic than I like, which makes this timing seeming just perfect to try this out.
One of the issues homeschool moms always run into is trying to find certain curricular solutions that work for multiple ages and stages. Years ago, one mom took the issue into her own hands and solved the problem for her family, creating a Bible curriculum that would fit a range of ages. Once they were grown her children developed this into a full program, with tweaks along the way that completed the evolution into what's available now. To use this program over four years, you would need to complete two lessons per week year around (no weeks off), or three lessons a week over a school year (breaks throughout the calendar year).
If you were planning to work through all 416 lessons in four years, you could begin with a range of children from three to third grade, and end four years later, together, with everyone still working at a grade appropriate level. Because of the varying levels, this program can change with you and your family over those years. Students start as beginners for the preschool years through kindergarten, move to primary in their first and second grade years, up to intermediate in grades three and four, and finish with advanced in grades five and six. You don't NEED to start in preschool, and you don't NEED to finish in sixth grade.
I wanted to have both girls working at the same level, and figured the primary level would work well - Reagan going into first and Madison just leaving second. But I forget that since they're two grades apart, this can be tricky. The stories themselves are fine, but I probably should have bumped Madison up to the intermediate level. The pages were just a hair too young for her and she felt a little babied. I forget that she's an old eight. There's really no way she would be happy continuing this level for the full third grade year. Thankfully, I can do that and still keep us working as a family because the lessons will line up.
It's noteworthy that only the primary level has a teacher's guide, and that's the level we used. In beginner, intermediate, and advanced, all the teacher's guide information is in the student pages. The reason is that most first and second graders are in a stage of big growth in literacy. They're reading, they're past coloring, but they aren't "readers" yet either. The other levels have a teacher KEY, for additional guidance and the correct answers.
And having said that, the girls did enjoy these lessons. All the lessons are interactive, with just enough balance of reading, discussion, and paperwork. We received a book of student pages for lessons 1-26 for each girl, as well as a teacher's guide and a set of summary cards for the books of the Bible. When we did the readings for each lesson, we looked at the book of the Bible the reading came from, and discussed that book, talking about what else was in there and what category that book would fit into (historical, prophetical, etc).
The timelines and wall maps are included in the student pages, in a smaller format. We don't have a homeschool room (we just don't feel the need to give up a full room), so we don't have any space for posters, and these are sizable and really need some blank walls. Did we miss them? No, not really. What was in the books worked just fine. However, if I were teaching a class, it would be nice. We also did not use the CD of songs. Not necessary, but I'm sure it's a nice addition to the program. Most kids love any lesson that incorporates music.
Overall, while I'm not sure this will be a permanent part of our school time, I can see all of us working through the lessons together.
