5 Days of Growing Godly Girls |
 | Praying Proverbs 31: Prayers for a Daughter's Virtue is so applicable to all moms who have daughters! Not only is it richly steeped in the Word of God, especially the Proverbs, it provides opportunity for moms to pray specifically about many areas of their daughters' lives...and to answer questions in a simple journaling format. Praying Proverbs 31 is about touching the hearts and lives of our daughters through praying Scripture. It is both a devotional book and prayer guide, taking the truths of Proverbs 31 and using those truths to pray more specifically for our little women. One passage a week, one prayer a day for 10 weeks covering issues that are at the heart of womanhood: A Valuable Virtue, A Pure Life, A Rewarding Work, A Heart for Home, and more. |
I'm excited to be able to use this special eBook in my home! I know you will be, too, should you feel led to purchase it.
Join me here throughout this week for four more days of 5 Days of Growing Godly Girls...and check out some other fabulous "5 Days of..." blog posts by other homeschooling parents:
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 | Welcome to Day 1 of Growing Godly Girls! Want to read the other days of this 5-Day feature? Day 1: Consistent Parenting with a Loving Smile Day 2: Study Them Well Day 3: God's Word at Their Level Day 4: Surround Them with Godly Friends Day 5: Coming soon! |
When Elmer and I learned that we were going to have our first baby, clear back in 1997, we were so excited - and quite terrified!
Raise a child, or perhaps several children, or more? This was new territory. The only experiences I'd had with children were basically in teaching 9- and 10-year-olds. That's a far cry from babies and toddlers! The parenting styles in our own homes when we were growing up were not similar in some ways that we felt were important, so we decided to learn together how to begin "doing" this parenting thing as a Christian couple who loved the Lord.
I was so blessed that my husband was interested in starting our parenting adventure off on the right foot! He was willing to read through some Christian books and materials with me, together, one night each week, so we could be in as much agreement as possible when our baby was born. We chose not to read most of the books and literature on the market, and instead settled on some parenting curriculum that we felt wasn't overly complicated and also just "made sense" to us. I'm not going to mention it here, because you may hate this product! But it worked well for our new little family.
This made a huge difference in how we felt when we brought our new baby, Kelsi, home from the hospital. Sure, we were still "terrified", but we knew that with the Lord's help, we could do this!
One of our main concerns is that my husband and I would be in agreement with how discipline and caregiving would take place in our home. Now that we've been parents for over 14 years, I have to say that this has made a world of difference in our home! We haven't had the girls attempt "mind games", trying to pull Dad one way and Mom the other...or, at least, when they attempted it a few times, they realized that this wasn't going to work.
The girls quickly learned that if Mom said, "No," then Dad was most typically going to say "no" as well. The girls learned to expect the same consequences for disrespect and poor behavior from both of us, the majority of the time. This has brought a sense of stability and harmony in our home, because the girls have a peaceful knowledge that Mom and Dad back each other up. And I love that!
I won't lie and say that I've been 100% consistent in using nurturing and discipline/instruction with the girls in our home. But I've worked very hard at this, to stay on top of the "little things" that often parents will let slide, especially at younger ages: rolling of the eyes; disrespectful sighs; grumblings; not following through with directions; creating more work for others; lack of willingness to obey. When the girls were 3 and 4 years old, I knew that if I allowed my four-year-old to roll her eyes at Mom (or if she saw me doing this to my husband disrespectfully), it would be very difficult to curb this behavior when she was 13 and 14 years old.
I've prayed to God many times for the strength to be consistently strong as a parent. Now, I certainly don't mean that I wanted to be harsh, or unforgiving. Not at all! I prayed for things like this:
1. When I'm on the telephone, Lord, please help me to be willing to end the phone conversation so I can appropriately teach and guide my children so they will know what is appropriate behavior when Mom is on the phone. (Anyone here have problems with this one?)
2. When I feel too tired to answer another "why, Mommy?" question (wanting to know how things work/develop/grow/were created, etc.), please, Lord, give me the strength to face those many questions with a smile and a loving spirit. I want the girls to still be asking me questions when they are 15 and 16 years old!
3. Help me, Lord, to be honest with myself when I observe my children. Do I have a blind spot about some behavior that is really hindering my children's growth and development, spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally?
4. Guide me, Lord, to be honest with myself when I see my children exhibiting poor, negative behaviors. When another parent comes to me to let me know about this, allow me to be humble and honest, recognizing my children's weaknesses and faults, so we can together pray about the problem and begin to develop deeper character.
Raise a child, or perhaps several children, or more? This was new territory. The only experiences I'd had with children were basically in teaching 9- and 10-year-olds. That's a far cry from babies and toddlers! The parenting styles in our own homes when we were growing up were not similar in some ways that we felt were important, so we decided to learn together how to begin "doing" this parenting thing as a Christian couple who loved the Lord.
I was so blessed that my husband was interested in starting our parenting adventure off on the right foot! He was willing to read through some Christian books and materials with me, together, one night each week, so we could be in as much agreement as possible when our baby was born. We chose not to read most of the books and literature on the market, and instead settled on some parenting curriculum that we felt wasn't overly complicated and also just "made sense" to us. I'm not going to mention it here, because you may hate this product! But it worked well for our new little family.
This made a huge difference in how we felt when we brought our new baby, Kelsi, home from the hospital. Sure, we were still "terrified", but we knew that with the Lord's help, we could do this!
One of our main concerns is that my husband and I would be in agreement with how discipline and caregiving would take place in our home. Now that we've been parents for over 14 years, I have to say that this has made a world of difference in our home! We haven't had the girls attempt "mind games", trying to pull Dad one way and Mom the other...or, at least, when they attempted it a few times, they realized that this wasn't going to work.
The girls quickly learned that if Mom said, "No," then Dad was most typically going to say "no" as well. The girls learned to expect the same consequences for disrespect and poor behavior from both of us, the majority of the time. This has brought a sense of stability and harmony in our home, because the girls have a peaceful knowledge that Mom and Dad back each other up. And I love that!
I won't lie and say that I've been 100% consistent in using nurturing and discipline/instruction with the girls in our home. But I've worked very hard at this, to stay on top of the "little things" that often parents will let slide, especially at younger ages: rolling of the eyes; disrespectful sighs; grumblings; not following through with directions; creating more work for others; lack of willingness to obey. When the girls were 3 and 4 years old, I knew that if I allowed my four-year-old to roll her eyes at Mom (or if she saw me doing this to my husband disrespectfully), it would be very difficult to curb this behavior when she was 13 and 14 years old.
I've prayed to God many times for the strength to be consistently strong as a parent. Now, I certainly don't mean that I wanted to be harsh, or unforgiving. Not at all! I prayed for things like this:
1. When I'm on the telephone, Lord, please help me to be willing to end the phone conversation so I can appropriately teach and guide my children so they will know what is appropriate behavior when Mom is on the phone. (Anyone here have problems with this one?)
2. When I feel too tired to answer another "why, Mommy?" question (wanting to know how things work/develop/grow/were created, etc.), please, Lord, give me the strength to face those many questions with a smile and a loving spirit. I want the girls to still be asking me questions when they are 15 and 16 years old!
3. Help me, Lord, to be honest with myself when I observe my children. Do I have a blind spot about some behavior that is really hindering my children's growth and development, spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally?
4. Guide me, Lord, to be honest with myself when I see my children exhibiting poor, negative behaviors. When another parent comes to me to let me know about this, allow me to be humble and honest, recognizing my children's weaknesses and faults, so we can together pray about the problem and begin to develop deeper character.
The "other" very important thing to my husband and I:
a sincere smile!
It was important to me, as a classroom teacher at the elementary school level, to have my face be well-acquainted with a nice smile. Because I smiled so much "on the job", 40+ hours per week, my face kind of ended up with this goofy, permanent smile.
Okay. Not really. That photo was just for fun!
But the point is that I wanted to teach well, with sincerity and confidence, providing guidance and discipline when needed, but also be known for having a forgiving, loving smile on my face as much as possible.
As a stay-at-home mom who is mostly with my children 24/7, this was going to be critical to my children growing up to be godly girls. I needed to ask myself these questions:
1. When I'm pleasantly surprised when something goes my way, do I verbalize thankfulness toward God for His goodness to me?
2. When I feel like I'm waking up to a "bad" morning, can I think of 10 things in 10 seconds for which I'm truly thankful?
3. Do I thank my children when they do something kind for me or complete a tough task I've asked them to do? Do I make this a big deal, hugging them and responding in a loving way toward them?
4. When I'm feeling overwhelmed or behind on my tasks and responsibilities, am I seeking God's advice on what to tackle next? Or am I sinking deeper into the pit of despair?
5. Do I treat each new day/hour/minute as a brand new day? Am I truly forgiving my children when they disobey? After they have repented of wrongdoing, am I willing to greet them with a smile and a hug?
6. Do I greet my children with a nice smile the first time we see each other in the morning?
No parent will ever "perfect" these two skills: consistent training and guidance - with a warm smile as much as possible.
But those can be some of our top priorities as we continue to parent our children in a godly way. While we can never guarantee that our parenting will produce godly children, we can provide the best environment, training, and attitude that we can...all with the Lord's help.
Join me here for four more days of 5 Days of Growing Godly Girls...and check out some other fabulous "5 Days of..." blog posts by other homeschooling parents:
Okay. Not really. That photo was just for fun!
But the point is that I wanted to teach well, with sincerity and confidence, providing guidance and discipline when needed, but also be known for having a forgiving, loving smile on my face as much as possible.
As a stay-at-home mom who is mostly with my children 24/7, this was going to be critical to my children growing up to be godly girls. I needed to ask myself these questions:
1. When I'm pleasantly surprised when something goes my way, do I verbalize thankfulness toward God for His goodness to me?
2. When I feel like I'm waking up to a "bad" morning, can I think of 10 things in 10 seconds for which I'm truly thankful?
3. Do I thank my children when they do something kind for me or complete a tough task I've asked them to do? Do I make this a big deal, hugging them and responding in a loving way toward them?
4. When I'm feeling overwhelmed or behind on my tasks and responsibilities, am I seeking God's advice on what to tackle next? Or am I sinking deeper into the pit of despair?
5. Do I treat each new day/hour/minute as a brand new day? Am I truly forgiving my children when they disobey? After they have repented of wrongdoing, am I willing to greet them with a smile and a hug?
6. Do I greet my children with a nice smile the first time we see each other in the morning?
No parent will ever "perfect" these two skills: consistent training and guidance - with a warm smile as much as possible.
But those can be some of our top priorities as we continue to parent our children in a godly way. While we can never guarantee that our parenting will produce godly children, we can provide the best environment, training, and attitude that we can...all with the Lord's help.
Join me here for four more days of 5 Days of Growing Godly Girls...and check out some other fabulous "5 Days of..." blog posts by other homeschooling parents:
And now for something special . . . a giveaway specifically for mothers of daughters!
Tracy from Praying Proverbs 31.com has sent me one copy of her beautiful eBook, Praying Proverbs 31: Prayers for a Daughter's Virtue to give away this week on Joy In Our Journey.com!
 | Praying Proverbs 31: Prayers for a Daughter's Virtue is so applicable to all moms who have daughters! Not only is it richly steeped in the Word of God, especially the Proverbs, it provides opportunity for moms to pray specifically about many areas of their daughters' lives...and to answer questions in a simple journaling format. Praying Proverbs 31 is about touching the hearts and lives of our daughters through praying Scripture. It is both a devotional book and prayer guide, taking the truths of Proverbs 31 and using those truths to pray more specifically for our little women. One passage a week, one prayer a day for 10 weeks covering issues that are at the heart of womanhood: A Valuable Virtue, A Pure Life, A Rewarding Work, A Heart for Home, and more. |
This giveaway has ended. Thank you to those who entered!
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The Voice™ Bible is a faithful dynamic equivalent translation that reads like a story with all the truth and wisdom of God's Word. Through compelling narratives, poetry, and teaching, The Voice invites readers to enter into the whole story of God with their heart, soul, and mind, enabling them to hear God speaking and to experience His presence in their lives. Through a collaboration of more than 120 biblical scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and artists, The Voice recaptures the passion, grit, humor, and beauty that is often lost in the translation process. The result is a retelling of the story of the Bible in a form as fluid as modern literary works, yet remaining painstakingly true to the original manuscripts.
Features include:
- Italicized information added to help contemporary readers understand what the original readers would have known intuitively
- In-text commentary notes include cultural, historical, theological, or devotional thoughts
- Screenplay format, ideal for public readings and group studies
- Book introductions
What we like about The Voice:
This version of the Bible is fairly unique. It is based on the earliest and best manuscripts from the original languages (Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic). However, it is a different sort of translation. It combines the strengths of scholars who are experts in the original languages with modern writers, musicians, and poets who are skilled in their use of English. Their goal was to be faithful to the original languages while at the same time beautiful and readable to our English-speaking audience.
I think this has been pulled off extremely well! The readability of this Bible translation is truly beautiful, and I love the way it reads like a script for a play. It is very clear who is speaking in each verse or section, without being distracting or annoying.
Would you be interested in receiving a free download of either the book of Genesis or the book of Isaiah from The Voice? You may download one choice by clicking on the box, below:
The Voice also provides four separate daily reading plans, which I think are very helpful:
Would you like to compare The Voice Bible translation to 9 other popular translations? Click below:
The paperback version of The Voice New Testament is only $2.99 at ChristianBook.com! Wow.
The complete version of both The Voice Old and the New Testament is also available.
When our family wants to act out portions of the Bible, we'll be using this version to help us do that!
What is your family's favorite version of the Bible?
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Disclosure: I received one paperback copy of The Voice New Testament in exchange for my honest review of this Bible. No other compensation was provided.
I love to read and look through different types of Bibles! Here's one we received to enjoy and review for you this spring, the ESV Grow! Bible, in the English Standard Version.
More from Crossway.org about the English Standard Version:
If you're not familiar with the English Standard Version, it stands in the classic stream of English Bible translations that goes back nearly five centuries. In this stream, accurate faithfulness to the original text is combined with simplicity, beauty, and dignity of expression. Our goal has been to carry forwrad this legacy for a new century.
The ESV is an "essentially literal" translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the meaning and structure of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. We have sought to be "as literal as possible" while maintaining clear expression and literary excellence. Therefore, the ESV is well suited for both personal reading and church ministry, for devotional reflection and serious study, and for Scripture memorization.
More from Crossway.org about the English Standard Version:
If you're not familiar with the English Standard Version, it stands in the classic stream of English Bible translations that goes back nearly five centuries. In this stream, accurate faithfulness to the original text is combined with simplicity, beauty, and dignity of expression. Our goal has been to carry forwrad this legacy for a new century.
The ESV is an "essentially literal" translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the meaning and structure of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. We have sought to be "as literal as possible" while maintaining clear expression and literary excellence. Therefore, the ESV is well suited for both personal reading and church ministry, for devotional reflection and serious study, and for Scripture memorization.
The ESV Grow! Bible is designed for children ages 8-12 for the time between when they use a children's Bible and a more advanced edition. Coupling the full ESV text with many helpful features, this is a Bible that young students can call their own.
The ESV Grow! Bible comes with all-new features to help children learn and understand God's Word. Children will find the ESV Grow! Bible full of interesting features, and parents will appreciate that their kids can explore the full Bible text themselves. A great resource to connect young readers with the beauty and majesty of God's Word.
If you take a couple of minutes to view the PDF below, you'll also notice a few of the things I really liked about this Bible:
The ESV Grow! Bible comes with all-new features to help children learn and understand God's Word. Children will find the ESV Grow! Bible full of interesting features, and parents will appreciate that their kids can explore the full Bible text themselves. A great resource to connect young readers with the beauty and majesty of God's Word.
If you take a couple of minutes to view the PDF below, you'll also notice a few of the things I really liked about this Bible:
- While there is some color in this Bible, it is not meaninglessly thrown around on the pages. Color has been carefully used to identify new chapters and changes in subjects.
- Each verse is preceded by a tiny blue number, to show that a new verse is next. I appreciate having these numbers in a slightly different color than the black text. It is much easier to follow.
- The pictures throughout this Bible are natural and realistic. I appreciate the fact that Crossway chose not to make them hip, cool, or any other "modern" presentation. However, they still appeal to young children...and to me!
- "Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How" boxes relate God's Word and salvation to the reader. Nice!
- 4U boxes help relate specific passages personally to the student reader. Application, application, application!
- In many places in this Bible, verses that remind us of Christ's death on the cross and resurrection are pointed out using "Cross Connections."
- Section and Book Introductions give the big picture on the themes in books and sections of the Bible.
- A glossary is provided for those unfamiliar words.
- Timelines and maps are also found at the back of the Bible. Nothing like adding some geography learning at the same time as understanding the Bible better!
- This is hardbound, so it's more durable than a lot of the softbound Bibles out on the market for children these days.
I do really enjoy seeing new Bibles that come onto the market. Our family has found several over the years that have met our children's reading levels and interest levels yet are still solidly founded on the Word of God. I love this!
Crossway.org is a non-profit organization which publishes many types of Bibles and other Christian literature. Feel free to check out their blog, if you'd like.
Crossway.org is a non-profit organization which publishes many types of Bibles and other Christian literature. Feel free to check out their blog, if you'd like.
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Disclosure: I received one hardbound copy of the ESV Grow! Bible in exchange for my honest review of this product. No other compensation was provided.
If you've read some of my recent book reviews here on Joy In Our Journey.com, you'll remember that I reviewed Book One in The Forgotten Castle Series: The Guardian Duke, authored by Jamie Carie, just a couple of months ago. I could hardly wait for Book Two to be published so I could read and review it here for you!
And guess what? Just like The Guardian Duke (Book One), I'm hosting a giveaway for the second book in the series! Please scroll down toward the bottom of this post for the giveaway.
And guess what? Just like The Guardian Duke (Book One), I'm hosting a giveaway for the second book in the series! Please scroll down toward the bottom of this post for the giveaway.
Here's the summary of The Forgiven Duke, provided by the publisher:
"Tethered by her impulsive promise to marry Lord John Lemon, the path of least resistance, Alexandria Featherstone sets off toward Iceland in search of her parents with a leaden heart. A glimpse of her guardian, the Duke of St. Easton - the path less traveled by - on Dublin’s shore still haunts her.
Will he come after her? Will he drag her back to London, quelling her mission to rescue her treasure-seeking parents, or might he decide to throw caution to the wind and choose Foy Pour Devoir: “Faith for Duty,” the St. Easton motto. The Featherstone motto, Valens et Volens: “Willing and Able,” beats in her heart and thrums through her veins. She will find her parents and find their love, no matter the cost.
The powerful yet wing-clipped Duke of St. Easton has never known the challenge that has become his life since hearing his ward’s name. Alexandria Featherstone will be the life or the death of him. Only time and God’s plan will reveal just how much this man can endure for the prize of love."
"Tethered by her impulsive promise to marry Lord John Lemon, the path of least resistance, Alexandria Featherstone sets off toward Iceland in search of her parents with a leaden heart. A glimpse of her guardian, the Duke of St. Easton - the path less traveled by - on Dublin’s shore still haunts her.
Will he come after her? Will he drag her back to London, quelling her mission to rescue her treasure-seeking parents, or might he decide to throw caution to the wind and choose Foy Pour Devoir: “Faith for Duty,” the St. Easton motto. The Featherstone motto, Valens et Volens: “Willing and Able,” beats in her heart and thrums through her veins. She will find her parents and find their love, no matter the cost.
The powerful yet wing-clipped Duke of St. Easton has never known the challenge that has become his life since hearing his ward’s name. Alexandria Featherstone will be the life or the death of him. Only time and God’s plan will reveal just how much this man can endure for the prize of love."
What did I think of this book?
Here are Joy In Our Journey's thoughts:
This is the second book in a series of three novels set in 1818-19. The story is complicated, with the main character a beautiful young woman (of course). Alexandria Featherstone has spent her growing up years on Holy Island, a tiny island off the coast of England and Ireland. Her parents have been “treasure hunters” and were seldom home for her upbringing, as they were always off on another adventure, taking on jobs as they saw fit to “find” things for other people. Apparently some of these treasure hunts including finding very valuable items, placing their lives in danger. Alexandria is mostly left to herself, with only an elderly couple left to care for her physical needs.
In the first book, her parents have been away for over a year. Alexandria receives news that they are believed to be dead, but this she knows has to be untrue. She can “feel” they are still alive, and she makes it her mission to find them. She is also informed that the Prince Regent in London has appointed a guardian for this “orphaned” child (herself), who is apparently very wealthy from her inheritance, something she did not know. Her guardian, the Duke of St. Easton, resolves to come to Holy Island and retrieve her, bring her to London, make sure she meets the right people and accomplishes a proper marriage, and makes her way into civilized society. Alexandria wants nothing to do with him. Her adventurous and courageous spirit take her to several new settings while looking for her parents and attempting to escape the clutches of this Duke. She journeys through Ireland and then follows leads of her parents’ journey and travels to Iceland. She meets a number of very interesting people along the way, some protectors and some with evil intent. During her travels, she occasionally corresponds with the Duke, hoping to appease him enough that he will leave off his pursuit of her; as they correspond, they begin to fall in love with one another. And so the story expands to great adventures, powerful scenery, and mysterious findings, but in the end, she still has not found her parents nor any real clue of where they may have gone.
The Duke’s story is also complicated and significant, as he becomes embroiled in the mysterious hunt for Alexandria’s parents and becomes prey to the evil intents of others. He also falls victim to a serious physical ailment, which greatly impedes his every action and thought. The mystery of the treasure Alexandria’s parents are seeking becomes more and more mysterious as the story unfolds. The evolving of the relationship between Alexandria and the Duke becomes more and more intriguing. Trust in God is paramount to both of these characters. The story ends with the reader hanging onto threads, hoping that the third and final segment of this story will appear soon!
My mom and I both read and enjoyed The Forgiven Duke. We would love to continue reading Book 3: A Duke's Promise right away, but it won't be available until September. Argh! Sometimes, it can be so hard to wait!
(Can you tell that I really enjoyed the writing style and story line of this book? !!!!)
The Forgiven Duke has been scheduled to be released in July of 2012, but it can be pre-ordered now through various vendors. ChristianBook.com has it for pre-order for $9.99.
Now, for the giveaway of one brand new copy of
The Forgiven Duke!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free 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. 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.
For the last six weeks or so, our family has been using and reviewing the Judah Bible Curriculum program.
While some curriculum programs take a bit more time for me to comprehend and understand than others, I eventually grasp the whole point of the curriculum and can justify its expense and the effort it took to understand the program.
Every once in a while, though, a review product throws me for a loop.
Judah Bible Curriculum has been one of those programs that leaves me with a head full of question marks. But that's not all bad.
While some curriculum programs take a bit more time for me to comprehend and understand than others, I eventually grasp the whole point of the curriculum and can justify its expense and the effort it took to understand the program.
Every once in a while, though, a review product throws me for a loop.
Judah Bible Curriculum has been one of those programs that leaves me with a head full of question marks. But that's not all bad.
Now to be fair to Judah Bible Curriculum, this program uses an approach to teaching that wasn't familiar to me.
I'd heard of The Principle Approach quite a few years ago, when my girls were babies. But I hadn't seen it in action, nor had I ever worked with any curriculum that used The Principle Approach...or so I thought.
I'd heard of The Principle Approach quite a few years ago, when my girls were babies. But I hadn't seen it in action, nor had I ever worked with any curriculum that used The Principle Approach...or so I thought.
The Principle Approach, in general, is not a method where the parent or teacher will be able to open up the teacher's guide to Page 1 and launch into the material with the student. It will take some teacher/parent training to put this program into action.
The Principle Approach is being aware of the providential hand of God in history and the lives of each of us individually, and the character trait of self-government, which is simply submitting to the sovereignty of God. There is a component of Christian character and national liberty as well, but the main idea is that we must learn to govern ourselves because we are submitting to God when we do so and that God's providential hand is all over history. --quote from fellow TOS Crew member in summarizing The Principle Approach for those of us who were not familiar with it
Judah Bible Curriculum: What does it include?
As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was selected to review the online/download version of Judah Bible Curriculum. I received a 100-page K-12 Manual download as well as 8 hours of audio lessons in mp3 format.
In general, the download/online version costs $44 and contains:
1) Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual, e-book format to download;
2) Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet to view online or download;
3) Eight-lecture Teacher Training Seminar. listen online or download.
The hard copy version costs $69 plus $5 shipping & handling, and includes:
1) Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual;
2) Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet;
3) Eight-lecture Teacher Training Seminar on CDs.
1) Judah Bible Curriculum K-12 Manual;
2) Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet;
3) Eight-lecture Teacher Training Seminar on CDs.
How do I use Judah Bible Curriculum with my family?
This is where I initially struggled to figure out how to use this program (um, ur, I mean, "concept") with my family. The K-12 manual is basically an outline that provides lists of Scripture passages and their key themes for each grade level. I was hoping that I'd receive lesson plans or lesson outlines and activities for each grade level, but this program isn't designed to do that for the parent or teacher.
To begin with, I read through the K-12 Manual, all 100 pages of it. Next, I began listening to the mp3 lessons online. Then, still not sure how to start, I read through the manual again. Next, I read through the Judah Bible Curriculum's website tab "Teacher Walkthrough" for registered, paid users of this curriculum, and I printed anything I felt would help us out.
After going through all of the "Teacher Walkthrough" materials, I still felt like I was missing something important about how to use this program with our family.
I finally took the printed materials to my husband, who leads our family Bible studies together, and asked him what he thought. He noticed the Lesson 1 printouts from the "Teacher Walkthrough" and decided that we would just start there! (Duh.) So, we did.
I think what was confusing me was that the manual mentioned doing extensive writing activities, notebooking and journaling, coloring sheets, hands-on activities, and tests - but none of these are provided in the program itself. I kept thinking that I had somehow forgotten to print out a huge section of the program, even though I had searched their website for quite some time and didn't see anything that I had missed.
The program does include some samples of student key sheets that have been filled out, as well as a few journaling/coloring sheet ideas for a few of the "lessons."
So, what's the point?
Judah Bible Curriculum, using The Principle Approach, is designed to teach the parent a different method of studying the Bible instead of being spoonfed by an author's lesson plans. The parents will direct the reading of the Bible passage, and then the family will discuss questions they have about the passage. Children will basically become "research assistants", looking up information about the culture and practices of the people they are reading about...or using commentaries and other Bible handbooks to answer questions.
Parents should spend several hours each week in private preparation time, to study the specific Bible passages and gain an understanding on what God wants them to show their children through the Scripture readings.
Parents should also be praying for guidance on how the Lord wants them to construct activities and writing exercises to solidify the material that has been read and discussed. This is the key reason that Judah Bible Curriculum is actually more of an outline instead of an actual curriculum.
How should Judah Bible Curriculum be used with young children?
The outline in Judah Bible Curriculum lends itself well to being used with young children. However, this is going to take a concerted effort on the part of the parent to come up with activities to enhance the Bible readings. If parents want coloring pages to be used with the reading, they'll need to find these online on their own. If hands-on activities are desired for a reading time, they will need to find these or think of them on their own.
When our girls were much younger, ages 4 and 6, we began a biblically-based chronological history program. The lessons contained no color pictures, and only a few black-and-white pictures, so I began filling a 3" notebook binder with pictures, activities, website links, and all kinds of fun things to be used with each lesson. After all, the girls were young and needed some kind of "active" outlet to help the historical concepts stick in their minds. While this worked well for us, I literally spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours working on this for one volume of our history text over the next two years. I loved doing this - but it was extremely time-consuming. If we were using Judah Bible Curriculum with small children, I would do much the same. My husband, with his work/home/ministry responsibilities, would not have time to do this for us, so it would be up to me to enhance the Scripture readings every week.
And that is one of the downfalls to this curriculum, we thought. My husband likes providing the biblical lessons for our family, but if I was the one doing so much preparation for each week's lessons, then the leadership would fall more on my shoulders, which is something we are trying to avoid with Bible lessons in our home.
There was one page in the guide that mentioned the 4 main concepts we were to focus on as we study. They are:
1. The hand of God in History
2. The hand of God in the life of the individual
3. Christian self-government
4. Individual Christian character and national liberty.
How do we use this with junior high students?
I think the other reason I felt confused with Judah Bible Curriculum is because I realized that this is the way we have studied the Bible and history over the years. While we may have used Bible study books and lessons along the way, we have always gone deeper than most of the Bible study helps and lessons have asked us to go. We ask a lot of questions. We discuss the passages in detail. And sometimes, we do fun activities to accompany the lessons.
So, we did the same thing with Judah Bible Curriculum. We started in Genesis 1, following the manual outline, and discussed passages from Genesis 1 and 2. The girls had some great questions, and we talked quite a bit about God's creation, even though this is something we have extensively studied in the past.
Each age level in the manual begins with the theme of Creation in the first weeks of their Bible study with Judah Bible Curriculum. Different passages are read depending on the age and year of the children.
Obviously, we didn't make our junior highers color in coloring pages, or any younger level activities, although they would have had some silly fun with some of the ideas abounding on the internet!
There were a few key sheets to be used with Judah Bible Curriculum, to fill out the key people, key governments, etc. in the readings. We discussed these multiple times. Basically, we followed a simple pattern of prayer, reading the appropriate Bible verses, discussing questions we had with the passage, and filling out or talking about the key sheets.
What was our overall opinion of Judah Bible Curriculum?
The audio lessons for the parent can be challenging to download depending on your internet speed and capacity for downloads. It might be better for purchasers of this program to listen to the audios on the website itself instead of downloading them to a personal computer, if you think you will have slow or spotty internet service, or if your download times are limited each month. There are 8 hours of audio, which is a lot! My only time to listen quietly to audios without being interrupted is late at night, which means that my brain doesn't comprehend things as well as it should...because I'm too tired! I would prefer that the audio lessons for the parents also be written for the parent to read, especially if a parent has a difficult time learning something new via the auditory senses.
Sometimes during the audio mp3 lectures, the lecturer would say, "Now look over here on your right," but there would be nothing for me to see. While a few visuals from the mp3 lessons are contained in the teacher manual, most of them aren't. It was harder to follow along like I wanted to, although I suppose that if I'd had enough coffee that evening, I could have done better, right? :)
Most importantly, while I understand the basics of The Principle Approach, it can be a very time-consuming process and preparation for the parent. I prefer a curriculum that has many activities and projects already suggested for the parent, and included in the program itself. Then, if a parent feels he should do something different, he is using wisdom from God to pick and choose what he wants his children to do at the same time as Bible study. And if a parent has extremely limited time and resources, there will be enough in the Judah Bible Curriculum to help the parent work through Bible chapters with their children. Most homeschooling families are already accustomed to tweaking a program for their family's use, in the way that God is leading them, so this would be nothing new to them.
The final word about Judah Bible Curriculum:
I feel like our family has thoroughly explored the Judah Bible Curriculum, both online at their website and in the materials I was able to print out. However, I still feel like I'm missing something...even though I'm pretty sure I'm not! The lectures are beneficial to the parent, and the outline is generally helpful, but for the price of the program, I'm not seeing the full benefit. Yes, the Principle Approach is a helpful learning tool, but since I view this program more as a concept for the parent vs. a curriculum, I think purchasers will need to keep in mind that they are paying for "teacher training" vs. an active, hands-on program that they can immediately use with their families.
Since we've basically been using the Principle Approach when we work on Bible lessons or history lessons over the years, this really wasn't anything new to my family. Maybe we didn't know we were using the Principle Approach, but we were. And that was the biggest surprise of all, for me. But I'm not sure I would have paid money to learn how to teach with this method since I could have researched it on my own for free on the internet.
Judah Bible Curriculum does have validity. It's just not what I expected it to be - and parents need to realize that this is a parent training tool instead of a ready-to-go curriculum.
You may view a sample of their curriculum to see what you think of it! To learn what other TOS Crew families thought of Judah Bible Curriculum, click here.
Since we've basically been using the Principle Approach when we work on Bible lessons or history lessons over the years, this really wasn't anything new to my family. Maybe we didn't know we were using the Principle Approach, but we were. And that was the biggest surprise of all, for me. But I'm not sure I would have paid money to learn how to teach with this method since I could have researched it on my own for free on the internet.
Judah Bible Curriculum does have validity. It's just not what I expected it to be - and parents need to realize that this is a parent training tool instead of a ready-to-go curriculum.
You may view a sample of their curriculum to see what you think of it! To learn what other TOS Crew families thought of Judah Bible Curriculum, click here.
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Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received one copy of the the download/online version of Judah Bible Curriculum in exchange for my honest review of this program. No other compensation was provided.
Hi! I'm Julieanne!
You'll find me in the kitchen
trying new Trim Healthy Mama recipes, loving God, and carrying out that love as I bless my husband and teen daughters.
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