Bible lessons are by far my favorite lessons to plan. Although it can be overwhelming to look through and find any kind of curriculum, because let’s face it, there are just so many options out there! That’s a good thing, right? So, where to began? First, I talk with God. I pray and ask for His grace and guidance as I search for the right fit for our family. I then ask my kids what their thoughts are and if there is anything they want to learn.
Our first year of homeschooling I kept it very simple. We studied and journaled from a 100 Days Devotional book that also came with fun worship music. We read Miracles From Heaven, and included any Bible verses we read from it into our journaling.
Year two, I wanted to add in more. I wanted it to be very visual, full of color and the richness of Christ. I prayed for weeks and after about a month, I was still not having any luck. But, alas, The Jesus Storybook Bible, by Sally Lloyd-Jones popped up on my screen one night. From the first video I watched about it to the encouraging reviews I read online, I knew I had found what I was looking for.
"The Jesus Storybook Bible is a love letter…" – Audrey Assad #JSB10th
Posted by Jesus Storybook Bible on Tuesday, March 7, 2017
“Every story whispers his name.” Is the phrase they use throughout the study. I love it! The pictures are vivid and the stories come to life. If you purchase the curriculum set it comes with worksheets and lesson plans to print out, audio readings and animated videos of each story. There are 44 stories that can be spreadout throughout the school year. We completed 2 stories a week in about 15-30 min. for each story. It paired well with our CC schedule of 24 weeks.
Don’t let the age recommendation of 3-5 years stop you from using it for older kids. My kids are older and we all enjoyed it and learned something new everyday.
Once it’s completed, you will have a collection of 44 completed worksheets with 44 different phrases that your kids answered to the question, ” What did you learn about Jesus in this story?” It’s wonderful to flip through them all and see how they discovered so many different things about our King!
Some other favorites we added into our Bible time were hymnal songs and various picture books. This was so fun! We would read from Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan. We would pick a hymnal, read it and sing it together. It was amazing to see how many times we referenced history or the CC timeline song throughout this study. We did not nearly get as far into this book as I had hoped, but it pairs well with all Bible studies, so we will continue reading it this fall.
The Children’s Book of Virtues, by William Bennett is also a treasured favorite! It is filled with snippets from different literature sources, all with strong values and lessons to be learned throughout.
And last but not least, we love audio books by Your Story Hour. They have many wonderful series that cover various historical figures, but their Bible series is awesome! I’m still planning out this upcoming school year’s Bible study, and I maybe using a Sunday School curriculum from Answers In Genesis called, Answers Bible Curriculum. Rumor has it they might be creating one just for homeschoolers in the next few years! Stay tuned!
