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GrapeVine Studies Reivew

Have you wanted to remember your bible study?  Do you easily forget what you have read? When I think about history, and how people remembered stories to tell the next generation, they often used a variety of stick figure pictures to convey their message.  Stick figures are universal and easy to make and understand for most people of all ages.  The artifacts we have left show that people either drew them with charcoal or painted them onto rocks or cave walls, drew or carved shells or beads, and some people carved them into walking sticks, bone or wooden boxes, and totem poles.  However the story was shared, simple stick figure drawings have been a form of communication and remembering stories since the beginning of time.

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We were recently sent a product called Birth of Jesus: Multi Level Bible Curriculum from GrapeVine Studies to learn how to stick figure our way through the bible and understand and remember what we have learned.

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Stick figuring through the bible is a revolutionary yet ancient idea for helping your kids understand and remember their bible verses.  You can bring the story to life and make the stories easy to share with pictures like ancient people’s did.  I have seen this phenomenon going around for the past few years, some folks use doodles and paints, and some bible studies use stick figures.  I came across a homeschool mom’s website a few years ago who had been stick figuring through the bible with her kids and I was fascinated with the idea and put it on my “someday” to do list to learn more.   Well my “someday” finally arrived a few months ago when we were sent GrapeVine Studies curriculum to review in our homeschool.

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Birth Of Jesus: Multi Level

GrapeVine Studies

For Elementary Age Students

e-book PDF Download (other formats available)

Price varies depending on format you choose, see website for purchase details.

This is a whole new way to do Bible Study with your family!

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What We Received:

Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level Student e-Book:

  • Ages 7+
  • lessons pages,
  • timelines,
  • map,
  • memory verses,
  • and reviews.
  • 48 pages.

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Traceable for Multi-Level e-Book:

  • Ages 3-6
  • lessons pages,
  • timelines,
  • map,
  • memory verses,
  • reviews
  • 48 pages.

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Birth of Jesus Teacher’s e-Book:

  • lesson notes,
  • stick figure drawings,
  • lesson goals & key points,
  • memory verses,
  • review questions & answers.
  • 64 pages

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How We Used GrapeVine Studies

The first thing I did when I received my e-books was print them out.  I hole punched them and placed them into a 3 ring binder, but many of my friends also take them to the local office store and have them spiral bound for ease of use.  You can also purchase GrapeVine Studies books already printed and bound and ready to use, they come in several format options to fit your needs.

Next you need to get your supplies ready and put them in a basket, milk crate or an easily accessible container for bible study time.

Supplies:

Supplies Needed To Complete GrapeVine Studies Include:

  • Lesson pages for each student
  • Teachers Book pages for lesson instructions
  • Bible
  • Bible Dictionary
  • Atlas of the Bible Lands
  • Dry erase board and/or a chalk board (for mom)
  • Dry erase markers and/or chalk (for mom)
  • Colored pencils

I gave each child their own binder, and we worked on the GrapeVine Studies with our bible study for 10 minutes to 20 minutes four days a week.   For my younger children I give them the traceable pages, and the older children I give the blank pages for them to draw out the story. This study is meant to last 5 weeks by doing 4 lessons each week or a total of 128 lessons.  Each product from GrapeVine Studies is different so be sure to check the length of other products if you are looking for a longer or shorter time frame.

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Schedule 10 to 20 Minutes Each Day

  • Monday: Timeline Review Page
  • Tuesday: Lesson page 1
  • Wednesday: Lesson page 2
  • Thursday: Student Drawing Page

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Extra Day 5 (Friday).  We added our own ideas to further the learning for Fridays.  We did a variety of things like have the kids retell the story, make a lego creation to retell the story, act out the story, etc.  Check out our Further the Learning Ideas posted below if you would like to do this study in 5 days a week instead of 4. This product is very flexible and you can adapt it to your needs.

Further the Learning:

These are our “extra” ideas for making the GrapeVine Studies into a 5 day curriculum.  We love Unit Studies, and I felt this curriculum was easy to expand into a fun bible unit study for my kids to enjoy.  This is a great curriculum to accompany what you are already doing or to stand on its own.  You can include it for circle time with younger children, individual study for older children, or family bible study too.  We made it into the bible portion of our unit study learning about the Birth Of Jesus.   This is such a flexible curriculum and easy to adapt to any situation.

Field Trip:

  • Take a field trip to a local museum and look at artifacts that contain stick figures.  Have the children compare these with their stick figures of bible stories.
  • Take a virtual field trip online and learn about stick figures on ancient artifacts and on cave walls.

Screenshot (281)Ancient “Jonah” stick figure. (Image source)

Recent discoveries of ancient Jewish artifacts reveals a rich history of stick figures and even their written language reveals stick figures.  Here is a picture of the story of Jonah discovered on a tomb in 2012.    You can find many examples like this to look at with your children in museums and online.

Study Language:

Ancient Greek and Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, as well as many other languages look like stick figures. Find examples of these languages online and have the kids guess what story they are telling, or what the different characters stand for.  See if they can identify stick figures and a story in ancient writings.  Check out wikipedia for an explanation of the history of stick figures in history.

Gift Idea:

  • Have the kids make a stick figure bible verse card for someone’s birthday, holiday, or anniversary.
  • Using cinamon sticks or tree branch sticks and hot glue, have the kids recreate a scene from their GrapeVine Studies and give this as a gift.
  • GrapeVine Studies stick figure scene painted or drawn onto rocks to give away as paperweights or give a whole story on rocks that can be displayed to retell the story.

Snack Ideas:

  • Have the kids make pretzel stick figures with pretzels, raisins, mini marshmallows, olives.
  • They could also use cheese sticks and olives with the help of a toothpick inbetween to hold them together.
  • Another fun idea would be to bake a stick figure scene from the GrapeVine studies with a bread stick dough.  Have the kids shape their stick figure scene on a cookie sheet and bake it to look just like their page.  This could be their centerpiece on the table at supper as they share the bible story with daddy or company who might come to visit, especially if using the Birth Of Jesus or the Resurection of Jesus GrapeVine Study near the holidays.

Arts and Craft Ideas:

  • Decorate a binder with stick figure animations to personalize it and hold their GrapeVine Studies bible study pages.  You can also create a lapbook, or create lapbook flaps they can keep in their binder to store maps, or mini booklets, etc that you might want to include if doing this as a unit study.
  • Go outside and find some sticks and and make puppets re-create one of the bible story’s they studied in their GrapeVine Studies.    Use the GrapeVine Studies pages as a script to re-tell the story with their stick figure puppets.
  • Use chalk and draw their GrapeVines Studies onto the side walk at a park or public area to share the gospel with others.
  • Paint rocks with the bible story using stick figure story ideas from GrapeVines Studies.  Retell the story to family and friends.   Could make a special bag or box and give this as a gift to a loved one that they could then display in their home.   This would be great to stick figure paint the nativity on rocks for Christmas too.

Lego Skit Ideas:

Legos look kind of “stick figure like” and every kid I know loves to play with Legos.  Using the pages from GrapeVine Studies as their written skit, have the kids re-tell the story using Legos. This is one of my kids favorite “extra” learning activities.

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Final Thoughts

I was really excited to review this product.  When I was younger,  I used to doodle in my bible and made notes in the margins.  It was my attempt to understand what I was reading and remember it.  Nowadays, I mostly use a spiral bound notebook to keep my bible study notes.

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Handwriting out long notes during bible study doesn’t really work for most of my children, especially my younger children, because they are not yet strong readers or writers.   Thanks to GrapeVine Studies we now know the kids can keep their bible study notes drawn in stick figure form, and they will remember what they have learned and be able to retell the story themselves.

Social Media

Be sure to check out GrapeVine Studies on their social media links for all the latest news and product updates.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrapevineStudies
Twitter: https://twitter.com/grapevinestudy
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/grapevinestudy/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Grapevinestudies/posts
Periscope: @Grapevine Studies

Grapevine Studies Review

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Digital Science Online Review

We are enjoying our subscription to Digital Science Online by Visual Learning Systems.

Visual Learning Systems

Digital Science Online

We received a one year subscription to Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition (Grades K-5) and Digital Science Online: Secondary Edition (Grades 6-12) .  Each edition retails for $99 a year, and can be used by up to 8 students in the same home.  It can be accessed 24/7.  These programs can also be licensed for classroom use (price determined by classroom size), see the web site for more information.

Digital Science

Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition (Grades K-5)

We chose to focus on the Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition (Grades K-5) for the purpose of this review. My children really enjoyed learning a variety of science topics with this program.  The Elementary Edition includes two levels of learning: Primary K-2 (Physical Science, Earth Science, Life Science, Health) and Elementary 3-5 (Physical Science, Earth Science, Life Science).  Units / Topics covered in each level are listed below.

Digital Science Online is divided into 5 easy to use parts in each edition: Video, Animations, Images, Student Content (Printable Activities,Worksheets), Teachers Content (Lesson Plans, Video Script, Materials Needed for experiments and hands on investigations, Quiz /Worksheet/Test Answer Keys, Teachers Tips).

areas

Basically this is an easy to use guided classroom all wrapped up in one convenient online package. All you need is a computer and printer to use, and gather the supplies recommended for the hands on activities. Though older students may be able to work independently, younger students will need the parent / teacher’s help.

How We Used Digital Science Online:

We chose a few unit/topics from the Elementary Edition (Grades K-5) that we wanted to cover during the review (see list below).  You can go through the subject however best fits your needs, but we went through each topic with this plan for our lessons:

  1. Pre-video Quiz given by me (the parent/teacher) to learn what the kids already know about a science topic,

  2. Then they watched a video or video clips that reinforced the topic.

  3. Next they answered Video Review questions during the video or video clip as they are discussed.

  4. Then they took a Post-video Quiz,

  5. Next my kids completed several optional activities to explore the topic in a hands on way (observations (some observations were done outside), experiments, review the online animations and images quick guides, and complete several printable worksheets that reinforce the topic),

  6. Finally my kids took a Topic Assessment Test.

what are plants

The videos and video clips of the various topics are observed online.  You can choose the topic you want to study and watch the entire video, or select a few short video clips to watch and stop to discuss or write down answers as you come to them.

Learning about 3 types of worms from the Simple Animals unit.

Learning about 3 types of worms from the Simple Animals unit.

Some of the topics have a hands on experiments and activities to do, and some topics only have worksheets as the hands on component.  Sometimes we substituted some of the materials for an activity based on what we had on hand.  All of the worksheets are cross-curricular and promote skills in science, but also language arts, English, math, public speaking if done in groups, etc.  All of the quizzes, tests, and worksheets are downloadable printables for the student to complete.

hole punched worksheet

I printed off the worksheets, quizzes, and tests for each unit/topic we were learning about.  I used a three hole punch to put holes in the printables, and made a folder for each of my kids to put their completed worksheets in.

How to Measure Length Unit.

How to Measure Length Unit.

There is a huge list of approximately 136+ science units/topics available in both English and Spanish in the Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition (Grades K-5), and another 125+ science units/topics in the Secondary Edition (Grades 6-12), so this program can last your classroom through out their school years.   It can be used as the curriculum, or used as a supplement for other curriculum.  I have only listed the unit/topics from the Elementary Edition below.  You can choose to do them in any order you choose.  We loved the freedom of being able to move around and choose the topics we wanted to learn about.

Topics in Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition (Grades K-5)

      • Units of study: Grades K-2 collection
        activities of plants, adaptations, animal behavior, biodiversity, blood and circulation, cells, changes on earth, changing climate, chemical changes, classifying living things, complex animals, cycles in living things, day and night, describing matter, describing matter and its properties, describing problems, designing solutions, earth and you, earth’s nearest neighbors, earth’s rotation and revolution, ecology, fundamentals, electrical circuits, electricity, environmental problems and solutions, everyday simple machines, exploring desert biomes, exploring earth, sun, and moon, exploring energy, exploring energy and heat, exploring forest biomes, exploring fossils, exploring freshwater biomes, exploring grassland biomes, exploring landforms, environmental problems and solutions, everyday simple machines, explorando el sonido (exploring sound), explorando la energía y el calor (exploring energy and heat), explorando sólidos, líquidos y gases (exploring solids, liquids, and gases), exploring desert biomes, exploring earth, sun, and moon, exploring energy, exploring energy and heat, exploring forest biomes, exploring fossils, exploring freshwater biomes, exploring grassland biomes, exploring landforms, exploring marine biomes, exploring solids, liquids, and gases, exploring sound,
        exploring the building blocks of matter, fall, fascinating fossils, food and digestion, food chains, forces in fluids, forming bonds, fósiles fascinantes (fascinating fossils), gravedad (gravity), gravity, grouping living things
        hábitos saludables (healthy habits ), healthy habits, heat and energy
        helping us work, how to measure length, how to measure volume,
Using a ruler to measure worksheet.

Using a ruler to measure worksheet.

      • Units of study: Grades 3-5 collection
        ALL OF THE ABOVE PLUS:
        impacto en la tierra (impacts on earth), impacts on earth, interacciones de los seres vivos (interactions of living things), interactions of living things, investigando la herencia (investigating heredity), investigating chemical reactions, investigating earth’s natural resources, investigating heredity, investigating mixtures, solutions, elements, and compounds,  investigating water, investigations and data, invierno (winter), keeping earth healthy, landforms, language in science, life cycles, light, listening and speaking in science, los ciclos de los seres vivos (cycles in living things), magnets and electromagnetism, making observations, measuring, microscopic life, migración e hibernación (migration and hibernation), migration and hibernation, minerals,  moving muscles and bones, moving things, natural resources, needs of living things, nuestra preciosa tierra (our precious earth), nutrition,  objetos en movimiento (moving things), observando el clima (observing weather), observing weather, otoño (fall), our distant neighbors, our precious earth, particles and matter, physical changes, planetas (planets), planets, plant life cycles, plant parts, plantas (plants), plants, plants with flowers, plate tectonics in action, primavera (spring), reading in science,  reading maps, recursos naturales (natural resources), rocks, scientific method, seguridad climática (weather safety), simple animals, soil and rocks, solutions at work, spring, stars and galaxies, starting with questions, suelo y rocas (soil and rocks), summer, sun and stars, the air around us, the changing phases of matter, the nature of waves, the rock cycle, the water cycle, things in motion, traits and heredity, trees, tu cuerpo ( your body ), tu dieta ( your diet ), usando la electricidad (using electricity), using electricity, using the scientific method, using tools in science, uso del método científico ( using the scientific method), verano (summer), vibrations and waves, water, water, everywhere, weather around us, weather on the move, weather safety, weathering and erosion, weighing things, what are magnets?, what are plants?, what do living things need?, what is a bird?, what is a fish?, what is a mammal?, what is a reptile?, what is an amphibian?, what is an insect?, what is light?, what is science?, what is sound?, what is the water cycle?,  why do we measure?, winter, working with data, writing in science, your body, your diet, ¿qué es el ciclo del agua? (what is the water cycle?), ¿qué es la luz? (what is light?), ¿qué es un anfibio? (what is an amphibian?),  ¿qué es un ave? (what is a bird?), ¿qué es un insecto? (what is an insect?), ¿qué es un mamífero? (what is a mammal?), ¿qué es un pez? (what is a fish?), ¿qué es un reptil? (what is a reptile?), ¿qué necesitan los seres vivos? (what do living things need?), ¿qué son los imanes? (what are magnets?),
Build a pulley system for Simple Machine's unit.

Build a pulley system for Simple Machine’s unit.

So as you can see there are several years worth of fun learning units/topics to do, and you can do them in any order you chose.  My advice would be to put a “short list” together of the units/topics you want to cover for a school year, or semester, or even for just a month at a time, and then spend a week +/- on each topic.  Some students may want to go faster or slower, but you have the freedom to go at any pace that fits your family 24/7.

about worms

A science curriculum program like this is a real asset to families.  Whether you are a homeschool family or not, if you want to teach science to your kids or if you are looking for an after school science program to help boost your child’s knowledge, give Digital Science Online a try.

You can download a FREE sample lesson to try before you buy. Just click on each square for the sample video, animation, student content and teacher content separately.  You can also watch a tutorial for how to use the Digital Science Online resource program. This is a great way to see if you and your student will like using this program.  You can also sign up for a FREE 10 Day Trial subscription.

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