If there was one Christian Worldview Curriculum we have reviewed in our homeschool learning adventures, that I have consistently enjoyed teaching my kids, it would have to be the What We Believe series through Apologia.
What We Believe
Why should we teach a biblical worldview? Because we should be ready at all times to give a testimony of what we believe, and why we believe it. Our children need to know how to understand the world around them, and see the world with eyes and understanding of biblical truths. They need to understand what the bible says is right and wrong and that their decisions should follow what they believe. They need to see how to apply their beliefs while walking out their faith on a daily basis.
There are four volumes in the What We Believe series:
Who Is God?
Who Am I?
Who Is My Neighbor?
What On Earth Can I Do?
Each volume has four component options:
Textbook
Workbook
Jr. Workbook
Coloring book
What On Earth Can I Do?
We were recently given the opportunity to review the fourth volume in this series called What On Earth Can I Do. This is a wonderful resource for families and faith based classes too.
Hardcover 294 page textbook
For ALL ages
Retails for $39.00
This is a great big full color book made of very good materials. You can tell it is a book that will last a long time. My kids really enjoyed the variety in this text. Colorful pictures and stories criss cross so much of life today and through history and keeps the focus of the learning material very interesting to kids.
There are eight lessons, and suggested to be spread out over 24 weeks. But go at your own pace. The focus areas of the lessons are easy to read and understand.
Each lesson contains these focus areas:
Big Idea – main topic of the lesson
What You Will Do – learning object
Short Story – Characters similar age as your children work through life situations.
Think About It – Questions that probe your students understanding.
Words You Need To Know – vocabulary words
Hide It In Your Heart – Two Bible memory verses
Integrated Learning – Additional articles with interdisciplinary topics to help the student apply what they have learned. It involves various areas such as math, art, history, science, and more.
Prayer – Lessons conclude with prayer.
Parables Of Jesus
Going Deeper
House Of Truth – Four lessons in the text work together progressively to help tie the learning in with the other textbooks in the What We Believe curriculum series.
What On Earth Can I Do? Notebook Journal and What On Earth Can I Do? Jr. Notebook Journal are a hands on way to apply what your students are learning in the textbook. It is filled with questions, vocabulary cross word puzzles, mini books, prayers, scriptures, ministry ideas, observations of faith in action, and more. The regular Notebook Journal is for older students and retails for $24. The Jr. Notebook journal is for students ages 6 to 9 and retails for $24.
For younger students and corresponds to lessons in the textbook and journals.
64 coloring pages
Retails for $8.00
Be sure to check out the table of contents and free lesson samples of the above resources on the Apologia web site.
How we used this curriculum in our homeschool:
It is suggested to set up a schedule to use the curriculum that works for your own family. The curriculum is flexible and adaptable to any family’s needs. My oldest worked independently and read the textbook on his own, and I read the text to the rest of the children. We discussed the details and answered questions all together.
The curriculum has a combination of reading, writing, vocabulary, prayers, faith in action, self evaluation, social observation, and various suggested activities. It criss crosses through the bible, through history, math, science, social studies, language arts, cultures, practical life skills, art, and more. We enjoy this variety and cross curricular approach. It is a great big unit study and a very familiar format for us. It is easy to teach to multiple ages and skill level of children using this curriculum.
Here is a small example of how we implemented chapter 4 and tied it to our real life learning. Chapter 4 is about “Where Is Your Treasure?” It covers how we can get trapped in thinking our value is measured by what we own. It exposes greed in our home, our society, and our world. It takes a closer look at history and how greed shaped our culture, war, and other events. It also looks at the opposite of greed and how giving generously and hardwork can also shape a culture and bring positive change.
In chapter 4 the kids also learned about Victory Gardens during the 1940’s and the impact they had on the nation during World War II. The text challenged the kids to build their own garden too. We read the text, answered questions and had discussion. We completed our notebook journals for the lesson which included bible study, vocabulary, word puzzles, coloring pages and more.
This chapter corresponded so well with our life right now. We went outside and made our own victory garden. Check out our recent garden story for all the details. Here is a picture of my 11 year old’s tomato plant. It is blooming and has a few small tomatoes on it already.
They also learned about the history of money, different things used as money before paper money and coins were invented, and studied about famous people like William Hamilton, John Wesley, Charles Foster Cane “Citizen Cane”, technology, countries like Great Britain, USA, Germany, China, special events like D-Day, World War II, etc.
The kids enjoy the activities in the notebook journals. We used both the regular Journal and the Jr. Journal format to record our answers, observations, further thinking, vocabulary practice, word games, scripture study, etc.
This curriculum is very easy to implement. The textbook gives a suggested schedule of spending two days a week and three weeks on each lesson, for a total of six days spent on each lesson lasting about 24 +/- weeks. The notebook journals also list a suggested schedule to use them in combination with the curriculum. We worked on the curriculum three days a week for the purpose of the review, and will take a break now that our school year is winding down and pick this up on the suggested schedule for our faith building curriculum for the coming school year. It is a keeper!
I would definitely recommend this curriculum to all my homeschool friends, families with kids, church groups, parenting classes, etc. This is a wonderful curriculum to work through and learn about what you believe and why, and learn practical ways to apply what you believe in real life. I love it!
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Check out what other families on the Schoolhouse Review Crew had to say about Apologia’s What On Earth Can I Do curriculum.
