Are you considering a bible study curriculum for your kids? How about a bible study that everyone can do together, no matter how young or old they are? Then you might check into the Bible Study Guide for All Ages.
We were recently sent several of their products to review in our home:
The Bible Study Guide for All Ages has products for all ages and they can be used with any version of the bible. There are several levels to choose from and each level covers the same lesson at a deeper (higher skill) level depending on age and skill level of the learner. There are levels for Teens and Parents/Adults, and a Primary (1st and 2nd grade) level too. However, I am only sharing today about the three levels (Lessons 1-26 of Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced) and the cards, maps, and timelines that we looked over for the purpose of this review.
Beginner Student Pages (3-K)
The Beginner Level includes several activities for young learners.
Coloring
Listening
Memory Work
Review
Introductory Learning Activities
The Beginner Student Pages set includes a workbook with 26 one-page lessons (front and back). You can easily tear off each page as needed or leave them in the book to be completed. This is a large book with legal size 8.5” x 14” pages. These books are consumables and so each student needs their own book.
Beginner Timeline:
Time Line helps students understand the chronology of the Bible. The Beginner Time Line (for ages 3-K) is 34 full-color, 8.5″ x 11″ pictures on sturdy card stock with one question about each picture. The visual aid teaches young students one simple fact about major people and events in the Bible. It also teaches them the order in which those people and events appear in the Bible.
Intermediate Student Pages (3rd & 4th grade)
The Intermediate Level contains lots of skills and activities including:
Memory work
Review
Bible story/text
Time line
Map drills
Application activities
The Student Pages of interactive activities follows the same format for each lesson. The kids will see the same headings that reinforce the learning pattern as they work through each lesson:
Remember It? (review of previous lesson)
Memory Workout
Guess What
Timeline
Get Active
Apply It
The Intermediate Student Pages set is constructed the same as the Beginner Level. This workbook includes 26 one-page lessons (front and back) and you can complete them in the book or remove them one lesson at a time as needed. The pages are 8.5” x 14” (legal size). These are consumable workbooks and each student needs their own book.
Advanced Student Pages (5th & 6th grade)
The Advanced Level contains lots of activities like the Intermediate Level, but just at a more in-depth understanding.
The Student Pages format for the Advanced Level is:
Remember It? (quick review of previous lesson)
Memory Workout
Guess What
Timeline
Apply It
Get Active
The Advanced Student Pages sets is a workbook of lessons and activities that includes 26 one-page lessons (front and back). The pages are lightly glue-bound in the binding and you can complete them in the book or easily tear off each page if desired. The size of each page is 8.5” x 14” (legal size). These are consumable workbooks and each student will need their own book.
Teacher Key (Contains Advanced, Intermediate, and Beginner Level Guide and Answer Keys):
The Advanced Teacher Key has all the answers to each of the lessons for the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels, instructions and tips for using the Unlabeled Wall Maps and Time Line and additional background information.
It is not required to purchase the Teacher Key for using the Student Pages sets, but it is very helpful to the parent, and it is recommended when using with groups.
Bible Book Summary Cards
This video explains more about how to use the Bible Book Summary Cards along with the bible study lessons.
Wall Maps and Timeline Set (Unlabeled)
The Wall Maps and Timeline set includes a timeline, three maps, and a book that contains the labels and figures for you and your students to cut out and apply to the timeline and the maps during specific lessons.
The size of the time line is 76″ x 25″.
The sizes of the maps are 38″ x 25″, 19″ x 25″ and 19″ x 25″.
VIDEOS:
Check out this video “Teaching Our Kids” by the Bible Study Guide for All Ages:
Check out this video Introduction called “Intro To The Bible Study Guide” by the Bible Study Guide For All Ages:
Scripture Lessons
4 Years of Bible study lessons covered in Bible Study Guide For All Ages:
UNIT 1 (lessons 1 to 104)
1-14 Joseph (Genesis 37-50) 15-20 Daniel 21-36 Jesus’ early life & 1st year of ministry (Mt 1:4-11, Mk 1:3-19, Lk 1:5-11, Jn 1-5)
37-41 Adam (Genesis 1-5)
42-45 Noah (Genesis 6-10)
46-48 Job
50-68 Moses (Exodus 1-20)
69-84 Joshua
86-104 Jesus’ last week (Mt 21:28-26:16, 57-75; Mk 11; 12:41-44; 14:12-52; Lk 22:24-30; Jn 11:55-17:26; 18:12-14)
UNIT 2 (lessons 105 to 208)
105-111 Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, resurrection, & ascension
112-119 Peter, Stephen, Philip (Acts 1-8)
121-130 Abraham (Genesis 11-24)
134-139 Jacob (Genesis 28-36)
141-162 David (2 Samuel 1-24; 1 Chronicles 22-29; Psalm 139, 23, 51)
163-174 Solomon (1 Kings 1-11, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs)
175-178 Ahijah (1 Kings 12-16)
179-186 Elijah (1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 2)
188-192 James
193-199 1 & 2 Peter
200-205 1 & 2 & 3 John, Jude
206-208 Revelation
UNIT 3 (lessons 209 to 312)
210-231 Moses (Exodus 21 –> Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
232-238 Hebrews
240-254 Jesus’ 2nd year of ministry (Mt 5-7; 8:18-22; 9:10-34; 12:22-50; 13:24-53; Mk 4:1-29; 6; Lk 7:1-8:3; 8:22-39; 11:37-13:9;
Jn 6:22-71)
256-260 Peter (Acts 9-12)
261-269 Paul (Acts 13-18:22, 1 & 2 Thessalonians)
271-288 Judges
289-292 Ruth
293-297 Samuel (1 Samuel 1-9)
298-312 Saul (1 Samuel 10-31)
Check out this video of the Intermediate Level in action.
Our Experience Using the Bible Study Guide for all Ages
We were sent the first 26 lessons (of 416 lessons) for the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels, Advanced Teachers Key, plus the Beginners Timeline, Bible Book Summary Cards, and the unlabeled Wall Maps and Timeline sets.
The Beginner’s level was just the right level for my youngest son. In the pictures below are examples of his progress on lessons 1 and lesson 2 as we studied about the life of Joseph in the bible. Fourteen of the twenty six lessons focus on the life of Joseph. One of our boy’s name is also Joseph and he has several brothers (and one sister) so they could identify with having lots of siblings. All of the kids enjoyed learning with this bible study.
In the Beginner’s level, there is a page to color on the front of the lesson while he listens to the bible scripture and answers a few questions, and also a CD with songs is also recommended to help memorize the scripture, but it was not sent to us for review. The back side of this page has a few steps to complete at this level to help reinforce the learning.
Each step and task is numbered.
My 9 year old really enjoyed using the Intermediate level too. There are bible verses to look up, and instructions to follow including a few small things to color and lots of fun tasks to complete. Each of the tasks are numbered and for the most part he was able to complete them independently while I helped his younger brother.
For the Advanced level, there is more writing and tasks to be completed than at the Intermediate level. Below you can see the work my kids completed in all three levels from Lesson 1 side by side. You can see how each student workbook covers the same information, but at different skill levels.
Hanging the Timelines and Wall Maps:
Best to take some measurements, as these resources take up a lot of wall space. They suggest if you don’t have the wall space, to place them on sheets of cardboard that can be easily set up and taken down and stored as needed. There are smaller timelines included in the student pages too.
Label Book:
The Maps and Timelines are constantly a work in progress depending on what you are learning about in the lessons. You will move things around and add more lables on as you go.
Final Thoughts
We have enjoyed using these bible study materials in our home. They are cartoon like, so they appealed to our younger kids, especially my six and nine year old sons. However using cartoon characters with bible study may or may not appeal to everyone. Also the size of the pages is a little awkward for storage on a book shelf or binder because they are 14 inches long. So far, I have just been storing them flat in a box with all the bible study materials we need at the same time, but I do hope to find a better system for storing them. I do like the addition of the interactive wall maps and timeline activities and feel these have enhanced our bible learning.
If you are looking for an interactive bible study for your whole family (or coops or church groups), then stop over at Bible Study Guide For All Ages and see if they have what you are looking for and the resources to meet your needs.
Social Media
Be sure to check out Bible Study Guide For All Ages social media links for all the latest news, tips, and product updates.
Are we are closer than before to the return of the Son of God?
I think we are.
When he was asked about his return, he had a lot to say. Some of his words about his return can be found in the book of Matthew. There are also many other verses in the bible that talk about his return too, especially the book of the Apocalypse also called Revelation.
Matthew 24:6-30
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.
“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
There is so much going on in this world that points to his soon return. This generation is truly in a high watch time. I encourage you to read and re-read the scriptures, especially about his return, as the time is now closer than before.
I hope you are waiting and watching with expectation.
I try to eat healthy, but I realize that my efforts are not always enough to meet what my body needs. The whole spectrum of nutrients our bodies need is quite mind boggling. There are macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients that our bodies depend on for sustenance and healing. Many of these nutrients have a specific function in the body, and if we don’t consume them, our bodies suffer sooner or later.
Some of the nutrients we need, we are able to get from the food we eat, and other nutrients we need are made by enzymes and probiotics within our system as they break apart what we’ve eaten and reformulate these ingredients into additional essential nutrients and co-factors. Our bodies are like small factories. As long as we give it the right building blocks, it can extract what is needed and it can also make some of the things we need that might be in a different form than what we are consuming by recombining the basic ingredients. Some B vitamins are like this for example, some we are able to get from food, and for others if given the right building blocks, there are bacteria in our gut that can manufacture some of the B vitamins and D vitamin co-factors that are a requirement for life.
However, most people don’t get enough of what they need from regular foods anymore. Soils are depleted and are not allowed to rest and recover and renew with organic matter to replenish the nutrients between seasons of crops. Instead, artificial nutrients are sprayed onto the soil and/or plants and production continues to keep on producing and cut costs. The result is plants that lack quality and nutrition.
In my own life, not all of my younger years were the greatest nutritionally. I started getting serious about what I put into my body when I was about 27 or so. I started drinking raw milk, raising most of our foods, and taking food based supplements. I finally became pregnant when I was almost 30 after several years of trying and hoping and praying to have a child. I know prayer and changing the foods I was eating had a big impact on our ability to conceive. I realized right away, that building babies in the womb, and later nursing on demand and lack of sleep when you have young children, takes a lot of nutrients and energy from momma. Overtime, my body became depleted of nutrients and just like the land that produces crops, I needed to renew my body with a layer of organic materials and rest.
A few of the ways I have found to add in extra nutrition into my body and my family is to add additional fruits and vegetables, either chopped very small so they are not noticed, or blended into a paste to mix in a recipe or into a smoothie, or dried and ground into a powder and put these into things we already eat. For example, into our chili, I add extra things like diced zucchini and spinach, and because of the spices, chili sauce and texture of the beans, you don’t even notice the hidden veggies. When I make cookies and cakes, sometimes I grate carrots or use pumpkin puree to enhance the nutrition. We also enjoy making smoothies. The kids don’t even realize their smoothies are packed with fruits and veggies that often they would eat if put on a plate in front of them. But hidden in other foods they enjoy, they consume these extra nutrients without any stress or fuss.
Adding the dried powders from fruits and veggies may be the most significant thing I am doing to bring change and healing to myself and family. There are so many benefits to including this in our meals. The boost it gives my food helps renew and rebuild my body from the inside out. It boosts my immune system. This also seems to help me age more gracefully because raw phyto-nutrients heal the body, reduce oxidation, improve cardiovascular wellness, reduce inflammation in the blood stream and through-out the body, rebuilds the blood stream, repairs DNA, and protects it from breaking.
Father God created fruits and vegetables as multipurpose use for the body to work as food and medicine, as a method sustenance, disease prevention, healing intervention, and rebuilding. No one knows our bodies better than our creator.
I really enjoy listening to “experts” who look to Father God and use the natural foods and plants he created for achieving health and wellness. Dr. Sears is one of those experts. Dr. Axe and Jordan Rubin are a couple more who are terrific too.
Jordan Rubin recommends 3 things to consider when choosing what foods to eat:
Eat only what God created for food.
Eat food in a form that is healthy for the body.
Don’t make any food or drink your idol.
In this video clip, Dr. Axe and Jordan Rubin team up to help you improve digestion of your foods, and offer 9 suggestions to help you maximize the nutrients from what you are eating.
In this video, Dr. Sears recommends adding powdered fruits and vegetables to your diet for better health. He also recommends that each person do the research on anything you put into your body, as well as asking 2 specific questions before taking any nutritional supplement:
Is there solid science that proves it gets into the blood stream?
Is there solid science that it is effective and provides positive healthy change once it gets into the blood steam?
I hope to improve my health one day at a time, one simple step at a time, as my family and I get back to basics of wholesome foods and biblical principles of living.
I have a lovely book series for kids by Carole P. Roman to share with you today.
Carole P. Roman is a well known author who has written over 35 children’s books. She has won over 100 prestigious awards for her books. She has written several historical series, cultural series, and fantasy adventure books for kids including:
If You Were Me and Lived in- Series with Cultural Focus
If You Were Me and Lived in- Series with Historical Focus
Nursery series
Oh Susannah- Early Reader
Captain No Beard Series
And More!
We are currently reviewing 4 books from Carole P. Roman’s investigative book series for kids called “If You Were Me and Lived In…” This series has two banches. One branch is the Cultural focus series (3 to 8 year olds) and the other branch is a Historical focus series (8-12 year olds).
There are a lot of books in these series and she continues to add new ones. A few of the titles include:
If You Were Me and Lived in… (Cultural series)
Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mars, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Turkey
If You Were Me and Lived in… (Historical series)
Ancient China, Ancient Greece, the Ancient Mali Empire, The American West, Colonial America, Elizabethan England, The Mayan Empire, The Middle Ages, Renaissance Italy, Viking Europe
The four books our family received for this review are:
Here is a little more about each of these books and what we learned.
If You Were Me And Lived In The American West
This book is softcover, fully illustrated, and contains 54 pages. It is all about the journey on the Oregon Trail in the 1800’s and living life as a settler in the American West.
The book sets the stage pretending the reader is a 12 year old boy from Ohio in 1843. The reader goes on a historical journey and learns what his life could have been like if he had lived during this time. He heads out leaving Ohio on the Wagon Train with his family and others in the Great Migration of 1843 to find a better life in Oregon.
My kids really enjoyed reading this story. They learned about the covered wagons called “conestoga” wagons. These were like primitive campers made from a large wagon with wooden wheels and an arched canvas top for shelter. These wagons held all of a family’s personal possessions, clothing, tools, herbal medicines, as well as a kitchen and pantry of food such as flour, salt, beans, potatoes, coffee, etc., and were pulled by oxen or horses.
The kids learned that life for kids on the trail was difficult. They had to walk most of the way for several months, as they traveled about 10 to 20 miles a day, sleep on the ground wrapped in a blanket next to a camp fire, and help with chores without the aid of modern appliances. Eventually your family arrives at their destination. Then they learn about setting up a homestead, including building a log cabin to live in and barn for animals, making yarn, chopping firewood, and planting gardens and fields, and more.
My kids also read about life for the settlers / pioneers and the Native Americans, Sometimes these groups got along and other times they were at war with each other. Finally, there is a glossary of words and their definitions in the back of the book as well as a pictures and explanations of some of the famous people who lived during this time in history.
To Further The Learning:
To further what we learned about the American West, we built a campfire in the back yard as those on the Wagon Trail would have done to cook their food and keep warm at night. Gathering fallen wood, splitting firewood and building a campfire is something we do quite often and the kids always enjoy it.
My kids are familiar with living on a homestead and the challenges and chores farming families have. I grew up in Kansas and lived on a homestead for many years. For many years in my youth and then as an adult with my own kids we have lived on a homestead and milked cows, made butter, grew gardens, butchered animals we raised and wild animals we hunted, fished in the rivers and lakes, built barns and fences, and more. Also while growing up, we could see wagon wheel ruts left by travelers on the Oregon Trail that were still visible in many locations in Kansas. They were also visible in places we lived in Indiana too.
On the day we wanted to cook some “American West” style foods, it rained the day before and the area we like to sit on large rocks got muddy from the rain. So we made our food inside and took it outside at the picnic table to do our taste testing.
We tried some dried beef called beef jerkey.
We baked some cornbread.
Our Wagon Trail meal included dried beef, campfire beans topped with spring onion, cornbread, and a cup of coffee (our coffee was really coffee mixed with hot chocolate).
We tried out a second meal made of items that would have likely been on a wagon trail adventure.
This meal consisted of potatoes with meat, beans, biscuits with dried cherry preserves and coffee to drink.
The kids spent an entire afternoon recreating the story in the book. They built a small model of the old west (wagon, horses, campfire with food and coffee, men with rifles, a river, and a gold mine, etc) on the Oregon Trail. We looked for our Lincoln Logs to build with, but we could not locate them, so we opted to build a scene using Legos instead and it worked out nicely.
It took a while to build each scene because they built each one from scratch. My favorite thing they created was the wagon.
They built a small campfire and firewood and made coffee and cooked their food.
I thought they did a nice job with the details they came up with.
They even put a fish and a frog in the river.
And one of the travelers caught a fish for dinner too.
They included some details about gold miners too.
We also watched a few episodes of Mystery At The Museum program which features stories about artifacts from America’s past including the Old West. This was a good way to include Dad in on the learning fun because he really likes this show. These stories are built around articles (boots, hat, gun, wagon wheel, trunk, etc) found in museums across America and explore the famous people and events that occurred in history.
This book was a lot of fun to read. We plan to do more hands on explorations about the American West soon.
If You Were Me and Lived In Australia
This is a softcover 24 page illustrated book. In this book my kids learned about living in Australia and learned some of the words that refer to their parents, food, games, holiday, and other details of life in their country.
My kids enjoyed reading about Australia. They learned that kids in Australia eat a sandwhich made of “veggimate” spread on bread, and enjoy playing games of “cricket”. They also learned their summer season on that side of the world is during our winter and vice versa. The colorful pictures in the book show various places to visit, the national holiday, the market, swimming and snorkeling on the reef off the coast, and more.
There is also a pronunciation guide with definitions to some specific Australian words in the back of the book to help kids learn about life in Australia.
To Further the Learning:
To further the learning about Australia, the kids colored some pages we found online. They also watched a nature documentary about animals from the Australian continent and learned about kangaroos, vipers, crocodiles, and more. Another fun thing the kids did was they watched a movie called Crocodile Dundee. It is a funny movie from many years ago, but some of the scenes, as well as the accent of the main actor Mitch Dundee, local foods, local words, etc. are specific to Australia and the kids had fun watching it.
If You Were Me And Lived In Russia
This is a soft cover fully illustrated 28 page book about life of kids who live in Russia. In this book kids learn about what their life might be like too if they lived there.
They learn about words they might call their family members, and names of other kids, as well as popular foods, clothing, national New Year holiday, and famous places to visit.
A few of the other interesting things my kids learned about in this book was the kids in Russia enjoy playing out door ice hockey in the winter, enjoy playing chess, and a variation of tag called “fipe” and enjoy playing with Russian nesting dolls called “Matryoshka”.
To Further The Learning:
To enhance the learning with this introduction to what life is like in Russia, we watched a couple of history documentaries available on Youtube. One program we watched was about a family who lives in the countryside on a farm and lives mostly from what they can produce themselves from the land and river near by. We learned that some farmers in Russia eat a lot of home grown potatoes and homemade bread. We watched another documentary about animals and people who have returned to the site where a nuclear power plant called Chernobyl leaked into the surrounding air, water, and soils and the effects the radiation has had on various living systems over the past several years. We also watched an episode about how Russian Nesting Dolls are made. We plan to make some Russian themed art projects later this fall.
We also made a chunky potato soup and ate it with crusty buttered bread.
A point made in the book, that is very different from our family’s beliefs, is the use of “fortune tellers” for predicting or ‘telling” kid’s future during their New Year holiday celebration. This practice is contradictory to our faith as Christians. This detail in the book opened up a discussion with our family about why the bible refers to this practice as sorcery and as Christian’s and followers of Yahuah Father God, we don’t participate in fortune telling and sorcery activities.
If You Were Me And Lived In Israel
This book is a softcover fully illustrated 32 page book. In this book, kids learn learn about the country of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in the world. They learn that people from four different ancient cultures who live in Israel share sections of the city of Jerusalem (Jew, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian) and the richness of their cultures (and history of ancient buildings and events recorded in history), attracts tourists from around the world.
In this book, kids learn about common names for other kids, and words for their parents, grandparents, local foods, going to the marketplace, money, and they learn about typical treats to eat at their grandparents house. Kids also learn the favorite game to play in Israel is “football” which is called “soccer” in the USA.
This book also includes an introduction to the national Israeli holiday called Purim which celebrates Queen Esther when she saved her people from destruction by evil Haman. This is one of our family’s favorite biblical stories. If you are interested in reading about this special woman and the holiday that remembers her great courage in the face of despicable evil, check out the book of Esther in the bible.
There is a clarification I would like to make to this book regarding the Purim Holiday:
The book says that Esther saved her people from “an evil king”. However, she saved her people from destruction by Haman. Haman was the Prime Minister, Viser, or “first in command” under King Xerxes of Persia.
Esther was a Jew and was newly married to King Xerses. Years earlier, her people, the Israelites, had become subjects to the Persian Empire after they disobeyed Father God and he allowed them to be conquered and come under the subjugation and rule of Persia.
Haman was evil and hated the Jews and plotted a scheme to have them completely destroyed. He especially hated Esther’s uncle Mordecai whom the king cared about because Mordecai had helped save the King’s life and was a good man. Haman devised a plan to kill Mordecai and all of his people and tricked the king into making it law, but the king did not know it involved Mordecai or Esther or their people.
When Esther learned of Haman’s evil plans to have all her people killed and how he had tricked the King Xerxes, Esther and all of the Jews fasted and prayed. She was afraid for her life, but recognized her unique position and access to the king. After fasting and praying, and through a series of events Esther was able tell the King what Haman had planned for her and her people. She was able to expose the trickery and evil deceit of Haman and his intention to have all of the Jews killed through the decree he had tricked the King into allowing into law. However, after exposing the truth, the King was very angry with Haman and wrote a new law allowing Esther’s people, the Jews, to defend themselves and Haman was arrested and hanged in the gallows that he had intended to use to kill the Jews. Every year, Purim is celebrated in remembrance of Yahuah (Father God) grace, protection, and provision, and Queen Esther’s courage.
In this book, kids also learn a little about the healing properties of the Dead Sea. It is the lowest place on the earth that can be traveled to by car. The water there is so salty, nothing can live in it, yet it brings healing to the body to soak in it and many people travel there to use it as a healing spa.
To Further The Learning:
To further the learning about what life is like in Israel, we watched a few videos, and ate chickpeas (garbonzo beans), learned about barley, vineyards, made unleavened bread with flour, oil, and water, and ate hummus (mashed garbonzo beans, sesame seed past, garlic, lemon juice, salt) with a side of carrots, we ate dates, and drank grape juice.
Israel has currently been in it’s annual grape harvest and we saw pictures of an Israeli vineyard and winery. We also went to a Middle Eastern style restaurant and the older kids ate sandwiches made with spiced lamb and the younger kids ate spiced chicken on pita bread.
Our family has used a body scrub that contains salt from the Dead Sea, mixed with herbs and oils from Israel. The salt of the Dead Sea is special and has amazing healing qualities. I think it would be wonderful to take a trip to Israel and swim in the salty Dead Sea someday. But did you know, the bible prophesy’s that the Dead Sea will someday hold fresh water and spring forth with fish and new life? It may sound impossible but it is actually happening now. There are many Israeli’s recording this event on video and posting the videos to Youtube. There are places along the shore of the sea, that fresh water springs are beginning to flow and fish can be found living there. Amazing!
We spent some time studying the 10 commandments that are the foundation of the Jewish and Christian faiths. We focused on the 7th Day Rest called the Sabbath. Modern Israel celebrates the Sabbath from sundown Friday evening until sundown on Saturday and modern Christians celebrate the Sabbath from Sunday morning until Sunday evening. But we found as we studied the instructions that neither system was inline with the ancient Israelites, the Jews that were then called Hebrews.
Exodus 31:14 “Keep the Sabbath holy. You have six days to do your work, but the Sabbath is mine, and it must remain a day of rest.”
The kids learned that according to the instructions the Hebrews were given by Father God, the true Sabbath is celebrated on the 7th day according to each moon cycle. When a new sliver of the moon is seen, the count begins for the 7 days and the pattern repeats 7 days for a total of 4 Sabbaths in a month’s time. Then it starts over with the sighting of the next new sliver of the moon and then count of 7 days repeat. This Sabbath day is Holy unto Father God and he first gave these instructions to the Israelites and they are recorded in the bible. Somehow this information has been lost and is no longer practiced, and instead the 7th day biblical calendar and lunar moon cycle has been substituted for pre-made civil calendars where the 7th day has become a fixed day of the week.
The kids also colored pictures that represent cultural aspects and foods eaten in Israel and foods eaten during the Sabbath.
The start of the New Year is another thing about the culture of Israel that we looked at. There are cute songs on Youtube that teach the kids about the New Year and the other holidays. When we took a closer look in the scriptures, we saw the bible has the New Year beginning in the spring (March/April) with the sighting of the barely grain being ripe for harvest coinciding with the first sighting of the moon to kick off the New Year and the Harvest of First Fruits. However, the civil calendar of modern Israel starts the New Year in the fall (September/October). As we learn more about Israel, and the Hebrews and early Christians recorded in the bible, verses modern customs of Jews and modern Christians, we are learning about the difference in following man made systems and traditions verses following the instructions and calendar established by our creator Yahuah.
If You Were Me And Lived In Israel was the book I was most looking forward to receiving and reading with my kids for this review. Partly because as Christians, the story of Father God, Yahuah, and his Son is the foundation of our Christian faith and is intimately intertwined with Israel and the Hebrews/Israelites/Jews, and the teachings of the early Christians who helped build the Christian faith. I would love to travel and visit Israel and see the ancient locations, including Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, that we have read about.
When I explain where Israel is located to my kids, I tell them to think of the Mediteranian Sea as a market place neighborhood culdesac where a huge amount of world trade takes place. Not all of the neighbors on the culdesac get along and it has been this way through most of history. The sea is the road for all the ships to bring in their cargo and make stops at all the ports (neighborhood driveways) along the way. The turn around at the end of the culdesac is where Israel sits, at the far eastern end of the watery highway called the Mediteranean Sea. The ships enter on the west, then drive their ship toward the east and past all of the neighbors (Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon on the north side of the road. Moroco, Algeria, Egypt, etc on the south side of the road) before they reach the end of the culdesac at destination Israel where they can load or unload cargo and turn their ship around and visit other neighbors then head back out of the neighborhood and enter the Atlantic Ocean.
Final Thoughts
Each of these books are colorful and full of interesting facts about what life could be like for kids living in various countries and various times in history. These books are easy to read and fun to explore. These books are fun to read at anytime, and would also be great to include for children doing a country, geography, or history focused unit study.
I plan to build some more unit study activities into our homeschool learning later this fall and read these books again with my kids. We will also keep these books on their book shelf to read at anytime they are interested. Over the years, I have learned that kids benefit from what they have learned in books even more when they can be “hands on” and take the learning adventure to a whole new level. When I get our unit study put together, we will learn more about each country and the people and animals that live there, we will make a recipe, learn a song, play a game, practice speaking the language, read books and watch videos, and include specific related art projects for more wonderful hands on learning opportunities during this school year.
Overall, we enjoyed reading these books. They were a great way to introduce different aspects of culture and history to young children. I encourage other families to check into using these books in their homeschool learning adventures with their kids.
Social Media
Get all the latest news and product updates when you stay connected with social media links.
Do you know that God created you to bring him glory with your life?
He alone is Father God, the Creator of Life, and He wants us to acknowledge him and trust him for everything.
I was reading in Luke chapter 12 today and wanted to share a few of the verses with you. If you have time, go read the entire chapter. May it bless you today.
“Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.”Luke 12:8-9
“And he said unto them, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”Luke 12:15
“And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. Life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;”Luke 12: 22-35
May everything you and I do today and everyday bring Father God glory. May we trust him in everything, for everything we need, and seek his face and his heart each day. May we each give him praise for he alone is worthy of our praise. In Jesus name, Amen.
Home School In the Woods Publishing produces creative “hands on” Curriculum and Historical Timelines. They specialize in teaching history with fun projects that will interest your kids and keep their interest by involving all their senses in the learning adventure. We are currently reviewing Industrial Revolution through Great Depression in the Time Travelers American series.
HISTORY Through the Ages Time Travelers American History Study: The Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression
25 Hands On History Lessons
Covering 70 years of American History
From The Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression.
Suggested grades: 3-8
For individual family use.
Format: CD or Download (Mac & PC Compatible)
Download $27.95
CD $28.95
This curriculum is loaded with printable lessons, printable activity masters, a sample schedule, teacher tips, photos of every projects, resource lists, teacher keys, a “guide-at-a-glance”, and more.
Choose the curriculum format, either CD or Download, that best meets your needs. You will need a computer and printer to use this curriculum. You will also need a 3-ring binder for the parent/teacher, and a 3-ring binder for each of your students to store everything.
Other items needed include folders, printing / copy paper, card stock paper, colored pencils, glue, tape, scissors, plus a few other items for various projects.
25 HANDS ON HISTORY LESSONS!
The Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression contains 25 History Lessons filled with fun hands on activities .
The lessons and activities cover many changes in American history that occurred from the end of the 1800’s to the early 1900’s (approximately 1869 to 1939) as America became a modern industrialized country.
Topics include:
The Transcontinental Railroad
Growth & Expansion of the Nation
The Indian Wars
The Gilded Age
The Spanish-American War
WWI
Innovations & Inventors
Immigration
Orphans
Woman’s Suffrage Movement
People of Interest who Made America Great
Business Tycoons
Working Conditions
The Progressive Era
The Roaring 20s
The Stock Market Crash
The Dust Bowl
and much more!
The lessons are very organized and easy to follow. Each lesson can be completed in an hour if projects are pared down, or can be stretched out over a few days to include all the projects suggested for that lesson. Pages and projects are coded so that you always know what lesson and what projects go together. There are printable lessons, project pages, project masters, information sheets, photos of completed projects, teacher helps, and more. There is a sample lesson plan schedule that you can use, or you can skip around and mix up the lessons if it suits your needs.
These History Studies are presented in a cross curricular Unit Study method. They include History, Art, Science, Engineering, Music, Creative Writing, Penmanship, Clothing, Cooking, Research, and more. The lessons are flexible and can be adapted to the needs of various skill levels and age ranges. In addition to the lessons, and activities provided, there are lists of materials needed, a section with additional resources and suggestions for books to read, videos to watch, and internet subjects to explore. You can choose to do as many of the suggested hands on activities and projects for each lesson as you wish.
Suspension bridge project photo and instructions in curriculum
Depending on how many activities you want to do, and how often you do a lesson, will determine how long this curriculum will take to complete. For example, you can do 1 lesson a week and the suggested activities and this study should last 25 weeks, or you could go faster and complete 3 lessons a week and finish in about 8 weeks or so. Or go super fast and complete 1 lessen per day and finish in as little as 5 weeks. It is up to you how fast or slow you wish to go, and how many of the activities you wish to do, to learn the materials covering this period in history. Over 50 activities and projects are included.
Project & Activities
Here are just a few of the 50+ suggested activities and projects:
Suspension Bridge
Wright Brothers “Flyer”
Train & Railroad Booklet
America Grows: Mapping the New States
Penny Rug
Yo-Yo Quilt
Paper Tole Craft
Flip Book
WWI Silk Postcards
Creative Writing
Fact File Cards
Trade Cards
Penmanship Pages
Turn of the Centuries Scenes Game
File Folder Games
Notebooking Activities
Timeline of History
Experiments
Depression Era Recipes
Depression-Era Dinner
A Lap Book with 12 Lap Book Projects
A really cool aspect of this curriculum, is that in addition to all of the hands on projects your kids will get to create, and learning about historical events and wars that helped shaped the nation, they also learn several things about the culture of America during these years. They learn about the impact of industry and the making and selling of goods and services and also how disasters (natural and man-made) shaped the culture.
The early American culture was made up of hard working immigrants from around the world and native Americans, and in this curriculum you learn about their influence in music, clothing, art, theater / early movies, and also learn about “American” food during this time in history.
Kids get the opportunity to make recipes in several of the lessons. They also create a recipe box for their final Lap Book to store the recipes in. At the end of the course they can throw a dinner party for guests or family members. For this party they decorate from the era, recreate the recipes for a special meal, and play games from this period in history as a final project pulling together all the fun they have had learning about this time in America’s history.
Recipes and corresponding lessons include:
Chipped Beef on Toast (Lesson 5)
Poor Man’s Meal (Lesson 5)
Buttered Noodles with Cracker Crumble (Lesson 10)
Meatless Loaf (Lesson 10)
Corned Beef Hash (Lesson 15)
Shepherd’s Pie (Lesson 15)
Chocolate and Rice Pudding (Lesson 20)
Depression Cake (Lesson 20)
Tuna, Mac, & Cheese Casserole (Lesson 23)
Brown Betty (Lesson 23)
Time Travelers American History Study Series
There are currently 7 titles in the Time Travelers American History Study Series:
New World Explorers
Colonial Life
The American Revolution
The Early 19th Century
The Civil War
Industrial Revolution through Great Depression
World War II
To learn more about this wonderful History curriculum, check out this video put together by Home School In The Woods about their Time Travelers History Studies Series:
Our Experience:
When I received my product via download, I read through the introduction and printed off the suggested lesson plan. This curriculum is jam packed with fun hands on learning opportunities! I couldn’t wait to dive into this experience with my kids.
Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression Lesson Plan Schedule
As you can see at first glance in this lesson plan, there is a lot of great learning opportunities with these lessons. Rather than try to go to fast, we decided to take it slow and do 1 lesson a week. There are at least two hands on activity projects with each lesson. It can be overwhelming at first when you see all the projects listed and printable material included. Taking it slow will help mom’s plan ahead and have time read through this material a few days in advance before you plan to start so you can get prepared.
After I looked over the first couple of lessons, I printed out a few and the corresponding activity instructions and masters and put these into a three ring binder to keep them organized. There is a printable notebook cover that you can use for your 3-ring binder.
The parent/teacher’s binder will house the lesson reading text, direction pages of projects, the “Guide-at-a-Glance,” teacher keys, and teacher helps. There is also a cover for the student binder and you can choose to print in color or in black and white for the student to color in and personalize. The student binder houses all the stuff the kids do in their lessons such as Timelines, Newspaper, Penmanship and Creative Writing activities, etc.
HANDS ON ACTIVITIES:
Here are a few pictures of some of the hands on activities from our learning adventures with this curriculum:
The Wright Brother’s Flyer:
Brooklyn Bridge Project:
Learning about bridge construction was one of the historical projects the older boys really enjoyed. They learned about the construction of the first suspension bridge in America. The curriculum suggested making a bridge with the cardboard from milk cartons and string.
However, we don’t have milk cartons to use (we buy raw milk in 1 gallon jugs), so we brainstormed some ideas. We made one version with a granola bar box.
Then my older sons came up with their own version of suspension bridges with craft sticks, hot glue, cordage, etc. and then explored more ideas on other kinds of bridges from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s too.
They made several models, took them apart, refigured their plans, and built them again.
Model of suspension bridge in progress.
Model of traditional truss support bridge.
Another suspension bridge experiment in progress.
Another suspension bridge in action
WWI Soldier’s Journal:
Another project they really enjoyed was creating a WWI Soldier’s Journal with real pictures of what life was like for a soldier. This journal will contain photos and letters.
Soldier’s Journal
One of my son’s wanted these photos to feel sturdy so he went an additional step with these printed pictures (and several other paper crafts) and he cut and glued file folder onto the back to make them stronger. The other boys didn’t reinforce their journal photos. You could also laminate these projects to keep them nice, water proof them, and help them last longer.
WWI Ammo Belt:
Part of the Soldier’s Ammo Belt
Inside the pockets are various items such as a paper map, ID cards, a mini Soldier’s New Testament, mini timeline of the war, etc. and there are additional facts about the WWI in the flaps when you open the pouches.
This project is supposed to be mounted on a paper base, but one of my son’s wanted to actually wear the WWI ammo belt.
After reinforcing the printed and cut out project with manila folder and glue, (he really enjoy’s doing this by the way), he then made belt loops for the back and was able to put the ammo belt project on his belt and wear it around.
He is quite creative and likes to role play and this gave him a military gear costume piece he is quite proud of.
He also turned some of the other projects into wearable pieces as well. The cool thing is all these pieced he reinforced can also go back into his notebook or Lap Book when he is done playing with them.
Field Trips:
Part of the beauty of homeschooling that you can lay down the books and worksheets and get outside and go somewhere and relate what you have been studying to the real world. If you can’t make it outside for a field trip, you can always view a virtual field trip online. Check out videos on “youtube” for lots of ideas / suggestions for virtual field trips related to the time period or a specific topic, it is easy to find. Field trips are not required in this curriculum, but we try to include field trips in every unit study adventure we do.
We love field trips! We try to keep our expenses as low as possible for activities because we have a large family and things add up quickly. We usually look for free field trips / things to see and do that go along with our studies. Usually that also means it has to be a “day trip”, somewhere within a 3 hour drive or less so we can make it back home before dark. We actually started this habit before we had kids. Our local town advertised a booklet called “One Tank Trips” and it kind of became our method for travel and seeing new things and learning history of the area. We are fortunate that for most of the time we have been married, we have lived within a short drive of a lot of history that we could see in 1 day or 1 tank trips. So we have tried to keep up this tradition with our kids.
During this study we went to see several really cool things. We saw a navy battle ship in Wilmington, NC and a suspension bridge near Charleston, SC, and a shipping canal that was made and used during this time period for shipping goods on the Catabwa SC river.
Battle Ship at Wilmington NC
There is a pedestrian suspended bridge in Greenville, SC at Falls Creek Park that we have been to see a few years ago. We used to spend some of our Sunday afternoons after church there and play with the kids and explore the history. There is a foundation of an old mill there too. We didn’t make it back out to see it for this learning project, but hope to go see it again soon. But we did drive out to see a suspension bridge that you can drive on near Charleston, SC.
Suspension Bridge near Charleston, SC
This one is on Highway 17 in South Carolina along the Atlantic Ocean. The kids were amazed going across this bridge suspended over the open waters between mainland and islands on the SC border.
Log House from 1800’s
Sign for the canal on Catawba river used for transport of products.
Remains of old canal used for loading boats in the 1800’s along the Catawba River
Ford at Catawba River
Family hike to see the 1800’s canal and ford on the Catawba River.
In the recent past we have also visited other sights related to this time in American history and would go great with this unit study. I will mention them here because it might give other families some ideas of things to go and visit. Some of the places we have been related to this period in history are a mill, we visited the Wright Brother’s Museum in Modoc Indiana, and the Historical Museum of Flight in Hendersonville, NC and both lay claim to the Wright Brother’s fame. They both have life size Wright Brother’s air planes and the Hendersonville one also shows planes from different wars. There are also models the kids can climb in and explore. We have also been to the Air Force base in Dayton Ohio where the kids have seen planes from all throughout history and they have a huge room full of WWI planes. We took a ferry ride on the Atlantic ocean of the coast of the Carolina’s where big ships come in with goods on barges. Before suspension bridges were made across rivers and ocean bays, transport ferries and boats were the only method across these waterways. We have also visited and rode the historic trains at the train museums in Statesville, NC and Knights Town, Indiana. We on a boat in the canal at Metamora, and took the train at Metamora Indiana, the train at Knights Town Indiana, the train at Branson, Missouri, that goes across a huge tall wooden bridge overlooking an incredible gorge in the Ozark Mountains. Our kids have really enjoyed these adventures.
We will be working through this curriculum for quite some time, and my kids are loving all the activities. We like to take it slow and tweak as we go, see and do as much as we can, and this curriculum is perfect for that. With so many lessons and projects, it will probably last us until the end of this year.
One of the next to last projects is to create a Lap Book with all of the wonderful projects your kids have made. A Lap Book is kind of like a scrapbook to store all your memories of the learning adventure. The outer cover is made from a file folder(s). We are looking forward to creating our Lap Books. We have added in a couple of items a head of schedule because we were doing this as a review post, but we have a long way to before we are actually ready to put it all together. These Lab Books will look really neat when they are finished.
My advice to other homeschool families (especially if you have lots of kids using this curriculum) is to “plan a head”, read a head, print out everything you need for one or two lessons at a time. Collect whatever additional materials for the lesson you will need. There is a lot of material to print and suggested projects covered in this curriculum. That fact alone equals a ton of fun for the kids! Remember, you don’t have to print or do every activity listed, these are suggestions and you can tweak this curriculum how ever it best fits for you. Just take it at a pace that is comfortable for your family and have loads of fun with it!
We love this curriculum and highly recommend it to everyone!
Home School In The Woods
Home School In The Woods is a “hands-on history” curriculum company. They carry a huge variety of projects. I have only told you about the Time Traveler Series. Check out their huge range of products and various title series they have to offer, and the free lessons and timeline samples they give away. I am sure you and your kids will have a blast with these hands on learning adventures.
Be sure to get your free Erie Canal lesson from their newest product A-La-Carte when you use the code “alacarte” at checkout. This is a great time to study about the Erie Canal because it is the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the canal.
Have you ever considered where your spirit will go when your physical life on earth has ended?
There is only one way that leads to eternal life with Father God. It is through faith in Jesus as the only begotten son of God. He asks us to repentant of our sins and offenses, and give obedience to him by loving Father God with all our heart, love our neighbor as we love ourselves, meeting the needs of our neighbors and family, and confessing our faith in Jesus before men and forgiving any offense. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to Father God unless he has come through faith in Jesus and made him Lord and Savior of his heart.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18
I recently heard this song Wayfaring Stranger recorded by Sounds Like Reign. The song is about traveling through this life as a stranger, redeemed by Jesus and looking forward to heaven and being with Father God. It is a beautiful song.
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matthew 16: 24-27
Give your life to Jesus today. Believe Jesus is the son of God who died and paid for your salvation with his own life, and rose again defeating the powers of sin and death. Accept him as Lord of your life, confess your sins to him now and be saved. The choice is yours. Chose this day whom you will serve. I pray you will chose life in Jesus.
After I read the first four chapters to the kids aloud, my 12 year old son snatched the book from me and I didn’t get to finish reading until he was done! We tried everything to get his attention, to get him to share the book, even to get him to notice we were still breathing, but nothing could deter him from reading this book! He couldn’t and wouldn’t put it down! Not even big brothers or little brothers could entice him to put it down! This has never happened before!
Even food and bedtime didn’t distract him. By day or by night, even with the help of a flash light…he was determined to read and read and read…all 379 PAGES!
Shepherd, Potter, Spy — and the Star Namer
Paperback
379 Pages
46 Chapters
Retails $15.99
This story is historical fiction about a teenage boy who lived a long long time ago in the valley of Canaan. His name is Keshub and he is the youngest of five boys in his family. They are from the Gibeonite village and have strong family and community bonds and traditions. The book contains 46 chapters packed into 379 pages and includes additional pages for: Character and Relationship List, and Discussion Questions.
Even though the characters are fictional, many of the events, cultural aspects, and places are real. The true story of Kesheb’s people is told in the bible in the book of Joshua and the pivotal event for his people securing their future can be found in Joshua 9 and 10.
Keshub is a shepherd boy and tends his flocks every day. He is the son of a potter who earns a living making pots and selling or trading them with Caravans who travel through the Canaan valley. Keshub hears many stories of far away places and events not so far away from the travelers. The Gibeonites learn about the God of the Hebrews and how he protects, provides, and blesses them. They hear about the other tribes in the nearby areas being conquered in warfare with the Hebrews and as they approach their land, they decide to make a peace treaty with them.
Kesheb’s life is anything from boring. Everyday he must care for his sheep and defend them from predators. During the story we learn about an evil Ammorite King that lives nearby and Keshub becomes friends with his son. There is danger and risk involved through out the story. Keshub also serves as a young spy to keep an eye on the Hebrews as they advance in their conquest. His people have to choose to make a treaty with the approaching Hebrew army or make a treaty with the evil king to fight the Hebrews.
If God is for them, who can be against them? Be sure to pick up a copy of this book, to find out the rest of the story!
Peggy Consolver – Author
Peggy Consolver has lived a very interesting life. She grew up on a farm, went to college, and has been married 48 years. She and her husband have two kids and five grandkids. She is president of the Plano Garden Club, State Chairman of the Flower Show Schools for Texas Garden Clubs, Inc. Peggy is also an NGC Master Flower Show judge and Texas Design Consultant. In the past she served thirty seven years as a Sunday School teacher. She has a lot of interesting life experiences including traveling to Israel on a real archaeology dig which she based many details in her book on. Read more about Peggy Consolver and her inspiring archaeological trip.
Free Online Study Guide
Peggy Consolver has created a free online study guide called Digging Deeper Into HIStory to help further the learning, (She also has a print copy with more resources for sale, check the website for details). In the free study guide there are several links to websites and videos to help you learn more about what life is like in the region Kesheb lived. In the guide you will learn about a rock sling, bow making, how to braid cord and make rope, maps, stars in the sky, animals and predators that live in the region of ancient Israel, etc.
The free Digging Deeper Into HIStory study guide is divided into 13 Units:
Unit 1:
The Bible Dictionary: Gezer Calendar
The Syrian Brown Bear: A Brief Overview
Unit 2:
Alpha Centauri: The Closest Star System to Our Sun
Israeli Mammals
Unit 3:
Instructions for Plaiting and Braiding
Unit 4:
Google Search: Aerial Views of Jerusalem
Sacred Destinations: Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
Unit 5:
Honey: Its Medicinal Property and Antibacterial Activity
How to Make a Tripod Lashing
Watch video: making square lashing.
Unit 7:
The Jewish Virtual Library: Jericho
Watch video: Intro to Bow Making
Unit 8:
Mt. Hermon Pictures
Unit 9:
Weapons Universe: Bronze Age Weapons
Watch video: How to use a sling
Unit 10:
Smokey Bear: Elements of Fire
How to Make a Fire
Unit 11:
Israel’s Nature Site: Mantids of Israel
National Geographic: Praying Mantis Overview
Unit 12:
Wild Fibres: Linen and Flax
Unit 13:
Bible History: Biblical Archaeology News 2016
Our Thoughts Using This Book and Study Guide In Our Home:
This book is very well written with lots of details. The story builds suspense and it is hard to put it down. It is so interesting that my 12 year old spent all his spare time reading the book and several nights stayed up past his bedtime.
So I thought it would be a good idea for him to share his opinion of this book, in his own words as our official review.
“I was inspired by this book. It gave me a new perspective of the bible and the Lord. I like the character Keshub because he has faith in the Lord and because he never gave up when times were rough. He had a lot of rough times. He fought a bully, a lion, a bear, and a soldier. Each situation he had faith that God would work it out for him.”
“I was also inspired because he took care of sheep and took care of his family and his friend. He was brave even when things were dangerous and even when others were evil. He used a sling with stones to fight a bear and the lion. He used a dagger to fight a soldier. He always wanted to learn to sword fight the enemy and he wanted to provide for his family. He trusted the Lord with all his heart and with everything in his life.”
“I enjoyed reading this book. The only thing I wish the author would have added was another 439 pages. I didn’t want the story to end.” Joseph
We also enjoyed using the free Digging Deeper into HIStory Study Guide. We enjoy learning how to make things ourselves that people used throughout history to live. They didn’t have modern abundance of products and plastic or a Walmart up the street, so folks had to make what they needed from raw materials they could find or buy from the craftsman or trade for.
My son would like to make his own cordage, leather, and also a rock sling and practice using it. He enjoyed learning and has watched other videos showing how to make these slings from leather and also from weaving grass and use them with larger rocks for hunting prior to doing this study. This would be useful to learn how to use a rock sling if you were hungry and had to hunt for a bird or if you needed to discourage a predator.
He has been wanting to make his own primitive hunting bow for a while. It was interesting to see the bow made in the unit study link, even though it is made in a workshop with modern tools and is very different from the primitive bow made by hand he eventually plans to make. Modern tools have shortened the time it takes to make things people depended on for survival for thousands of years.
Kesheb had to survive with ancient tools and ancient technology. We like learning about ancient technology and life skills. We have learned a lot from “how to” videos. These videos show how to use ancient skills with free resources in your own backyard, a field, or a forest, to create pottery and tools by a youtube channel called “Primative Technology”. We refered back to these videos as we did the study guide and compared them with the suggested videos. I would encourage folks to do the same as these videos give kids even more understanding about making tools by hand and ancient pottery like Kesheb’s people would have used. It would enhance their understanding of ancient Canaanite life and enhance the study guide even more. I would also encourage folks to read about Joshua and the Gibeonites in their bible.
This is a great historical fiction book. I would encourage every homeschool to read Shepherd, Potter, Spy — and the Star Namer and include the Digging Deeper into HIStory Study Guide. This book and unit study was right in my son’s interest range and we were very glad for this opportunity to review it.
The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz is a great way to encourage children to listen and read Bible stories. We were sent The Beginner’s Bible for review and I was very excited to receive this new updated version with bright 3D art work and fun illustrations to use in our home.
The Beginner’s Bible
Hardcover Book
512 Pages
90 Brightly Illustrated Bible Stories
Retails for $16.99
Additional discounts up to 50% for bulk purchases
Recommended for Kids ages 6 and under (Read Aloud)
Easy Read for kids 7-8
But also great as an easy reader for older kids and ESL too.
The Beginner’s Bible was first released in 1989, and has sold over 25 million copies in the past 27+ years. 25 MILLION! That is an amazing testimony of how this wonderful gem, filled with timeless wisdom, is to share with each generation of children around the world.
Why Use An Illustrated Bible For Kids?
There are many reasons to use the bible in your home. It is so important to incorporate the truths from the bible in raising children. It is Father God’s love letter and instruction manual to all of his children, young and old. Using an illustrated Bible helps kids “picture” the events and people they are learning about. I like this illustrated version because it simplifies the learning for younger children without taking away from the message that God put there for us to learn.
In addition to advice and instructions in the Bible, you also read about the fascinating lives of the men and women who lived during the time it was written. Reading the Bible actually causes your faith, and your children’s faith, in Father God and his son Jesus to grow. The bible helps you see how consistently faithful God is and how much he loves us. It shows you the ups and downs in people’s lives and how God brought them through the good and bad experiences that people live through.
The bible teaches us how to handle good and bad experiences we go through in life and how to trust in God who hears our prayers and helps guide us everyday. The bible gives us values to live by called a biblical worldview. People still go through good and bad experiences today and we need God more now than ever. The bible tells us about his only begotten son he sent to save mankind from their sin and eternal separation from God. Jesus paid the price so that we can spend eternity with God if we will believe, love and obey his teachings.
A few ways we can incorporate using The Beginner’s Bible with kids in our every day life:
Read aloud by parents, grandparents, and older siblings.
Read along for beginners.
Independent reading for beginners.
Circle Time, Quiet Time, Bed Time
Story telling.
Retelling the stories using additional props such as Legos, Crafts, Puppets, Diorama, Costumes, etc.
Homeschool Projects, Home, Bible Study, Get Togethers, Sunday School
Create Lap Books, Note Books, Timelines, etc.
Writing Practice as children copy the story onto their own notebook pages.
English as a Second Language (ESL)
The Beginner’s Bible Experience In Our Home
We have been using The Beginner’s Bible since the beginning of having children in our family. Let me see…that is over 16+ years! We received our first copy as a gift when our oldest was born. We have purchased a few more copies over the years. Our current version is still on our bookshelf and has lasted through lots of little hands, quiet times on the couch, and several moves across country. This illustrated bible for kids has been a family favorite of ours for many years. We have six kids and each one started their Bible learning with The Beginner’s Bible.
We have made it a priority to spend time reading in the bible each day. Our younger kids listen to bible stories being read to them and our older kids read the bible themselves and also read to their younger siblings.
Once a week we set aside time for the kids to retell bible stories they have learned. They can choose any props or make crafts or use Legos, etc. The older boys also like to make Lego stop motion movies to retell the events in the bible stories.
Sometimes we turn the learning adventure into a Unit Study and spend an entire month on a specific theme such as “forgiveness” or “Ancient Egypt” or “the miracles of Jesus” etc. This is a great way for the kids to learn hands on and practice sharing what they have learned with each other and also share with daddy when he gets home from work.
There are 90 stories in this illustrated Bible. That is over a year’s worth of stories if you focus on learning one new story a week. Or complete it in a year if you read two stories a week. If you want to go faster, you could read this in 90 days if you do one story each day. You can go at a pace that works best for your family.
Another great way to use The Beginner’s Bible with your kids is to include the free printables and games on The Beginner’s Bible Website (recommended for kids 12 and under). Perhaps you can print them off as you read each story or print them off ahead of time and make a folder with the printables for each story and build a story unit study. You can also add more materials to your folders as you find additional resources.
Since we love making unit studies with stories we read, we are using two to three related stories each week. It will take us about a year to do the entire book at this pace.
Jesus Rescues the Lost Unit Study
Be sure to check out a story I posted using The Beginner’s Bible called Jesus Rescues the Lost Unit Study. Unit Studies are one of our favorite ways to learn. They are cross-curricular and subjects (math, history, art, science, language, etc) follow a theme, they are hands on, and they help children retain what they have learned.
We took advantage of all of the free printables and suggested activities, including the FREE sample curriculum lesson plan called “Jesus Rescues the Lost” and created our own unit study. These resources are made especially for The Beginner’s Bible and help kids understand the stories and truths even more as the activities engage more of their senses (listening, coloring, drawing, eye hand coordination, decision making, etc) in a hands on way.
The “Jesus Rescues the Lost” Lesson Plan suggested reading three of the stories from The Beginner’s Bible “The Lost Sheep“; The Good Samaritan“; and “The Lost Son” , watching the lesson video, a list of several “Bible Verses” to read from a regular Bible, and a “Memory Scripture Verse” for the kids to memorize, as well as a helpful “Teaching Point” to focus the lesson on.
The lesson plan provided me with a master supply list for activities, and suggested optional supplies for craft projects (we made sheep puppets and a shepherd staff), printouts, and a skit for the kids to act out with props, and a take home family page.
This was a lot of fun for the kids. You could spend a week on this lesson, or take three weeks while focusing on understanding one story each week.
Noah and the Lego Ark
Check out another story I posted using The Beginner’s Bible in Noah and the Lego Ark .
We used The Beginner’s Bible and Legos as a way to retell the bible story of Noah. That story includes more fun ideas on using this children’s illustrated Bible in fun hands on learning ways.
More Learning Fun
After reading the stories in The Beginner’s Bible, my kids love to watch the animated videos by the same company.
You can find these on “youtube.” There is also an APP from their website for these stories, games, and videos for your smart phone.
The videos are a great way to reinforce the learning. They are entertaining and engaging. We set aside time to fix a snack like pretzels and apple slices and my kids sit down to watch the bible stories.
Check The Beginner’s Bible website and youtube for more details on fun ways to enhance the learning.
The Beginner’s Bible
Website & Teaching Resources
Please check out The Beginner’s Bible website for wonderful FREE resources to compliment your child’s learning and enjoyment using The Beginner’s Bible.
They have free printouts for coloring pages, word puzzles, mazes, online learning games etc. Print as many copies as you need and create your own folders filled with fun learning projects to go along with the bible stories.
Free Stuff From The Website To Use With The Beginner’s Bible:
Read Together Sheets (print and bind these for an additional story book)
Writing Sheets (practice writing letters and numbers)
Place Mats and Posters (so many uses!)
Book Marks (everybody needs book marks!)
Mazes
Paint Online
Online Games, Quizzes, etc
Word Puzzles Printouts
Matching
Videos
Recommended Bible Story Reading Schedule for the year.
APP for your phone or electronic device with stories and activities.
They also offer 2 lessons for free from their curriculum kit: “Creation” and “Jesus Rescues the Lost” . I would encourage you to get a copy of these free lesson plans and see how easy it is to use this illustrated Bible in your learning adventures.
If you want to purchase the complete lesson plans, they are available for an additional purchase on the Zonderkidz website and are called “The Beginner’s Bible Curriculum Kit”. After using the free lesson plan they offered, I think this would be a great resource. It would make it simple to use The Beginner’s Bible as a curriculum and the lesson planning work is all done for you.
The kit comes with a hardback copy of The Beginner’s Bible and a DVD with a year’s worth of lesson plans including 30 teaching lessons that incorporate the 90 bible stories, and a DVD with 28 animated video stories, fun activities, and lots of additional classroom use ideas. There is also a family take-home page for each lesson for kids to share with their parents and to further the learning at home.
The Beginner’s Bible Is Fun For Kids
The Beginner’s Bible is full of faith building stories and fun illustrations to enhance the learning. It is a wonderful gift for your children and grandchildren, classrooms, and kids clubs. Zonderkidz also offers resources in English and Spanish, I can Read Books, The Beginner’s Bible Deluxe, The Beginner’s Bible For Little Ones, The Beginner’s Bible Curriculum Kit, etc. as well as additional resources on their website. I think using this children’s Bible is a an essential piece for teaching young children about the stories and people of the Bible. Every page is filled with full-color illustrations that retell 90 Bible stories in a fun and engaging way.
Our younger kids love the bright colors of the illustrations in this children’s Bible. Looking at colorful pictures helps keep their attention whether they are listening to it as a read aloud, or if they are reading the stories for themselves. It is a great way to include Bible learning in our home and incorporate into our homeschool learning too. I am sure they will continue to use this treasure this illustrated Bible for many more years to come.
AWARDS
The Beginner’s Bible was named the 2006 Retailers Choice Award winner in Children’s Nonfiction.
Social Media
Be sure to connect with Zonderkidz on their social media links for all the latest news, special offers, and resources to further the learning.
If you would like to motivate and encourage your kids to learn stories from the bible, I would encourage you to read Bible stories with your kids and make the stories into Unit Studies. Unit Studies are cross-curricular and subjects (such as math, history, art, science, language, etc) follow a central theme and are adaptable so they are great for teaching all ages.
For example, if you are learning about apples, all the curriculum subjects will have an apple theme. You might do apple math, or apple science, or apple history, or write a poem about apples, etc. Unit Studies are hands on, they can be as simple or specialized as you design them to be, and they help children retain what they have learned. You can teach preschool, elementary, middle and high school all at the same time by varying the level of difficulty of the worksheets, experiments, and reading materials.
This school year we are doing lots of Unit Studies with a bible story theme. Each Unit Study is different, with different themes, but they all center around a theme that came from the bible. For example, if we are learning about musical instruments, we might choose the ones found in the bible, or if we are learning about castles or fortresses, then we can choose a story or few stories in the bible that mention this and then build on our learning about the history and construction of fortresses. Perhaps we want to learn about the eyes and we focus on sight and the brain, calculate vision, learn about colors and light, the disease of blindness, and the miracles of healing sight of the blind that Jesus did.
If you have younger kids, an easy teaching resource like the illustrated The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz is a wonderful way to get started. It contains 90 Bible stories at an affordable price of $16.99. They also have The Beginner’s Bible Website for families and teachers to use with lots of coloring pages and activities for free to compliment the stories you are reading.
A quick search on the interenet will provide you with lots of other ideas you can add to your Unit Study as you build it such as more free printables, lesson plans, craft and recipe ideas, etc. and you can use many of the printables to create lapbooks or keepsake notebooks of their projects too.
The stories in The Beginner’s Bible are written in a simple to understand way and include colorful illustrations that engage the kids and keep their interest. So I wanted to use this as the foundation of the Unit Study learning projects and built additional materials I found into our learning adventure.
Jesus Rescues the Lost Unit Study & Lapbook
We took advantage of all of the free printables and suggested activities from The Beginner’s Bible Website. They have lot of resources to choose from including two FREE sample curriculum lesson plans. They sell a curriculum kit too. We do not have the kit, but the free lesson plans give you a great teaching format to use to build your own lessons.
I printed out the free lesson plan called “Jesus Rescues the Lost” and created our own unit study. These resources are made especially for The Beginner’s Bible and help kids understand the stories and truths even more as the activities engage more of their senses (listening, coloring, drawing, eye hand coordination, decision making, etc) in a hands on way.
I made a “Bible Teaching Binder” for myself, and a “Bible Lapbook” for the kids with all of these wonderful free printables. On the front of the binder I put the suggested reading schedule. Inside the binder I put the printalbes and any lesson plans I find or create myself.
I keep all of the Unit Study and Lapbook materials in a basket, with pencils, crayons, markers, glue, etc with our Bible so we can easily set this up for our learning time each day. I also put in any other resources we will be using that relates to the story such as a science experiment, crafts supplies, recipes we will make and other activities, and other books related to the subject we are learning. There are lots of varieties of ways you can set this up easily so if you don’t like the basket idea, then you could put the printables in folders or daily workboxes or use another method that works in your home.
My binder is huge and will hold all the lesson plans from the Unit Studies I create using The Beginner’s Bible. I added dividers to help me stay organized. I kept the first section inside the binder for the Unit Study we are currently working on. This is where I put a copy of the free lesson plan “Jesus Rescues the Lost” in my teaching binder. The lesson came with 8 pages of free lesson plans! Next, I added in various coloring pages and other printables and craft ideas and directions. I will use the additional sections in the binder the same way for more lesson plans as we create more bible themed studies. I plan to have about a years worth of plans in the binder by the time we are finished. The kids will have completed about 30 Unit Studies and 30 Lapbooks by the time we are finished.
The “Jesus Rescues the Lost” Lesson Plan suggested reading three of the stories from The Beginner’s Bible and watching a video, a list of several “Bible Verses” to read from a regular Bible, and a “Memory Scripture Verse” for the kids to memorize, as well as a helpful “Teaching Point” to focus the lesson on. The lesson plan provided me with a master supply list for activities, and suggested optional supplies for craft projects (we made sheep puppets and a shepherd staff), printouts, and a skit for the kids to act out with props, and a take home family page. You could spend a week on this lesson, or take three weeks while focusing on understanding one story each week.
The Unit Study in Action
Jesus Rescues the Lost Unit Study based on the illustrated stories in The Beginner’s Bible and the free lesson plan and suggested printables from the website:
Bible Reading and Speaking:
Read 3 bible stories outloud: “The Lost Sheep“; The Good Samaritan“; and “The Lost Son“.
Audio Video Observation:
Watched the Free Video for Lesson Plan#23 Jesus Rescues the Lost.
Watched a video about the modern life of sheep in Idaho. This video goes over many different things such as economics, land management, herd management, wool, and contains interviews with the sheep farmers too.
History:
Learned about the history of shepherding sheep.
Math:
Counting: Younger kids counted cotton balls to represent sheep’s wool.
Graphing: Older kids learned to make a graph that followed the sale price of sheep over a period of time. They also made a graph for the lambs showing the amount of food the sheep eats compared to the rate of growth.
Science:
Learned the major body parts of sheep.
We found this worksheet on Page 23 of a 4H manual we found online and it has worksheets for different animals.
Practice writing pages. Here my youngest son is practicing the letter “P” from the story of “The Lost Son” about the prodigal son who wasted his inheritance and ended up in a pig pen and later returned to his father who welcomed him home.
Additional letters to practice are: J (Jesus), R (rescue, redeem), L (lost), I (inheritance), H (healing), S (Samaritan, shepherd, save, and sheep).
We also practices spelling the word “sheep” with this printable.
Colored print out pages from The Beginner’s Bible website that correspond to the stories we read. In this picture, my daughter is coloring a page from the story “The Lost Sheep”.
Created paper sheep puppets with printouts included. You can glue cotton balls onto the sheep (younger kids can practice counting the cotton balls) and put construction paper on the back and attached to a popsicle stick, and the children can hold onto the stick to retell the story. You can also glue the printout to a toilet paper roll and that helps the sheep stand up on their own.
Lapbook:
We used two folders and some glue and created a Jesus Rescues the Lost Bible Story Lapbook to store their finished learning activities. If we continue to create lapbooks like this for the entire illustrated Bible, combining two or three stories per lapbook, the kids will have 30+ Bible Unit Studies and Lapbooks for the year.
Building Diorama:
The last step in our learning adventure of Jesus Rescues the Lost, was to create a Lego sheep and shepherd diorama and use them to retell the bible story of Jesus (the shepherd) looking for the lost sheep (us).
Building with Legos or other building blocks to create scenes from a story you have read is so much fun.
Movie Creation:
I hope to have time for the older boys create a movie with these props they made where they can record their own retelling of the story. They love to make stop motion animation movies with Legos. We ran out of time to make the movie, but I hope we have it completed soon for a followup story.
Optional ideas to include in this Unit Study are:
Field Trip ideas: take a field trip to a sheep and goat farm.
Crafts and activities ideas: that would make this project lots of fun such as make a donkey, horse, pigs, a farm, a special ring, a shepherd staff, create a money bag, etc. Older kids would have fun creating (sewing or crafting) costumes to use to retell one of the stories. Perhaps they could also wear the costume and retell the story to a homeschool coop class or at a family gathering.
Math ideas: you could practice counting sticks to make a fence or pig pen, or count money in a money bag. Perhaps they could figure out a pretend hospital bill for services and supplies used for the injured man.
Science and Health ideas: You could also learn about health by making a first aid kit or herbs for healing supplies to care for the wounds of the injured man and nurse him back to health. You could learn about bacteria and healing wounds and learn the feed rations, nutrition, and digestion for pigs, sheep, and horses.
Cooking: You could also throw a feast and serve guests to represent the father welcoming home the prodigal son. You could research meals that were served to back in bible times to include in your feast. You could wear the costumes you made or decorate the table with the crafts and props you made.
There are so many fun ways to create a Unit Study with this illustrated Bible as the central foundation for your themes. I am very pleased with how this has turned out and I think this is a wonderful way to learn. I think Unit Studies and Lapbooks are a special way for kids to share what they have learned, and store the worksheet pages they have completed.
