I have found a set of Bible curriculum that works well for every level of learning that we have, and I am so tickled that Grapevine Studies allowed us to review it for them! We were so blessed to get each level of (Digital Files) Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Traceable (ages 3-5), Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 1 (ages 6-8), Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 2 (ages 8-10), Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 3 (ages 10-12), and Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 4 (ages 12+); As well as the teacher books to go with them, Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 1 & 2 Teacher and Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 3 & 4 Teacher.
I have so much to share with you about this product!
The Goods
The basis of Stick Figuring Through the Bible is (in my opinion) one of the coolest ways to study God’s word. As the lesson is taught, the teacher follows the prompts in the teacher’s manual to draw very simple figures on a white board or chalkboard. A fun way for each student to become engaged in the Bible lesson.
Each of these levels has a total of 12 lessons and numerous review sections in them. We received them all as PDFs. I downloaded them all then I printed each level and had them spiral bound at our local office supply place for ease of use. If you choose not to have them bound, you will need binders for you to use.
Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Traceable for ages 3-5 is so wonderful for the youngest student! The student has to trace each stick figure drawing as the teacher reads the lesson. When directed the students can easily trace the figures that are lightly drawn on the pages. This allows even the youngest artist to join in the Bible class! There are review section for Bible verse memorization, either for writing it out or reciting it aloud. There are also review sections with questions to answer. These are so helpful as they re-enforce the lesson being taught.
Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 1 for ages 6-8 is much of the same idea as the above Traceable set, with one exception. Each lesson must be hand drawn by the student instead of being traced. It allows the student to follow along with the lesson and draw as directed but gives them a bit more control over how they express themselves in their drawings. This set also has the same review questions that the Traceable one has but most student this age are able to write, so they can write out their memory verses in the allotted spaces.
Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 2 for ages 8-10 is a little more detailed in its form. The same lesson plan is followed with the previous two books but the layout is different in this set. As you get further into the lessons the drawing areas are reduced, sometimes by half. I figure that due to the suggested ages range it is because the drawings would be able to be articulated better. Therefore requiring less room on the pages.
This level also begins to incorporate memory work for learning the books of the Bible as well as learning the groups they are in. For example, Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus are considered Books of the Law. Upon completion of this level they will have learned facts such as:
- How many books are in the Bible
- What language was the Old Testament originally written
- Name the Books of History
Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 3 for ages 10-12 has a lot more emphasis on Bible verse memorization. Each lesson has an average of 3-4 Bible verses to memorize at the lesson review. The drawing space is about the same size as the ones that are in the Level 2 set. The reviews in this level seem to be much more detailed and require a deeper knowledge of the Bible verses that are being taught. There is also map work that will be completed in this level. The student will need to be able to label specific areas on a map.
Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 4 for ages 12+ is the hardest level. There is still the same amount of stick figuring in this level but there is an abundant of more work that is required. The student will learn to use three new study books: a Topical Bible, a Bible Dictionary, and a Bible Concordance in this level. The depth of this level are intense and it expands the lessons from about 10 minutes to upwards of 30 minutes due to the amount of student research that is involved.
At the end of this level they should be able to:
- Accurately look up a topic in the Topical Bible
- Use a Bible dictionary to look up the meaning of a word from the Bible
- Accurately use a Bible Concordance
Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 1 & 2 Teacher is able to be used with the Traceable level, Student Level 1, and Student Level 2. In the very beginning of the manual there are a variety of valuable pages of information such as Teacher Goals, Student Goals, and Supply Lists for both teacher and student.
The Teacher Manual gives an through overview before each lesson with Lesson Goals and Key Points. Items of importance that should be touched upon when teaching the lesson as well as the memory verses that go along with the lesson.
With each lesson there is a break down for each day in the lesson. In each day there are instructions for the teacher to read aloud specific verses that pertain to the daily lesson. Then there are points for discussion and the instructions for the drawing of the stick figures.
Upon review days there are the questions and answers are listed in the Teacher’s Manual. Each student lesson page is shown in a small area to allow the teacher to see what the student page should look like upon completion. There are available spaces for teacher’s notes and lesson notes.
Old Testament 1: Creation to Jacob Level 3 & 4 Teacher is able to be used with Student Level 3 and Student Level 4. In the very beginning of this manual there the same variety of valuable pages of information such as Teacher Goals, Student Goals, and Supply Lists for both teacher and student.
The Teacher Manual gives an through overview before each lesson with Lesson Goals and Key Points. Items of importance that should be touched upon when teaching the lesson as well as the memory verses that go along with the lesson.
With each lesson there is a break down for each day in the lesson. In each day there are instructions for the teacher to read aloud specific verses that pertain to the daily lesson. Then there are points for discussion and the instructions for the drawing of the stick figures.
Upon review days there the questions and answers are listed in the Teacher’s Manual. Each student lesson page is shown in a small area to allow the teacher to see what the student page should look like upon completion. There are available spaces for teacher’s notes and lesson notes.
In this Teacher Manual there is the incorporation of the higher level of instruction for the Level 4 Student. That includes the necessary information for each of the Quest Pages where the Level 4 student will need to begin using the Topical Bible, the Bible Concordance, or the Bible Dictionary. The answers are provided as well as the page numbers where the information can be found.
How We Used These Products
It would seem that I have blathered on and on about these products . . . I guess you would like to know how we used them, huh?
I had Joseph use both the Traceable book as well as the Level 1 book. I wanted to see how much easier it would be if he had some direction in how to go about completing the lessons. I believe that he was rather good at using both. He was a real sport about using the Traceable book, and he used it for a few lessons so I could make sure how well it would work for little ones. It worked nicely. The light drawings made it a bit easier for him to focus on the lesson without having to put too much effort into the stick figure drawings. So, for a younger student (or sibling) this would be a nice way to have them join in.
The Level 1 student book allowed Joseph to let a bit of himself show in the drawings but still had him focusing on the important factors of the lessons. He loved being “in charge” of his own drawings, and that makes sense considering he is almost 8 years old.
Ana was also a duel reviewer this go round. She reviewed both the Level 2 and the Level 3 student books for me. She absolutely loved the ease that she could use the Level 2 book. She enjoyed adding her own small touches to her drawings. She is a budding little artist! She picked up the memory verse rather quickly, as I suspected she would.
The Level 3 book was a bit more difficult for her. Not so much the drawings, that is similar to the Level 2 book. The thing she found a bit more difficult was all of the added memorizations. She also had me copying extra sheets when it came to the maps. She always wanted extras to make sure she labeled correctly.
Isaiah was my Level 4 reviewer. He and I have used Grapevine Studies before, granted, it was many years ago. He remembered the way it all worked and he too enjoys the drawings. He was a bit surprised though when he had “real” work for this Bible class. He thought he was going to doodle some stick figures and be done. So needless to say, he learned some new Bible study techniques with this curriculum. He had never really seen me use any of the three study books (the Topical Bible, the Bible Dictionary, and the Bible Concordance) before so that was definitely something new for him.
As a whole, we used Grapevine Studies on a weekly basis, well, most of the time. Some days the kids would be so into doing the lesson, that I would add in one more for them. We have been using this for a while now and every one is in agreement, this is an extremely fun way to learn the Bible.
The longest time we spent suing this was between 10-15 minutes for the Traceable and Levels 1-3. Level 4 was a bit more time consuming for Isaiah as he would need the extra time when he was looking up a topic or using the dictionary. The most time he spent though was roughly between 30-35 minutes a lesson.
Overall, this was one of our favorite programs to use. We were able to have a little fun and call it learning, that always makes me a happy mama!
There are so many more levels from Grapevine Studies that will have you Stick Figuring Through the Bible in no time – check them out now:
Visit my fellow Crew members to se which products they used and what they thought:
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This is the last Crew review for 2015 y’all! Can you believe it?! But, I always some thing in the works, so visit again soon to see what we are doing!
In His Grace.
Callie
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