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Welcome to the 10 Days of Homeschooling with the BIBLE as Your Main Text series. I will be sharing all that we have been doing this fall since we have decided to use our Bible as our main textbook. I am joining the iHomeschool Network’s Homeschool Hopscotch! Be sure to go over and check out so many awesome topics for this huge blog hop!
Today I am going to start with answering the basic question-
Just what does your day look like when you use the Bible as your main text?
Well, since this is all new territory for us this year, you are joining me on my trial basis of this! However this summer I just knew in my heart God was leading us to do this…and as all of you know, when God leads us to something, we have no choice but to follow. I have sure learned that these past several years.
As summer went on, I myself was unsure of what our schedule would look like, but I prayed over it and became quite confident in what we were doing. Over the summer I actually made plans up until December for studying the book of Genesis. I wanted everything laid out for me so as soon as we were into the swing of things and we were busy, I wouldn’t get overwhelmed. Quite honestly, this is the least overwhelming year so far- and our schedule out of the house is actually busier than ever! God is good.
So, here is what our day has looked like so far this year. Please remember, part of the reason I wanted to use the Bible as our main text was so that we were fully immersed in God’s word, learning what He wants us to learn, and not stressing about the timetable. So we are flexible in our day, yet I have found that we have remained quite orderly-if that makes sense? I am fully surrendered to the idea that if we are stuck on something, or we are really interested in something we will take as long as we need to study it. We are on God’s timetable.
A typical day right now looks like this:
(the days that we are home all day without any outside commitments)
We are studying the book of Genesis. Each week we are in a different passage. Some passages we have been in for two weeks. We begin by reading the passage aloud. I read it the first day and the other days, the children take turns reading it aloud. We discuss the passage in detail (I have several resources to help me guide our conversation.) A typical discussion will highlight the meaning of the passage, the events taking place, translations of certain key words in Hebrew, and other scripture cross references. We use commentaries, books, etc. to help us. The children will write any notes in their Bible study section of their binders.
Sometimes after our discussion we will do a craft, read children’s books about the subject matter (for instance, Creation and Noah’s Ark topics) or watch videos. We have already watched several from Answers in Genesis-they have tons of resources online.
Depending on what passage we are in, science, history, and geography are incorporated. For example when we were in creation, we studied animal classification and different types of animals. The children each did a report on an animal that week of their choice. History, science, and geography are a natural part of the Bible and we cover all these areas quite easily during the morning. The thing that has surprised me most {pleasantly} is just how naturally the learning takes place. Through our discussions and readings all subjects are covered, even if they aren’t necessarily stopped and started at certain times. It feels like that is the way God intended it to be really. Everything sort of blends together beautifully…
This week in particular we have really dug into the study of Noah’s Ark, and the Flood. We have incorporated so much science and history in here, as well as geography. We made a fossil experiment, watched many videos about fossils, learned about dinosaurs, and had lots of geology lessons in how fossils are formed.
This week in particular we have really dug into the study of Noah’s Ark, and the Flood. We have incorporated so much science and history in here, as well as geography. We made a fossil experiment, watched many videos about fossils, learned about dinosaurs, and had lots of geology lessons in how fossils are formed.
This Bible study usually takes all morning. I don’t watch the clock but we naturally finish a little before lunch. Then everyone takes a break. I prepare lunch and they usually play outside.
After lunch we work on our academic studies- almost all of which tie into our Bible study from the morning. Each child works on their spelling, which is a list that I have complied based on the Bible passage. I entered all the words for each week this summer into SpellingCity, and they use it all week to help practice their words. Every Friday they have a spelling test.
We will also do writing assignments at this time. Depending on the age of the child I will give them an assignment based on what we have read. It can be a narrative, creative writing, or reports. They work on these during this time.
Each child has copywork from the Bible passage as well. Depending on their age, they complete it in manuscript or cursive. I have found this copywork generator that will print out any text you want into copywork pages in either manuscript or cursive.
Sometimes we do some public speaking activities-we have done debates of creation vs. evolution, etc. We have had each child tell a story based on the Bible passage, and we have had plays based on a passage. Oral communication is just as important as written around here.
We also have reading time with books I have selected for each child individually.
Math and Spanish are really the only thing that are separate from our Bible. Math is completed each day using Math U See. Sometimes I also give them math problems based on the Bible passages we are in, such as with Noahs’ Ark- determining the size of theArk, the length of time they were in the ark, etc.
We are using Rosetta Stone for Spanish which they also do at this time.
Once a week I have some special assignments. My middle schooler is using The Young Novelist Workbook (just like her mommy she loves to write, and has already penned a children’s chapter book!) and Who Am I from Apologia. We may also do some art and composer study on certain days. (this does not necessarily come from the Bible either) A nature study is also scattered in there somewhere, again usually based on our Bible passage.
So basically we let our mornings be devoted to the Lord, and the our afternoons are for our academic studies which are an extension of the morning. It’s truly amazing to see how the Bible has everything we need right in there. I am trying to live out Matthew 6:33 by trusting if we focus our day on Him, He will provide for our needs.
Please check out my resources page that I am compiling here. I will continue to update as I find useful resources to help aid you in your studies.
Join me each day for the next two weeks to see how it looks when Homeschooling with the Bible as Your Main Text! I will be sharing more details about hoe each subject is broken down, and also why we have chosen this path. I have lots planned, so be sure and subscribe here!
And don’t forget to visit iHomeschool Network and the other participants in the Homeschool Hopscotch!
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