2010 School Plans -- Bible

Our school year officially starts in January, and I always spend some time re-evaluating things at the end of December for our "fresh start" in the new year. This year, I'm going to be blogging some of what I'm thinking about. Figured I should start with the important stuff, and I'll work through some other major areas too.

So, plans for Bible, worldview, Christian studies, etc. is first on deck.

In 2009, we have done a few different things.  Connor was doing the Bible portion of Sonlight Core 5.  We tried using Building on the Rock for William & Thomas.  We started using Grapevine Bible Studies Old Testament materials.  We did the Bible portion of Illuminations (I'll be reviewing Illuminations early in 2010).  And there were undoubtedly some other things in there too.

Sonlight Core 5 was excellent, but it was beyond what my younger kids could do.  And the Bible part of Core 6 is, well, not excellent.  We didn't blink when given the opportunity to do something else.

Building on the Rock was some really great stuff -- but it is very much written for a classroom teacher, and I struggled immensely with it.  We gave it up, and now it stares at me on the bookshelf and makes me feel horribly guilty.

Grapevine was a total winner, we loved using that.  Everyone could get involved.  But then Illuminations came along and we set Grapevine aside.  Sigh.  Illuminations has us reading through the Bible, but it isn't really a study exactly.

So, what to do for 2010?  My plan was to go back to Grapevine.  But then the new materials put out by Apologia and Summit Ministries caught my eye.  And when I found myself with the unexpected funds to make a purchase from ChristianBook.com, and I saw they had the book... well, it jumped into my cart.  And it arrived today.  And I love it.

So, a conversation with my oldest, and we have at least a tentative plan for Bible for 2010.

We are going to use the Apologia/Summit book Who Is God?, going through a chapter every two weeks and really trying to get into some of the extras available.  That would mean getting through it by roughly Memorial Day.  I love the idea of doing something systematic for worldview/apologetics.  And the price... $27 for 20 weeks of study for all my boys.  Not bad.  This book will be used again.

We are also going to start reading through the Bible in a year (this is Kimberly's fault, LOL!), using this website.  Connor and I will do all three readings.  William and Thomas will only be reading through the New Testament.  I will be setting accounts up for the three boys, so they can all do their readings in an appropriate version, check them off online, and I can always check up on them.  I will continue reading through the NKJV Greatest Stories of the Bible as well, primarily for Richard, but at least William & Thomas will be expected to listen.

Plus, our studies with Illuminations include history lessons on people from the Bible, and we also will be reading Ruth, part of 2 Kings, and Esther as part of the family read-alouds.  And Connor will also hit Haggai and Malachi as part of his literature requirements.

After we get through the Apologia book, we'll pick Grapevine back up.  I think it sounds like a plan...  stay tuned.  Tomorrow, I think I'll post about math plans...