Review: "God's Great Covenant"

Hello, friends!! It is time for another Schoolhouse Review Crew blogpost about a new curriculum that you might want to consider for your homeschool, especially if you are looking for a Bible curriculum that will both challenge and excite your kiddos! I had the opportunity to use God's Great Covenant Old Testament I by Classical Academic Press and I have been so looking forward to sharing this resource with you as it has been such blessing in our home!

Description

"God's Great Covenant" Old Testament I is available in three fantastic components. First, a student workbook is available for each child. These workbooks offer lesson memory verses, important definitions from the lesson, a read-aloud, and worksheet style pages about what they have learned from the lesson. The last page of each lesson includes a Quiz that can be given to check their knowledge retention and comprehension. There are a total of 32 lessons that are broken into five different themes. Two installments are available for the Old Testament and the first, which we used, covers the book of Genesis through Ruth as well as the book of Job.

Student Workbook

The second component is the teacher's manual. I would highly recommend this resource as it is a replica of each page in the student manual, complete with answers as well as comprehension questions that can be asked throughout the reading. It is VERY user-friendly and offers great insight into the reading. One of my favorite parts of this program is that it does not offer simple question and answers that they might already know from Sunday School. This is important to me as my children have been involved in church their entire lives. These questions are not laborious; however, they do challenge and encourage critical thinking. It was also very exciting to see how they linked the studies of the Old Testament to the New Testament. These are skills that many books are lacking and I found it exciting to share this kind of thinking in a lesson atmosphere.

Lastly, there are audio files that are available in MP3 format. This makes it incredibly easy to use on whatever device you have available. The narrator will weave the Bible story and scripture in such a way that your children will enjoy following along! They are purchased and downloaded right from the website! Listen to a sample here!

Routine

Teacher Manual

This program was a great blessing to our homeschool. We had been working on Scripture memorization and reading the Bible together as a family. However, this is more of a systematic approach to studying Scripture that proved to be both exciting and engaging for all members of the family. It dealt with theology on a child's level perfectly. Here is how we used it!

I chose to implement this curriculum as the first item of the day. Each morning, my girls would wake up and head to the table where we were preparing breakfast. While eating, we would begin to open up our Bible lesson and completed one lesson each week. Here is the daily routine:
Monday- Read the cover page of the lesson complete with overview, theme and Memory Verse. We would then read the Bible story from Scripture.
Tuesday- Review important terms and memory verse. I would have them take turns reading the read-aloud to retell the Bible story in an interesting and thought provoking way. You can also use the mp3 audio files here; I simply preferred them practicing their reading. We would also work through the questions and information given in the side bars of the teacher manual.
Wednesday- Review the lesson theme and play a game with their memory verse. Allow them to complete the first half of their review worksheet going back to check answers and increase comprehension.
Thursday- Have them say their memory verse. Complete the back of the review worksheet going back to check answers and increase comprehension. Study all review questions to prepare for the Quiz.
Friday- Complete the Quiz and have them share their memory verse for the week. We would also go back and remember memory verses from previous weeks. I was so pleased to see that they had remembered every one.

Good to Know

1.)  The student workbook is $22.95. The teacher manual is $24.95 and the audio files are $9.95. Though the audio files are not essential for the use of the curriculum, the workbook and teacher manual are critical.

2.)  This curriculum is written on a third grade level but it could easily be used from First Grade with some writing assistance through Middle School. This curriculum should be used with parental involvement. My girls' ages range from three to eleven. We successfully used it with them all. Of course, my three year old did not grasp everything but because we did each part of the lesson in about 20 minutes a day (and she was eating her breakfast during this time) we were able to easily integrate it into our day with all three. My third grader and sixth grader looked forward to Bible each morning and it would get their minds engaged for the day.

My Thoughts

I have been thoroughly pleased with this curriculum and it will be a staple at our homeschool table. Each morning, my children were not just reading over a Bible story but they were systematically studying new terms, greek interpretations, memory verses, and key ideas. Questions were offered that would often launch a lengthy discussion on God, His Son, and His Plan. After completing the first installment, I will definitely be ordering Old Testament II as well as the third installment: New Testament I. It was a success with both my children and my husband, who as you know serves as a Pastor. It is a great addition to our home and I am excited to continue our studies.

If you would like to see samples of this great Bible curriculum, just click here! You can also follow the button below to see how other families have used the curriculum and their thoughts as well. Have a blessed day!

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.