Growing Up in God’s Word Bible Study Review

Teaching Bible Study Skills

I’m taking a break from teaching from the Old Testament in our homeschool. I’ve decided to spend the spring teaching about the latter part of the life of Christ. I was given an opportunity to review Growing Up in God’s Word, Life of Christ Part II, which I received for free in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. I am also sharing affiliate links to Amazon.com where you can purchase this and other study guides.

When I was a little girl my parents were earnest in having family Bible study time. My daddy would read from the scripture, to my mom, myself and my 3 siblings. Then we would go through the passage verse by verse so he could explain to us what the passage was about. He would cross-reference to other portions of relevant scripture, then he would ask us questions and we would respond. Looking back, his diligence in doing that with us, led me to have a good basis of Bible knowlegde and taught me how to study scripture for myself. This curriculum reminds me of those times. 

The material comes in a well written, easy to read, teachers guide. The curriculum is set up in a 13 week course, however you can certainly customize it to teach the material at a quicker rate or a slower rate. Each lessons begins with a guided reading lesson and incorporate study reviews, puzzles and hands on suggestions. The curriculum teaches students how to develop Bible study skills, in a kid friendly way. 

The author, Heather Pryor, was meticulous in writing each lesson in a way which helps children to exegete passages of scripture. Verse by verse, she guides the teacher in having open dialogue with the children while helping them to consider how an entire passage works together in scriptural context and in cross-referencing other passages. 

What you Will Find in Growing Up in God’s Word

• A Guided Lesson for the Teacher to Engage the Students in Study, with conversation prompts.
• Review Questions
• Putting Down Roots Memory Word
• Farther Afield map Work
• Harvest Fun Games & Activities
• Digging Deeper Research Topics
• Food for Thoughts Puzzles 
• Fruits of our Labor Crafts

What I am loving is seeing how deeply my son is digging into the scriptures.  These lessons have allowed me to guide him in cross-referencing and developing thinking skills. He has been considering things like how Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in the New Testament. How the Jews felt about Publicans (tax collectors) and why Jesus came to “seek and save the lost.” 

Examples of Digging Deeper Research Topics

Yet, as a homeschooling parent, you can tailor each lesson to fit your family’s needs. If your children aren’t old enough for research, you can focus more on the hands on ideas for crafts and activities. Heather offers ideas for students to visualize scenes from scripture. In the lesson on Zaccheus and the Sycamore Tree, she suggests having students create a diorama of the scene. True to Little Man form, he chose LEGO bricks as his medium and set off to create the scene. As you can see, he incorporated Zaccheus in a tree, Jesus surrounded by crowds and a house for Jesus to go visit which Zaccheus in.