Judah Bible Curriculum Review

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

 

Judah Bible Curriculum was sent to me as a download for my review, access to their website and an 8 series lectures for teachers.  The idea of using the Bible as the key guide for a Bible course is certainly not original, but the way the author, Bill Burtness, suggest looking for specific themes and keys through the text is.

This curriculum is for all grades/ ages and every year the Bible is read and re-read. There is a suggestion for what ages study what and a break down into themes and keys to look for. The keys are: individuals, events, institutions and documents.

With the Bible as the textbook and concordance and dictionaries as support, the teacher and student make a notebook to record their findings.  The goal isn't necessarily to read the Bible through every year (though of course it is certainly fine to do so!), but rather to search for key people and events to support God's goal and intent for His kingdom through scriptures alone.

It is difficult to put down in words how to use the curriculum. At first, I read and read again the different ideas and printed out the entire curriculum. Initially, I hoped to read everything on the computer, but it just didn't work that way. I kept losing my place and finally gave in and printed it.

To explain further, I took this directly from the Judah Bible Curriculum website:

 

What is the Judah Bible Curriculum?

• A Principle Approach curriculum for Bible class.
• Develop a comprehensive knowledge of the Bible.
• Build strong, Godly character in your children.
• Study the Bible together.
• Study the hand of God in the lives of individuals and nations.
• For homeschool, Christian school, Sunday school.
• Teach your children living Biblical principles to guide their lives.
• Apply God’s word personally in every area of life.
• The Bible is the textbook.

 

Even though I did print out the pages for the keys- in the beginning- I knew for us that was going to result in many lost pages. So, instead I bought 5 subject notebooks for each and had a different page for each day's studying. This seemed to work well for us- even though we do have plenty of 3 ring binders. At the beginning of the school year, we get single subject binders for free or 10 cents each, but I thought the 5 subject notebook would work better.

This was confusing for me. I am not sure if I am the only one, but it took me weeks to grasp what it was we were supposed to do. I don't know how it could have been explained differently. However, I much prefer a curriculum I can just open up and use. I guess it is a combination of me not being a trained teacher and also being spoiled by many homeschool guides presenting the material in a very direct manner.

I did appreciate that each theme and key was identified for the teacher so I could make sure we were finding the right information. However, it frustrated me to figure out what was meant by institutions and documents. My children were definitely frustrated by that.

Would I have bought this for $44- for the download or $74 for the hardcopy? Most likely not. I am still not sure I am using the curriculum correctly. I strongly believe the Bible alone should be the textbook for every Bible curriculum, but this particular program confused me and I don't think it needs to be confusing. I loved the concept, though- now that I understand. I would suggest this curriculum to others, though, particularly if I felt it worked for them. But I will continue to incorporate this method in our Bible class from now on.

Below is contact information for Judah Bible curriculum:

Bill Burtness, author

Judah Bible Curriculum,

www.judahbible.com

 

bill@judahbible.com

217-344-5672 land

847-863-3421 cell

Disclaimer: This curriculum was provided to me for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

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