"Faithful to All His Promises" Bible Curriculum REVIEW

clip art taken from www.childrendesiringgod.org

Disclaimer: I was given, "Faithful to All His Promises" Classroom Kit (Electronic Version) for review.  I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own!

I was  recently given the opportunity to review: Faithful to All His Promises (REVISED Version) from Children Desiring God Ministries.

"Faithful to All His Promises is a study for children on the promises of God. Children will not simply learn about some of God's promises, but rather, they will discover what it means to trust in those promises which are God's gift to us, not something we deserve. Faithful to All His Promises begins by teaching children what a promise is, what makes God trustworthy with these promises, and who these promises are for. Then children get to explore some specific promises from God to see how He has been and will be faithful to each of those promises."

(taken directly from Children Desiring God Ministries web-site)

"Faithful to All His Promises" consists of 40 lessons (to view the curriculum's complete scope and sequence click HERE).  Of the 40 lessons there are 25 specific promises taught, such as: God Will be With You, God Hears Your Prayers, and God Will Provide for Your Needs. 

This curriculum was specifically designed to use in the church.  Children Desiring God Ministry has considered that families may want to use this in their home.  Therefore, they have included helpful hints such as ways to adapt the curriculum for home, the advantages of using the material in your home, and scheduling recommendations in the Teacher's Guide Appendix.  I found these suggestions helpful!

As I began looking through the Teacher's Guide I thought it would be best to purchase the student workbook (only $5 automatic download!).  The workbook includes two pages per lesson.  The first page contains the lesson number, main ideas, scripture, memory verse, and activity instructions.  The second page is the correlating activity page that the student completes.  Take a look at the student workbook example HERE (see page 21-22).

In our home we complete one lesson per week.  Each week my children are excited to discover a NEW promise!  To make it an enjoyable experience I've placed each week's new promise, written on paper, inside a small treasure box.  My young children love to open the box each week to reveal the special promise!  We then turn to scripture and read the correlating bible verse.  I desire for my children to understand that, "mama didn't make up these promises, they have been given to us BY God found IN the bible!"  After, we tape the small promise paper to a large poster board to reflect upon and review in the weeks to come! 

We then sing the hymn, "Standing on the Promises of God" as a song we are putting to memory that correlates beautifully with this curriculum!! (See the first two verses below!

 1. Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
through eternal ages let his praises ring;
glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:
Standing, standing,
standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
standing, standing,
I'm standing on the promises of God.

2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain) 

I have thoroughly enjoyed EACH lesson!  It is a blessing to me to have a rich theologically, God-centered curriculum for my children at such a young age.  The promises presented are like bullets my children will have loaded and will be able to fire off under life's twist and turns.  Not only are my children learning but EVEN I have been blessed by this curriculum and have been thankful to go through it together as a family.  Each promises is like a solid brick we can build upon and STAND! I highly recommend considering going through this curriculum as a family!

More quick thoughts below...

• Although this study is intended for second grade age level I feel it is good for ALL AGES!  Learning and memorizing the promises of God has no age limit!  This study can be easily used for the entire family AND be repeated!  I foresee my family going through this study again!  
• The curriculum can simply be used as a guide for the study of God's promises.  Many times we like to have our children DO workbooks, journals, or activities.  Using this simply as a guide for reading scripture and discussing the main ideas is a wonderful simplified way to incorporate this into your family's routine, family devotions, or bible home school lessons.
• Purchasing the $5 workbook is helpful.  As I mentioned above the student workbook made it easy for me to know the scriptures, main ideas, and suggested activities without having to look through a detailed Teacher's Guide.  The student workbook would be sufficient to use for home.  (FYI: Some pages in the workbook require PDF printables from the resources DVD which is a separate purchase.) 
• THERE IS MORE!  Once you complete this study, Children Desiring God Ministries has an entire scope and sequence with more studies to work through!  Check it out HERE!  

I strongly encourage ALL parents to teach the bible at home, not just homeschooling families.  Children Desiring God Ministries supports this as well and gives us a biblical reference in Deuteronomy 6:5-9 for reflection in this area.  In the curriculum they state, "The primary responsibility and privilege of nurturing the faith of youth rests on parents." What a joy it is to act upon this God given responsibility and teach my children Christ!  I feel confident in partnering with Children Desiring God Ministries and their resources to help me teach and train my children in the Lord.

Children Desiring God Ministries Mission Statement

"Our mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things so that the next generation may know and cherish Jesus Christ as the only One who saves and satisfies the desires of the heart.

We want millions in every generation to set their hope in God. To that end, we aim to fuel spiritual desire by producing God-centered, Bible-saturated, Christ-exalting resources and by equipping parents and churches working in partnership to instruct the mind, engage the heart, and nurture the faith of the next generations."

Thank you Children Desiring God Ministries for allowing me the time to review this curriculum and share my thoughts with my readers! 

Thank you to my readers for taking the time to visit "My Teacher's Name is Mama" and consider, "Faithful to All His Promises" for your family!  God Bless you!!!

Our HIGH and HOLY Calling to the Next Generation

I hope you have been able to follow my new series, "Theology Thursdays FOR KIDS!!"  To read the introduction to this series click HERE!  In lieu of this new series/topic I came across this GREAT six minute video and I am hoping you will take a moment to be encouraged and challenged by it! Below are a couple quotes from the video. 

"It would certainly NOT bring us much joy if three decades from now it could be said of our children that they know their God-centered bible studies, they have an arsenal of memorized verses, and they grew up in a home with godly examples for them, BUT they did not EMBRACE the gospel or treasure Christ as their Lord and Savior."

"We cannot incline their hearts to the Lord but we can put them in the path of blessing...Surround them with means that, we pray, God will use.  Means of grace God will use to bring them to faith."

Watch the video below or click HERE to watch!

The Ultimate Goal of Parenting from Children Desiring God on Vimeo.

As we seek to teach and train our children the gospel we realize that only God can bring them to Salvation.  Yet, we are reminded in Romans 10:17 that, "Faith comes from HEARING the message, and the message is HEARD through the word of Christ."  Let us be diligent to TEACH the gospel to our children so they may HEAR the word of God.  Let us PRAY for their salvation and wisdom to guide them into a personal understanding of Christ their Savior and Lord.

Please consider joining, "My Teacher's Name is Mama" every Thursday for a gospel driven, Christ centered, theology packed lesson FOR KIDS!! 



   

Jesus, What a Savior!

Clip art taken from www.childrendesiringgod.org

 Disclaimer: I was given, "Jesus, What a Savior!" Teacher's Guide (Electronic Version) for review.  I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own!

I was  recently given the opportunity to review: Jesus, What a Savior! (REVISED) from Children Desiring God Ministries.

"Jesus, What a Savior is a study for children on redemption. Children are sinners, and the consequences for their sin are eternal. This curriculum is designed to present the Gospel, not with "us" at the center of the story, but with the greatness and worth of God at the center. Throughout the lessons, an illustration using colored hearts shows what were created to do, the effects of sin on our hearts, and the absolute need for Christ to restore our hearts."

(taken directly from Children Desiring God Ministries web-site)

"Jesus, What a Savior!" consists of 40 lessons (to view the complete scope and sequence click HERE).  I love how the lessons build upon each other in a sequential way...God, Creation, Sin, Jesus! After going through this curriculum Children will understand the gospel!  They will recognize that they are a sinner and in need of the Savior, Jesus!  Along the way they will learn WHO Jesus is and at the conclusion learn that Jesus invites them to receive Him!

This curriculum was specifically designed to use in the church.  Children Desiring God Ministry has considered that families may want to use this in their home.  Therefore, they have included helpful hints such as ways to adapt the curriculum for home, the advantages of using the material in your home, and scheduling recommendations in the Teacher's Guide Appendix.  I found these suggestions helpful!

In our home we began by completing one lesson per week.  I would often extend the lesson by watching short video clips, discussing the lesson throughout the week, or even doing an additional craft or activity that related to the subject matter.  I used the curriculum as a guide for my weekly bible homeschooling lessons.  Below is a picture of us working through lesson eight, "God Punishes a Sinful World."  This specific lesson address the story of Noah pointing out that, "God is faithful to save sinners who trust in Him."  To extend this lesson we watched an animated Noah's Ark program on the ipad! 

As I began looking through the Teacher's Guide I thought it would be best to purchase the student workbook.  The workbook (shown in the picture above) includes two pages per lesson.  The first page contains the lesson number, main ideas, scripture, memory verse, and activity instructions.  The second page is the correlating activity page that the student completes.  Take a look at the student workbook example HERE (see page 26).

 

More quick thoughts below...

• Although this study is intended for the Kindergarten age level I feel it is good for ALL AGES!  Hearing the gospel and learning of Christ has no age limit or time frame!  This study can be easily used for the entire family AND be repeated!  I foresee my family going through this study again!  
• The curriculum can simply be used as a guide for the study of the bible/Christ.  Many times we like to have our children DO workbooks, journals, or activities.  Using this simply as a guide for reading scripture and discussing the main ideas is a wonderful simplified way to incorporate this into your family's routine, family devotions, or bible home school lessons.
• Purchasing the workbook is helpful.  As I mentioned above the student workbook made it easy for me to know the scriptures, main ideas, and suggested activities without having to look through a detailed Teacher's Guide purposed for church leaders.  The student workbook would be sufficient to use for home.  (FYI: Some pages in the workbook require PDF printables from the resources DVD which is a separate purchase.  So far I have been able to simply modify those pages since I did not purchase this resource.)
• "There's an App for that!" Growing in Faith Together (GIFT) App was designed for parents to be aware of what their child is learning in church.  GIFT pages for "Jesus, What a Savior!"  are available for your iphone and ipad!  Although I have not reviewed or purchased this resource I thought you might be interested in learning more HERE!
• THERE IS MORE!  Once you complete this study, Children Desiring God Ministries has an entire scope and sequence with more studies to work through!  Check it out HERE!  

I strongly encourage ALL parents to teach the bible at home, not just homeschooling families.  Children Desiring God Ministries supports this as well and gives us a biblical reference in Deuteronomy 6:5-9 for reflection in this area.  In the curriculum they state, "The primary responsibility and privilege of nurturing the faith of youth rests on parents." What a joy it is to act upon this God given responsibility and teach my children Christ!  I feel confident in partnering with Children Desiring God Ministries and their resources to help me teach and train my children in the Lord.

Children Desiring God Ministries Mission Statement

"Our mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things so that the next generation may know and cherish Jesus Christ as the only One who saves and satisfies the desires of the heart.

We want millions in every generation to set their hope in God. To that end, we aim to fuel spiritual desire by producing God-centered, Bible-saturated, Christ-exalting resources and by equipping parents and churches working in partnership to instruct the mind, engage the heart, and nurture the faith of the next generations."

Thank you Children Desiring God Ministries for allowing me the time to review this curriculum and share my thoughts with my readers! 

Thank you to my readers for taking the time to visit "My Teacher's Name is Mama" and consider, "Jesus, What a Savior!" for your family!  God Bless you!!!

Family Celebration of Holy Week

This post contains an affiliate link to the book pictured above.

Easter is quickly approaching and I wanted to share this great resource with you as a way for your  family to embrace Christ this Easter!  This past summer I came across this simple guide book for celebrating Holy Week with your Family.

"Christ in Easter: A Family Celebration of Holy Week"  

By Charles Colson, Billy Graham, Max Lucado, and 

Joini Eareckson Tada

This book provides very simple activities you can do with your family to set your hearts upon Christ throughout the Holy Week (Palm Sunday-Easter Sunday).  It suggests songs, discussion/reflections, additional readings, family activities, poetic readings, prayers, and much more!  I appreciate the simplicity of this book and feel it will be beneficial to the whole family (all ages).  I hope this resource will be an encouragement to your family this Easter!

Please leave a comment below if you have used this book or are familiar with it!

HE IS RISEN!!

Free Devotional

As mentioned last week, every day I do "Bible Time" with baby!  This is such a wonderful time for us!  I desire this to be intentional and meaningful.  I desire to instill good habits now so as baby grows reading and speaking about the bible and Jesus will be a natural daily conversation.  I pray daily for God's wisdom in raising the precious gift He gave to me!

One part of our bible time has been reading Dr. David Jeremiah's "Turning Points" magazine.  This is a FREE resource for you to obtain and begin using!  I have been very blessed by his short daily devotionals (perfect for baby's short attention span too).

You may be wondering why I don't use a children's bible or devotional since baby is only 9 months.  I have some specific reasons why I choose to use this devotional.  First, reading this daily devotional is beneficial to my own spiritual growth!  Next, the rich vocabulary in each text is beneficial to baby's fast growing brain!!  Last, I like the idea of teaching baby the bible with some real good biblical theology!!!

Of course I also have some very age appropriate baby bible books that we use as well but for bible time the "Turning Points" magazine has been working wonderfully!  If you would like to request a complimentary copy of this magazine for yourself visit this link below!  Enjoy!!

Request your copy NOW click here!!

Bible Time!

"Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise His Holy Name..."  We begin each Bible Time with a simple song I made up.  I started Bible Time with baby at about 3 months!  I simple sit her in her bouncer chair (shown in the picture above) and we read the bible!!  Children tend to like a predictable schedule and order.  This is the routine I follow each day.
1.  Sing the "Praise Him" song I made up as a cue that Bible Time will begin
2. Read a daily devotional from my "Turning Point" magazine from Dr. David Jeremiah
3. Read the bible text that correlates with the daily devotional
4. Repeat the "Praise Him" song
5. Sing a hymn (if she still has enough attention to stay in the bouncer!)
6. Pray and Challenge baby with these daily words, "baby whatever you eat, whatever you drink, whatever you do, do ALL for the Glory of the Lord)
I have found that bible time was actually easier in the beginning months but has now become more of a challenge at 8 months because baby wants to be on the move!  Sometimes I do bible time while she sits on my lap.  I have also at times shortened the length to accommodate her short attention span.  I would love to hear how you daily incorporate the bible into your little one's life!  Please share!