Biblioplan & SOTW

[DiannaC]

We will begin SOTW 1 with my first grade son in the fall. I like SOTW for the most part, but I really want to weave Biblical history in as well. Is Biblioplan a good fit for a 1st grader? Would I just need to buy the lesson plans and not the companion, since I'm using SOTW as my spine & I'll also use the AG for SOTW? I downloaded the sample from the website & I wasn't impressed with the companion from Biblioplan.

[ByGrace3]

We did not use BP for year 1, but started it for year two. BP does schedule a lot of Bible readings and if you tried to read all of it, I think it would be way too overwhelming. However I think the benefit of this is it is all lined up for you and you can read some, and discuss some for reference as you go along. We did straight SOTW and I do look back with regret as to how much Biblical history we missed out on.

 

As to the Companion, we are using it for year 2 and we really really like it. The full color pictures are wonderful. We use it on the iPad and my kids love looking at the pictures as we discuss the readings. Also the Companion is what ties everything together IMHO. It is where all the church and Biblical history come together. I don't think you HAVE to use us, but it has been a resource we would not have wanted to use BP without... Again, my experience is only wi year two though.

[mom31257]

I did BP Year 1 last year, but I didn't use the Companion with my son in 3rd grade. I did use the Victor Journey book, but I also had him read from The One Year Bible for Kids. I like that it is actual portions of scripture but focuses on the main stories. I assigned the days that went with what we were studying. Dh is a history teacher as well as a teacher in church, so he was able to add quite a bit.

[Amy M]

I'm using BP's year 1 schedule with my 1st grade son right now with SOTW and AG. I recommend you not get BP for now. It's not very helpful at this age, unless you want all the read-alouds scheduled out for you (though SOTW schedules other books as well, you probably won't get some of the Christian recommendations in there). You can figure out when to add a book on pyramids, right? ;) Especially with SOTW's AG.

 

We are simply reading through the Old Testament for Bible, and we're behind. BP sometimes schedules several Bible topics in one week, because the history moves so fast that lining it up is difficult in places. It was too much too fast. So I'm not worrying about it lining up exactly. But if you don't keep on track with the Bible readings, you don't need the schedule. In fact, it's kind of annoying, because BP switches up the order of SOTW to coincide with all of its other suggestions for the older students and to go in "units" like Egypt, Greece, Rome.

 

I wish I had just gone in chapter order with SOTW, utilized as much of the AG as I can, and gone through the OT at our pace in Bible. As far as Biblical info, the companion might be more what you'd like--adding in a little more Bible info along with the history. I don't have that, but I liked the sample I saw.

[ByGrace3]

. In fact, it's kind of annoying, because BP switches up the order of SOTW to coincide with all of its other suggestions for the older students and to go in "units" like Egypt, Greece, Rome.

 

I wish I had just gone in chapter order with SOTW, utilized as much of the AG as I can, and gone through the OT at our pace in Bible. As far as Biblical info, the companion might be more what you'd like--adding in a little more Bible info along with the history. I don't have that, but I liked the sample I saw.

 

It's funny how we are all so different. BP's order of SOTW is one of my favorite things. When we did straight SOTW, I felt it was way too jumpy. We get way more out of the BP order. I agree that the Companion adds a lot to the program. If you are just using the guide with SOTW all it is is a schedule with Christian read alouds. To me, the Companion adds a lot to the program.

[DiannaC]

The Companion seemed much drier to me than SOTW. I thought it might be over ds's head at 6. I know Biblioplan is meant to be used for all ages and it seems like the Companion is written for older children.

 

Thanks for all your comments. I'm still undecided as whether to get BP or not. It might be more than I need right now. I don't want to overwhelm my 1st grader, but I do want to incorporate biblical history.

[ByGrace3]

The VP history cards are another great way to add in biblical history if you decide BP is not for you... :)

[boscopup]

My BP experience in 1st grade was much like Amy's. In fact, I could have written that post. :D

 

I too wanted to mix Biblical history into SOTW. The problem is... It's FIRST grade, and you're trying to basically cover ALL of the Bible AND world history around that time (thousands of years!) in a single year... with a 6 year old. My son (DS1) LOVES history and is advanced in reading and understanding, but it was killing his love of history. It was way too much, too early.

 

I ended up dropping BP (and I did have the companion - didn't have time to use it with all the Bible readings) and just doing SOTW with the AG while reading through Egermeier's one story per day. No, they didn't line up. But guess what? My 6 year old started making connections between SOTW and what we were reading in the Bible!!!! He *wasn't* making those connections in BP (and frankly, neither was I). BP for us was no better than using the free table on that redshift site that lines up SOTW and Egermeier or Vos. And if you look at those tables, you'll see how, especially around chapters 15-16, the Bible readings get VERY numerous. Just too much for most 1st graders, IMO.

 

Another problem I had with BP was the readers. Most of them, my library didn't have, but even if they had had them... They were mostly retellings of the Bible story we'd just read straight from the Bible. Why do I need a retelling when I just read the real thing? It didn't make sense to me. I like the readers to be something *extra*, so we're going deeper into a subject. I was very disappointed in the K-2 reader selections for that year.

 

So basically, I would recommend saving your money. The SOTW AG lines up Usborne for you (BP has that in the schedule). You can use the redshift site for SOTW vs. Egermeier or Vos or VP cards. Or you can just read through the Bible and have fun making the connections yourself. I was actually surprised at how well that worked that year. We learned so much more once I dropped BP. Sometimes less is more!

 

In 5th grade, we'll make a more concentrated effort in studying Bible/secular history together. First grade was just an overview of Ancients, and it DID line up some Bible stories in it, so we had an idea of some major happenings anyway. We'll go much deeper in 5th grade.

[DiannaC]

My BP experience in 1st grade was much like Amy's. In fact, I could have written that post. :D

 

I too wanted to mix Biblical history into SOTW. The problem is... It's FIRST grade, and you're trying to basically cover ALL of the Bible AND world history around that time (thousands of years!) in a single year... with a 6 year old. My son (DS1) LOVES history and is advanced in reading and understanding, but it was killing his love of history. It was way too much, too early.

 

I ended up dropping BP (and I did have the companion - didn't have time to use it with all the Bible readings) and just doing SOTW with the AG while reading through Egermeier's one story per day. No, they didn't line up. But guess what? My 6 year old started making connections between SOTW and what we were reading in the Bible!!!! He *wasn't* making those connections in BP (and frankly, neither was I). BP for us was no better than using the free table on that redshift site that lines up SOTW and Egermeier or Vos. And if you look at those tables, you'll see how, especially around chapters 15-16, the Bible readings get VERY numerous. Just too much for most 1st graders, IMO.

 

Another problem I had with BP was the readers. Most of them, my library didn't have, but even if they had had them... They were mostly retellings of the Bible story we'd just read straight from the Bible. Why do I need a retelling when I just read the real thing? It didn't make sense to me. I like the readers to be something *extra*, so we're going deeper into a subject. I was very disappointed in the K-2 reader selections for that year.

 

So basically, I would recommend saving your money. The SOTW AG lines up Usborne for you (BP has that in the schedule). You can use the redshift site for SOTW vs. Egermeier or Vos or VP cards. Or you can just read through the Bible and have fun making the connections yourself. I was actually surprised at how well that worked that year. We learned so much more once I dropped BP. Sometimes less is more!

 

In 5th grade, we'll make a more concentrated effort in studying Bible/secular history together. First grade was just an overview of Ancients, and it DID line up some Bible stories in it, so we had an idea of some major happenings anyway. We'll go much deeper in 5th grade.

 

 

Thanks for your feedback. That is really helpful!

[DiannaC]

The VP history cards are another great way to add in biblical history if you decide BP is not for you... :)

 

 

We have the Classical Conversations timeline cards which I really like. I had already planned to use those too. Ds will probably make some connections because we did cycle 1 this year at CC.

[Sweepy]

We're doing a Grapevine Bible curriculum which goes through the Old and New Testaments. I loved the idea of Biblioplan weavings of Biblical history with secular history HOWEVER, this year it hasn't really worked. I busted my butt in the beginning trying to keep our Bible curriculum weeks in line with Biblioplan. At this point, I'm not really using the BP Companion as the bulk of each week is the Biblical history. I do rely heavily on the Family Guide as it coordinates the weeks for SOTW and Biblioplan as well as the Victor Journey and MOH. I'm undecided at this point if I will stay with Biblioplan for next year.

[cjgrubbs]

 

In 5th grade, we'll make a more concentrated effort in studying Bible/secular history together. First grade was just an overview of Ancients, and it DID line up some Bible stories in it, so we had an idea of some major happenings anyway. We'll go much deeper in 5th grade.

 

What do you plan to use in 5th? Just curious :tongue_smilie:

[boscopup]

 

What do you plan to use in 5th? Just curious :tongue_smilie:

 

Right now, I'm heavily leaning toward TOG, though I've leaned toward it several times in the past as well. :lol: But I do think it would be a good fit for DS1 (he loves to read history), and the little kids could just use SOTW (which is scheduled as a UG alternate resource). DS1 would likely do a mixture of UG and D books in 5th. We'll see where his mind is, logically, as to whether we'll ease into D level discussions sometime that year or not.