Christians- what are you doing for Bible with your middle schoolers?

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My dd just wants to read the Bible and pray, on her own.  She is a good reader and will come to me with questions.  If we do this, I'll assign books of the Bible appropriate for her age etc.   She did New Testament Survey last year in Sunday school and it was very serious and she learned a LOT.

 

Our new church's SS is very light so we can't really just count on that.

 

My son is doing MFW's 10th grade BIble which is very in depth and excellent.  

 

(I am doing the One Year Bible Psalms through the year)

Edited August 25, 2016 by Calming Tea

[Harriet Vane]

I strongly recommend Explorer's.

 

http://www.explorerbiblestudy.org/

[Tess in the Burbs]

Mine both did Route 66 last year. We really enjoyed it.

[jjeepa]

Mine both did Route 66 last year. We really enjoyed it.

 

Calming Tea,

 

I'm so thankful for this thread!  I still haven't decided on Bible and we've already started school  :001_smile:

 

Tess,  

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but can you share more about your experience with Route 66.  I have a 13 yr old and an 18 yr old.  It is good for both ages and is it something we'd do together?

[Ariston]

I'm all ears.

 

So far I'm looking at this: http://ubdavid.org/kids-world/kids.html

[cintinative]

I have not used it but I have heard good things about this. It is more of a study guide for the whole Bible.

 https://www.amazon.com/Most-Important-Thing-Youll-Study/dp/1433511827

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Route 66 looks Awesome but still looking...

Edited August 26, 2016 by Calming Tea

[aaplank]

I recommend this one. http://picturesmartbible.com/

[ScoutTN]

:bigear:

 

Right now, she is just reading her Bible and reading the Victor Journey though the Bible alongside. 

 

 

[Tess in the Burbs]

 

Tess,

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but can you share more about your experience with Route 66. I have a 13 yr old and an 18 yr old. It is good for both ages and is it something we'd do together?

I think both ages woukd benefit. I enjoyed myself. It was a great overview of each book. Who wrote it, historical context, general themes. Last question always asked you to apply the knowledge to your own walk of faith or life experience. We all learned a lot. We did 2 lessons a week. Discussed notes at beginning, and discussed our thoughts after the written work was done. It was good, but not too much work.

[jjeepa]

I think both ages woukd benefit. I enjoyed myself. It was a great overview of each book. Who wrote it, historical context, general themes. Last question always asked you to apply the knowledge to your own walk of faith or life experience. We all learned a lot. We did 2 lessons a week. Discussed notes at beginning, and discussed our thoughts after the written work was done. It was good, but not too much work.

 

Thank you!  I think you've convinced me to give use it with my 12 yr old.  I'll have to get my hands on it to see if it will work with my 18 yr old.  

[KeriJ]

Sword Studies!

[2_girls_mommy]

Over the summer we did a unit study from ReasonstoBelieve that was around Psalm104 and covered a lot of Earth Science. We learned a lot about Hebrew poetry and how to read the Bible. I learned a lot. My dd12 can quote quite a bit from the Psalm 104 after it.  So that was good. I recommend it for anyone who is looking for Old Earth Christian resources.

 

For this school year we are memorizing a verse about once every two weeks from Character Concept's website. It is a list for preschoolers around character traits, but it is good for all of us.  We will also be practicing our books of the Bible for memorywork.

 

on their own:

7th grader: We are in ancients, so I am having her read from the Golden Children's Bible for some of her silent assigned reading. That is really all I am doing with her this year. She draws or writes a short SHORT sentence about what she read after. She just needs an OT refresher. We will discuss and do some other readings from supplemental books that I have on hand as they come up like the Ancient Israelites and their Neighbors and Jesus and His Times.

 

9th grader: She is doing a Great Books study of Ancients ala WTM, using WEM. Her first book of the year is actually Genesis through Job. She is taking notes every chapter and will have a final project due on that the same as with all of her readings this year. Later in the year on the list of WTM books are some other books of the Bible she will cover.

 

No big curriculum or anything. I feel our SS is really light in Bible education too. They spend more time on how to apply it (which is hard if you don't know it IMO..) so I always want to go over it at home too.

[Peaceful Isle]

For my two oldest, they are using BJU online for their Bible course. 

[mom31257]

Ds has a quiet time in which he records a verse and what it means. I had planned on continuing Alpha Omega Lifepacs this year, but the books we did last year felt a little too much like school instead of scripture study.

 

We've been watching these videos each day and love them. I'd like to watch them all, and then go back to short books of the bible. Watch the video, read the entire book, and watch it again to see if we really caught all the themes. 

 

https://jointhebibleproject.com/

 

We watch these on Right Now Media, which our church bought access to for all of us members. It looks like you can watch them at this site, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2016 by mom31257

[SamanthaCarter]

We're doing Sword Studies as recommended here and are really enjoying it. It is exactly what I was looking for. Serious bible study, just bible, not doctrine. DS and DD are working through it together, as the investigators level is pretty challenging for DD's age. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I searched for Bible reading plans and found a cool site with 20+ different plans.

For this semester I picked a plan that covers the main events and people in 90 days.

 

http://www.alextran.org/23-bible-reading-plans-that-will-satisfy-anyone/

Edited August 30, 2016 by Sebastian (a lady)

[Milknhoney]

Didn't find a curriculum that I was happy with for this age so here's what my seventh grader is doing -which is also what he did last year. He reads through a book of the Bible (his choice) along with Jon Courson's Bible Commentary. He loves this. Alternating with books of the Bible, I'm having him read select books on various Christian topics such as apologetics and Christian living. For this year I'm planning to have him read How to be Your Own Selfish Pig, Prayer of Jabez, Secret of the Vine, More Than a Carpenter, and maybe Screwtape Letters (the last one may be a read aloud). After reading a chapter, he writes half a page in a notebook. 

 

Also he does memory work. We've moved to whole chapters or whole books of the Bible. Two verses a day. He memorized Genesis 1, all of 1 John, and is now working on Matthew 5-7. Next I think will be the book of James. 

[mama25angels]

My Ds is using Boy, Have I got Problems, I don't know what we'll do after that, maybe MP's Christian Studies books. I'm not sure though because we're already readin through the Golden Children's Bible with Introduction to Classical Studies.

[Saddlemomma]

Last year, 7th Grade, we combined Bible with Lit and studied The Chronicles of Narnia.  However, we also had an Apologetics class in which we studied and read the book, The Unseen Realm.

 

This year we are doing a very in-depth study of Jesus Christ using several academic texts, the Bible, and secular primary source documents such as Tacitus, Josephus, Pliny the Younger, etc., and Dr. Michael Heiser's series of lectures titled, Jesus in the Old Testament on YouTube.

[abrightmom]

Sword Studies, yes! We'll use 2 Timothy next summer.

My 8th grader is using an Explorer's Study called Quest and he will be studying Romans, Galatians & James. He will begin this Monday.

 

What about Starr Meade's The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study? You could choose the Old Testament and it will give her a thorough survey to follow her NT studies. I can't speak to the depth but it's worth a peek. 

 

[Sahamamama]

That is a good question! I'm glad you asked, because I'll be gleaning ideas from this thread.

 

My oldest student is in 6th grade; her twin sisters are 4th graders, so they're not all middle schoolers (yet). Here's what we do have lined up for this year.

 

• We're working through CLE Bible 400: Life of Jesus. I chose this level because (1) we studied the OT last year, and (2) my 4th graders are also doing Bible with us. So Bible 400 worked out the best. We are enjoying it so far.

• Also, the girls are studying Junior Bible Quiz cards, a certain number of cards per month. When they feel ready to be "quizzed out," they ask me to test them.

• We sing hymns together a few times each week. We each have our own hymn book.

• In even-numbered months, the girls will begin each school day with a 15 minute time for personal devotions. They'll each go to a separate spot, and have time to read the Bible, pray (quietly), sing (quietly), or just listen.

• In odd-numbered months, we will choose a Bible book and read through it, a few chapters at a time, each school day. No planning, just bookmarks moving along. We take turns reading about 10 verses each, round-robin.

• Attend church each Sunday as a family.

• The girls are in our church's midweek ministry for kids. They memorize Bible verses, have group Bible lessons and discussions, and fun activities each week.

• Scripture Memory Songs: The girls listen a lot to Sing the Word CDs (we have all of them) and other Scripture memory songs. I think that most of what they have memorized comes from the songs.

• The girls have Assigned Independent Reading (A.I.R.) across all subjects (kind of like our own homemade AO). For Bible, my 6th grader is reading through the second half of The David C. Cook Journey through the Bible (she did the first half last year). My 4th graders are reading through the second half of What the  Bible Is All About Bible Handbook for Kids (they read the first half last year). All three are finishing up Egermeier's Bible Story Book this year, as well. They don't have any written work to go along with these readings, but we do discuss what they have read, and sometimes I ask them the questions at the back of Egermeier's (a very good resource).

• Finally, one other thing we do from time to time is to learn to use basic Bible study tools. For example, if we are studying Ancient History, and we want to understand Abraham's travels, we might look up something in the Student Bible Atlas. If we are curious about a custom in Bible times, we may look it up in The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, The Baker Illustrated Guide to Everyday Life in Bible Times, The Crossway Illustrated Bible Handbook (Tim Dowley), or Children's Guide to the Bible (Willoughby). And sometimes we look up answers in The Holman Bible Concordance for Kids. This last resource must be popular with my kids, because it is always disappearing! They take it upstairs for their own personal Bible study, so that's a good thing.

HTH. I'm looking forward to reading the other responses.

 

Edited to add: I forgot about scripture memory songs, their independent reading assignments in Bible, and our occasional use of Bible study tools! If I think of anything else after I have coffee, I'll be back, LOL! :)

Edited September 3, 2016 by Sahamamama

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Thanks for all these great ideas! We settled on Explorerss Quest Level the one about proverbs :)

[Bluegoat]

Last year my dd, for grade 5, read through one of N.T. Wright's "Everyman" books - we used Luke.  These are essentially translations with a commentary - we would read one section every day, and discuss it a bit if we wanted to.  They are not aimed at kids, though they are meant to be very accessible rather than scholarly.  But N.T. Wright is one of the world's foremost NT scholars which I feel gives the books a little more substance than a lot of the things I've seen directed at kids. 

 

This year dd is going to ps, but she has asked to learn about comparative views on the Eucharist and in relation to that, how different branches of Christianity decide what is "true".  I'm trying to put something together for her but the latter request in particular seems to be a bit tricky for someone in her age group.

[HeWillSoar]

In our "homeroom" time, I am reading aloud in this book https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Bible-Handbook-Spectacular-High-Tech/dp/0310575303/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473352106&sr=8-2&keywords=bible+adventure+handbook (the sections are very brief) and then the kids find and read aloud the Bible passages that are listed in the book.  It might be better for elementary aged kids but for us it's working well.  When we are done with this, we can do something more in depth.  We get the story in simple terms and then read the actual Bible passages that tell that story. It would be better if there were questions that went with it.