Oh, I see what you mean. No, in that sense it's not analogous to the WWE instructor text. This series would be more like "The Story of the World" plus an overview book. The overview book is helpful for parents, but not detailed enough about each year to become the spine of a curriculum.

Hi Danielle: thanks for your well-wishes. Presently, grade 1 is available. We will be releasing Grade 2 in January 2012, barring any unforeseen delays. It may be available before then in PDF form, but should be in print/bound form by 1/2012. By then we'll be hard at work on Grade 3, and we hope to accelerate the pace...at some point we may be able to put out two a year, but our goal is at LEAST one a year. I know that may be too late for some of your children, but it'll take time to build the curriculum. In the meantime, even if your grade levels aren't available, you may benefit from looking at the "how-to" book, the overview of our approach and of the Bible itself: Telling God's Story: A Parents' Guide to Teaching the Bible. Justin M.

Also, I've posted a sticky-note in the Curriculum Forums, setting the record straight about some of the recent online accusations regarding Olive Branch Books and our new curriculum. Some of it is a repeat of earlier comments; some is new: http://welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236297 We, like many of you, are in favor of checking an author's reputation before buying his/her books, but we're also in favor of judging each book on its own merits. I hope that's helpful.

Hi Kirstin...for grade 1, you would want the "Year One Instructor Text/Teaching Guide" and the "Year One Activity Book/student text" ... the "Parents Guide" is an overview of the entire (multigrade) curriculum, and of the Bible itself. It's very helpful and clarifying, but is not strictly necessary. You could do grade 1 without it. Justin from olive branch books

Hi, I’m Justin Moore, executive editor at Olive Branch Books. Some of you may have received an email that’s been making the rounds of homeschool groups, warning about “a new, evolution-based curriculum from Susan Wise Bauer” or words to that effect. We’ve addressed some aspects of this erroneous message in previous threads, but since the email hasn’t gone away, and since some of you have contacted us about it, I want to set the record straight and offer some additional clarification. Olive Branch Books, the new religious-education imprint of Peace Hill Press, has published a Bible curriculum, Telling God’s Story. It is not by Susan Wise Bauer; it is by Peter Enns. It is not “evolution-based.” It is not, despite what some emails have said, a science curriculum. It is a Bible curriculum, intended for the use of Christian parents and teachers, which helps them understand the Bible’s message so that they may love its Author better, and may teach their children its message more effectively. It’s also—if I may speak immodestly—a really really excellent set of books, which is why I’m saddened and angered when it is condemned sight unseen. Grade One of the "Telling God's Story" curriculum (the only grade that’s available right now) is about the life of Jesus, as depicted in the Four Gospels. There's nothing at all about evolution in the first grade curriculum. The only references to origins are where Jesus’ miracles show that he has his Father's power over creation. Dr. Enns affirms multiple times that God is the sole Creator and that he alone has power over the universe. The curriculum is Biblical and orthodox, and it enthusiastically affirms and celebrates Jesus' miracles, virgin birth, divine authority, atoning death, and resurrection. The "how-to" book ("Telling God's Story: A Parents' Guide to Teaching the Bible"), which explains the whole curriculum from grade 1 to grade 12, likewise affirms that God is the omnipotent, sole Creator. It devotes a chapter to discussing the Genesis creation account, the six days in Genesis 1, etc. The word "evolution" is not even mentioned anywhere in this book. Dr. Enns talks about using the Bible for its intended purpose, and not as a gun with which to shoot at scientific or political opponents. The web article which inspired the “Parents Beware!” email forwards is problematic. Though I was in contact with the author of that article, and though we sent him a complete copy of the first grade textbook and numerous samples of the other books, he chose not to cite ANY errors in our curriculum, not a single page. In fact, he told parents to “Beware!” before he had even received the review copies. I asked to speak with him on the phone; I was refused. I have asked him and his organization to provide actual citations so that we can know which aspects of our curriculum he finds so problematic; to date, he has not done so. We have tried to leave polite explanatory comments on a website which reprints his articles (since his own site doesn’t allow comments); the comments have not been accepted or published. This is not responsible journalism. This is dishonest scaremongering and invincible ignorance. I strongly encourage you not to trust any curriculum, from us or from Peace Hill Press or from any publisher, without reading it first. Likewise, I strongly encourage you not to believe any articles which give no evidence of having read the book they are discussing. If you’re curious about Telling God’s Story, we welcome you to see samples of the various books and activity books at olivebranchbooks.net. We think you’ll love them. In addition, please see the Frequently Asked Questions page on that site, and the explanatory videos we’re posting on YouTube. Thanks for your time! Justin Moore Executive Editor, Olive Branch Books

We're glad you're excited about the book, Colleen! Since the shipping to Canada is so expensive, have you considered buying the book as a downloadable PDF? All the "Telling God's Story" books are available in this format...which also costs less than a print version. But I know you may prefer to have a print/bound copy.

Hi: Justin here; I'm the executive editor at Olive Branch Books. We're glad to hear that you're interested! The current schedule is to release Year Two in January 2012. It MIGHT be available earlier than that, especially in PDF form, but barring any unforeseen catastrophes, it should be out by January 2012. Hope that's helpful.

Hi...Justin here from Peace Hill Press. You're right. The town in question was Concord, MA, not Concord, NH. We found that error a while ago, and fixed it in the more recent versions of the book. The print and PDF versions of the book no longer say "New Hampshire."

I'm the editor of the "Telling God's Story" Grade 1 Activity book...TechWife has correctly identified some of the errors in that article you linked. We are not affiliated with Biologos in any way. I'll add this: As Susan mentioned...Grade 1 of the "Telling God's Story" curriculum, which was released yesterday, is about the life of Jesus, as depicted in the Four Gospels of the New Testament. There's nothing at all about evolution in the first grade curriculum. The only references to origins are where Jesus (in his miracles) is shown to have his Father's power over creation. Dr. Enns affirms multiple times that God is the sole Creator and that he alone has power over the universe. The curriculum is Biblical and orthodox, and it enthusiastically affirms and celebrates Jesus' miracles, virgin birth, divine authority, atoning death, and resurrection. Having read it many times, as one of the editors, I can tell you that a love for Scripture is evident on every page. The activity book for Grade One, like the textbook, focuses on Jesus' life, and so is primarily about the New Testament. Where it mentions origins at all, it--like the textbook--affirms that God alone is the Creator, and that he made everything. The "how-to" or "owner's manual" book ("Telling God's Story: A Parents' Guide to Teaching the Bible"), which explains the whole curriculum from grade 1 to grade 12, likewise affirms that God is the omnipotent, sole Creator. It spends a couple of pages talking in detail about the first chapters of Genesis, about God's creation of the world and what happens on each of the six days in Genesis 1, etc. The word "evolution" is not even mentioned anywhere in this book. Dr. Enns' focus is on how parents and teachers can gain more confidence (for themselves) in the Bible and its Author and its message, and pass that exciting message on to students. He talks about using the Bible for its intended purpose, and not as a gun with which to shoot at scientific or political opponents. Now: I have tried to post comments to the website where that article is found, helping them clear up some of the inaccuracies in their article...but they didn't allow my comments to be posted, nor did they fix the article. The author of the original article (which was originally posted on another website) was contacted by us, but likewise did not correct his statements. We sent him several samples from the books, and we even sent him a free copy of the first grade instructor book, so that he could tell us WHAT, SPECIFICALLY he disagreed with. To date, he has shown no evidence that he's ever actually read the books. He merely tells parents to "Beware" ... judging a book by its cover, rather than engaging with the content. We're saddened by the way they've chosen to judge a book by its author's reputation without examining its contents. I encourage you all to look at the curriculum for yourselves. I think you'll love it. We're already getting wonderful responses from Christian parents. Samples are available at olivebranchbooks.net.

Well said, Ester Maria. Speaking of checking the books out for yourself (which I agree is the best way to evaluate them), you can read samples of the Grade One instructor book at http://www.olivebranchbooks.net/year1.html (click on "read an excerpt" at the bottom). Justin (from Peace Hill Press)

Hi all, Just a quick heads-up from Peace Hill Press: Five lectures by Susan have just been added to our "Audio Products" section at PeaceHillPress.com. All were recorded at the 2009 Well-Trained Mind 10th Anniversary conference. They are: A Plan for Teaching Writing: Focus on the Elementary Grades A Plan for Teaching Writing: Focus on the Middle Grades A Plan for Teaching Writing: Focus on the High School Years Teaching Students to Work Independently What is Literary Analysis? When, Why, and How Should I Teach It? We thought some of you might be interested in those. Have a lovely Friday! Justin from Peace Hill Press

Hi all, In addition to lessons 1-10, lessons 11-20 of FLL 4 are now available for free downloading (in PDF format) on the peacehillpress.com website. Both student and instructor pages are included. On the front page of the site, scroll down a bit to see the FLL4 section, and the links for the new lessons are there. Hope that helps, Justin M. from Peace Hill Press

Hi all, Thanks for your patience in awaiting a reply, and thank you for pointing this out. We always appreciate hearing from folks who are using our products; this is one of the ways we continue to improve our books! I think we had already found most of the things you mentioned, and are planning on changing them in future printings. So, for instance, the sentences on page 80 (in lesson 34) now read: "Ben had the sad, wet cat. Sam let the wet cat in the den. Ben and Sam fed the cat ham." This gets rid of the word "a" and the word "it," which contain sounds that the student has not yet been introduced to. Justin M. at Peace Hill Press