Being more intentional in integrating Bible

[bethben]

I have been in about 4 years of acclimation to an adopted daughter.  I have had my children doing as much independent work as possible.  I am wanting to be more intentional with my 9 and 6 year old next year in teaching them history and how the Bible relates to history and themselves.  I have been doing Tapestry of Grace for 5 years - I have the books and the guides.  But, I am finding myself piecing together geography (I don't think I use the Map Aids in the best way because it becomes a do it and forget it worksheet), Bible study, Bible memorization, and discussion.  Right now, my 9 year old does history on his own and I barely know if he's gotten anything because TOG does not include discussion questions at that level.  I don't really want to try to piece together  notebooking pages to match up.  I'm a little flighty when I don't have stuff laid out for me - even if I do it myself.  Somehow, just having someone co-ordinate everything - Bible discussion, memory work, notebooking pages, art, music, ect seems to make my life go smoother.  I have tried piecing all that stuff together and I fizzle out before January hits.

 

I've been looking at Heart of Dakota but am concerned it will get old fast if it's do the same thing week after week.  I am not a fan of My Father's World.  Any suggestions?

 

Beth

[Tenaj]

I have been in about 4 years of acclimation to an adopted daughter.  I have had my children doing as much independent work as possible.  I am wanting to be more intentional with my 9 and 6 year old next year in teaching them history and how the Bible relates to history and themselves.  I have been doing Tapestry of Grace for 5 years - I have the books and the guides.  But, I am finding myself piecing together geography (I don't think I use the Map Aids in the best way because it becomes a do it and forget it worksheet), Bible study, Bible memorization, and discussion.  Right now, my 9 year old does history on his own and I barely know if he's gotten anything because TOG does not include discussion questions at that level.  I don't really want to try to piece together  notebooking pages to match up.  I'm a little flighty when I don't have stuff laid out for me - even if I do it myself.  Somehow, just having someone co-ordinate everything - Bible discussion, memory work, notebooking pages, art, music, ect seems to make my life go smoother.  I have tried piecing all that stuff together and I fizzle out before January hits.

 

I've been looking at Heart of Dakota but am concerned it will get old fast if it's do the same thing week after week.  I am not a fan of My Father's World.  Any suggestions?

 

Beth

 

I'm not sure which guide you are looking at for HOD but my kids love all the guides we've done and have absolutely refused to let me change our curriculum.  The routine is the same for most things week after week but the resources change throughout the year so it seems to feel more like a comfortable routine rather than boredom.  Of course, there are certain books that the kids don't enjoy as much as others and we celebrate when they finish them, but overall the book choices are so good that they don't complain.  Not saying that your kids wouldn't get bored because all kids react differently to routine, just telling your our experience.

 

The reason I'm reassuring you about HOD is that you mentioned your 9yo and his independence and your concern that you don't know what he's really learning.  With the way HOD is set up, even if you don't actually have time to read the material ahead, by listening to oral narrations and just reading the summaries in the guide, you can get a good idea of his progress.

 

Another things that HOD definitely does is the Bible integration so that you don't have to worry about that.

 

HTH,

[BlsdMama]

This may or may not be helpful for you, but I'll toss it in there. Getting Bible in there was important to me and I tried TOG and other integrated approaches. The problem was that there was never quite enough time to do it all and so I was constantly playing catch up.

 

I stopped integrating. Bible is a subject. History is a subject. Put first things in their proper order - first. Then do all things after that priority number one. Currently were using Training Hearts Teaching Minds. It is puck up and go. It can also be ten minutes or an hour depending on discussion or if you want to memorize bits. The ability to make it short is important because then you can fit it in on the days you have doctor appointments or general craziness.

[ChrissySC]

For Ancient history, biblical support can be had with Victor Journey Through the Bible.  You can align this relatively easily.  I did it with SOTW, CHOW, SOC and MOH.  It's on my blog if you want the Excel spreadsheet.  I added in activities and such as well.  However, once you do add things like this, ancient history becomes a two-year spread. 

 

I liked incorporating biblical stories and text with ancient history.  While there are some relevant points, we do need to realize that the Bible is a history text too, and it should be a reference or primary source for history, especially for Christians.