Telling God's Story and Draw Write Now

[Dragonfly_Mom]

I am thinking of using Telling God's Story starting this Fall for our Bible Curriculum. I do not know anyone who has used this and was curious if there is anyone out there who has. If so, do you like it? What to like/dislike about it? How old are you kids and how well have they responded?

 

Also I am considering supplementing our History with some of the Draw Write Now books. Anyone using these: do you like them? Do your kids like them?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions. 

[Rebel Yell]

Never heard of Telling God's Story.

 

My girls absolutely DESPISED Draw Write Now. The drawing was painful for them- but they have some natural artistic talent, and the class was at a co-op, so it was a double whammy of NOPE!

 

Can you find sample pages and try that out first? My kids are weird, and tend to hate what everyone else loves, so it;s probably fabulous for everyone else. :coolgleamA:

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

We have Draw Write Now, but we just have it for fun drawing, not for art instruction.  If you're looking for true art instruction, I would go with something else. Artistic Pursuits has been catching my eye lately, but I can't comment on it from personal experience.  We are going to use Drawing with Children this year.

[Joyful Journeys]

Funny TGS isn't talked about more as a link to it is in a sticky in this forum. I have year one on my PC through the free link and it seems great. I have the activity guide and I'm not sure I'll purchase it next year, the activities are just meh to me. Lots of coloring pages, cutting, pasting etc. My opinion may change as we go through o course. I've only done a couple lessons so far, but for my 6 year old, just cozying up and chatting/reading is nice enough.

[MommytoFour]

I bought TGS but haven't started using it yet. I'd love to hear from more people who are using it regularly too.

[blondchen]

I really like TGS. So far we've only bought and used Year 1. The teacher notes and children's lesson are very well done - Peter Enns is brilliant, and he does a great job of getting to the heart of a story and giving thought-provoking insights. I also appreciate the approach of introducing children to Jesus in the way he does. That said, this not our children's only exposure to the Bible, and if it were it wouldn't be enough (and Peter Enns himself says in the intro that he assumes that children in a Christian family will have exposure to scripture in various other ways, so I don't see that as a deficiency at all). My girls memorize scripture daily and we have read to them from The Jesus Storybook Bible almost every day since DD7 was 2. So this is really supplemental, and we don't actually use it as part of "school" per se.

 

As much as I like the teacher book, I'm not crazy about the activity guide, because it is too light on content for our family. Especially for one lesson per week, I find that the stuff in the AG just isn't substantial enough - it really should have included discussion questions and scripture memory, at the very least. Of course I can (and do) figure out and add that stuff on my own, but I see that as a deficiency in the curriculum. If you like coloring pages, simple crafts and games to help your dc remember the story then you might really enjoy the AG.

 

For an introduction to the person of Jesus as he's found in the gospels, I think it's a fabulous curriculum and I highly recommend it.

[Ewe Mama]

I can't answer to the TGS portions, but we have used and love Draw Write Now. We used them to supplement our early American History curriculum and the children always enjoyed them. Every week I find at least one of the books on someone's desk, open to a drawing lesson for more practice.

 

I am looking forward to having my youngest use them more formally this year.

 

Welcome to the boards, Dragonfly Mom! :)

[sbgrace]

I like Telling God's Story. When I used the activities (which are a lot like the SOTW type), the repeated message seemed to stick in a way that has been hard with other bible curriculum here. I like the focus on Christ, and the author's rationale for that choice. I find that unique in bible curriculum. The lessons have seemed very good, and nondenominational/non controversial/non some word I can't place! The written parts in the first two books might be a little long for some attention spans in the given age ranges.