Year One Week One of Bible Road Trip addresses the question What is the Bible? After all, if we plan to spend three years on an overview of the Bible, we want to know why that endeavor is worthwhile. It is my hope that through Bible Road Trip, your students will come to a deeper understanding of Scripture and of who God is. A practice of prayer, Bible reading, and Scriptural study will outfit students for a lifetime in the Bible, and for an active, dynamic relationship with the King of the Universe. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 says: But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (NIV) That, then, is the goal of Bible Road Trip: to teach our students the Holy Scriptures from infancy, to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, and to equip them for every good work through the faithful study of God s Word. Each week, Bible Road Trip will have a two page assignment worksheet for each study level. It is not necessary to use every suggestion listed. Because it is my goal to allow you, the parent, to custom fit the syllabus to the needs of your own family, I have included all of the enrichment resources, projects, and readings I think could be helpful. If it s too much, don t worry! Simply adjust the schedule to your family s needs. The goal is to acquaint our children with the Word of God, not to create busy work. The notebooking and craft sections are designed to use standard art supplies, to allow your students the freedom to express individual skills and creativity. Reading can be done aloud as a family, or individually, depending on the needs and independence of your students. If you have your student read the selections themselves, consider doing the reading as well so you are prepared to direct discussions! Let s get started on that Bible Road Trip, friends!
Researching the Word Grades 1-3 (Lower Grammar), Page 1 of 2 Dig Deep What the Bible is All About: Bible Handbook for Kids, Frances Blankenbaker o Read Aloud: Pages 9-11 (God s Big Story!) OR What the Bible is All About for Young Explorers, Frances Blankenbaker o Read Aloud: Pages 9-11 (Adventure Ahead!) The Jubilee Illustrated Family Bible, Dr. Claude-Bernard Costecalde (Ed.) o Read Aloud: Pages 8-13 (The Books of the Bible, The Covenants of the Bible, The Lands of the Bible) Reading the Word Read The Parable of the Sower ~ Matthew 13:1-23 o What are the four types of soil? o As we prepare to spend time in the Word, what kind of soil do we want our hearts to be? o How can we help prepare our hearts to produce a crop yielding a hundred times what is sown? Read The Wise and Foolish Builders ~ Luke 6:46-49 o What does Jesus tell us about those who hear His words and put them into practice? o Which sounds better building your life on sand, or building your life on rock? Read The Armor of God ~ Ephesians 6:10-17 o How effective would a knight without a sword be? Is he going to win any battles? o What does Paul tell us about the sword of the Spirit? How can we arm ourselves properly? o What kind of battles do you think a Christian will need to fight?
Memorizing the Word Grades 1-3 (Lower Grammar), Page 2 of 2 Meditate on It Memorize Psalm 119:10-12 in the version of your choice. Have mom or dad start a verse log with you. Be sure to write down every verse you memorize! You can do this in your notebook if you d like. Notebooking about the Word Find a notebook you ll want to use. We like to use 3-ring binders, and decorate the covers and spines. That way, we can add to the notebook. Write one or two sentences about something you learned. Be sure to date your writing! Praying about the Word Window on the World, Daphne Spraggett with Jill Johnstone o Read: Pages 8-9, 112-113, 202-203 (To Help You, Map, Christianity) o Pray: Ask God to prepare your heart for the coming year. Pray for your friends and family who don t know Jesus. o Journal: Write down the name of one person to pray for this week. Learning More about the Word Explore Further Watch: What s in the Bible with Buck Denver DVD #1 In the Beginning ~ Part One Read: How the Bible Came to Us, Meryl Doney (A fantastic resource!) Crafting Through the Word Make your own Sword of the Spirit from cardboard and paint or decorate it. You could write Psalm 119:11 on it with a permanent marker if you d like! Paint a picture of two houses. Put one on a foundation of rock, and the other on a foundation of sand. What will each house look like before and after a storm? Make a storybook about the Parable of the Sower. Fold pieces of paper to create your book, and use construction paper or cardstock as the cover. Be sure to label the cover of your book with the Scripture passage, your name, and the date. Illustrate each page with a different scene the seed on the path, the seed on rocky soil, the seed among thorns, and the seed on good soil. If you d like to make your pictures 3-dimensional, you could even glue a little seed or some beans on your pages. Choose a special shelf or box to store your books. You ll want to look back on them for years to come!
Researching the Word Grades 4-6 (Upper Grammar), Page 1 of 2 Dig Deep What the Bible is All About: Bible Handbook for Kids, Frances Blankenbaker o Read Aloud: Pages 9-11 (God s Big Story!) OR What the Bible is All About for Young Explorers, Frances Blankenbaker o Read (Aloud or Individually): Pages 9-11 (Adventure Ahead!) Read: How the Bible Came to Us, Meryl Doney (A fantastic resource!) Optional (if you have it): The Jubilee Illustrated Family Bible (see Lower Grammar assignment) Reading the Word Read Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness ~ Matthew 4:1-11 o How does Jesus answer Satan? o Do you think memorizing Scripture is a good way to combat temptation? Read The Parable of the Sower ~ Matthew 13:1-23 o What are the four types of soil? o As we prepare to spend time in the Word, what kind of soil do we want our hearts to be? o How can we help prepare our hearts to produce a crop yielding a hundred times what is sown? Read The Wise and Foolish Builders ~ Luke 6:46-49 o What does Jesus tell us about those who hear His words and put them into practice? o Which sounds better building your life on sand, or building your life on rock? Read The Armor of God ~ Ephesians 6:10-17 o How effective would a knight without a sword be? Is he going to win any battles? o What does Paul tell us about the sword of the Spirit? How can we arm ourselves properly? o What kind of battles do you think a Christian will need to fight?
Memorizing the Word Grades 4-6 (Upper Grammar), Page 2 of 2 Meditate on It Memorize Psalm 119:10-12 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in the version of your choice. Start a Scripture verse catalog. See the suggestions below in Crafting Through the Word. Notebooking about the Word Write a paragraph or two about what you ve learned this week about the Bible. Think about the Scripture reading you ve done this week. Pick one or two of the stories, and write about what you ve learned. How important is the Word of God? Praying about the Word Window on the World, Daphne Spraggett with Jill Johnstone o Read: Pages 8-9, 112-113, 202-203 (To Help You, Map, Christianity) o Pray: Ask God to prepare your heart for the coming year. Pray for your friends and family who don t know Jesus. o Journal: Write down the name of one person to pray for each day this week. Learning More about the Word Explore Further Watch: What s in the Bible with Buck Denver DVD #1 In the Beginning ~ Part One Crafting Through the Word Begin a catalog for your Bible verses. This can consist of a card catalog, a 3-ring binder with pages for illustration and the verse, or cards on a ring. o Our favorite way to catalog verses: Sheets of white cardstock with the Scripture verse printed across the bottom (and stored in a 3-ring binder). Create a work of art to go with the verse. You can paint (watercolor or acrylic), cartoon/manga, collage, do a sketch or nature drawing, etc. Try to choose different media each week. You can set messy media (charcoal, conté crayons, and pastels) by lightly spraying them with hairspray. Creatively re-tell one of the parables you read this week. Print (or hand copy) your final text, and glue it to a piece of construction paper or colored cardstock. Cut out and glue on any illustrations you want to include. Save your finished paper(s). At the end of this year, you can bind them together into a magazine!
Researching the Word Grades 7-9 (Dialectic), Page 1 of 2 Dig Deep The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, J. Daniel Hays and J. Scott Duvall o Read (Aloud or Individually): Pages 19-32 (The Grand Story of the Bible, How is the Bible Organized?, The Beginning and the End) Read: How the Bible Came to Us, Meryl Doney (A fantastic resource!) Reading the Word Read Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness ~ Matthew 4:1-11 o How did Jesus answer Satan? o When Jesus answered Satan, was he timid and nervous, or was he confident? o Do you think memorizing Scripture is a good way to combat temptation? Read The Parable of the Sower ~ Matthew 13:1-23 o What are the four types of soil? o As we prepare to spend time in the Word, what kind of soil do we want our hearts to be? o How can we help prepare our hearts to produce a crop yielding a hundred times what is sown? Read The Wise and Foolish Builders ~ Luke 6:46-49 o What does Jesus tell us about those who hear His words and put them into practice? o Which sounds better building your life on sand, or building your life on rock? o What specific practices can you put into place in your life in order to build your life on rock? Read The Armor of God ~ Ephesians 6:10-17 o How effective would a knight without a sword be? Is he going to win any battles? o What does Paul tell us about the sword of the Spirit? How can we arm ourselves properly? o What kind of battles do you think a Christian will need to fight?
Memorizing the Word Grades 7-9 (Dialectic), Page 2 of 2 Meditate on It Memorize Psalm 119:10-12, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12 and Romans 15:4 in the version of your choice. Start a Scripture verse catalog. This can be as basic, or as artistic, as you d like it to be. See the suggestions in Crafting Through the Word (Grades 4-6). Notebooking about the Word Begin a weekly notebook for your Bible Roadtrip. What did you learn this week? How did the Bible come to us? Praying about the Word Operation World, Jason Mandryk o Read: Pages xxiii-xxiv (Prayer and the Nations), xxviii-xxxii (Explanation of Statistics and Abbreviations), 1-29 (The World) Operation World presents a lot of information. You can skim the more statistical sections if you d like. o Pray: Ask God to prepare your heart for the coming year. Choose one area of The World that you read, journal about it, and commit to pray for that one area daily. Learning More about the Word Explore Further Do a mini-research project on one or two of the Bible translators (like Jerome, William Tyndale or John Wycliffe). Write about what you find. Crafting Through the Word Start a timeline for Year One. This can be a poster, sheets of paper in a notebook, or something more elaborate. There are commercial timelines available for purchase, as well. You ll be charting the events you read about in the Bible. Begin your notebook, prayer log, and Scripture memory catalog. These can be one and the same if you prefer.
Researching the Word Grades 10-12 (Rhetoric), Page 1 of 2 Dig Deep Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey, Bill T. Arnold and Bryan E. Beyer o Read: Chapter 1: What is the Old Testament and Why Study It? Pages 21-33 Reading the Word Read Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness ~ Matthew 4:1-11 o How did Jesus answer Satan? o When Jesus answered Satan, was he timid and nervous, or was he confident? o Do you think memorizing Scripture is a good way to combat temptation? Read The Parable of the Sower ~ Matthew 13:1-23 o What are the four types of soil? o As we prepare to spend time in the Word, what kind of soil do we want our hearts to be? o How can we help prepare our hearts to produce a crop yielding a hundred times what is sown? Read The Wise and Foolish Builders ~ Luke 6:46-49 o What does Jesus tell us about those who hear His words and put them into practice? o Which sounds better building your life on sand, or building your life on rock? o What specific practices can you put into place in your life in order to build your life on rock? Read The Armor of God ~ Ephesians 6:10-17 o How effective would a knight without a sword be? Is he going to win any battles? o What does Paul tell us about the sword of the Spirit? How can we arm ourselves properly? o What kind of battles do you think a Christian will need to fight?
Memorizing the Word Grades 10-12 (Rhetoric), Page 2 of 2 Meditate on It Memorize Psalm 119:10-12, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 4:4 and Romans 15:4 in the version of your choice. Record the verses in your notebook. Notebooking about the Word Answer the Study Questions on page 32 of Encountering the Old Testament. Take notes on any terms you want to be sure you remember later. Record your personal thoughts on what you ve learned this week. Praying about the Word Operation World, Jason Mandryk o Read: Pages xxiii-xxiv (Prayer and the Nations), xxviii-xxxii (Explanation of Statistics and Abbreviations), 1-29 (The World) Operation World presents a lot of information. You can skim the more statistical sections if you d like. o Pray: Ask God to prepare your heart for the coming year. Choose one area of The World that you read, journal about it, and commit to pray for that one area daily. Explore Further Learning More about the Word Nothing extra this week you ve done a lot of work! Crafting Through the Word Share what you ve learned this week! Make a video presentation or write a short paper sharing something about what the Old Testament or Bible is all about, or about something specific that you learned. If your parents approve, consider posting your work to a site like YouTube, or to a blog. Who knows whose life you could touch? Over the course of 3 years, you could also learn some great communication and technical skills. There are websites and library books on how to write a blog or create videos, if you choose this project. Volunteer to teach what you ve learned this week to some of the kids in your church, or begin a study group among your peers (with a parent as a mentor) to discuss what you re learning.