Is there anything more fun than celebrating holidays? Christmas stockings, Easter baskets, and Valentine hearts filled with chocolate all bring a smile to my face and my heart. Life is good when there's a holiday to celebrate. God, of course, is the inventor of holidays, or holy days. What holidays did God establish for the nation of Israel? I can't think of a more enjoyable Bible study to dig into.
Grapevine Studies' Biblical Feasts and Holy Days by Diana Wiebe is a thirteen week study for your home school Bible class. Written for teens, this study would be enjoyed by younger and older folks too. We have college students, high school students, and middle school students in our home. All liked this Grapevine study on the Biblical holidays. We received a teachers manual and student worktexts to review.
Before I tell you about this delightful Bible study curriculum, let me tell you about Grapevine Studies. I love their mission. In fact, let me just quote it from the teacher's edition. "Our mission at Grapevine Studies is to provide believers with a method and curricula to study the Bible, using a timeline, stick figures, words, symbols, and colors to teach chronological lessons." What a great idea! Combining the intellectual (timelines, chronological studies) with the more emotional (stick figures, symbols). The result is that both the left and right sides of the brain are engaged, but more importantly, I think, is that both the heart and mind are engaged in these studies.
Each of their Bible studies start with a timeline as the framework for the entire study. Bible passages, characters, and events are understood within the big picture. Being a "big picture person" myself, I immediately latched on to this teaching method! Each day, your student reads a passage and then does some "stick figuring." Stick figuring is a method of note taking using stick figures, colors, charts, words, and symbols. It is definitely more fun than normal note taking. The lesson ends with a memory verse.
The teacher's edition of Biblical Feast and Holy Days was very helpful for me to teach this material. I did need to use a dry erase board, dry erase markers in several different colors, a Bible concordance, and a Bible dictionary. I am already familiar with using these Bible reference tools, but if you are not, they are relatively simple to pick up and use. All the children needed was their workbook, Bibles, and colored pencils.
Before I tell you about this delightful Bible study curriculum, let me tell you about Grapevine Studies. I love their mission. In fact, let me just quote it from the teacher's edition. "Our mission at Grapevine Studies is to provide believers with a method and curricula to study the Bible, using a timeline, stick figures, words, symbols, and colors to teach chronological lessons." What a great idea! Combining the intellectual (timelines, chronological studies) with the more emotional (stick figures, symbols). The result is that both the left and right sides of the brain are engaged, but more importantly, I think, is that both the heart and mind are engaged in these studies.
Each of their Bible studies start with a timeline as the framework for the entire study. Bible passages, characters, and events are understood within the big picture. Being a "big picture person" myself, I immediately latched on to this teaching method! Each day, your student reads a passage and then does some "stick figuring." Stick figuring is a method of note taking using stick figures, colors, charts, words, and symbols. It is definitely more fun than normal note taking. The lesson ends with a memory verse.
The teacher's edition of Biblical Feast and Holy Days was very helpful for me to teach this material. I did need to use a dry erase board, dry erase markers in several different colors, a Bible concordance, and a Bible dictionary. I am already familiar with using these Bible reference tools, but if you are not, they are relatively simple to pick up and use. All the children needed was their workbook, Bibles, and colored pencils.
Before each lesson, I just needed to read over the Scripture passages and the lesson in the teacher's edition. After praying, we could read the Scripture aloud and then I (the teacher) could "stick figure" the lesson on the white board. (I just copied what was in the teacher's edition.) The lessons were easy to teach for the teacher and easy to understand for the student. Review questions are in the teacher's manual too to discuss at the end of every lesson. This material is very user-friendly with little preparation time needed.
Biblical Feasts and Holy Days begins with a timeline lesson showing where each Biblical feast, or holy day, falls in the calendar year. There is also a look at all the different offerings required by the Law. Since offerings play a role in the celebrations to be studied, it makes sense to cover this at the beginning. Lesson two starts with the Sabbath, or Shabbat. The second week is spent looking at the Sabbath in both the Old and New Testaments. For the rest of the course of study (until the final week 13, which is a review), one week is spent learning about each of the following holy days: Purim, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles.
These holidays are fascinating to learn about. There is so much to understand about our Beloved Heavenly Father and His Precious Son Jesus by learning about these feasts. Each are rich in symbolism. Each are a reminder of the faithfulness of God to His beloved children.
"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord," (Ephesians 6:4 NIV).
Parents are to bring their children up in the training and instruction of the Lord. This includes teaching our children the Bible. Some of us feel overwhelmed with that responsibility. Grapevine Studies offers easy-to use Bible curricula for all ages with a simple teaching method that your children will enjoy and remember. The price is reasonable too.
Whatever method you choose, don't forget to study the Bible in your home school. Long after everything has disappeared, God's Word will remain. Be diligent in instructing your children.
God Bless you!
Merey (Meredith Ludwig Curtis)
Biblical Feasts and Holy Days begins with a timeline lesson showing where each Biblical feast, or holy day, falls in the calendar year. There is also a look at all the different offerings required by the Law. Since offerings play a role in the celebrations to be studied, it makes sense to cover this at the beginning. Lesson two starts with the Sabbath, or Shabbat. The second week is spent looking at the Sabbath in both the Old and New Testaments. For the rest of the course of study (until the final week 13, which is a review), one week is spent learning about each of the following holy days: Purim, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles.
These holidays are fascinating to learn about. There is so much to understand about our Beloved Heavenly Father and His Precious Son Jesus by learning about these feasts. Each are rich in symbolism. Each are a reminder of the faithfulness of God to His beloved children.
"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord," (Ephesians 6:4 NIV).
Parents are to bring their children up in the training and instruction of the Lord. This includes teaching our children the Bible. Some of us feel overwhelmed with that responsibility. Grapevine Studies offers easy-to use Bible curricula for all ages with a simple teaching method that your children will enjoy and remember. The price is reasonable too.
Whatever method you choose, don't forget to study the Bible in your home school. Long after everything has disappeared, God's Word will remain. Be diligent in instructing your children.
God Bless you!
Merey (Meredith Ludwig Curtis)
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