I was praying over what to do for our Bible studies this year and stalling, and praying and stalling. I didn’t have any clear direction and was starting to get a little concerned. I’d been considering using Grapevine Studies but wasn’t sure. Then I got an email from them. They wanted to see if I’d be interested in reviewing for them! YAY! What a great answer to my prayers! And I’m so thankful for that opportunity!
Bible has quickly become one of our favorite parts of the day now, and I’m so loving the stick figure drawing method Grapevine uses.
We are currently reviewing the Joseph Unit for them right now and loving it! I chose the multi-level unit which comes with a Teacher’s Manual and Student Workbook. (You’ll need to print 1 copy of your student workbook for each of your children because they draw in it daily.)
Each lesson starts off with a guided reading from the Bible, some discussion points, mapping assignments where applicable, and then guided stick figure drawing for each lesson. As you go through the unit you’ll create a drawn time line for all of the main events in that study. There are also certain vocabulary words to look up in the Bible Dictionary as well.
My favorite thing about the stick figure drawing is that literally everyone can do it! The teacher’s manual provides you with a sample for each drawing so that you don’t have to make one up. I draw mine on the white board as we go and my kids are free to copy mine, or make up their own. My kids think it’s funny that all my guys are n*ked, so they put clothes on theirs. ;o) They also think it’s funny that each time I draw Joseph he gets taller. But I think its fair to assume he’s growing, no? And besides, it’s NOT a drawing contest!
I love Strawberry Shortcake’s picture of Joseph dreaming! I think he looks dead, but she says he’s dreaming about wheat ;o) Also notice all her figures are fully clothed.
See for yourself! Click here to download Sample Lesson from Grapevine.
Supplies:
- 1/2” 3-ring binders (one per student and 1 for teacher)
- Colored Pencils (one set per student)
- Bible
You certainly don’t have to, but I went and got 1/2” binders for each of my kids to keep their time lines in. We also grabbed some new Crayola washable, erasable colored pencils. They work great, provide some color and allow for correction of mistakes as well. When it’s time for bible, they just pull out their binders and we get to drawing!
I have my teacher’s manual in a binder as well, then it’s easy for me to flip to the daily lesson.
We use (and love) the Zonderkidz NIrV Discoverer’s Bible for Young Readers. This Bible for Young Readers uses the full text of the New International Reader’s Version (NIrV—the NIV for kids!), written at a third grade reading level.
What’s the cost?
Prices vary depending on which unit you choose, but I’ve found all of them to be VERY reasonable! You can choose to purchase by grade level, or multi-level teaching which really makes it easy!
I absolutely LOVE that it’s easy to do for all my kids ages 5-8 all together and they each seem to be doing a great job at drawing the figures and remembering the study as we go. I think it will be a great resource for them to flip through later on for review as well!
Want more information? Visit Grapevine below, make sure to let them know Erica @ Confessions sent you!
I really wanted to be able to share this with you so the awesome people at Grapevine offered a 20% discount on any non-sale items for my readers! YAY!
Use coupon code: BLOG55 to receive 20% off any non-sale item! Code is good on any NON-sale item through September 30, 2011.
Disclosure: I was provided with a free copy of the Joseph Unity Study for review on my blog. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.
About how long do the lessons take daily?….and do the kids draw every day? I thought it looked fun when I saw your post about what curriculum you chose for this year.
Hi Deanna,
The lessons can take as long as you want really. I do about 15-20 minutes per day depending on how things are going. But you can do more than one section per day if you wanted to move faster, I just have little guys and drawing the stuff takes them a little longer. Plus they’re starting to get fancier in their drawings :o)
But really its set up so you can do as much or little as you want each day!
Erica, Erica, Erica …. somehow these late nights with you always cost me money (make that cost my HUSBAND money! 🙂 lol …. loving this curriculum …. already ordered it, but my coupon code wouldn’t work 🙁 oh well, maybe next time! Thanks for the awesome review! P.S. I’m LOVING your homeschool room! I have my eye on one of the hot pink chairs like your white ones! My next trip to Atlanta I think I shall have one! Have a blessed day!
Angela! LOL! I know, they cost me money too! But I really do love it! I’ll talk to her about the coupon code, she said it was set up.
I would’ve gotten hot pink if they’d had blue also, but the only boy color was red and pink and red…not so good LOL! But the good news is that all the Ikea furniture wipes off very easily!! YAY!
Thanks!
We love, love love the NIrV Discoverers Bible!!! It is the best Bible when reading to the kids (or having them read). Thanks for the Bible Study idea!
Thanks for this! I was already wondering what curriculum we would use for next year. I have a used copy of AOP’s Bible curriculum but it is so expensive new!
I noticed the bible you recommend is the same that just arrived with My Father’s World I ordered. Curious if you’ve ever used MFW and what your opinion is of it. We are switching from Calvert (too many tests, impossible to get all the work done well and retain it). Loved it for younger grades but my third grader was starting to dread school and overwhelmed by the amount of work. I also have a first grader so MFW will wor for her as well without each of them having separate subjects for everything.
I can’t get the coupon code to work. I really want to order from them. Any suggestions on why it’s not working?
Hi Amy,
They said it only works on NON – sale items, if you think you are getting the error on a reg. price item, she said to email them and they’d get it worked out!
Thanks,
I also have not been able to get the coupon code to work. The items I want are not on sale. I sent an email and they didn’t really give an answer as to why it won’t work. They sent a phone number to call though.
877-436-2317
Oh these look wonderful and something I might be able to actually draw myself! Thank you for the review and for the discount code, which helped so very much. I had never heard of them before your review and I kept coming back to this page and looking again and again. I picked the Old Testament Overview beginning with Genesis so we will see what my boys think of them. Eager to get started!
Just ordered the Birth of Jesus to use for Christmas time! I was searching for something!! This is perfect. Coupon still works too!
May start with this in Jan with my first grader!!
Thank you.
This looks like an awesome Bible study and perfect for my multipul elementary age kiddos. This would sure be fun to win!
Hi Erica, I just read through your post after seeing your giveaway, and am VERY interested in this curriculum. I have a question–if you do the lessons 3-5 times per week, about how long would it take you to finish the book? Thanks!