Do you have Family Bible time during the week or weekends? We have on and off, but it is something that I have had on my heart for many months to do with our Family. So, when we were asked to Review a Family Bible Study written by Heidi St. John, Firmly Planted, Gospels, Part 1 (Stories from the Life of Jesus) from Real Life Press we were having a Jesus Moment, because it was just what I had been praying for. We were sent both the Family Study Guide $9.95and Student Book $24.95. (10 week long study)
I don't know about you, but when I walk into the Christian Book store I sometimes get crazy overwhelmed. I think it's just because I want them all!! :) I have to say when I was 1st presented with this review I went to their website and instantly made a wish list. I urge you to go at some point today and take a little lookie lookie! The Busy Mom Products Firmly Planted Products
Real Life Press, created by Jay and Heidi St. John has a passion for the Lord and their mission is to direct people to Him. Showing people how to have a working relationship with God in all areas of their life. They have many different products like I mentioned before, you must go see them all for yourself. They offer affordable Bible Studies, Books and CDs on all things to grow Faith, Homeschool, being Stronger as a Family, and of course Parenting.
Before I get into how we used this product I have to scream how personal and beautiful this product is. You can feel the Love and Passion as you read the Note from Jay and Hedi. The layout and flow from one page to the next is captivating for even the youngest of kiddos, the older ones and even us adults. And we all know how critical Kaden is. Being Autistic gives him a few challenges. One staying captured with the content. And then there is the opposite problem and that's when the workbooks or program is too busy with lot's of extra unneeded flash and pizazz. I know it's a crazy middle ground that we try to find and stay at with him.
And I'm super pleased to say that he LOVED the program. If you have a Special needs child, they will love this Bible study. For many reasons that I will go into a few of them in just a minute. Since I needed a supplement for Kaden's Bible time during the day I decided to do this with just him and I for the Review period and then after we finish our book we are reading during Family time in a week or so we are going to recap what Kaden and I learned and then continue on with the whole Family. But for the sake of this review I did it just with Kaden and I.
Okay on to the good stuff.....Here is a pic of the Lessons in part 1. As you see it covers from Mary being visited by the Angel Gabriel all the way to Jesus walking on water. I went ahead and printed everything out and placed each page in sleeves in a binder. I wanted to make everything easy, organized and portable anywhere at a moments notice. I have been working on that a lot lately. :)
At the beginning of the lesson in the Family Study Guide you find the title and passages that are in the lesson. Let's take week 1 for instance.
Gabriel visits Mary~Luke 1:26-38
After you read that with your Family you have some choices. Here comes a Special needs Blessing. There are variations for the memory verse. First of all it's up to you if you want to memorize a verse or not. But, they give you variations to use depending on the age/ability of your Kiddos.
Here is an example.You have 3 ways~
1. THE SEED which is basically the Big Idea or Key Concept.
2. PLANTING THE SEED is for Kiddos 4-11
3. Additional PLANTING THE SEED is a more Challenging with longer components.
*The Seed for Week 1 is The virgin birth of Jesus proves that He is God.
*PLANTING THE SEED for Week 1 is And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
*Additional PLANTING THE SEED for Week 1 is And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.
We started out with learning just The Seed and then every day or so I went on until he memorized most of the additional PLANTING THE SEED. Customize the program to fit Our needs!
Next you find the Watering the seed segment. Here the concept is basically with a short story it helps "germinate" the seed concept. Also there are questions here geared for the older Kiddos. You will find through out the program at the end of the lessons little Apples that represent Tasting the fruit. Here your Family will be able to apply what they have learned in their own lives. This is sooooo huge, anyone can memorize some answers, but this is where the line in drawn between listeners of the word and doers of the word. When you come to the Digging Deeper sections is for mainly the older kids and adults. But, I have to say Kaden took to it.
But, he LOVES his Bible, the other day he was talking about Methuselah in the bath tub. I mean this child Loves his Bible and not just the Heroes or the Action. He has a heart for Jesus and he has told me before....if you want to know the Lord you need to read his word and talk to him everyday, all day. Yes, sir!!! So, the deeper conversation that Digging Deeper evokes was perfect for him.
Now let's chat about the Student workbook, it's a huge!!! There are 200+ pages that go along with the 10 chapters from the
Family Study Guide. You will find so many fun things to help solidify what your kiddos learned and it's painless for both you and them. :) They will find everything from crossword puzzles, word
searches, mazes, science activities,
journaling pages, coloring pages and lot's of extras for deeper study for
the older kiddos. There is so much to choose from that will be a perfect fit no matter their age or learning ability. Once again this is helpful to have lot's of options when you have a child with Special Needs. The pics I included doesn't show the coloring/art side, but they are there in the work book....I promise. They are just not Kaden's favorite thing to do. So, we were able to work on handwriting, major plus factor to be able to work on skill deficits while learning about the Lord. :)We worked our Bible study every single Day except Sunday. Kaden Loved it and I never had to ask more then once to gather his Bible study supplies and Bible. We worked more some days then others, but we never took more then a week to complete one of the 10 lessons.
Will we continue this program? Oh yes, and I plan to purchase all of the other ones and probably a few of the other products available that are not Bible Studies. I Highly recommend this Bible Study for anyone with a Family. If you have wanted to do a Family Study or just want to use it with your Kiddos you will see your child start connecting the dots. And watching them and yourself dive deeper into the Bible and getting closer to the Lord with each lesson is the most Beautiful thing. Bless your Family today, head on over and pick out your first Family Bible Study.
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