God's Great Covenant - Old Testament 1 : a TOS Crew Review

From their website:  

"Teaching the Bible to young children can be a large task, and is often divided up into many small stories. However, if you would like to teach your students the truly big picture of the Bible, and show them how God has been at work in his people since before creation, you will find God’s Great Covenant - Old Testament Book 1 to be a unique, surprising, and excellent Bible curriculum. The Bible, taught chronologically, by means of simple and direct stories, chants, and meditation on God’s character define God’s Great Covenant. Even many adults find themselves learning new facts, making surprising connections, and being blessed by reminder of God’s faithfulness, and how he always keeps his promises. Taught from a covenantal and reformed theological perspective, and rooted in Scripture, you will find this series to be a blessing to your classroom or family."


God's Great Covenant, Old Testament Book 1:
Student Book - $22.95
Teacher's Edition - $24.95
Audio Book Download - $9.95
God’s Great Covenant Old Testament One Bundle - $79.95

Samples
GGC, Old Testament One (PDF)
GGC, Old Testament One, Teacher's Edition (PDF)

Are you a fan of Classic Academic Press yet?  If not - you should be!  They provide top-quality curriculum in a variety of subjects - Latin, Spanish, Logic and Bible to name a few...

We were very excited to get the opportunity to take a peek at their God's Great Covenant, Old Testament, Book 1 Bible curriculum.  This course will take you and your student on an exploration of  Genesis through Ruth (including the story of Job).  It is the first part of a four-year series.

 It features 32 Chapters divided into 5 Themed Units (God's Power,  Promises, Redemtion, Provision, & Faithfulness) - we worked on one Lesson a week.  You can see their suggested Weekly Schedule here.

Each lesson contains a couple of components:

• The Lesson Scope - the Scripture passage being studied & Read to Me
• The Theme  - the main point of each lesson
• Memory Verse - your memory work for the week
• Key Facts - main points - often diagrammed too!
• Things to Remember - word roots & meanings - vocabulary practice
• Who is God? - attributes of God being studied
• and on occassion - a Think About This... question for discussion

The Student Book begins with a short, easy to read and understand narrative of the week's lesson. Followed by a Review Worksheet - fill-in-the- blank style.  The lesson ends with a Chapter Quiz.

The Teacher's Edition has all the Student Pages with answers - as well as, additional notes to the teacher.  These are very comprehensive - but simple to read!  I loved them, it was like having a Study Bible included.  Catechism for Children questions are included as well.  Plenty of room for your own notes is another feature worth mentioning in the Teacher's Edition. You do not need to invest anytime in prep for this course - they have done it for you.  You can open it and begin. 

The Bentz Test Laboratory really enjoyed this resource.  I introduced it to the younger half of my test laboratory- grades Prek-1st, 2nd, and 4th.  (it is written at approx. a 2nd grade level)  We did it all together, but - older children would easily be able to work on this independently. A plus if you're a busy mom!

What I liked:  This isn't just a collection of watered-down Bible stories to read to your children - it's solid Biblical teaching - at their level.  For instance - Lesson One dives right into "ex nihilo" and "Elohim", and what it means to be made in "God's Image".  If you want a Bible curriculum that gives you feedback on how much your child is learning - the Chapter Quizzes will give you a way to measure that.  Each Unit concludes with a "Looking Backwards...Looking Ahead" review and quiz.  By doing the complete program - you can ensure a well-taught overview of the Bible to your elementary age children.

We also were priviledged to get the Audio MP3's.  I highly recommend this tool!  We were able to take it on the road with us (my favorite way to "van school"  is listening to audios - they are a "captive audience"!)  They are well done - easy to follow,  and my testers enjoyed hearing someone else's voice for a change...



I was so impressed with this program, I purchased the Old Testament Timeline & Map Set - $36.95.  These are a wonderful resource for your visual learners.  Colorful and printed on heavy cardstock - includes 6 maps and a reversible timeline.  One side is a completed version, with all of the events and images included. The reverse side is blank, and cut-out images and events (also included) can be added to the time line as you progress through the God's Great Covenant series, making the time line interactive!  You will want to add these to this study - they correspond with Book and Book 2 of the Old Testament.

Once again, Classic Academic Press has made an excellent, high-quality curriculum. 

Two thumbs up!

Some other members of the TOS Review Crew reviewed "Song School Spanish" - Also by Classic Academic Press - see what they thought here.