Student of the Word...

When we first began home educating, 9 years ago,
I heard of the Student of the Word curriculum.
I did not purchase it. In many ways, it scared me.
Scared me because I wasn't able to see it,
look at it, wasn't sure if I would like it, use it,
or know how to implement it, etc...
So for years the Student of the Word curriculum
and I crossed paths.
I would see it vaguely advertised somewhere,
I would read about it, contemplate over it,
and decide to set it aside for one reason or another.
This year the Lord led me otherwise.
For generations upon generations there have been
talks of wars, strife, and so forth
and we still live in those times now.
Seeing the continual downward spiral
of our society's acceptance of sin
(even in "Christian" circles),
our government's increasing 'control', etc..., etc...
In history passed, 'great' and 'powerful' countries
have met their downfall before, freedoms taken away,
Christians persecuted, Bibles burned, etc...
I once heard a pastor ask the question,
"If all of our Bibles were taken away,
how much would we (as a church) be able
to remember to make ourselves a copy."
That question has always lingered with me.

For years, in our homeschooling endeavors,
I have taught 'academic subjects' that 'throw in' Bible.
But I, so much, wanted a change.
I wanted to teach God's Word and 'throw in' academics.
I wanted God's Word to be the center of our home,
our Christian lives, and our homeschool, too.
I did some of that here and there
but I knew I needed to do more.
And more and more it tugged on my heart
of how important it is to be discipling our children
in God's Truths... saturating them in it.

Well, one day, recently,
guess what crossed my path, again???
Yep, Student of the Word.
I looked at their site, read about it, read reviews, etc...
and I prayed about it.
And the Lord led us to purchase it.
(and the 30 day guarantee helped solidify our decision, too!)

After receiving it, I plunged myself into it
to see what I had wanted to see for 9 years.
I enjoyed so much of what I read.
I loved all of the ideas
(some we were already doing!... like illustrations).
I went highlighter crazy (and I do oft' times). ;o)
At first I was a little overwhelmed, too,
wondering, "HUH?? How do I put this together?!"
It's amazing what a pen and paper can do!
So I sat down with it, got it on paper,
and figured it out, with the Lord's help.
That was 3 1/2 weeks ago.
Since then, we have consistently been using it
(though not the entire thing, yet).

What I have been sharing here on our blog
(the photos of our work, etc... in Genesis;
the art work is ours but the structure of it
is from SOW's suggestions)
the last few weeks is what we've been doing
from Student of the Word.

Some of what they share in their curriculum,
I could have come up with on my own
if I had sat down, taken the time, etc...
(I'm sure many of us could),
but it is a blessing that they have already done it,
gone through it, used it,
and have done it written down "Barney-style"
(term my beloved uses... no offense to the purple dinosaur).
... for easier use. ;o)

I will not share too much of my opinion on it
(no pros and cons, etc...)
but I did want to share more information about it,
in case others, like me, wish to know more, see more, etc...


Below are a few notes with photos.
I have, however, blotted out some of the content
but left some of it so that others could see
some of the approach and structure to their program.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SOW is a discipleship curriculum/program
that show how to use the BIBLE (God's textbook)
as the core/spine of education (and life).
(As a KJB lady, I wanted to note that this curriculum
is designed to be used with any version.
However, they do sometimes quote Scripture
and use the NKJV but it does not 'effect' your lesson,
as you do not use what they've written,
rather you are using your own Bible)
It encourages parents to DO the lessons
each night or sometime before the morning devotion.
They mention that you're able to minister
to your family, if you've been ministered to first! ;o)
They encourage you to keep your
finished assignments in a notebook/journal
and state that YOU are learning with your children. ;o)
"Since the Bible's Author is God,
when we study the Bible, we are His students or disciples."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The curriculum is set in three small, 3-ring binders:
Teacher's Edition; Resource Edition; and Student Edition
Also included is an envelope containing charts,
scope & sequence, etc... and master copies
of worksheets for instructional readers (K-5)
(which, also, help as a visual aid for older ones).





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEACHER'S EDITION:

Divided by tabs:
Introduction; Family Devotional; Prayer Letters;
Language Arts; Science/History/Geo; Creative Writing;
Electives; Spelling; English; Literature; Phonics;
Music/Phys. Ed; Check Out; Resource List; Charts;
Scope & Sequence; Conclusion; Progress Reports



Family Devotional:
Begin with A.M. Devotion
using the Scope & Sequence for where to read.
From the Devotions,
Language Arts is done each day
(see Lang. Arts explanations below)




Daily Prayer Letters:
P-R-A-Y-S
(Praise-Repentance-Ask-Yield-Supplication)
written, then prayed
Using concordance, song book, prayer journal




Language Arts:
Reading; Outline (main events, illustrating, etc...),
Penmanship & Memory (key verses, daily practice);
Vocabulary Study (using Bible, dictionary, concordance);
Topical Study
(research, paragraph writing on topic; grammar, etc...);
Character Study (weekly character);
Setting (maps using Bible and atlas);
Commentary
(giving comments & summary, using Bible, concordance, etc...)




SCIENCE/HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY:
Subject differs weekly
History - chronological
(uses Bible and can use some recommended resources)
recommends timeline
(to grasp the time frame of God's working & dealing with man)

Geography - different continent each semester
draw/label maps, researching info

Science - hands-on & research
Has activities, research suggestions, has suggested resources
1st year is dedicated to teaching
creation principles of God's Word




CREATIVE WRITING:
weekly
To encourage student to think about
issues important to his/her faith.
Using Scripture as a basis
and conclusion for their writing




ELECTIVES:
Corresponds to Bible lesson being taught that week.
Skills like art, family traditions, crafts, hobbies,
sewing, architecture, music, etc...




SPELLING:
Using misspelled or chosen words with the lessons.
(alphabetical order; diacritical marks; syllable; accent marks;
word usage; definition; prefix, root, suffix; word origins;
singular/plural forms; verb tenses; syn/ant/homonyms;
contractions; abbreviations, etc...)
Using Bible, dictionary, an English handbook




ENGLISH:
"Learning structure and order of our language"
"Scripture is not only inspired in its meaning,
but in its grammatical structure as well."
Using Bible, an English handbook,
and they "require" an English text
(kinds of sentences; parts of speech;
analyzing & diagramming sentences; classifying sent.;
phrases & clauses; capitalization & punctuation, etc...)




LITERATURE:
Lessons are used with any poem,
short story, non-fiction or fiction.
Can follow their list or make your own.




PHONICS:
rules, etc... are covered
Includes lessons and charts


MUSIC/PHYSICAL ED:
re: instrumental instruction encouraged;
music appreciation;
encourage praise exercise and family sports




CHECK OUT:
explains how the student needs to "check-out"
at the end of the day with the parent.
For accountability

RESOURCE LIST:
list of recommended/used resources ;o)

CHARTS:
schedules; spiritual vs. carnal chart;
duty schedule; time management; etc...)

SCOPE & SEQUENCE:
This is where the daily lessons are found

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RESOURCE EDITION:
Contains things like: Intro; author's testimony;
SOW characteristics; subject overview; family co-op;
apprenticeship; stewardship; student samples;
chart samples

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STUDENT EDITION:
Instruction in each subjects
(similar to the Teacher Edition).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below is a schedule that I made up
for how we are using it in our family.
We are not using the entire curriculum
(I'm not sure if we will or not)
but below is what we have been implementing and how:


I have put this in the front of my Teacher's Edition
so that I can use it as a reference each week.

We are finishing up our fourth consecutive week
of using this and it has been a real blessing in our home.
Discipling our children it what it is all about
(other than leading them to Christ)
and this has been a helpful tool
as I "get on the ball" in consistently discipling our children.

I pray this information is helpful to others
that have always wanted to know more about SOW
or for those that have never even heard of it. ;o)


"Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15

"Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
~ Proverbs 22:6

"And these words, which I command thee this day,
shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way,
and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
~ Deuteronomy 6:6-7