God's Great Covenant
A few weeks ago Brandon and I were listening to a Michael Horton podcast and Dr. Horton said how important it was "to know deep in your bones, from Genesis to Revelation, the redeeming story of Jesus Christ." One of the reasons I love our homeschool Bible curriculum so much is that it tells this story of redemption. The book is called God's Great Covenant. The introduction in the teacher's guide says this: "The Bible is the story of God's dealings with mankind, whom He created in His image. Through this story, we learn who God is, who mankind is, how the world come to be the way it is, and how God worked through history to bring redemption to his people."
The curriculum is a four year series -- two books covering the Old Testament and two books covering the New Testament. Each chapter tells a story and gives a theme for that particular lesson. For example, Chapter 6 is about the call of Abraham and the theme is: God makes his promises and keeps them. The student book contains pages to help learn the memory verse and key facts about each story.
On a practical level I like it because it is very user-friendly. The stories are short, the student pages are easy to use, and the teacher's manual is simple and gives notes to parents/teachers to help with the lesson. Each chapter also asks "Who is God?" and teaches about the character of God. In chapter 10, the "Who is God?" section reads: God has a divine plan for His glory and our good. What God plans always happens just as He plans it to be. Each chapter also has corresponding questions from the Westminster Shorter Catechism that go along with each lesson. But one of my favorite things about this curriculum is that every chapter points to Christ and to God's redemptive work. There is a section in each chapter entitled "Jesus in the Old Testament" that relates the story to Christ. In the back of the teacher's manual there is also a section giving more detailed notes about Jesus in the Old Testament.
This series is helping my children to see that the Bible isn't just a collection of random stories like Aesop's fables, but a tapestry woven by God telling God's story of the redemption of mankind.
And along the way, God is reminding me of His promises and His character. He is the God who makes promises and keeps them. The God who has a divine plan for His glory and my good.
The curriculum is a four year series -- two books covering the Old Testament and two books covering the New Testament. Each chapter tells a story and gives a theme for that particular lesson. For example, Chapter 6 is about the call of Abraham and the theme is: God makes his promises and keeps them. The student book contains pages to help learn the memory verse and key facts about each story.
On a practical level I like it because it is very user-friendly. The stories are short, the student pages are easy to use, and the teacher's manual is simple and gives notes to parents/teachers to help with the lesson. Each chapter also asks "Who is God?" and teaches about the character of God. In chapter 10, the "Who is God?" section reads: God has a divine plan for His glory and our good. What God plans always happens just as He plans it to be. Each chapter also has corresponding questions from the Westminster Shorter Catechism that go along with each lesson. But one of my favorite things about this curriculum is that every chapter points to Christ and to God's redemptive work. There is a section in each chapter entitled "Jesus in the Old Testament" that relates the story to Christ. In the back of the teacher's manual there is also a section giving more detailed notes about Jesus in the Old Testament.
This series is helping my children to see that the Bible isn't just a collection of random stories like Aesop's fables, but a tapestry woven by God telling God's story of the redemption of mankind.
And along the way, God is reminding me of His promises and His character. He is the God who makes promises and keeps them. The God who has a divine plan for His glory and my good.
