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I have the privilege of sharing a review of one of my favorite new resources with you today. Grapevine Studies is a newer sponsor at The Pelsers. I've been doing some editing, proofreading, and VA work for Grapevine Studies and they helped my family get to the 2:1 Conference. I just have to say from the bottom of my heart that Dianna is amazing and so are her Bible studies!
In case you're not familiar, Grapevine Studies takes you on a journey through Scripture using stick-figures and timelines. Jonathan and I had the opportunity to go through the multi-level study of Joseph. Here's a little about the Joseph book:
Walk with Joseph as he goes from a prince in Canaan to slavery in Egypt and then to the courts of Pharaoh. Your students will enjoy this engaging Bible study.
Follow Joseph as he travels from the tents of Jacob to the house of Potiphar and eventually becomes second in command to Pharaoh. Watch to see how Joseph reacts to slavery and false accusations. See how God uses difficult circumstances in Joseph's life to prepare him to save thousands of people, including those who mistreated him. Joseph's story is one of betrayal, forgiveness, and restoration. Take a look at this fascinating Bible story today!
We used the ebook format for both the teacher and student books. As you can see in the picture above, I printed the student book. I chose to laminate the front and back cover and spiral bind it. You could also 3-hole punch it the pages and put it in a regular binder.
For the teacher's guide, I chose to use my iPad. That saved on printing costs especially considering that you need to see the book in color; the student book internal pages are all black and white. I keep my e-books organized using Evernote on my Mac so that they are also available on my iPad. I can then open the file using the Evernote app on my iPad. It's easy to use it from there or in my preferred PDF app which is GoodReader. I like GoodReader because I can mark up the PDF if desired with notes and it remembers where I left off. You could easily use the ebook teacher's guide on your computer or any mobile device or e-reader that can open a PDF file.
Grapevine Studies are designed to be used with any Bible translation and are teacher-directed. There is enough of a script to aid the teacher without inserting theology. The multi-level studies allow you to teach multiple ages at once and at whatever level of detail is best for each child. Dianna has them marked as age 7 and up, but Jonathan at 5 years old had no problem drawing the stick-figures and comprehending the material as written.
After the initial timeline lesson, the lessons are broken down as follows:
- Timeline review from previous lesson
- Memory verse review from previous lesson
- Lesson readings and stick figures
- A list of words to look up
- Factual review questions
- A place to draw your favorite part of the story
- Memory verse for the lesson with space to write
The study is designed for the teacher to draw the stick figures on a white board for the student to copy. Jonathan preferred to look at the iPad and copy the stick figures from there as I read the passages aloud. That's one of the great things about these studies: it's easy to adapt to fit your child in method and depth of material. You can do the lessons in one sitting or split a lesson over multiple days. Jonathan was so excited that we did one full lesson each weekday for 14 days straight and he begged for his Joseph book each day.
Here's a sample of Jonathan's drawings from one of the lessons:
I cannot convey in words how much Jonathan his Joseph Grapevine Study, so I'll let him show you:
Our next study is on Esther and Jonathan has been begging to do that study since the day we finished Joseph.
How have you kept your kids in the Word this week? Have you used Grapevine Studies? Do you think Grapevine Studies would be a good fit for your child(ren)? Share about what you've been doing or about Grapevine Studies in the comments or link up a blog post.
{Material Disclosure: I received ebook copies of this study in exchange for an honest review. I also work on contract for Grapevine Studies. All opinions are my own – and Jonathan's. This post contains affiliate links.}
