March 10, 2016

Grapevine Studies Review

This year is the first year we have done Bible for homeschool and we have been very happy with what we have been learning but sometimes Olivia needs just a little extra information for learning the Bible. We were lucky enough to be able to review the New Testament Overview – Part 1 Level 3. This product is from Grapevine Studies that has come out with this amazing product! We loved reading more about the characters in the Bible and learning more about the Birth of John to Jesus’ Ministry. Olivia has learned so much that she gets excited about when I tell her it’s time for Bible lessons.

I love using this as a supplement for Olivia and I love learning about things in the Bible that I didn’t even know before. The one thing that I love about this book is that its like Olivia can learn on her own. She can draw her own timelines on what happens in the Bible and she can illustrate on her own as well. This kit that we got to review came with 12 weekly plans which we like because if we want to skip a week then we can. It also comes with a Student book and a Teacher book which I love! The student book comes with Daily Bible Memory Verses which is a plus for Olivia because her learning memory verses is difficult. I was her age when I could actually memorize them and so this has been extremely helpful for her. This has been extremely helpful for her to use no matter what and it is about 76 pages in the book which is good. Then the Teacher book is a good asset for me to use when teaching this to Olivia. The teachers book comes with lesson plans, stick figure drawings, maps, lesson goals and memory verses as well. This has been really good for me to help and I have absolutely loved using this. To do these lessons they take about 15-20 minutes to do but normally with Olivia it takes her around 15-30 minutes to do considering that she likes to take her time which I love about her. The other levels within Part 1 would be Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4. I love Level 3 for Olivia and we are looking into getting Level 4 for her next year! But if we have more kids then we will use all levels with the next children for sure! This has been a great review for us to use since Olivia now is learning more about the stories in the Bible!

If you choose to get the books then you will need a 3 ring binder as the book comes as a 3 hole punched book and is ready to be added to your notebook. This cannot be copied and is a good thing for someone who likes to keep everything in one place. Or if you don’t have a printer then this would be a good addition to your home as the child can just write in the book. If you choose to get an eBook then you can legally make copies for for one classroom, it expires one year from purchase so if you plan on using it for more than one family member that will be in different grades next year or is ready to move on then the Family Student eBooks will be easier for you to use as they don’t expire but you aren’t able to transfer it to another homeschooler outside of your home. The Teacher eBook is perfect for making copies for one teacher, has no expiration and you can’t transfer it to a friend or family member. This is very important to remember! If you are wondering what the different levels are they are the following:

Traceable which is good for ages 3-5 and for children who are in the PreK.
Beginner which are good for children ages 5-7 and is Kindergarten level.
Level 1 which is good for children ages 6-8 and in the 1st to 2nd grade.
Level 2 is good for children ages 8-10 and for the 3rd-4th grade level.
Level 3 which is good for children ages 10-12 (Olivia’s age level) and is good for 5th to 6th grade.
Level 4 is good for children ages 12-14 and is perfect for 7th and 8th graders.

I feel that these levels are really good for all and Level 3 has been a great addition for our family. The one thing that I love about using an eBook is that I can print out the pages that we will be working on for the day and can use a 3 hole punch to add it to a notebook as well. Olivia seems to make mistakes on one page and is ocd about how her page looks so if she messes up I can just go print out another copy of the page she has been working on. This has helped out because I normally will print at least 3 copies of the same page because of how she is.

The supplies needed to complete Level 3 are:

Teacher:

Bible
Grapevine Studies Teacher eBook
Dry Erase Board & markers (recommends 8 different colors but we have more colors)
Bible Dictionary (We are using Jason’s from when he was at Liberty in the Religious Studies)

Student:

Bible
Grapevine Studies Student eBook (or you can print out the pages you will be working on for that day.)
Colored Pencils (which we use often or you can use crayons if you run out of colored pencils).
Level 4 students are going to need a Bible Dictionary, Topical Bible and Concordance.

The one thing that is super cool about this book is that you don’t have to be artistic inclined and can just draw “Stick Figures” which Olivia loves about the lessons because she is so thankful she doesn’t have to get all hard core in the drawing section. She uses her stick figures like crazy and when I ask her who each one is I have her label them because she has been notorious in drawing people who look like ET. Haha Another thing that helps the students along in the book and eBook is that it comes with a Section Review page which I will break it down into doing in 2 days rather than all one day. I have her take a separate sheet of notebook paper and have her write each answer on the sheet for me. It’s almost like a small little test for her or quiz which is nice. It also has a final review section as well which we have yet to get to but have checked it out together. I normally allow Olivia to look at her eBook on my iPad which is nice or we can view it on my computer. Whichever one is good for the day. Everything is in it’s place in the eBook that I plan on using Level 4 with Olivia next year for school and will purchase it when the time comes.

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