There are only a few curricula that are “absolute favorites” for us. The homeschool Answers Bible Curriculum (ABC) is one of them!
Is it a good fit for your family? In this curriculum review, I share the following:
- An Overview of the Answers Bible Curriculum
- How We Fit the Curriculum Into Our Homeschool Days
- How This Study Applied to Our Lives
- What the Answers Bible Curriculum Includes
- A Weekly Schedule (We Loosely Followed)
- The Adaptability of the Answers Bible Curriculum
- Why I thought We Didn’t Need a Bible Curriculum for Our School Day
- Why We Need (an Awesome) Bible Curriculum for Our School Day
- Answers Bible Curriculum is AiG Awesome!
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An Overview of the Homeschool Answers Bible Curriculum
The Answers Bible Curriculum covers the entire Bible chronologically. It is a four-year curriculum plan for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Answers in Genesis (AiG) describes the study in this way: “Using the 7 C’s of History as a framework for understanding the history of the universe and recognizing God’s redemptive plan through Scripture, ABC emphasizes the historical reality of biblical accounts, the authority of God’s Word, and the application of God’s Word to everyday life.”
I was a little overwhelmed when I first learned about the “7 C’s of History.” They seemed too random for me to remember. Then I spent a week studying these for our church’s vacation Bible school. Within the context of Bible lessons, these aren’t hard to memorize or understand! (It’s been a few years, but my girls and I can still sing a fun little rhyme about the 7 C’s of History!)
If you haven’t done a deep dive into this framework – you’ll pick them up as you go! These are major events we read about in the Bible. The global Flood is the Catastrophe. The Tower of Babel brought about the Confusion of languages. . . The new heaven and the new earth will come at the time of the Consummation. Seven major events provide a helpful path as we move through the Bible chronologically.
How We Fit the Curriculum Into Our Homeschool Days
Our family is working our way through all four years of the Answers Bible Curriculum. But this review is our experience with “Year One” (creation to the life of Joseph).
We used this when my girls were in first and fourth grade. It was an excellent start to our day. We spent about twenty to thirty minutes, five mornings per week, on this Bible study. Homeschool families (working diligently) could reasonably complete the thirty-six lessons in a typical school year.
My goal was one lesson per week from September to May. However, we took our time, life got busy, and we finished “Year One” in July. We enjoyed this curriculum, so it didn’t feel like a chore to work on it during the summer months. Even so, we still didn’t finish all the activity pages.
When we started the “Year Two” curriculum, I made the decision to be more intentional about completing the activities. Our goal is no longer a lesson per week. I generally homeschool with a “get-er-done” mentality. But there’s too much good stuff in this curriculum to rush through it. That means we might extend the curriculum beyond (the recommended) fifth grade. I’m confident it will continue to be a valuable study. I enjoy it as an adult!
How This Study Applied to Our Lives
The lessons provide a good emphasis on God’s Word as Truth. AiG does an excellent job of presenting Bible accounts as history. As I teach God’s Word to my children (and to the children in our church), I am careful with how I reference the Bible. I refer to Bible “accounts” or Bible “history,” rather than Bible “stories.” It’s a nuance of words, but “stories” seems to equate the Bible with fables and fairy tales.
We can’t force our children to believe. But in our God-given role as parents, we’re called to speak truth. Let’s be faithful in that pursuit. It’s a weighty responsibility, but this curriculum can help us apply Scripture to our daily lives. As we study Bible accounts, we see the effects of sin such as anger and jealousy. We can apply those lessons to the world we live in today. We don’t have to look far.
In the “Year One” curriculum, we studied events including the murder of Abel, the global flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Joseph’s captivity. We contemplated Job’s suffering and his response to his creator. We discussed how God used man’s evil intent to bring about good through Joseph’s life. These were somewhat complex concepts, yet understandable even for children. This study was a reassurance of God’s sovereignty in all our circumstances.
What the Homeschool Answers Bible Curriculum Includes
This curriculum offers ample teaching material. ABC has three components:
- The Teacher’s Guide (plus an optional, bonus set of items)
- The Student Activity Workbook
- The Tests and Answers Booklet
There is a “prepare to share” section that is good to read before teaching each lesson. Otherwise, this curriculum is open-and-go!
The Teacher’s Guide
There is one Teacher’s Guide for this (K-5) curriculum. So the same lesson is taught for all students in this age range. That makes it easier for large homeschooling families to have Bible time together. Both of my girls (in first and fourth grade) were able to understand the information we covered.
The Teacher’s Guide includes a suggested schedule, with space to check off completed work. Two of the thirty-six lessons are review. Our goal was simply one lesson per week.
An appendix has a list of all the memory verses, plus games to use for review. We enjoyed doing a few of these during the summer months. I was so glad for how much my kids remembered from our study.
There are four sections provided for each lesson:
- The overview of the lesson
- The “prepare to share” section
- The lesson and application
- The comprehension questions
The Overview of the Lesson
The overview provides the lesson focus, key Scripture passages, lesson objectives, some teaching tips, and an optional object lesson or activity. We didn’t do many of the optional activities. But they were often a good opportunity for kinesthetic learners to get up and moving. Many of these activities were acted out in the Building Blocks videos (an optional, bonus purchase).
The Prepare to Share Section
There is also a “prepare to share” section at the start of each lesson. It includes lots of related Scripture, historical background, and apologetics. (The apologetics are a good teaching tool, to help our children learn to defend their faith.) I always tried to read this section before teaching. It’s a wealth of information, and it helped me answer the questions that came up during our lesson time.
I’ve used a variety of Bible curricula as a children’s church teacher for many years. I appreciate that AiG provides so much extra, highly relevant information. As teachers, it’s wonderful for us to have this at our fingertips. I think this is one of the major ways AiG sets themselves apart from other publishers. The Homeschool Answers Bible Curriculum did not disappoint.
The Lesson and Application
I also appreciate the questions and Scripture reading that are part of the lesson script. These help children to stay engaged. My fourth grader enjoyed reading some of the verses aloud for us. My youngest enjoyed coloring as I read through the lesson. (The Level K-1 activity book includes a color page for each lesson – yay!)
The Teacher’s Guide suggests teaching all of the lesson (25-45 minutes) on Monday. However, that was too long for my kids to sit and listen. Instead, I taught portions of the lesson three days of the week, for about ten to fifteen minutes per day. Each week’s lesson is divided into sections, so there are natural stopping points.
We sometimes ran into a question on the activity sheets that we hadn’t yet covered in the lesson. But this primed the pump. We anticipated the answers in the next day’s lesson, or we figured them out by searching the Scriptures.
I typically finished teaching the lesson on Wednesday. Then we went over application questions such as, “if a friend said the Bible isn’t true, what would you tell them?” This was good for us to consider. The Answers Bible Curriculum helps our kids practice defending their faith.
On Thursdays, we watched the Building Blocks Video. There is one video for each lesson, and they are an excellent review. Each video is about ten minutes long.
The Comprehension Questions
Lastly, on Friday, we went over the (fifteen or more) comprehension questions orally. These weren’t too difficult for my fourth grader. They were a little harder for my distractible first grader.
At the end of the week, I would also reread some of the key passages from the lesson. Then I would ask my girls something significant they had learned about that passage. They were quick to answer in case their sibling had the same observation! As someone who didn’t have much Bible training as a child, I am encouraged by how much my girls are learning.
Optional Bonus Set of Items
You can buy the Teacher’s Guide with or without the extra bonus items. If you’d like the bonus items, purchase the “Teacher Guide Combo.” It includes an access code for the Building Blocks videos and the Memory Verse Videos, plus three posters. (Our family already had an Answers.tv subscription, so we already had access to the videos.)
Building Blocks Videos
My girls loved (loved!) the Building Blocks videos. There are thirty-six – one for each lesson. The hosts, Bryan and Avery, have acted out some of the lesson’s suggested activities. They have fun doing this! On a few occasions, my husband (who works from home) has taken a break from his job to see why my girls and I are laughing out loud. He has watched some of these videos out of curiosity!
Memory Verse Videos
A memory verse is also suggested for each of the thirty-six lessons. Seeds Family Worship has put ten of those verses to music and made them into videos. Music tends to capture the attention of most any child, and it’s a great way to teach truth!
Posters
The posters are helpful teaching tools as well. We hung the timeline in a hallway. As we worked through the curriculum, we looked at where we were in the order of events. It prompted my seven-year-old to ask, “where are we (who are living now) on this timeline?” Too often, a social studies perspective sets America at the starting point of our history. We are amiss when we don’t give our kids a Biblical perspective on the history of mankind.
We also appreciated the Attributes of God poster. Words such as “omnipotent,” “immutable,” and “sovereign” are often new to young children. The poster is a fun visual reminder of these attributes.
I was so glad we had the optional bonus items! The posters and Building Blocks videos were a regular and valuable part of our study.
The Student Activity Workbook
There are three levels of Student Activity Workbooks: Level K-1, Level 2-3, and Level 4-5. These correspond to grade levels.
The activity sheets are perforated and easy to remove. There are at least a few pages provided for each week’s lesson. They are colorful, with lots of pictures and a variety of activities. Review questions are included on the sheets too. Sometimes we had already covered these sufficiently during our discussion time, so we skipped this written activity or reviewed it orally.
Our Experience with Level K-1
My first grader definitely needed help with many of the workbook exercises. But once I got her going, she was able to do some on her own.
The Level K-1 workbook included activities such as: matching, tracing, counting, coloring a mosaic or other page, working through a maze, ordering pictures by number, and filling in the blank (from a word bank). Some exercises were as simple as circling or crossing out a picture.
On one page, the student is instructed to draw a line “according to their kind.” A puppy was matched to other dogs. A child was matched to a mom and dad. A baby monkey was matched to other monkeys. This is a simple yet valuable activity for a young child.
Copying Scripture was another valuable activity. My six-year-old was proud of her ability to do this. We reviewed some of the week’s key verses. Then I let her choose the one she was most excited about. She worked hard to copy it in the space provided on her activity sheet. As a first grader, she usually completed all her worksheets by the end of the week.
Our Experience with Level 4-5
The Level 4-5 activity sheets were definitely more challenging. My fourth grader worked on most of the exercises independently, but she occasionally got stuck and needed help.
This workbook included: mazes, mapping, crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blank, word scrambles, message decoding, and completing timelines and family trees. My fourth grader was often searching the Scriptures for answers (yay!).
These activities were sometimes a significant amount of work. Even so, my fourth grader enjoyed them. She rarely completed all her weekly activity sheets, but we didn’t stress over that. She’s learned a lot from the homeschool Answers Bible Curriculum.
The Tests and Answers Booklet
There are six quizzes and two tests provided in the Tests and Answers booklets. I chose not to use them as part of this year’s study, mostly because we didn’t have time for them. They were a lower priority for us.
It’s important to note that the activity sheet answers are in the Tests and Answers Booklet. So, even if you’re not completing the quizzes or tests, you may want this booklet for the activity sheet answers. We got stumped a few times by questions on the Level 4-5 activity sheets. I was glad we had the answer key. We even used the Level K-1 answer key for my first grader. It’s frustrating when you can’t find the last hidden item in a “look and find” picture!
A Weekly Schedule (We Loosely Followed)
Our week of study included the teaching time (with application), activity sheets, a Building Blocks Video, and the comprehension questions. (We could have done so much more each week, if only we had the time in our schedule!)
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday*
- Lesson teaching time (10-15 minutes)
- Activity sheets (10 minutes)
Thursday
- Building Blocks video (10-15 minutes)
- Activity sheets (10 minutes)
Friday
- Comprehension questions (10 minutes)
- Review of key passages (5 minutes)
- Activity sheets (10 minutes)
*We did not follow the suggested schedule of teaching the complete lesson on Monday.
The Adaptability of the Homeschool Answers Bible Curriculum
Keep in mind that with a more relaxed pace, doing everything suggested, this curriculum could easily be used year-round. There’s plenty of teaching material, and there are ample worksheet activities.
Additionally, the curriculum is challenging enough to use beyond the fifth grade. With a three-year gap between my children, we appreciate an adaptable curriculum. I’m learning a lot from this curriculum; and I’m confident it can be challenging enough for a sixth grader.
Every lesson offers “Teacher Tips,” with suggestions for extending the lesson. Also, a short section of “Extension Ideas” is included in the preface to the Teacher’s Guide. Students could, for example, complete a word study using the words highlighted in bold throughout the lessons. AiG offers this video with more recommendations for using this study beyond fifth grade. It’s great to have such a flexible curriculum!
Why I thought We Didn’t Need a Bible Curriculum for Our School Day
For many years, we didn’t actually use a formal Bible curriculum in our homeschooling. I teach many of our subjects (such as science, history, and grammar) using Christian curricula. Because of this, I didn’t feel the need to use a Bible curriculum. I didn’t think more “Bible time” was needed. Our kids were studying Scripture in AWANA, Sunday school, and children’s church. Our teens were working through Bible studies recommended by our youth pastor. We were praying together and having some informal Bible discussion in our home.
Additionally, our school days have always been full! It feels like we’re often struggling to get everything checked off our list. Adding one more thing to our homeschool day seemed counter-intuitive! And of course, there’s a cost to purchasing more books. I had lots of reasons why we didn’t need to add a Bible curriculum.
Why We Need (an Awesome) Bible Curriculum for Our School Day
Then the Lord impressed a few things on me, as I prepared for another season of homeschooling.
We Need to Teach our Children Diligently
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (ESV)
As I was putting together a schedule for our upcoming school year, I was feeling convicted. I had a nagging feeling we should be doing a formal Bible study. I knew there would be value in working through the Bible in a systematic way. So my husband and I discussed this. We considered the cost of both time and money. (I already knew what he would say!) We concluded that a formal Bible study needed to be a priority.
We had used and appreciated many of the AiG resources, so I was quick to consider the homeschool Answers Bible Curriculum. It was an easy “yes,” so I added twenty-five minutes of formal Bible time to our day. I love the curriculum and I love digging into God’s Word with my girls. As we strive to teach our children diligently, it’s good to remember God’s promise that His Word will not return void.
We Need To Be Reminded (Daily) That Our Hope is in Christ
Most days, we are eager to start our Bible study. But some days, it’s a struggle. When the kids have argued their way through breakfast and I haven’t responded in a God-honoring way, it feels counter-intuitive to turn to our holy, righteous God. It would be so easy to skip our Bible time and let the evil one get a foot-hold.
But looking to God is what we so desperately need to do. We need to be grounded in God’s Word. We need to be reminded of His plan for us, His love for us, and His goodness toward us. So we can develop a yearning for His Truth, for His mercy, for His ways. So we can live each day filled with hope. The Answers Bible Curriculum helps us do that. It points our children (and us!) to Christ.
God Can Bless Even Our Meager Efforts
Just recently I was reminded of how much God cares for us even in the “little things.” After a whirlwind summer, I was late ordering some of our school curriculum. I regretted that we would start the first day of our school year without our “Year Two” Answers Bible Curriculum. Unfortunately, I didn’t expect it to arrive for a few more days.
On that early September morning, a nice breeze was coming through our front screen door. As we moved to the kitchen table to begin our school day, I heard the “thump” of a package being delivered on our front doorstep. It was our Answers Bible Curriculum! How my heart was encouraged as we opened that package! We unwrapped the books and moments later dived into year two of our study. My girls asked if they could read the Bible passages aloud, and I thanked God for His goodness. He is so good to us.
Homeschool Answers Bible Curriculum is AiG Awesome!
It’s such a blessing to have resources that help us point our children to Christ. We have learned so much from this curriculum. You can find more details or order the Answers Bible Curriculum here. Want to try a sample first? AiG offers a free lesson! This curriculum has been an awesome way to start our homeschool day. I hope you find it to be a blessing for your family too!
Looking for more curriculum reviews? Check out my Elementary Curriculum Reviews page.
