For the past few months we’ve been using another great bible study curriculum almost daily. It incorporates drawing with our bible reading – and the kids absolutely LOVE it! It is so exciting to me to see our bible studies as a family and school overlapping with each other. This really encourages discussion throughout the day as well as provides many opportunities to review and be drawn into God’s word. It makes it exciting for me and the kids – which is so important! The desire for truth and being in the word starts with moms and dads desiring to read and being excited to teach God’s word – and what better way to help it “stick” than with drawing the word!
But I am not much of an artist – my horses have always looked like dogs and my people – well, they’re almost always stick figures. So this program works out brilliantly, because it’s STICK FIGURING through the bible! Right up my alley!
Grapevine Studies has been on my radar for almost a year now. But we were finishing up some other bible studies and I wasn’t quite sure how to incorporate it into our daily routine. Finally, as the school year started, I decided to just dive in and give it a try. Am I ever glad I did!
There are so many options to choose from – Old Testament, New Testament, biblical feasts, Birth of Jesus, Resurrection, etc. – as well as levels to suit your current age groups. My kiddos are 8, 6, 4 and 5 weeks old. We’ve been reading through the bible as a family and are currently in Numbers (Lord help, we’re ALMOST finished! That is one tough book!). So we chose to go with the beginner level (ages 5-7) of Old Testament Abraham to the Tabernacle, to get us started. Over Christmas we took a break to do the Birth of Jesus study – it was phenomenal to add to our daily Advent readings!
The lessons are laid out in such a way that you can do as many or as few as you like or have time for. We typically aim to finish a lesson a day, three times per week. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the day and Miss E’s schedule :0) We take turns reading through the portions of Scripture, then I explain (with the help of the teacher’s guide) what the verses mean.
I draw first, then the kids copy.
A full lesson takes us about 15-20 minutes – also depending on how much detail they decide to “add” to their drawings. At first I was super anal about them sticking EXACTLY to what I had drawn for them, but I’ve loosened up a bit now and am pleased to see some of their additional embellishments.
Another great thing about this program is that any of the elementary levels can draw in (pun intented!) multiple age groups. My almost-4-year old daughter is not quite able to keep up with the drawings on her own. She gets bored before we finish the lesson. So Grapevine rose to the challenge and decided to produce traceable sheets for young ones to follow along with.
We LOVE them, they’re easy to use, AND encourage Keekers to study along with us. Plus, they give her the basics of drawing so now she’s actually able to produce some of her OWN stick figure drawings! It’s a win-win all around. The traceable sheets are currently available for the Birth of Jesus, Resurrection and Esther studies. Keep an eye on the site as in the next couple of weeks they’ll be making more of the sheets available!
Each month, Grapevine also offers FREE e-lessons. The most recent one for January is learning the names of the Apostles. Make sure you check out the other great lessons available and come back each month for a new one!
Because they’re so awesome that way, Grapevine is offering YOU an opportunity to try Stick Figuring through the Bible for yourself! All you have to do is enter through the Rafflecopter form below. Or if you can’t wait to win, you can use a 20% off discount code when you order. Just enter discount code HSBlog when you check out!
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
