Zondervan Homeschool Mom's Bible -TOS Review #hsreviews

 

I love reviewing with the TOS Crew.  I love it even more when they sneak in reviews for the mom's!  This is one such review.  Today I'm sharing about a Bible.  Yes that's right a Bible.  A Bible specially made for homeschool mom's who are short on time and patience and need to read the Bible probably more than others at that point to help us maintain sanity!  Okay, well maybe that's just me!

Zondervan has come out with a new Bible titled, The Homeschool Mom's Bible.  It is available in both NIV and KJV as well as an E-Bible.  It also comes in hardback or leather.  I received the hardback copy of the KJV Bible to review and am in bliss.  Loving this Bible.  I prefer hardcover to softcovers as the softcovers tear so easily it seems.  I'm not an E-Bible reader as I love the physical feel of books.  So this is perfect for me!

The KJV and NIV versions of the Homeschool Mom's Bible are $34.99 while the leather editions of both Bibles are $49.99 with the E-Bible costing $14.99.  Crew members received only the NIV and KJV Bibles to review but the other editions are available on the Zondervan website for purchase.

Mom's will be blessed when reading this Bible.  Not only does it contain the entire Bible in the selected version, but it also contains 365 devotions aimed directly at the homeschooling mom and what she deals with.  The devotions are meant to revive and restore as they help keep the focus for Mom, the teacher and mother.

 

 The devotions are written by Janet Tatman who also shares the distinction of being a former homeschool mother as well.  With over 25 years of homeschooling under her belt, these devotions are to help maintain the focus as well as help deal with the pressures of homeschooling while keeping up with the housework and other motherly/wifely duties.

A foreword by Vickie Harris also included.  Vickie is the wife of Michael Farris who founded the Homeschool Legal Defense Association as well as an author and homeschool mom.

This Bible, in whatever version, is specifically meant for the Homeschool Mom by Zondervan and one of the only ones out there to claim that title.  Since it is designed for homeschooling mom's there isn't an age limit per say, just anyone who is or is thinking or has been a homeschooling mom.  

I have enjoyed having this Bible to read and study with.  With school starting back up in our house lately I have been overwhelmed.  Well, it's kind of easy to overwhelm me in the first place, but this is worse.  I have two second graders, two first graders, two kindergarteners, and two preschoolers plus a 4 month old.  Oh and a house to run, allergy friendly food to prepare.  Yikes!  Can you see me pulling my hair out!  Anyway back on topic.  I had given up any hope of doing devotionals really for the first month or two(or the entire year) of school because I was meeting myself coming and going and just couldn't see where I'd fit it in.

So back to the Bible.  I am enjoying this because in the read the Bible in a year plan you get a devotional a day!  Yes that's right I get my daily Bible reading as well as my devotional all in one!  Woohoo!  I love multi-tasking and this one totally does not make me feel guilty!

I can very easily see this becoming my favorite Bible.  Well. . . . my main Bible.  The other Bible I have that is solely mine is an old one that I got for my high school graduation with my maiden name on it and it's a teen Bible in NIV.  I prefer KJV.  Not a huge deal but the little things are important too.  I love having a "grown up" Bible!

I am hoping to start a new Bible study soon as we're settling into a routine around our house, a weird crazy routine but a routine none the less, and I'm longing to start some of the study books I have sitting around the house.  School isn't just for kids.  Adults should do school too, but our school isn't all reading/writing/arithmetic like theirs is.  Our school is getting closer to God and living in His word, the only way to do that is to keep ourselves in it and study it.

What Bible study are you planning on starting next?  I picked up a copy of Desperate lately and am ready to dive in!  I'll share my journey with you if I can find the time(giggling about free/spare time here) and would love to hear if you're doing a study and what Bible you use.

I am highly recommending this Bible.  It is very down to Earth in the devotionals, and definitey pertains to the life of a homeschool mom.  Well, any mom really if you want to be truthful would like this Bible.  Check it out and decide if it's right for you.  Some randoms:  I love the cover on my Bible.  It really is a very nice design and artwork.  I also was surprised to note that the NIV has a different cover than the KJV so you can easily tell the versions apart if you are in a store purchasing them.

Make sure to stop by the Main Crew Blog Post and read everyone else's reviews as well.  Some were like me and reviewed the KJV and others received the NIV  but I'm sure we'll all have different perspectives and things that we loved/didn't love to tell you about.  Me, well I love the whole thing(or at least the amount I've read in the last few weeks) and have nothing bad to say about the Bible.  Maybe some day I'll come across something I don't agree with, but the great thing is that I don't have to agree with it all!

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Bible Study for All Ages Primary Level Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

Recently we were asked if we wanted to review a new curriculum to us called Bible Study for All Ages.  Of course, I love doing Bible studies with my kids and not just during school hours.  They are at a stage in their lives that they absorb this stuff like a sponge!  We received the Primary Level to review.

It was like Christmas opening our packet!  In it we found:

A 2 cd set of Children's Songs.  This contains 90 songs for children to learn and sing.  I have to say this cd did not stay for school only very long.  It now travels with us in our van as we love to listen to music or books on tape while driving.  The CD set can be purchased for $19.95.

A brochure/pamphlet showing us what else they offer to help teach and supplement their curriculum.  They really have a lot of neat stuff!

Teacher's Primary Level Study Guide.  We received the unit 1 section which is a quarter of the entire curriculum.  They currently have units 1 and 2 available for the primary level.  Unit 3 will be available spring 2014 while unit 4 won't be available until spring 2015.  When they are all done the entire curriculum will include 416 lessons.  The Teacher's guide for quarter one can be purchased for $9.95.

Three books of the student pages unit 1 which contains lessons 1-26.  Again this is the first quarter of the entire unit.  Each unit contains four quarters.  The entire of unit one contains lessons 1-104.  You can purchase the first quarter for $5.95.

Lastly we pulled out the Bible Book Summary Cards.  This is a big thick package that reminds me of a large size pack of construction paper!  These are study cards that ask questions while providing the answers to help your children learn and understand as well as remember what they are learning.  You can purchase these for $24.95.

You can purchase all materials together in either the basic primary starter pack ($99.82) or the premium primary starter pack ($145.68).  The difference is that the premium pack includes wall maps/time lines with the labels for them to do on their own.  This primary kit is perfect for your 1st-2nd graders though I think some kindergarteners might also do well in it.  As well as some third graders might still benefit from this level.  A lot depends on where they are.  My two first graders struggle with things and are behind a bit developmentally, they had a bit of trouble grasping some concepts while my 2nd graders really grasped and excelled in this.

We really enjoyed this curriculum.  It was easy to use, self explanatory, and I loved that I didn't have to spend hours preparing to teach it to my kids!  I just don't have those hours to start with these days!  It is not Genesis straight through the Bible to Revelations which I find refreshing!  Since we only received the first quarter to try, we wouldn't have hardly made it out of Genesis if they did it all chronologically!  Keep in mind to finish the entire Bible you'd have to use all four units and two of those aren't even available yet.  I am very glad we did not have to wait to meet Jesus until 2015.

Another thing I liked about the curriculum is that though they do use the NIV version in their program it was very easy for us to use our KJV editions or NKJV editions with our work.  It didn't confuse the children which is great.  Also, the curriculum did not seem to have a standpoint on some issues that might have proven controversial or made some churches not want to use it.  I think they have done a wonderful job of this.  I would definitely recommend this curriculum to other homeschoolers as well as churches for Sunday School programs.

I can definitely see myself buying the next few quarters and doing the complete Units 1 and 2 with my children as well as the other units as they become available.  Of course, the ones that used this quarter will be too old to use the last units and will have to explore different levels by then!

Interested in one of the other levels provided by Bible Study for All Ages?  Make sure to check out the Main Crew Blog Post to see what other Crew members thought of them!

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