Bible - How much is covered by MFW?

[cbollin]

We want to go through the whole Bible. If you go through the five year rotation of MFW, how much of the Bible is covered? Does MFW pick out certain portions to read that pertain to the lesson and skip parts?

We are going to use MFW, just trying to figure out the Bible part.
Melinda

Bible in MFW:

Let me answer the unasked question. When does MFW require that the entire Bible be read by the student? That is part of the High School curriculum.

Here is what is covered/scheduled in the 5 year cycle which is geared for grades 2-8. I’m bound to leave out something important, so someone else can fill in.

ECC: the entire book of Matthew is read.

CTG: This is an Old Testament overview year. If you look on the Table of Contents on the online sample you’ll see the order that the topics are covered. It doesn’t list the books, but you can get the idea. Not all of the OT is read. Some books (such as Ruth, Jonah) that are short enough are covered completely. Most other books that are read in this year have the vast majority of the chapters read. So what are they? Gen, Job (which is inserted chronologically, but not covered completely), Exodus, Num, DT, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel. 1 and 2 Kings, Jonah, Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah.
Some books you just learn the names of them but don’t read. (One part of the memory work is learning all of the names of the books of the OT.) This would include some minor and major prophets. Song of Songs is left out. Some of the Psalms and Isaiah are read and are part of memory work And I keep thinking there were sprinklings of other things covered especially in the context of studying the Old Testament Feasts. Remember too, that in CTG, the OT is the main history spine for the whole year.

RTR: This is a New Testament overview year. All of the book of Luke is read. Most of the book of Acts is read. Some of Revelation is covered. All of 1 John and Philippians are read. Memory work is taken from NT verses. And you at least learn all of the names of the book of the NT even if you don’t read them all this year.

EX1850: the entire book of James is read, studied and memorized.

1850-MT: a very different flavor of a year for MFW in Bible. I’m in week 17 so I can’t really comment on the year as a whole. But, the Bible time becomes more of a flavor of helping you and your family to be effective prayer warriors to impact today and tomorrow. Much of the Bible reading is topical and usually is from various places in the NT. Near the end of the year, you will do a study guide together called Witnesses to the World.

That's not the only things that are part of the Bible part of MFW, but it more about what parts of the Bible are you reading. Keep asking the questions!

-crystal
[even more detail on this thread:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?p=18033 ]

[mamaofredheads]

I'd like to add that Victor Journey Through the Bible is added to CTG & RTR, plus Streams of Civilization.

From our experience, not only does MFW cover the Bible well, but the added details help the children (and parents!!) understand it so much better by further explanantions offered, understanding what was going on in the world at the time, and even through the hands-on projects. I feel it is a terrific way to learn, understand & apply the Bible to our lives.

Glenna

[Julie in MN]

On a personal note, MFW's coverage of the Bible is one reason I had no question about continuing thru MFW. Going thru the real Bible in order is so important to me -- so that my children won't have the same problem I did when jumping around the Bible, and not being able to defend my faith against someone else who jumped in a different way.

MFW takes the children thru the Bible with an understanding of what they are reading and where they are in the Bible. Often we get to read line-by-line, and of course we have continued on when we wanted more! Plus there are the extras like Victor Journey, going section-by-section thru the Bible with background information, and How The Bible Came To Us. In ECC, CTG, and RTR, there has not been jumping around, but careful sequencing.

Memory verses have also been selected in a way that the child knows the full context and location in the Bible. We have memorized meaningful chunks, from the 10 commandments to the description of Love in 1 Corinthians.

I look forward to seeing my ds experience every single line in high school, because I know there's even more good stuff in there. But so far it's been a close approximation and very do-able as a family. A great blessing.

Julie

[4Truth]

MFW takes the children thru the Bible with an understanding of what they are reading and where they are in the Bible. Often we get to read line-by-line, and of course we have continued on when we wanted more! Plus there are the extras like Victor Journey, going section-by-section thru the Bible with background information, and How The Bible Came To Us. In ECC, CTG, and RTR, there has not been jumping around, but careful sequencing.

Memory verses have also been selected in a way that the child knows the full context and location in the Bible.

I will echo these comments, especially the part that I bolded, because reading the scripture *in context* is especially important to us. Dh and I are so impressed with MFW's teaching of that important task. This is one of the (several) reasons we intend to stay with MFW long term. We want to study the WORD, not some publisher's denominational preferences. We can do that on our own and through the teachings at our church.

In Adventures, if your oldest child is about 2nd or 3rd grade, you will study the names and characteristics of Jesus. This is a wonderful introduction to Christ for the little ones, using science for hands-on activities that help the child (and me!) remember who He is, and to understand the significance of each name.

I also look forward to reading through the entire Bible together, cover to cover, when our oldest starts MFW high school.

Really, IMO, this is what sets MFW apart from the rest.

[Julie in MN]

With the Bible integrated throughout the MFW curriculum, does anyone use parts of other things for devotion time or something?
Amy

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:24 pm
I think a lot of us add a little Bible here & there. Some are doing verses with their church or Awana. I took my son thru a little study of what we do at church on Sundays. There is time to add these sorts of things during your day, during your unstructured afternoons, or during your bedtime routine.

The one thing that hasn't worked well at our house is any kind of "Bible stories." Ever since we started with MFW when he was in 3rd grade, my ds really prefers the "real thing" and wants to revert to that over stories, except maybe something funny or a video.

Someone at our co-op had the Bible study that you mentioned for sale last week & I looked thru it. I'm always up for a book basket book or something interesting or basically anything that's a "book" LOL! However, it seemed to be stories rather than scripture, and I even had a feeling it was "interpreting" the stories towards the second half of the book. But again, it was just a brief look & just a reaction to our preferences.

Julie

[mgardenh]

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:47 pm

I have used rgw Bible study that you mentioned and then stopped. Personally I thought it was a little dry and does a lot of doctrine for a young child. My preference was reading scripture and memory verses. When I say doctrine I do not mean specific church doctrine but general. I also think it is a little sappy; again, this is just personal preference. I would preview Bible studies before you buy it and see if you like it. You might.

[caod]

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:39 pm

We used the Bible study that you mentioned with our children and considered very good.

We used it on the days when we were not using curriculum. It created nice discussion. They were younger then, but I think they would benefit from it again.

Connie

[dhudson]

Hello everyone! My name is Mary and I have 3 children, ages 6, 4, and 1.5...and 1 more on the way. I am REALLY considering MFW for my 6 yr. old. (1st grade curriculum) In fact, I may be ordering the curriculum today or this weekend sometime.(!) I just have some questions that I thought you veteran MFW'ers could help me with...;)

Do you always follow the scripture/bible story of the day? Is there room for flexibility/ switching in different passages that YOU really want to teach?

There are some specific ones I would like to concentrate on this year: fruits of the spirit, names of God, armor of God, prayer, and faith building stories. How can I incorporate these, or other topics I want, into the curriculum?

I do add in other Bible verses if we are dealing with character and behavior issues but I usually do it outside of school. Many of the things you mentioned wanting to build in are in other years of MFW. MFW1 and most of MFW curriculum is tied into the Bible curriculum so your science, history and Bible will be talking about the same topic so you don't want to stray too far and it's so worth it!

I am a total over-achiever so we may save some of those other topics for Friday Night Family Night or times when school isn't in session or the weekend.

MFW1 is a pretty complete curriculum and since it sounds like your house is busy as it is, I might recommend getting MFW1 first and looking at it before planning on adding on too much. I am the Queen of Adding in Too Much and Stressing Out The ENTIRE family so I would advise you to not do what I've done! Your husband and children will thank you for it.

[HSmommi2mine]

The Bible is very integrated but that doesn't stop you from going over the topics you would like. Maybe you can do that at family devotions or during school breaks.

The names of Jesus are studied in "Adventures in MFW" (second grade for your purposes)

MFW will keep things simple for you but try to resist adding a bunch of stuff that will just make it complicated. MFW is a very CM approach. The great thing about MFW is that it is all right there. You don't have to pick and choose or sort through a bunch of stuff. They use just the best things and plan it all out for you.

[dhudson]

The Bible can be as brief or hefty as you want them to be. Some days you will have hands-on activities that you do with Bible, some days you will be writing out the Bible verse that you are memorizing for the week and some days you will be talking about what you are learning. You certainly could continue what you are doing but the names of Jesus study in ADV is great. I usually spend about 30 - 45 min in Bible but that's because I get excited about we are learning and start cross-referencing or talking about other things that apply.

[Julie in MN]

Hello! I am considering using Adventures with our 1st and 3rd grade daughters, but we currently make our Bible lesson the priority of the day, covering about a chapter a day in chronological order. We spend about an hour each morning doing our devotions this way. This has been a tremendous blessing for us and I can't imagine giving it up.

HOWEVER, I am finding that our other subjects (history and science) are a bit on the dry side. I LOVE what I see in MFW. I guess my question is, do you think I can keep doing what I'm doing with Bible and add MFW or will it be too much? Thanks in advance.

We sometimes add more actual Bible reading to MFW. ECC and CTG have you reading directly out of the Bible, so we didn't need any more those years. But during RTR and EX1850, we have read extra books of the Bible at our house.

Other moms I know do Awana and various church memory verses etc. in addition to their MFW Bible.

With MFW, you have the time to commit to those kinds of important family things. The caution you are probably remembering is just not to fill your entire day up with extras. But reading the Bible, now that's on a whole different level, IMHO!

Julie

[niki]

When we did ADV we were using a completely different Bible study along side. We also had been doing it for some time and didn't want/need to stop...but we also really enjoyed the Bible portion of ADV. You can do both, tweak as you go.

[doubleportion]

We always add in more Bible study and prayer time and not always on the Bible topic of the week in Adventures.

The extra Bible time we do is at night with my DH rather than adding in more during the morning. You can organize your day and add or take away as you like for your family. That is the great thing about MFW is how flexible it feels.

We are in week 19 now of Adventures.
Edie

[amelasky]

My daughter and I have always loved the Bible content in MFW. K, 1st, and ADV have been just what we needed. God has so used the Hazells to speak His word to us. It's amazing how it applies to things we are going through. I wouldn't omit a day from our school schedule. That's just our story though. That's the great thing about homeschooling, God gives us the freedom and the flexibility to do what is best for our family.

[smd66]

Thank you all so much for your replies. I truly appreciate all of your insight. I will continue to pray about this matter. May God continue to bless your families and your home school lives!

[cbollin]

I will be beginning CtG in August. Just by looking at the catalogue RtR looks like a 'second half' of CtG in that you finish up the Journey through the Bible and some other things. So I'm wondering - is there a change of flavour or focus after RtR?

It seems like in CtG and RtR the focus is on getting an overview of the Bible within the context of history. There doesn't seem to be much content that carries over from RtR into Ex-1850 - so I was wondering if there is a shift in focus there.

In CTG and RTR: history and Bible are very tightly woven together. Ancient History - Old Testament. Rome, NT. Then, you reach a point in RTR where you are historically past the time of the New Testament writing. Then the focus is church history/world history, while still studying New Testament.

so as that part begins to shift in the later part of RTR, that feel is carried over to the next years. But, we never stop studying what God and His people were doing. And that theme is always carried over in all years of MFW even as the books and resources for it are finished on their last chapter.

In EX1850, you're at a point in history past the time of the writing of the NT, so you can't really easily connect a specific part of the Bible to what you are studying in history the same way that you would study overview of OT with ancient, or NT with Rome. In EX1850, the Bible focus is on the book of James, as well as connecting faith stories of history people, and church history. In some ways, while learning about the hardships endured during that time frame (1000-1850), we are spending the year studying and memorizing the book of James, which has a hardship theme in it. (trials, endurance, etc.) So we read about history people with their hardships, and read the book of James (and memorize it) to learn how to approach trials in our lives.

1850MOD: well, same kind of thing in terms of "how do you related Bible to this time in history?" Well, you spend the time in Bible getting to know God, and getting to see how people in the history time frame were living for Him. Also, in 1850MOD, you get a time to "look ahead". Near the end of the year, as you get closer to current times, there is a small study in select parts of the book of Revelation that aren't end time doctrine, but just basics that God wins in the end and that missions and worship come together.

So the history story flows through all years. And it is always also about Who is God, What was His people doing? and how can this apply to us?

-crystal

[dhudson]

I found Exp to 1850 more understandable because of RTR. The Reformation made people moving to a new world to escape religious persecution so much more clear. I think it was a bit of a different focus in Exp because the people at the time had a shift in focus (imho). Each year builds on each other and we are looking forward to the last year in the cycle.

I think of CTG and RTR a "pair" and then Exp to 1850 and 1850 to Mod a "pair".

Were you concerned about a difference? It feels to me that as the kids have grown the Bible has become deeper. The Bible in CtG and RTR was easier to grasp but this last year the kids had make the transition from head knowledge to heart knowledge in their study of James. They have certainly had the opportunity to use more of the study of James in real life situations.

[4Truth]

I found Exp to 1850 more understandable because of RTR. The Reformation made people moving to a new world to escape religious persecution so much more clear. I think it was a bit of a different focus in Exp because the people at the time had a shift in focus (imho). Each year builds on each other and we are looking forward to the last year in the cycle.

I think of CTG and RTR a "pair" and then Exp to 1850 and 1850 to Mod a "pair".

Were you concerned about a difference? It feels to me that as the kids have grown the Bible has become deeper. The Bible in CtG and RTR was easier to grasp but this last year the kids had make the transition from head knowledge to heart knowledge in their study of James. They have certainly had the opportunity to use more of the study of James in real life situations.

I was going to add this, too. In CTG and RTR you learn a lot of Bible *knowledge*, i.e., what happened in history, what God has done through the ages, and how we got to where we are today. You're building a foundation for service... the reasons WHY we do what we do, as Christians and in the world. You see the Bible in context of history. Then with EX1850 and 1850MOD, you see all that knowledge really being put to use and the child's learning the importance of getting up and DOING something with it. So it's not all about head knowledge... it's about living a life for Jesus. It all comes together as you transition from one "section" of your studies, and from one year, to the next. You'll see it go even deeper in high school.

Just a personal footnote to show one small example of how MFW brings the family "together". We haven't done EX1850 (fully) yet, but we have done the James study that's used in EX1850 this past year. My dh was gone for 9 months (military), and while he was gone, the girls did the James study here at home while memorizing parts of the book of James. Meanwhile, dh was also memorizing James, so that's something they shared over those months of separation via telephone. It was a neat way to "bind" them together during his absence. Not that you couldn't do something like this on your own, but for us, it followed a study of much of the New Testament and the building of the Church in RTR, so it seemed like a natural progression.... it wasn't a Bible study topic that we just picked out of a hat that had nothing to do with anything else we'd done. Make sense? MFW shows how it all "goes together".

[cbollin]

Hello!
We are new to the idea of Homeschooling, but plan to HS our children from the pre-K/Kindergarten age on up.

I am drawn to option 1 (using MFW starting in Kindergarten) for the simplicity of using one program all the way through as it was intended (however, I may still choose to supplement the Bible portion depending on what I think of it!). Aside from not yet seeing the material in person, my hesitations include:

I’m concerned that the bible learning would be somewhat scattered and I want to use a Bible curriculum one time through the Bible before starting the History course in MFW (at that point I love the idea of studying it chronologically alongside its place in history). I’m unsure if adding in the separate Bible curriculum to the MFW curriculum would be “too much,” but if I used FIAR K-3rd it’d be just fine since Bible isn’t already included.

If you have any food for thought I’d love to hear it... Thanks

Welcome along ! To put my opinions in perspective, I have 3 children, 8th, 5th, 1st graders this fall. Been using MFW since oldest was in 2nd grade. My experience is that Bible is not disjointed in MFW.

Kindy: it’s all connected. Bible lessons are about God’s creation and character development while learning the science that goes with it.

1st grade: begins overview of bible from Genesis to the book of Revelation is art, phonics, and composition.

ADV: you get a year long study on who Jesus is.

Oh wait.. I’m time crunched. May I direct you to an archived thread about the Bible scope and sequence?
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... lit=thirst

-crystal

[Julie in MN]

I’m concerned that the bible learning would be somewhat scattered and I want to use the Shaping Hearts for God as the Bible curriculum one time through the Bible before starting the History course in MFW (at that point I love the idea of studying it chronologically alongside its place in history). I’m unsure if adding in the separate Bible curriculum to the MFW curriculum would be “too much,” but if I used FIAR K-3rd it’d be just fine since Bible isn’t already included.

I'm a little confused by this.

Have you seen MFW1? It goes through the complete Bible using a little 1st grade level reader.

Have you seen the Bible used for Adventures? It's a real Bible and kids learn to find things in there on their own.

How about ECC -- reading the first gospel, line by line.

And CTG uses the Old Testament as the major spine for the year.

And so on. Children are going through the Bible in logical sequence and always understand exactly where they are reading from in their own Bible. I find MFW to be the clearest Bible curriculum I have seen.

[BHelf]

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

To Julie- no, I haven’t been able to sit and read through the material or see the kid’s Bible, etc. I am very bummed about this. I’ve looked at everything I can through the site though, and I called them to find out how I can see it… apparently I just missed them being in town so I have to wait til next year. Since I am such a little planner (or maybe just have ants in my pants), I can’t put it totally on the back burner til then, so I’m asking my concerns to you all in the mean time. (lucky you! )

Where do you live? There might be someone near you that would be willing to meet with you to look at whatever MFW years that they have. Just a thought...I understand wanting to look at it before making that decision. I had "decided" on MFW before seeing it but couldn't really take the plunge and buy it until after I went to convention and could thumb through it and really see what it was like.

Brooke

[RachelT]

Hello! Welcome! I have two children who are now 8 and 6. I was so excited to find MFW when I was deciding about homeschooling or sending my oldest to K. I agree with the others above who said that it is a really great combination of teaching methods that works well for our family and particularly for the learning styles of my children. We did use MFW Kindergarten, 1st grade, and Adventures and this year we will be using ECC and 1st gr. for my younger child.

Bible: As stated above somewhere, the Bible has been so strongly integrated into the curriculum and the themes really make sense, so the Bible lessons really seemed to fit well with the K program. Then, in 1st grade there is a wonderful study of the entire Bible, in chronological order and you make a timeline as you go, so it is not disjointed at all, it's very structured and we had Proverbs verses to learn, too that coordinated with what we were learning from our other Bible stories. Then last year in Adventures, we studied the names of Jesus like Lamb of God, Bread of Life, Light of the World and we had some wonderful discussions and made these really neat Bible notebooks with all of the names and the verses they came from.

I would not miss out on MFW K, 1st grade, or Adventures. They have been delightful!

Rachel

[TriciaMR]

I guess I am wanting to know if they are getting the same amout of bible with MFW that they would get in Awanas. I hear many people say they most of the verses they remember as adults were learned at awanas. I don't mind the program, I just get tired loading 5 kids around. But if it is worth it, I will do it. I just was not sure if it is necessary to follow two bible programs. thanks
filitsa

Filista,

My husband likes the program because he likes that the other kids are getting into God's word, too. I wouldn't mind if we dropped it because of the extra work it adds to our school day to work on the verses. I think the Bible in MFW is enough if you don't do anything else.

-Trish

[meagabby]

We like AWANA for the social outlet around biblical principles.
When we first started AWANA and did MFW at the same time, I opted to memorize only the AWANA verses. I think that was K with my middle dd.
The next year I decided to think of it as extra and focus on MFW. I like that way better.
As my older dds began to read they'd get their verses for AWANA done as they could without adding it to our school day routine.
We've chosen to focus on school as priority for memorization.
Now we have a preschooler and he is in cubbies. He's had alot of fun, but we didn't always get the versese memorized each week.

We've moved again and being connected in church and AWANA helps my children feel like they have friends quicker.
As for helping, we haven't helped and two of the churches we participted in offered something for the adults at the same time, so we were "fed" as well.

To address the idea that adults remember verses from AWANA, it is probably because a child learns and retains like a sponge in their elementary ages. If they participated in any memorization it could just be that. I didn't have AWANA as a child, but summer camped in YMCA club and learned verses there that I still remember.

[tiffany]

For our family, we have felt there was enough bible and bible memorization content within the curriculum. The way the Bible is woven into MFW is one of the main reasons we picked the program. I think it provides a great framework for the parents to build upon in the way they feel led. MFW does a great job of selecting memory verses without overload and giving a great bible foundation. We as parents, then try, to help them incorporate that knowledge into their daily living and relationships. I know the Bible part of the curriculum has been beneficial to me even as a child of God and a parent.

I guess if I were you I would figure out if you feel MFW's Bible content is enough for you, and if it is, there may be a way for your kids to meet some friends in a less time consuming way. From your post I got the impression that the Awanas club is a bit of a burden for you. I'll give you an example from our family. We would have loved to have done Boy Scouts with our 5 boys, but they were all going to be in different groups, and we really have to pick and choose things that are going to work within our family. We did a co-op one year and really enjoyed that. It met twice a month. A couple of my kids have some lasting friendships with other homeschoolers just from that one year.