Wise Up (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Teaching small children the Bible is fairly easy.  The bookstore has shelves full of colorful books filled with beloved Bible stories for parents to share with young children. And on the other side of the spectrum, by high school most students are able to do Bible studies aimed towards young adults.  However, there seems to be very little in the way for middle school students that is age appropriate without being too "kiddiefied".  As my kids are now middle school aged, I was pretty excited to be given the opportunity to review Wise Up, a study of the wisdom in Proverbs, from Positive Action Bible Curriculum.

Middle school students tend to find themselves having to make decisions on their own, many time for the first time without parental guidance, and as parents we hope the foundation of faith that we have helped instill in them to guide them in making these decisions.  I often think that King David probably had similar fears when Solomon was a child. The wisdom of Solomon of course was shared with us in the Bible in the book of Proverbs, many of which is wisdom being passed from a parent to a child, in the hopes of helping them to make good decisions based on God's laws to us. 

Wise Up focuses on these lessons found in the book of Proverbs and breaks them down to instruction that middle school students can both understand as well as relate to. The curriculum consists of two parts, a 264 page softback student workbook and a three ringed binder that contains a 343 page teaching guide as well as Lesson Quizzes and answer key. 

 The curriculum splits the material into 35 individual weekly lessons.  

These lessons ask students to progress thru deeper levels of thoughts as they delve into God's world, resulting in

• Knowledge - learning basic facts
• Comprehension - Understanding concepts and ideas, recognizing allusions and patterns 
• Analysis - thinking thru the implications of new information 
• Discernment - perceiving truth from revealed facts and concepts
• Evaluation - drawing conclusions, interpreting values to form personal decisions
• Application - using the information learned and applying truth to life.
  

A suggested weekly schedule is included in the front of the Teachers Binder that has options to complete each lesson in either 3, 4 or 5 days a week.  Each weekly study beings with Teacher's Lecture that is found in the Teacher's Binder.  These lectures are written verbatim so that the lessons is already scripted for the parent.

 

 Following the weekly Teacher's Lecture, the student then reads and completes a weekly exercises in their student workbook that helps reiterate what was taught in the lecture.  Optional weekly quizzes for each lesson are also included in the Teaching Binder, to be taken after the student has heard the week's lecture and has completed the weekly exercises.  These are a mix of short answer, true or false questions, matching and short essay questions. Weekly verse memorization is also provided in the Teacher's Binder if the parent wishes to assign memorization work each week. 

  The student workbook really helps with the learning.  Each lesson, the students independently work on the chapter in their workbook that covers what the lecture was over.  The workbook is a consumable product, so students are expected to write in the book.  Parents who would like to use this curriculum with multiple students would need a workbook for each student.

In addition to the workbook, students will also need a copy of the Bible, whether it be digital or physical, either will work.  Students will be asked to look up passages in their Bible and answer questions related to what they have read.

How We Used This

 Since we are currently on a summer break, trying to get adjusted to our new surroundings, I decided to use this program with Ashleigh using the three day a week schedule (M, W, F).  So far, we have gotten thru 8 lessons, although I do think we are going to put the study to the side until the fall to allow me to get a second workbook for Garrett and actually use this as their Bible curriculum for school.  

What lessons we have done, I have been extremely impressed with.  These lessons cover topics that are relatable to students their age. Such as why we should honor our parents and what that means, where their position (and their parents position) is in the home and what responsibilities those positions entail, and how mindsets such as anger and perverseness not only affect how we treat others, but also how we act and present ourselves.  For each topic, the lesson pulls scripture not only from the book of Proverbs but from other old testament sources as well as Christ's own teachings to show what the Bible says in regards to the topic.   I have had alot of great discussion with Ashleigh in regards to these topics, showing me that she's paying attention to the material and that she is understanding and digesting what is being put before her. 

As said, I really want to restart this curriculum when we begin school, including my son into the lessons because I think this is a great curriculum that will impact both of their lives (at least that's my hope).  It's very well put together, Biblically sound, and I think the material, as presented, is excellent.  

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Members of the Crew were given their choice of two different Bible Curriculum for different age groups.  Be sure the click the banner below to read their reviews today.