Families Again: Ten Reasons Not to Pick Judah Bible Study! *Wink* *Wink*

I love studying the Bible, and I'm always on the lookout for good solid Bible devotionals/studies for my three boys. Recently we were asked to review a Bible curriculum that I had never heard of before. It was like none that I had ever seen and also one of the most challenging that I have ever seen. This is something that I don't think I have ever done in a review, but I'm going to start off with some negatives.

The top 10 reasons not to pick Judah Bible Study. Don't choose it if...

...you are looking for a shallow Bible study that doesn't go deep into God's word. This would not be the one for you! Judah Bible is a deep Bible study curriculum that is going to make you and your kids think. It is very thorough and covers the whole Bible.
...you don't want your child to cover the Bible every single year they are in school but focus on different themes each year. If you think covering the Bible every year is too much. then don't purchase this curriculum. If you think that your child having a thorough knowledge of the Bible by the time he graduates is not a good thing, then skip Judah Bible.
...you are looking for a "ready to hand to your student" curriculum. This is not for you. You actually have to learn how to teach this curriculum. You have to study the excellent 100 page manual and listen to the eight very helpful lectures that talk about the philosophy of the program and the main Biblical Sections that Judah Bible has divided the Bible into: Creation - Creation, Fall, Flood; The Plan of Redemption Begins - Abraham, Moses, Joshua; Kingdom of Israel - Saul, David, Solomon; Kingdom of God - Jesus, 12 Disciples; Early Church - Pentecost, Apostles, Paul.
...you don't want to study along with your children (or with you family for that matter). Judah Bible isn't something that you just hand your kids and they do alone. Yes, there are some aspects of it that they do by themselves, but there are many more aspects where you interact with them. If you don't want to know what your kids are studying and don't want to learn yourself, then this would not work for you.
...you don't want your beliefs to infiltrate what you think of the government. One of the whole philosophies of The Principal Approach is that the Bible has guidelines to the role of government. The Judah Bible curriculum is based on The Principal approach. If you think the Bible and government shouldn't mix in any way, then don't pick this curriculum to use.
...you or your children don't like notebooking. One of the main ways of learning with Judah Bible is developing a notebook. Even young children do coloring pages that have to do with the lesson being learned. Older children may fill out "Key" charts that focus on Key Individuals, Key Events, Key Institutions or Key Documents or they may draw a picture or diagram, or even make a map or a chart that represents the main theme that they are studying. Even though these pages aren't supposed to be busy work or just a way to fill up the notebook but ways that encourage your children to dig deeper into God's Word, if you don't like notebooking then nix the purchase of this curriculum.
...you don't want your older student to learn to use Bible Study tools such as a concordance, Bible commentary, Bible handbook or Bible dictionary. If you don't want that then perhaps you shouldn't use Judah Bible. Even younger students are introduced to these things.
...you don't want flexibility in your Bible Study. With Judah Bible you can have a Bible study with just one child, several children or with the whole family. With Judah Bible you can choose what you want your student(s) to do to help describe the weekly theme - Key chart, craft, notebook timeline, etc. But, if you don't want flexibility then don't go to this curriculum.
...you don't want a Bible study that has the potential to change your life and the life of your whole family! If you don't want that, then forget Judah Bible Study.

So, where's number 10. Well, to be honest I couldn't think of a number 10. Actually, if you haven't noticed, this top 10(9) list was all tongue in cheek. Don't get me wrong, all of the above things are true about this style of Bible study, but it really isn't as bad or difficult as I described above. Yes, it will take some time for you to read the manual and listen to the audios to gain a complete understanding of the curriculum. Yes, it will take time for you to study and get materials together. Yes, it is in depth and will require your child to think. Instead, though, of these things being negatives, they are really positives in my book.

Judah Bible Study really is a great curriculum. John Allen has really enjoyed using it and, although this has been a challenge to get to grasp the idea. After I did "grasp the idea" the whole philosophy and method became clear and I really liked what I saw.

I think you will like what you see too. The Judah Bible Study is really hard to describe in one review. To find out more about it click here or on any one of the links above to go to their website and find out more. The website will answer all of your questions, I'm sure. One of the best surprises I found about Judah Bible is that this great curriculum is only $44 for the download version - you will receive the K-12 Manual, the Elementary Notebook Ideas booklet and the 8 Lecture Teacher Training Seminar audios. For $69 + $5 Shipping and Handling you can purchase all of that in hard copy form.

Don't forget that many other members of the TOS Homeschool Crew also received the Judah Bible Curriculum to review and you can discover what they had to say by clicking here. Happy Bible Studying!

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was sent a free download of the Judah Bible Curriculum in order to try out and give an honest review on this blog.