Name: Great Homeschool Conventions (Columbus)
Start: 2025-04-24T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-26T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Columbus, OH

Tagged: Apologia, Bible Study Curriculum, Brimwood, What We Believe Series, Who is God?

This topic has 12 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 9 months ago by BlessedMommy.

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

Author
Posts
August 14, 2012 at 9:35 pm
ourLittleFlock
Participant
Has anyone used any of the books from Apologia’s What We Believe Series? Titles I see are “Who Is God? And Can I Really Know Him?” and “Who am I? And What am I Doing Here?” These apparently are books on Biblical Worldview.
The other series I’m curious to know about is the Brimwood Press worldview series? This looks very interesting to me, but maybe it’s not necessary. There is only so much time. 😉
Is that too many questions in one post? Let me know if I should separate.
Thank you!
Kim
August 16, 2012 at 3:47 am
Michaela
Participant
I just ordered the first book in the Apologia series. There are four altogether. I thought it would be more of a read-aloud/devotion type book, but it’s written directly to the student with notebooking ideas and questions for discussion. Also two verses for each lesson to memorize that really solidify the content. We have only read through part of the first lesson, and so far it’s great. Very grounded in the Word. I am reading it out loud with my 8 year old, but I noticed my 6 and 5 year olds listening in, too. I think it will be a great course in Biblical worldview. My daughter said it reminded her of Ann Voskamp’s geography books. (Explore His Earth, and Explore the Holy Land).
August 16, 2012 at 12:50 pm
2flowerboys
Participant
We just started this book. It is very meaty and having to break up the lessons! I like it and my ds of 9 almost 10 likes it. However, my 7 yr old gets lost in space..LOL! He listens but his interest starts to die off! Maybe it is a boy thing?? Ya know thinking about playing w/ his cars instead! He has always listened to our other devotions and Bible readings. However I was thinkng last night in bed that all the other lessons we have done there have been stories directly from the Bible then relating those to our own lives etc.. So maybe he likes that type of learning??
I am going to continue using this w/ my older ds. And have the other one sit in on the story part as well as the verses. We do other Bible too, so he isn’t missing out on anything. But I can see where we will be using this book again in the future! As well as probably not going to finish this school year! It is very good but lots of info!
HTH
August 16, 2012 at 1:49 pm
chocodog
Participant
I am glad to see that everyone so far likes it. I was thinking about purchasing it but have been wondering myself if it would be a good read. I hope to hear more input from others too….
August 16, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Rachel White
Participant
The only input I can give is a recommendation to research and read through the answers and compare them to what you want your children to study first.
I followed the controversy surrounding Dr. Jay Wile’s leaving of APologia and it was this series that was pivotal in his leaving.
From what I understand, if you are a Calvinist or have mostly Calvinist leanings then you should like the series, however, if you have differing views or want a curriculum that allows for broader alternatives to Calvinist interpretatioins, then it may not be for you.
August 16, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Saraspondence
Member
Hi there – I’m brand new to the SCM forum, and thought I’d weigh in here.
I was raised in a liberal denomination, and so far there has been absolutely nothing in the Who is God, book 1, to cause alarm. That said, to stay on the schedule requires 45 minutes to an hour to get the reading done, discuss questions and do the journal assignment. This is more time that I would like to spend, now that I’m trying to finish earlier.
I’m also not a fan of snippets of Scripture, which they use quite a bit in this series. The book uses a story format in each chapter to discuss how secular worldview has influenced one of the two main characters, who are children. We are using the journal as well, in which there are vocabulary words, crossword puzzles, mini-books etc. (similar to the Apologia Young Explorer Science journals). My daughter is 11, and this year we made a point to schedule Bible first each day after our SCM Memory Verses (LOVE this). May just have to spread out the assignments more. We will probably not do the rest of the series, because I’d really like to simply read the Bible each day, and discuss and respond to it as He leads. My daughter has never read through the Bible and I think as a goal, perhaps that’s what we will work towards through her middle years.

August 16, 2012 at 11:37 pm
2flowerboys
Participant
Thought this may help you!
http://cathyduffyreviews.com/worldview/what-we-believe-series.htm
and this reviews and you can look at some of the book
http://www.christianbook.com/really-know-him-biblical-worldview-truth/john-hay/9781935495079/pd/437017?event=1016AEM|338642|102656
I am not Calvinist. And not sure why this series is considered that? Can someone explain?
August 17, 2012 at 2:26 am
ourLittleFlock
Participant
Wow – I hadn’t checked the forum for a day because we had company and I wasn’t sure anyone was going to respond. Thank you all for your input. It’s just great to hear from you. I’m off to read the Cathy Duffy review now.
Kim
August 13, 2014 at 7:00 am
Amber
Participant
Does anyone else have more to add about this series?
August 13, 2014 at 10:37 am
Melanie32
Participant
Hi! This is my first time posting after lurking around the boards for several months now.
I bought the Apologia book last year for my 11 year old daughter. I really wanted to like it but both my daughter and myself found it a little too contrived. It seemed to be working too hard to pull things together and just wasn’t realistic. I thought the stories were too simple for older kids yet the concepts too advanced for younger ones. After reading so much quality literature throughout the years my daughter is quick to see when a message is thinly veiled as a story and that’s what we found in this book.
We found we much prefer to focus on reading the scriptures together and taking a more holistic approach to worldview. As Dueteronomy says we are to teach them throughout the whole day in the context of real life. We teach worldview when we talk with them about television, magazines at the grocery store, billboards, the news, etc.

May 9, 2015 at 7:31 pm
cam
Participant
Yes, I looked forward to using this series for years, and then I heard and read about the Calvinist worldview it pushes. I should’ve realized that sooner, since the person who highly recommended the series to me for my children is heavily into reformed/Calvinist doctrine.
We won’t be using it. If anyone knows of any good, Biblical worldview studies for kids that are NOT Calvinist-leaning, I’d appreciate recommendations.
May 30, 2015 at 11:49 am
KyrsyPye78
Participant
I agree with Saraspondence and Melanie32.
I was very excited to try the series with my students. We got the Junior Journal last year with the text and coloring book. The site says that the Jr. Journals are suitable for students with “limited writing skills”, ages 6 – 9. However, even for my advanced reading son, I found that these were over his head. (For instance, one of the first exercises in the jr. journal included comprehending and writing the word “foundation”. Not entirely practical for most 6, or even 7, year olds.)
I did not find that it fit into CM’s method very easily. The daily lessons, even broken down, took at least 45min (vs the 15-20 prescribed by CM for young children), there were a TON of canned questions, and lots of busywork – like fill-in-the-blanks and word searches.
In Lesson 1 of “Who Is God” there is: a “Big Idea” section, followed by some individual verses, and canned questions. Then a snippet about the Great Architect (God). Then a 3 page story about two young boys. More canned questions. Finally, we get to the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Then a snippet about the Pyramid at Gyza. More canned questions. A box of vocabulary words. More disconnected verses. THEN we have some practical application, which is comprised of 7 parts over 4 large pages, and some quotes thrown in, along with more individual verses. Then a notebooking exercise, which includes writing down a list of all of the things that will prevent you from Building on the Rock. (Seemed counter-intuitive to me. If CM balked at children writing a word improperly, what would she think about writing a whole Biblical principle this way?) Finally, we get to a pre-scripted prayer.
All of that is separate from the 13 pages of exercises in the Jr. Notebooking Journal that go along with Lesson 1, as well as the pages of the Coloring Book, if you choose to include that.
It definitely felt contrary to the idea that the teacher/text shouldn’t get between the student and the subject. Haha. 😉
Ok, this overview sounds pretty negative, so let me add that I do know of families who have gotten a lot out of the series and they recommend it very highly. (I do not believe that they were following a CM philosophy, however.) I DO think that there are some good concepts in the series, so I’m hanging on to it for now… Perhaps when my children are working more independently, this resource might become more practical? However, at that point, I am concerned that, while the volume of information might be more attainable, the activities might be too simple. *sigh*
I really wanted to like it (obviously, I’m still torn!), but cannot recommend it from a CM standpoint. I just seems like there are much simpler and more organic ways to plant seeds of understanding in our children’s hearts.
May 30, 2015 at 11:27 pm
BlessedMommy
Participant
I went through the first book with my 6/7 year old this year. I ignored the suggested schedule so it would often take us about 2 weeks to get through a whole lesson. I skipped all of the sidebar stuff. For an older child independently reading, it may be useful information but, for now, it just seemed very distracting from the actual lesson. I would use the questions at the end of sections to open discussion (but, we often already had discussion throughout the reading.). I did not get the notebooking journal or have her focus on memorizing vocabulary. I got the coloring book because allowing her to color while I read really helps her listen so much better. I also skipped the world view section at the end of each lesson. I figured we will revisit each book later on (kind of like the history modules and at that point she will get the extra stuff out of it. However… I’m not 100% sure I plan to continue because I’m really trying to simplify.