Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Spiritual training is an important aspect of homeschooling for my family. So when we had the opportunity to review The LIFE Plan from The LIFE Network, I was looking forward to using it as a part of our daily Bible time.
What Is This Product?
The LIFE Plan is set of six books that help prepare believers to live a life for Christ. The acronym stands for Living Intentionally for Eternity, and that is what this product helps you do.
Each of the six volumes has a soft cover, and is a good size for holding comfortably. Each book contains 36 lessons. If you complete one lesson a week, each volume will last for one school year. However, you can go through them at a pace that works for your family. If you begin studying these when your student is in first grade, they can go through the entire series twice before they graduate from high school.
When you work your way through the entire series, your family will build a strong foundation upon which to build. Each volume has a big picture theme, which all of the lessons inside point towards. Here are the main topics of each volume:
- The Bible’s Story
- Abraham and Israel
- The Structure of the Bible
- The Life of Jesus on Earth
- The Church
- Your Personal Ministry
Each lesson in the series follows a similar design. This helps with consistency, since everyone will know what to expect. In each lesson, you’ll find:
- A theme/topic
- The objective or aim
- Scripture reference
- A reading (1-3 pages)
- Additional scriptures to read
- Theological connections
- Glossary
- Questions to answer
At the end of the book, there are answers to the questions you can refer to. Here are some photos from inside the books so you can get a better sense of how they are designed:
How We Used This Product
After spending some time looking through these books on my own, I prayed about which one to start with for our family study. They can be used in any order, so you don’t have to start with book one. However, that is the one that made the most sense to start with for us.
The kids can read the listed scripture, then I typically read aloud the lesson portion. Then we end the first day of study with a quick discussion.
The next day, we do a quick review and then dive into the questions and look up any unknown words. The question portion always seems to lead naturally into a good discussion.
Some of the lessons are a little long for the younger kids, so I have occasionally broken a lesson into two sessions, and then we do the questions on a third.
I am also going to have my oldest daughter begin reading one volume on her own. These books can easily be done independently for students who are solid readers.
To help my younger kids stay engaged, I often had them draw pictures of what we were reading. That way they had something to do to keep their hands busy, which can help keep the ears listening.
What We Thought of These Products
I appreciate how in-depth the lessons went. They really dive deep into concepts. As I was looking through each volume, I was impressed with how much was covered.
Here’s a table of contents from volume 4, which focuses on the life of Jesus on earth.
The questions do a good job of making the kids think and apply what they’ve learned. At times it seemed like some of the questions got repetitive, so I just skipped over a few if the kids seemed like they were getting weary.
I feel like these books will help us all grow closer to God, which is a great thing. I also like that you can use them over and over again. If your family works through them two times over the course of twelve years, you will really get a lot of value out of them. And it’ll help you grow spiritually.
If you’re looking for a solid Bible curriculum that can last for years, I recommend giving these a try.
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