God's Great Covenant: New Testament 1

God's Great Covenant:  New Testament 1 is the 3rd book in a four book chronological Bible study series by Classical Academic Press.  The first two books focus on the Old Testament and the last two books focus on the New Testament (the fourth books is currently in production).  God's Great Covenant:  New Testament 1 teaches the Gospels, and is intended for children in fourth grade and up.  There is a Student Book ($26.95), Teacher's Edtion ($29.95), and mp3 Audio Files ($9.95) available for this program (all 3 can be purchased as a bundle for $56.95).  I received the Student Book and Teacher's Edition for review.

This program has 36 weekly chapters, and they are broken down into 4 units:

• Unit I:  Jesus, the Son of Man, Has Come...To Live Among His People
• Unit II:  Jesus, God's Servant, Has Come...To Proclaim the Good News
• Unit III:  Jesus, the Messiah, Has Come...To Teach About God's Kingdom
• Unit IV:  Jesus, the Son of God, Has Come...To Conquer Sin and Death

Each unit begins with a short introduction explaining the theme of the unit.  Lessons follow the same pattern, though the four review chapters are slightly different (view a sample lesson here).  Each chapter begins with a Memory Page.  This page contains the Theme of the chapter, the Scriptures referenced, a Memory Passage, Key Facts, and what Prophecy Jesus fulfilled.  The Memory Page is followed by a Story Time page.  This page contains the Bible story for the chapter, and is usually a couple of pages long.  Following the story are Worksheets.  The worksheets contain several questions that require the student to think and interact with the text.  There are multiple choice questions, crossword puzzles, word scrambles, fill in the blank questions, and there are plenty of open ended questions that will challenge the student to really think about the lesson and apply it to their life.  Each unit concludes with a review lesson and a Memory Passage worksheet, a devotional, and a story from Simon (a fictional character who gives a snapshot of daily life at the time of Jesus).

The Teacher's Edition contains an exact copy of the Student Book, but the pages from the Student Book are shrunk down, leaving room in the margins for a ton of notes that expand on the text.  These notes give great information on the historical, geographical, cultural, and theological context of the stories and passages covered. You can view a sample chapter here.

This is another fabulous product from Classical Academic Press.  I love that the lessons pull from each of the gospels, instead of just covering the account from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John individually.  The questions on the worksheet don't allow the student to simply gloss over the text--they have to work and think and wrestle with the text to come up with an answer.  I'm thrilled that this program doesn't assume that children are incapable of thinking deeply about Scripture.The quality of the product is what I've come to expect from this publisher, and well worth the money.

For more reviews of God's Great Covenant:  New Testament Book 1, go here.

 Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are mine.