Homeschool FAQ

Homeschool Curriculum: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the homeschool Bible material produced by Union Gospel Press?

Illuminate Bible Series is a daily Bible curriculum for 1st to 12th grade. It can be used as a full-year Bible curriculum for homeschool students.

The series is separated into two studies that can teach multiple ages with the use of one book—the Parent-Student Guide for elementary students (1st to 6th grade) and the Student Guide for upper grade students (7th to 12th grade). Each book contains thirty-two week-long studies of the most prominent Bible stories, leading students to study God’s Word throughout the course of a school year. Student workbooks are also available.

Year 1 was launched in February of 2020. Six years of this series are planned for each age group.

 

Who should use this material?

Children of all ages! Illuminate Bible Series is a great resource for a Bible class at home, in a homeschool co-op, or in a Christian school setting. It can even be adapted to a church situation and makes for a great family devotional. Parents and teachers will find that they also benefit from the in-depth studies.

 

What are the books available for purchase?

Elementary Grades (1st – 6th grade)

• Parent-Student Guide (1st – 6th) – teacher guide for all elementary grades
• Student Workbook (1st – 2nd)
• Student Workbook (3rd – 4th)
• Student Workbook (5th – 6th)

Upper Grades (7th – 12th grade)

• Student Guide – can be used as a student textbook and teacher guide
• Student Workbook

One Guide book is necessary for each age group (elementary and upper grades) for each year of study. The Guide books can be used by themselves in a variety of ways, but for full use of the material, one Student Workbook is necessary for each student. 

Note: If your student is in 1st or 2nd grade, he or she will benefit from using the Parent-Student Guide and the Student Workbook for their age. However, the Student Workbook (1st-2nd) can work as a stand-alone study if you desire a simpler or shorter study for younger students. 

 

What features does this Bible curriculum include?

Elementary Grades

• Students from every elementary grade can be taught together from the Parent-Student Guide.
• Students can review what they learn using workbooks designed for their own age group.
• A daily Bible reading is provided with each lesson.
• A daily Christ Focus shows how the Scripture passage and lesson point to Jesus.
• A daily Prayer Point guides students to a prayer goal related to the lesson. 
• A weekly Bible verse is provided for the students to commit to memory.
• Student workbooks offer questions and activities designed to disciple students in the Christian faith.
• Weekly lessons focus on one main Bible story, its context, its connections with other Scriptures, a related Bible doctrine, a practical application, and a review of the week’s lessons.

Upper Grades

• Students from all upper grades (7th through 12th) can learn together from the Student Guide.
• Students can review what they learn from workbooks designed for their age group.
• A daily Bible reading is provided with each lesson.
• A weekly Christ Focus shows how the Scripture passages and lessons point to Jesus.
• Student workbooks offer questions and activities designed to disciple students in the Christian faith.
• Weekly lessons focus on one main Bible story, its context, its connections with other Scriptures, doctrine, worldview studies, interesting historical and cultural connections, and practical application

 

What does a weekly study look like?

Each week focuses on a key story from the Bible. Teachers begin the week by reading the story from the Bible and its related lesson in the Guide book to their students. Students can also read the lessons independently if desired. The following lessons for the week focus on other Bible passages that connect with the key story for the week. They shed light on the story’s context, its connection with other key events and passages in the Bible, the doctrine that can be found in the story, or ways the truth from the story can be applied in their lives. Older students will also be equipped with a weekly worldview focus that compares God’s truth with secular arguments. 

Here’s what students do each day:

Elementary Grades

1. Read a Bible passage.
2. Read and discuss the lesson in the Parent-Student Guide.
3. Pray together using the Prayer Point.
4. Read the Christ Focus. 
5. Answer the questions in their workbooks.

Upper Grades

1. Read a Bible passage.
2. Read the lesson in the Student Guide.
3. Answer the questions in their workbooks.

 

How long will it take to do the daily Bible lessons?

Around a half-hour. 

• Each Bible lesson in the elementary level Parent-Student Guide, including the Bible reading, should take about 10-15 minutes, followed by 10-15 minutes for students to complete the activities in their individual workbooks.
• The daily lessons in the upper grades Student Guide, including the Bible reading, should take about 15 minutes; answering the questions in the workbook might take another 10-15 minutes.

 

What translation of the Bible does the curriculum use?

The Bible material has been designed so that it can be used with whatever translation you desire. The lessons in the Guide books begin with the reading of a Bible passage, which you can do from your personal Bible. While Bible passages are referenced throughout the curriculum, they are not often quoted at length. When passages are directly quoted, the New King James Version is cited.

How does the material work for multiple ages?

The Bible can be understood by young children and yet is deep enough for a lifetime of study. As we set out to create the Illuminate Bible Series, we also desired to keep the lessons accessible for a variety of learning levels.

The Parent-Student Guide is generally written at a 4th to 5th grade comprehension level, but the abilities of all elementary grades are kept in mind in each lesson. The Student Guide lessons are written at a 10th grade level, but the understanding of every upper-grade student is considered throughout the book. Illustrations, concepts, and activities have been intentionally crafted to engage a variety of ages, while the oldest students in each age group will still be challenged.

Families who use Illuminate Bible Series to help them study and discuss the Bible together may find their daily Bible study turning into family worship!

 

What is the Scope & Sequence/Lesson Plan?

The two age groups have different lesson plans, but both are focused on God—His perfections and His work. They teach kids the story of God’s grace and glory through Jesus Christ using passages throughout the Bible. In six years of study, students in both age groups will explore 192 prominent Bible stories and many more related Scriptures. When finished, they should have a solid grasp of the Bible and its glorious Author.

Annual study guides are divided into two semesters and eight unit studies.

Year 1 for the elementary ages is called God Our Savior. God’s work of salvation is traced from Genesis to Revelation as students see how He is carrying out His wonderful plan for Creation. Some of the stories are Creation, Adam and Eve, the Tower of Babel, Noah, the Exodus, Jesus’ life, His death, and His resurrection.

Year 1 of the upper grades study is titled God’s Glory: The Reason for Everything. It focuses on God as the central figure in the Bible: Who He Is and What He Has Done. Students learn about God’s wonderful attributes and His great acts. Bible stories include Creation, the History of Israel, the Life of Christ, and the early History of the Church.

Note: this study is not strictly chronological, but students will see a chronological flow within various semesters and units. The goal is to show how all of the Bible fits together to point to Jesus in a wonderful way! 

Twelve books are planned to help students see the grace and glory of our God and give them a deep understanding of Scripture:

 

Elementary Grades

 

• God Our Savior

• Our Faithful God

• Our God of Mercy and Grace

• Jesus, Our Prophet, Priest, and King

• Jesus, God’s Son

• Our Victorious God

 

Upper Grades

 

• God’s Glory: The Reason for Everything

• The Glory of Christ: The Center of History   

• Faith: The Response to God’s Glory  

• God’s Glory as He Builds His Kingdom

• Living for God’s Glory 

• The Triumph of God’s Glory

 

Is this material flexible?

Very much so! Illuminate Bible Series was designed to help busy parents working with multiple children as well as teachers seeking flexibility in their academic schedules. The studies are self-contained, ready-to-teach, and organized in a way that makes it easy to adapt to different settings and timetables.

Is your school week only three or four days? Lessons can be combined or skipped as you see fit. Quizzes and tests are color coded so that you can choose to leave out questions about material that has not been covered.

Because the Guide books are not broken down by individual grades, multiple ages can learn the material together. If you have a 7th-grade student who would benefit from learning alongside your younger students, you could include him in the elementary grade study. If your youngest is a student in 6th grade, he or she may benefit from learning alongside other siblings with the upper grade study. You decide!

 

Why is this material important?

Numerous studies paint a painful picture of the state of biblical literacy and Christian conduct among “churched” teens and college students. “Good kids” who have attended church regularly all their lives are reaching college with minimal knowledge of Bible basics, having no serious interest in Bible study or prayer, and lacking the spiritual discipline to live in accordance with biblical truth. If Scripture truly is the only source for authoritative truth, then our students need to study it and know it well. No other study or pursuit of knowledge can have the eternal impact that Bible study does. It should never be ignored or treated as a matter of secondary importance.

Matthew 4:4 says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” We want our kids to build their lives on God’s unchanging Word and follow the example of the Bereans, who “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily” (Acts 7:11). Our approach is simple. We want to cultivate in students a love for and dependence on God’s Word. Nothing can surpass the value of consistent time devoted to learning God’s Word.

 

What makes Illuminate Bible Series curriculum unique?

Sadly, despite the enormous number of Bible learning aids available for kids today, on average, children and teens understand less about the Bible than children and teens a generation ago. The best way to combat this is to draw kids into meaningful engagement with Scripture. 

Illuminate Bible Series is not a light overview of the Bible, nor does it offer mere devotional thoughts for daily inspiration. Instead, our curriculum introduces students to serious biblical teaching and important theology that engages both their hearts and their minds. We help students wrestle with challenging doctrinal problems and stimulate their thinking with significant concepts in Scripture. We want to anchor Christian families in the bedrock truths of Scripture through daily study. We pray that our Christ-focused, worldview-oriented, expository Bible curriculum will nurture in each student the desire to love the Lord with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind (Luke 10:27).

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