One of the truly great things about homeschooling is the ability to teach to our kids in a way that reaches them. We want our kids to love learning, and we also want them to learn all the important things!
Teaching a Homeschooling Co-op?
Are you teaching a homeschool Bible class? If so, you’re faced with a number of children who may have different levels of knowledge when it comes to Scripture.
And, you’re already homeschooling at home, getting your children to co-op, feeding your family… life is busy.
The Bible is important. It’s vital that our kids know God’s Word, and as the homeschool co-op teacher of the Bible, you have an amazing opportunity to make a difference in the lives of a classroom full of kids as they learn Scripture. It makes sense to begin at the beginning–the very beginning–with the doctrine of Creation. It also makes sense to choose a resource that is open and go for you as a teacher!
Bible Investigators: Creation is a puzzle-based Bible study for 8-12 year olds that just may be the perfect resources for your students. There are two ways you can use the book to teach your homeschool co-op Bible class.
A Homeschool Co-op Bible Class Kids Will Love!
Do your kids love puzzles? As a kid, I adored them! My kids were no different–they loved puzzle and activity books, too. When I wrote Bible Investigators: Creation, I wanted kids to have a good time learning about biblical concepts, Bible verses, and doctrine. Tweens have brains that are developmentally primed to memorize facts, words, verses, and more. They enjoy challenges, and really enjoy successfully completing challenges. And, our middle grade kids love having something of their own they can work through.
That’s not to say that Bible Investigators: Creation is all fun and games. Well, actually, the journal sections are pretty fun. With creative prompts and personal application questions, the journaling boxes do allow kids to express what they’ve learned in writing and in drawing–a teaching technique we refer to as written narration. There’s written teaching, too–so, again, not all fun and games. Except that the teaching in the book contains engaging narrative, and is packed with the kind of facts that 8-12 year olds love to soak up! Kids who work through Bible Investigators: Creation will learn the doctrine of Creation, and the inductive Bible study method.
So, how can a puzzle-based Bible study be the spine text for your next homeschooling Bible class? Easy. Take a look at the table of contents for this 272-page book.
Bible Investigators: Creation contains six sections:
- Introduction: You Are a Bible Investigator!
- Section One: God Created Everything in the Beginning
- God Created All Things Out of Nothing Genesis 1:1-2a; Jeremiah 4:23
- Every House Has a Builder Hebrews 3:4
- God Created the World for His Creatures Isaiah 45:18
- It Was All Good Genesis 1:31a; 1 Timothy 4:4
- God’s Works are Wondrous Psalm 145:1-13
- Section Two: The Story of Creation
- Let There Be Light! (Day 1) Genesis 1:3-5; 2 Corinthians 4:6
- The Sky Above (Day 2) Genesis 1:6-8; Jeremiah 10:12
- Soil and Potatoes (Day 3) Genesis 1:9-13; Psalm 104:14
- Time for the Universe (Day 4) Genesis 1:14-19; Psalm 104:19-23
- Creatures That Swim and Fly (Day 5) Genesis 1:20-23; Psalm 104:16-17, 24-25
- Beasts of the Earth and People (Day 6) Genesis 1:24-27
- Section Three: God Made Me
- God Gave Me Life Job 33:4
- God Formed Me Wonderfully Psalm 139:13-16
- God Gives Everyone Life and Breath Acts 17:24-28
- God Created Me for His Glory Isaiah 43:6b-7
- Section Four: Our Creator God
- God Is Eternal Psalm 90:2
- God Is All-Powerful Psalm 33:8-9
- God Is Uncreated Psalm 102:25-27; Revelation 1:8
- God the Father Created Genesis 1:26a; Jeremiah 32:17
- God the Son Created John 1:1-3
- God the Holy Spirit Created Psalm 104:24, 30; Genesis 1:2
- Section Five: God’s Good Creation Gifts
- Every Good Gift Is from God James 1:17; John 3:27b
- God Blesses Us Genesis 1:28-29
- God Gives Us the Sabbath Genesis 2:1-13; Exodus 20:8-20a, 11
- God Gives Us Work Genesis 2:15; Proverbs 28:19; Colossians 3:23-24
- God Gives Us Marriage Genesis 2:18-24
- Section Six: God’s Great Salvation Plan
- To Disobey God Is to Sin Genesis 2:16-17; John 14:15
- Adam and Eve Sinned–And So Have I Genesis 3:1-7; Romans 3:23
- Jesus Paid for Our Sin Ephesians 2:4-9
- Believe in Jesus and Confess Belief Romans 10:9-10
Each section, or unit, has four to six lessons, each with a teaching, notebooking spaces, and three Bible verse puzzles. The book makes a great six-week unit study on the doctrine of Creation!
See what I mean? The book has 90 puzzles, looks at 40 Bible passages, and covers 30 important truths about God’s Creation. If your class studies one truth (chapter) per week, the book will take you 30 weeks to complete, for a year-long class. Study two Creation truths per week, and you have a 15 week, or one semester, class. Or, study one unit each week for a speedy crash-course in the doctrine of Creation.
Two Options for How to Teach Your Homeschool Bible Co-op
The great thing about being the teacher is that you’re in charge, and you can arrange your teaching any way you’d like to fit the needs of your students. For the sake of brainstorming, let’s take a look at two options for how to use Bible Investigators: Creation to teach a class. I won’t take credit for thinking of these.
Rather, I’ve observed the way that co-op teachers have adapted Bible Road Trip™ to be used in a classroom setting, in one of two ways:
- Either each family in the Bible class purchases the Bible Road Trip™ curriculum and notebooking journals to study at home during their family discipleship time, and kids meet together in class to discuss what they’ve learned and do the projects
- Or, the co-op teaches from the Bible Road Trip™ curriculum during class, and each student works in their own printed notebooking journal.
After seeing both of these methods work for parent-teachers, I want to offer two ideas for how you can use Bible Investigators: Creation to your homeschool co-op Bible class.
Option 1: Teach Bible Investigators: Creation as a unit study in class.
For this option, each one of your families will want to purchase a copy of Bible Investigators: Creation for each of their 8-12 year old children in the class.
On the first day of class, I recommend going over the “Introduction: You Are a Bible Investigator!” section of the book (pages 5-6) together. Explain how the journal boxes work, and how you have chosen to schedule the class (30 weeks, 15 weeks, 6 weeks, or something in between).
Weekly, have the children work through the assigned section (1 unit or 1-2 chapters) on their own. When you meet for class, you can review what they’ve learned and work on a related craft or activity. Ask the kids if they memorized the verse they learned that week, or if they’d like to share some of their drawings or answers from their journal boxes.
There are a lot of great Creation crafts and activities around the web. Below are some you will find at Thinking Kids that will help make your class’s study of Creation truly memorable.
Option 2: Teach each lesson of Bible Investigators: Creation in class.
Another way you can teach Bible Investigators: Creation to your homeschool co-op Bible class is to purchase a teacher copy for yourself, then use the special URL inside the book to print copies of the puzzles for each child. You can teach the lesson and have kids call out answers to the journal boxes, then they can work the puzzles in class, with you available to help them if they get stuck. Be sure to have extra paper available so they can draw the answers to the journal boxes, if they wish.
Either way, your co-op kids will learn a lot about the theology of Creation, our Creator God, his Creation event, his special creation of humans, the good Creation gifts God gave us, and his plan for salvation. They will also learn how to use the inductive Bible study method as they become stellar Bible Investigators!
Teaching a homeschooling co-op Bible class can be a lot of fun. With puzzle-based Bible study, kids can become Bible Investigators in an exciting way that doesn’t feel like work. And you will have a great way to teach them all about Creation and how to study the Bible!
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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Puzzle-Based Independent Bible Study for Kids!
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2, ESV
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- Observe: They pay attention to what they’re reading.
- Interpret: They figure out what the Bible means in that section.
- Apply: They decide how the truth of God’s Word impacts their life today.
There are a great many truths in life to be found—some interesting, some boring, and some that really matter. You can be the kind of investigator who spends time puzzling out important truth so that you can know all the knowable knowledge that God has given us. That’s right. God, the Creator of the Universe, gave you a great big letter from him to explore and study so that you can discover the truths that really matter to your life!”
Bible Investigators: Creation, (The Good Book Company, 2024), page 7
The Bible Investigators: Creation Bible study for kids, written by Danika Cooley and published by The Good Book Company, is 272-pages of learning, puzzles, and fun activities designed to help your kids become amazing independent Bible investigators–observing, interpreting, and applying God’s Word as they learn what the Bible teaches on a particular subject.
Bible Puzzles for Kids
Middle grade kids, aged 8-12, love puzzles. After all, their brains are just built for figuring things out and memorizing facts. Puzzles are a wonderful way to help kids develop logic skills and retain important information. And, the book is written in a fun, conversational tone your children are sure to love!
What types of puzzles and activities will you find in Bible Investigators?
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- Word Searches
- Crosswords
- Rebus Puzzles
- Dot-to-Dots
- Logic Puzzles
- Missing Letter Puzzles
- Cryptograms
- Word Sudoku
- Mazes
- How-to-Draw Pages
- Matching Pairs
- Word Scrambles
- Journal Pages
Every child is sure to find activities they’ll love!
Elementary-aged kids need hands-on middle grade resources that engage them and equip them to process important truths.
Bible Investigators is the perfect resource to teach your kids about an important biblical doctrine, while helping them apply God’s Word to their lives today.
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