Review: Weave Your Word in Me--Part 1

The Lord's Prayer is one of the simplest, humblest, and most beautiful examples of scripture in all of the Bible.

Memorizing and studying it has long been part of our family's homeschool tradition, and Nature Angel and I were delighted to have our study broadened and deepened when we received a copy of Weave Your Word in Me--Part 1 by Kid Niche Christian Books.

This is a physical product (not a digital download), printed in full color.  It arrived as a shrink-wrapped, pre-drilled set of worksheets that we put into our own 3-ring binder.  A 1/2" binder was plenty big enough.

We have family scripture study each day, and we encourage each child to read scriptures each day independently, but we also like for our children to form the habit of personal study--to know the word of God more deeply than a cursory "Yes-Mom-I-read-Matthew-chapter-3-today."

Nature Angel is 10 years old--at the young end of the target audience for this product.  She did just fine working independently each day.  She'd gather her Bible (we use KJV; this program is also compatible with ESV, NKJV, NIV, NASB, and NABRE), a pencil, and her Weave Your Word in Me binder, and she'd be set to work.

(Though the main instruction page says the student should have access to a dictionary, Nature Angel hasn't asked to use one yet.  Perhaps that is still to come.)

 One of my favorite features is the included answer key (just the answers, in a miniature font, at the end of the work book) because every so often the phrasing of a sentence throws us off, and we need to look up just what word is needed to fill in the blank.  First Nature Angel and I try to puzzle out the answer together, and we are mostly successful that way.  But when we need it, the answer is right there, and we laugh because it seems so easy once we see what word is needed.

Nature Angel says:

"It is really good.  I like how it makes you think about scriptures.  It has helped me with searching for scriptures, and it's getting easier for me to find the books of the Bible.  Sometimes I have to look really hard for the inside details that you need.  I like how it makes me think about the scriptures, and the scriptures they use are really special."

The lessons are brief--mostly 1 side of 1 page, but occasionally 2 sides.  They challenge Nature Angel to get to know the scriptures because each lesson has the student look up and read verses.  Then she fills answers in the blanks, writes short answers, sometimes draws pictures, reads historical background information, and/or responds to T/F prompts.

As stated above, on occasion she comes to me for help understanding a question, but on the whole, she is able to work independently, which is how we are using this curriculum.

However, on the Kid Niche Christian Books website, I found a treasure trove of extension activities that could turn Weave Your Word in Me into a delightful interdisciplinary study.

The activities start at 1a and go through 60c.  If I've done the math right, that's 180 activities!

By clicking on the purple "Activities" link at the top of the page, I found art lessons, video links, writing prompts, crafts, history, science, and music.

One feature we did not use in this curriculum is the fill-in-the-blank prayer charts at the end of each lesson.  The formulaic praying didn't feel like a good fit for our family.  As a substitute for the prayer charts, I asked Nature Angel to think about the purpose of each lesson and pray from her heart about the subject.  However, as the Kid Niche mission statement includes the purpose of teaching people "who desire to know and talk with the one true God," it makes sense that teaching the pattern of prayer would be part of the lessons. 

The copyright information on the inside cover makes it clear that this is not a reproducible product under any circumstances, so every student should have his/her own copy, but I can see how much fun this program could be in a small group study.

At the time this post was written Weave Your Word in Me parts 1 and 2 are available for $20 each, but the 2-part set can be purchased for only $30. As each part easily makes a whole school year's study--especially with the enrichment activities--it appears to me that $30 per student for 2 years' study could be a wise investment.

As winter approaches, and we start spending more time indoors than out, I'll be turning to these extension activities (especially the art ones) for Nature Angel . . . and probably a few of her siblings.

To read what other families thought of Weave Your Word in Me--Part 1 by Kid Niche Christian Books click here or on the banner below: