Who Is God? And Can I Really Know Him

Who is God? And Can I Really Know Him

Written by:  John Hay and David Webb

Published by:   ApologiaPress

Age Range: 6-14

Price: $39.00

About the Book,taken from the Apologia Website:

“Our children are bombarded on a daily basis with competing messages. Every song, movie, book, TV show, blog, and game is full of ideas—ideas about truth, morality, beauty, identity, faith, and more. Not all of these ideas are true. Some are wrong, some are deceptive, and some are outright destructive. It is more important than ever that young children be equipped to discern among competing ideas and stand in the truth. This is why Apologia has teamed with Summit Ministries to bring you the "What We Believe" Series. The "What We Believe" Series is an outstanding way to teach your child the essential beliefs of the Christian faith, but it’s so much more! With this student-directed, Bible-based curriculum, your children will learn how to use Scripture as a lens through which to view the world around them—to see everything the way God sees it—and know the truth.

       This book contains 10 Lessons. Each lesson is follows a similar structure. It is suggested that each lesson take approximately two weeks to complete. The text is written directly to the student. Notebooking is incorporated within each lesson. There are notebooking assignments given and you may go to the Apologia Website and find already formatted notebooking pages to print off. On the website as well, are numerous teacher helps that can be downloaded

   There are approximately 10-11 sections within each chapter. Each lesson opens with The Big Idea. This gives an introduction as to the topic of that lesson. Short stories feature characters that are struggling and learning about the topic presented. Vocabulary words are defined so that their use throughout the lesson will be understood. Bible verses are quoted extensively, as well as a few key verses that are given for memorization.  Interesting articles that relate to the topic are included in each chapter. A section on What Should I Do?  is designed to help apply the lesson to real life. Worldview study is the final portion of the lesson and introduces the concept of how people perceive the world around them. The idea is that as our children recognize their own Christian worldview, they will then begin to understand why people believe differently from they do and what shapes those beliefs. To help children remember what they have learned, every few lessons conclude with a picture of a “House of Truth” being built. This gives kids a concrete way to think about who they are in God’s kingdom.

Take a look inside the first chapter of Who Is God? And Can I Really Know Him  by clicking here.

What the ClarkClan thought?

• Interesting story lines.
• Fun hands on activities
• Beautiful pictures throughout, good combination of real-life photographs and reproductions of famous art pieces.
• Well-Defined vocabulary words
• Easy to use. Can use the schedule provided or easily make up your own.

     We worked through the first five chapters of the book. The books starts with a lesson on “Where Am I Building My Life?” This lesson gives the foundation for teaching kids a biblical worldview. It focuses on building your life on the Lord, Jesus Christ. All of us enjoyed the optical illusions section at the end of the chapter. Because all four of my kids were doing this book together, looking at the optical illusions truly highlighted that everybody sees the world in a slightly different way. 

     Ben (9) and Rebekah (7) looked forward to reading the continuing story of Jeremy and Ben located in each chapter. Lesson Four contains an activity to make a ”Mobius Strip”. Just like this strip has only one side, so God has only one side, always good, always holy. My kids were amazed at the strips and liked the analogy that went along with it. 

     The book made excellent use of real life topics and culture to explain different points. One lesson sidebar talked about allegory and used the Chronicles of Narnia book series to illustrate the point. Another lesson uses examples from Sherlock Holmes and another from Star Wars.

     Located on the Apologia website are downloadable notebooking pages and teachers notes. I used the teachers notes and some of the notebooking pages. Because we used this book at the end of our daily worship time, as a family, everybody would answer the questions on the pages together. There is a “Make a Note of It” box during the chapter, and I would have Ben and Rebekah complete these activities in their journals after our worship time was over.

Mom’s Note

     I was excited to be able to review this book from Apologia. Trying to see the world through a Biblical standpoint and teaching that to my children is important to me. As stated above, there were many things we liked about the book. As much as I wanted to love the entire book, there were times that it presented me with a few ideas different than what my Lutheran faith teaches.  Law and Gospel is a central teaching in our church, The Law shows us our sin and our need for a Savior and the Gospel shows us our Savior, Jesus Christ. Within the lessons,usually under the “What Should I Do” section, I encountered the Law, things we must do to please God, but not the Gospel for when we fail to measure up to these standards.  There were also a few statements that were jarring to me as I read them. I feel that statements such as " we should always want to do what is good to show God how much we love Him" are misleading. While I agree doing good is a natural result of faith, I know that I cannot by my own power do any good to please God. It is only because of Jesus Christ, that God will see any good in me.

Recommendation

     Will I order the next book in this series? I am not sure. I found many things that I agreed with and I liked having a format to teach my kids the foundations of a Biblical Worldview. That being said, I also felt that I could not let my children read the book on their own because of a few misleading statements.

     I also realize that not all churches have the same doctrines and teaching. This book may be a good fit for your family, especially if you have never discussed a Biblical Worldview before. It gives you a good “jumping off” place to start.

      You can find the Who Is God? And Can I Really Know Him? book along with the entire “What We Believe” series on the Apologia website.    New products are coming out this spring that coincide with this series, such as a coloring book. Apologia offers many different homeschooling products. From science curriculums, to online Academies, to Worldview studies,to conferences  Apologia Educational Ministries is a good resource for the homeschooling families.

     I was only one of many that reviewed Who Is God? And Can I Really Know Him?  Visit the TOS Crew blog and read my Crew mates reviews for a balanced picture.

As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of TOS Homeschool Crew I received the book Who Is God? And Can I Really Know Him for free from Apologia Educational Ministries in exchange for my honest review of their product.