Mama’s Review: What’s in the Bible? DVD

{Make sure you stick around for the giveaway at the bottom of this post!}

One of my main priorities as a mama is to make sure my children have a clear understanding of the Bible: what it contains and what it doesn’t contain.  In fact, I just spent a few days on a planning retreat (all by myself!) setting goals for each of my children for the upcoming school year.  Always at the top of that goal list is for each of little people to grow in their understanding of who Jesus is and what His Word says.

And with our discovery of the What’s in the Bible? DVDs, my planning just got a little easier.

My children and I had the opportunity to watch Volume 4 of the series: Battle for the Promised Land! [Joshua, Judges & Ruth].  My first thought on seeing this episode was, “Where was this DVD during our school year when we studied this in history?!”

In my opinion, this historical portion of the Bible is difficult to teach to little ones.  We trudged our way through it in history this year, and I admit that I had some difficulty pulling all of the concepts together for my little people.

If I had only known what a perfect resource this would have been for learning about this time period in history!

A Quick Look at What’s in the Bible?

What’s in the Bible? is a new series of DVDs written by VeggieTales creator Phil Vischel.  The videos are designed to guide children (and their parents!) through the Bible chronologically. Currently, there are 8 DVDs available, with the last going through Psalms, Proverbs, and the Writings.

Volume 4 focuses on the historical books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth.  Using their typical engaging, hilarious style, the What’s in the Bible? characters take you through the events of those 3 books of the Bible.

When I asked my son about his thoughts on the video, this was his response:

Mama, I learned a couple of things that we didn’t talk about in school.  Did you know that Jericho wasn’t the only battle that the Israelites fought?  I thought it was.  But  they had to fight tons of ’em to get that land.  And did you know that God’s standards are so high we’ll never, ever reach ’em?  That’s called sin, you know.”

Oh I just love it.

The Best Features of What’s in the Bible? DVD

There are several features of this series that make it stand out:

• The accounts described in this volume are Biblically based.
  After watching it myself, I know that the Biblical accounts are accurate and I don’t have to diffuse or re-arrange anything that was presented on the video.  Accurate theology is important to me, and this volume didn’t disappoint.
• Hard-to-understand concepts are made simple.
  It’s difficult to explain to children why the inhabitants of Canaan had to give up their land (and even die) when the Israelites returned.  However, the creators of this DVD did a phenomenal job in explaining such a difficult concept.
• The DVD is broken into 2 segments.
  For those of us that don’t allow a lot of tv watching time in one spurt, I appreciated that the video was broken into 2 segments, 25 minutes each.
• The style is appealing to children.
  My children think that Buck Denver is the funniest thing ever.  The theme song? {Do you know what’s in the Bi-a-ble? Do you know if it’s reliable?} Super catchy.

Free Supplements from What’s in the Bible?

What’s in the Bible? also offers a few free supplements on their site.  You can choose from coloring pages, a cute finger puppet set, and even a flash card set.  Only coloring pages are available for Volume 4 right now, but head over to Mama Jenn’s to see the finger puppet set and flash cards in action.

My kiddos loved that their coloring pages matched up exactly with the actual scenes from the DVD!  My son declared, “Well, that doesn’t happen very often!”  And he’s right!

My DVD also included a free download code for a digital version of Volume 4.  What a thoughtful freebie to include since so much of what we do is online.

You Can Win Your Own What’s in the Bible? DVD Volume 1!

The What’s in the Bible?  folks are generously allowing me to give away a copy of Volume 1 for one of Mama’s readers!  Volume 1 focuses on what is actually in the Bible, how the books came about, and how it is organized.  The next segment of the video focuses on the account of Creation.

To win a copy of What’s in the Bible? Volume 1, you must:

• Enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Respond within 48 hours of winning this giveaway or another winner will be chosen

Note: As the winner, if you have a US mailing address, you’ll receive the actual DVD of Volume 1.  If you live outside of the US, you will receive the digital download version of Volume 1.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Even More Ways to Win

Each of the iHomeschool Network Bloggers below are reviewing and hosting giveaways for the different volumes of What’s in the Bible?  Make sure to stop by each blog to enter to win your own copy!

Monday, June 25 – Volume 1: In the Beginning [Genesis]
Jenn at {Mama Jenn}
Amber at {A Classic Housewife}

Tuesday, June 26 – Volume 2: Let My People Go [Exodus]
Stacie at {Motherhood on a Dime}
Jennifer at {Jennifer A. Janes}

Wednesday, June 27 – Volume 3: Wanderin’ in the Desert [Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy]
Richele at {Under the Golden Apple Tree}
Tabitha at {Meet Penny}

Thursday, June 28 – Volume 4: Battle for the Promised Land! [Joshua, Judges, Ruth]
Rachel at {Finding Joy}
Lauren at {Mama’s Learning Corner}

Friday, June 29 – Review and Giveaway of Volume 5: Israel Gets A King! [1 and 2 Samuel]
Kris at {Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers}
Cindy at {Our Journey Westward}

Monday, July 2 – Volume 6: A Nation Divided [Kings and Chronicles]
Daniele at {Domestic Serenity}
Heather at {Blog, She Wrote}

Tuesday, July 3 – Volume 7: Exile and Return [Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther]
Mary at {Homegrown Learners}
Aadel at {These Temporary Tents}

Wednesday, July 4 – Volume 8: Words to Make Us Wise [Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon]
LaToya at {Christian Momma}
Ami at {Walking by the Way}

Thursday, July 5 – Why Do We Call It Christmas?
Carlie at {So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler}
Amy at {Milk and Cookies}

Friday, July 6 – Songs!
Christine at {Fruit in Season}
Rebecca at {Mom’s Mustard Seeds}

A Note from Mama:  Since I am only reviewing Volume 4 of this series, I did not include the following in the actual review portion of this post.  Here in the Hill House, we believe in 6 literal days of Creation and that is what we teach our children.  In Volume 1 of this series, it is stated that some Christians believe in a literal 6 days of Creation, while others believe that one day could possibly equal a thousand years (this is my own paraphrase).  While it did not present the account of Creation in the timeline that my family believes, the situation  provided an excellent opportunity to talk about this with my children (my astute 7-year-old picked up on it immediately).  I mention this to you now because I believe that theology is important and I want to be completely honest with my readers.  My family has only viewed Volumes 1 and 4 in this series so far.

Disclosure:  I received this DVD at no charge to me.  The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own based on my own experiences.  I was compensated for my time in reviewing the product and writing the review.  This review was arranged through iHomeschoolNetwork.

Lauren Hill

Lauren Hill is a Christian mom to 5, ages 19 to 7. She homeschools her children in the classical education tradition and is currently in her 15th year of homeschool. She creates engaging worksheets and hands-on printable activities for Preschool and Elementary age children to supplement their daily studies.

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