God's Big Story (Grades 1-5)

Description

Are you looking for a grade level reading program that provides more for your students in their character building, moral development, and scriptural comprehension? The God’s Big Story reading program from Generations meets each of these needs. It features:

  • Integrated parental involvement
  • Integrated Biblical understanding (scripture taken from the NKJV)
  • Integrated faith-based life lessons

The philosophy behind the Generations program is the concept of paideia, a Greek understanding of the ‘upbringing and comprehensive education of a child, aiming to shape their soul, character, and intellect.’ This is evident in the program’s overall objectives. The main text at each level are Bible stories. The primary objectives of this reading program include: Biblical Vocabulary; Full Scope of God’s Redemptive Story; Mastering the Theme of the Bible; Belief in the Gospel; to Worship God, Fear God, and Obey God’s Word.

The transition from Generations Phonics to Generations Reading is made easy through the integration of Grade 1 phonics with the Level 1 Reading. Once students are reading, the levels in this program correlate with grade levels. Each level comes with a hardcover Text where the Bible stories, Faith Lessons, and vocabulary are located, and a consumable Student Workbook. Student Workbooks include two types of exercises for each lesson:

  1. Core Exercises are for reviewing materials learned in reading and vocabulary words.
  2. Optional Exercises are for reinforcing ELA skills (grammar, spelling, composition, and handwriting).

Each level also has a package of separate Readers that the student reads throughout the year. For grades 2-5 there are Parent Resources available on the Generations website that provide scheduling for the readers and discussion questions with answers for your students.

Each level of the Generations Reading program builds upon previously learned ELA concepts:

  • Basic phonics skills (Phonics Program)
  • Basic sentence building, application, and comprehension (Level 1)
  • Punctuation practice, reading comprehension, sentence-building skills (Level 2)
  • Composition practice, comprehension questions, review/application practice (Level 3)
  • Punctuation review, composition building, reading comprehension (Level 4)
  • Identifying parts of speech, sentence construction, reading comprehension (Level 5)

At every level, your student’s vocabulary will be growing and developing with around 6 new vocabulary words taken from the text as well as activities surrounding those words. Levels 1-3 also include grade appropriate Dolch Sight Words that are crucial for early reading development. It is suggested to make flash cards or another type of teaching aid to facilitate memorization of these Dolch Sight Words. The goal of God’s Big Story is to introduce children and families to Scripture and all that can be learned and applied to one’s life in Christ. ~Rebecca

Teaching Method
Traditional
Teacher-centered curriculum commonly used in classrooms that may include a text, teacher manual, tests, etc.
Charlotte Mason
A methodology based on the work of a 19th century educator who maintained that children learn best from literature (Living Books), not textbooks.
Classical
A methodology based on the Latin Trivium (three stages of learning), including the grammar stage (memorization and facts), logic stage (critical thinking), and rhetoric stage (developing/defending ideas).
Unit Study
A thematic or topical approach centered around one topic that integrates multiple subject areas.
Montessori (Discovery)
A methodology based on the work of a 20th century educator that emphasizes student and sensory-driven discovery learning and real-life applications.
Other
Other methodologies
Religious Content
Secular
Contains content contrary to common Christian beliefs (i.e. evolution).
Neutral
Avoids religious or theoretical topics or presents multiple viewpoints without preference.
Christian/Religious
Faith-based or including instructional religious content.
Learning Modality
Auditory
Learns through listening, talking out loud or reading out loud.
Visual
Learns through seeing, prefers written instructions and visual materials.
Kinesthetic/Tactile (Hands-On)
Learns through moving, doing and touching.
Multi-Sensory
Curriculum that employ a variety of activities/components.
Presentation
Sequential
Curriculum progresses through well-defined learning objectives. Emphasizes mastery before moving to the next topic.
Spiral
Topics and concepts are repeated from level to level, adding more depth at each pass and connecting with review.
Conceptual/Topical
Focus is on the “why,” often with a unifying concept as well as specific skills; coverage may be broader.
Teacher Involvement
Low Teacher Involvement
Student-led materials; parent acts as a facilitator.
Medium Teacher Involvement
A mix of teacher-led time and independent student work.
High Teacher Involvement
Teacher-led lessons; may utilize discussions, hands-on activities and working together.
Additional Materials Required
No other materials needed
Everything you need is included.
Other Materials Required
There are additional required resources that are a separate purchase.
Other Materials Optional
There are additional resources mentioned or recommended but are not absolutely necessary.
Consumable
Consumable
Designed to be written in; not reusable.
Non-Consumable
Not designed to be written in; reusable.