Have you been looking at The Biggest Story Curriculum and wondering if it is the best Bible-teaching option for your homeschool or children’s ministry? Hopefully, my review today can help!
We’ve been using The Biggest Story Curriculum in our Sunday school this year, and it has been wonderful. If you are not familiar with The Biggest Story Bible Storybook, it is a children’s Bible that attempts to show how all the stories in the Bible point to Jesus. They’re telling one great big salvation story. The Biggest Story Curriculum to go alongside the children’s Bible was released in 2023.
The curriculum is divided into five different books, plus an acitivity book. It has 104 lessons in total.
What’s great about the Biggest Story Bible Curriculum?
1. It’s basically open and go. All the information needed for the lesson each week is laid out clearly. Homeschool parents or teachers are encouraged to reframe the gist of what’s being said in their own way, but that’s not required. There is a full opening message to get the kids thinking and focused, which tries to connect back to what they have learned previously. Then there is story time, available in 3 different options: read the story from The Biggest Story Bible Storybook if you have it, read the story straight from the Bible, or watch a video. Lastly, there is a conclusion that links the story to the wider message of the gospel.
If you have a short lesson time, you only have to present the stages of the lesson and give the children a choice of two activity sheets. Each lesson comes with a colouring page and something a little more advanced for older elementary students. You can download these as PDFs from the website, or copy them from the curriculum book of activity sheets. This leads to the number two reason I love this curriculum.
2. You receive craft and game options for each lesson. Not just one of each though! There are options for different grade levels in both the craft and game categories. Very helpful if you have a longer lesson time and can make use of them. There are also discussion/application questions to work through with older students.
3. The curriculum doesn’t shy away from the Bible stories that other children’s programs tend to pass over. In an age-appropriate way, Sodom and Gomorrah are discussed, as well as the judgment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when they rebel against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Why do I think this is great? The children get to see all the attributes of God, not just the God is love part. These stories led to some wonderful discussions about who God is. A God of love, but also a God who is holy and just. Of course, this then naturally feeds into the gospel. Why is God so serious about sin, and why Jesus had to die for our sins. Upper primary-aged kids are old enough to grapple with this level of theology, and I’m so pleased that The Biggest Story Curriculum opens an opportunity to do so.
4. I love how the curriculum books are divided according to their ‘big people names.’ Pentateuch is a really big word. I’m so proud that the kids learned it, along with Torah, as the name for the first five books of the Bible. I think they thought it was pretty cool that they’d learned it too!
5. The curriculum provides a suggested lesson plan based on the time that your homeschool class or Sunday school program runs for. Again, very helpful.
Things to consider ~
1. The target age for this curriculum is preschool to grade 5. I think the text and story need to be simplified significantly for children below grade two. Apart from the complexity, some stories may not be appropriate for sensitive tiny people. On the other end of the age range, the curriculum can be stretched to grade six, especially for children with little Bible knowledge.
2. Personally, I like the abstract art in the videos and worksheets, but not all children do so much.
3. There are no review activities. We’re making our own at the end of each book in the curriculum because many Bible stories and connections within the Bible are covered. Everybody remembers better with regular review.
The Biggest Story Curriculum is a great Bible curriculum that helps kids understand the bigger picture of the Bible.
If you’re still not completely sure this curriculum is what you are looking for, there is a free sample lesson from Mark 3 available here on The Biggest Story website – https://www.thebiggeststory.com/lesson/current/read/
The curriculum is available as a physical boxed set through Christian bookstores, or Amazon. You can purchase PDF-only copies from Crossway too. If you are a Crossway Plus member, you’ll receive a discount. There is no cost to register as a Crossway Plus member – https://www.crossway.org/plus/
It’s also good to know that you can buy the separate books in the curriculum individually, rather than buying the whole program at once.
Whichever way your homeschool family or children’s ministry shares the best story ever, may God be with you and richly bless you in it.
Train up a child in the way he should go
and when he is old he will not depart
from it.
Proverbs 22:6
