Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
Over the last year or two, I have, several times, seen advertisements for Bible Breakdowns. No, this is not the kind of breakdowns that my mechanic son would think of! Rather, the meaning is more like breaking something down into its parts to make it more understandable. I was attracted to the idea, but not sure enough that we would use them to want to buy them. When Teach Sunday School offered the Old Testament and New Testament breakdowns for review, I decided to give them a try.
I printed the cards as soon as we were sent the PDF. It took awhile to figure out how to use them, but I finally gave Mr. Sweetie the ones for the books of the Bible he is reading in his morning quiet time. He checks off the passage he reads each day. Knowing the theme of the passage helps him get a little more out of his devotions.
I also printed several copies of the cards for the book of the Bible we are currently reading as a family in the evenings. I gave these to Mr. Sweetie, Mr. Imagination, and Little Miss. Before we read our chapter together, one of them is to find it on the page and read us the theme for that chapter. That helps us all to understand it a little better, I think, and see how the chapters fit together in the book.
There are several parts to each card. Of course, the title of the book is at the top of the page, along with which Testament it is part of and the number of the book—for example, Ephesians is the 10th book in the New Testament. A paragraph talks about the theme of the book and why it was written. Then, there is some general information, like number of chapters, type of book (historical, law, etc), when and where it was written, and who the author likely was.
The main part of each card is the outline of the book. There is a line for each passage—sometimes only one verse, often a whole chapter, or sometimes multiple chapters. For example, here is part of the card for I Kings (chosen at random):
(In case you’re wondering, the stories highlighted in blue are the most well-known stories, the ones that appear in Bible story books all the time.)
At the bottom of the page is a list of the most popular verses in that book of the Bible, and their rank, as far as popularity, both in that book and in the entire Bible. We did wonder where this information came from. Did the Teach Sunday School people search books to find these verses? Or take data from Bible apps? We’re finding this information interesting, anyway.
If you are looking for a way to help your children understand the layout of the Bible better, Bible Breakdowns might be a good tool. If you have any more ideas of good ways to use them, please leave a comment—I would like to hear what you suggest! Click the image below to read what other families have to say about this interesting product.
Thanks for sharing this insightful book review! Your reviews are a great resource for me and my church, as we plan future Sunday School lessons. I’m glad to see you are still active and working to review these various Biblical resources.