God's Great Covenant: Old Testament 1

This course is designed as an introductory course for upper-elementary students and early middle school students in their study of the Old Testament. While it is expected that enrolling students have some familiarity with biblical scriptures, this is not required.

The course text, God's Great Covenant, Old Testament 1, is wonderfully engaging and punctuated with just the right amount of historical and scholarly content to interest curious students. Young students will learn to engage with scripture through picture journaling and dialoguing with peers. Students will be asked to read portions of text (or, at minimum be able follow along with text), join in dialogue with instructor and peers, reflect on questions and pose their own, memorize some scripture passages, and practice the oral tradition of “re-telling” scriptural accounts with accuracy and interest.

Music has been specially designed by the instructor to aid in memorizing scripture with ease. For pre-published previews of music samples, you are invited to visit www.elizabethkaufman.org/ggc .

Please note: A primary goal of the course is to encourage and equip students to dialogue together with family and peers about their biblical discovery and learning. To ensure a rich Socratic experience, a 4 student minimum enrollment is required.  If, for any reason, this enrollment minimum is not met, enrolled students will be refunded and/or transferred to another course, per handbook guidelines.

Quarter 1

**GENESIS: God’s Power to Love and Create **

• Become familiar with the first half of Genesis.
• Recognize God’s power over all things and his loving desire for all people.
• Define God’s character and his mercy toward mankind’s imperfect heart.
• Describe what it means that God is jealous for His people.
• Explain how we know that God does whatever it takes to purify us so that we can stay close to His heart.   **SCHOLARSHIP SKILLS: **
• Copywork
• Oral narration
• Learning to draw for meaning
• Recitation

Quarter 2

** ** EXODUS: God’s promises & His plans that show how He keeps them all

• Identify the family through whom God would demonstrate his plans and promises.
• Explore how God’s plans are not like our own.
• Find evidence for the consequences of sin.
• Describe how God’s saving work for the Israelites is for us, too.   **SCHOLARSHIP SKILLS: **
• Recitation
• Dictation
• Identifying patterns in story
• Writing short responses to prompting questions
• Re-telling with accuracy and interest
• Elocution

Quarter 3

NUMBERS: God’s provision for HIs people

• Recall how God lovingly provides for his people even as he purifies them.
• Show how God fulfills His promises even when His people don’t keep theirs.
• Identify part of God’s character as a Father who cares about His children. ** ** **SCHOLARSHIP SKILLS: **
• Recitation
• Reading aloud with expression and accuracy
• Inferring meaning from a text
• Creating a timeline

Quarter 4

**JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, JOB: God’s faithfulness to His people **

• Retell how God carries out His loving and faithful plans through His people.
• Describe what it means that His ways are not our own ways.
• Compare and Contrast His ways to our ways.
• Identify God’s trustworthiness in stories of trial and trouble   **SCHOLARSHIP SKILLS: **
• Simple outlines
• Illustrating for meaning
• Socratic circles
• Interrogating a text

• Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.
• High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.
• Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)
• Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm
• Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:
  1. Visit zoom.us/download.
  2. Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
  3. Open and run the installer on your computer.
  4. In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.
• Scanner: In this class, students frequently submit homework assignments by scanning pages from their workbooks. Students and/or their parents should have easy access to a scanner and the ability to use it.