One day a woman asked me to compile some scriptures that she could study with her daughter on a daily basis. I figured that her daughter needed to know about about the Lord Jesus Christ, so I compiled various scriptures from the gospels to give an overview of the life of Christ and his ministry. I entitled it, "Survey of the Life & Gospel of Jesus Christ" and eventually printed it out on green paper. The Green Sheet was born. Hannah was four at the time. She and I read each lesson responsively. She did not do any of the copying work below until she started formal school. This does not mean that your little one could not benefit from it. Hannah did do copying work before formal school. I just didn't know then what I know now.
Survey of the Life and Gospel of Jesus Christ
(used in Infant School)You can post this list on a wall or in a notebook. If you put the date next to each lesson that you’ve completed you can easily see your progress at any time. God will honour your efforts to magnify his word.
Study format: Hannah and I would read responsively—she would read a verse, explain it. I would read a verse, she would explain it. We began this particular green sheet in Infant school and finished it in Year 1. In Year 1, this was her Language Arts class: Reading, Reading Comprehension, Penmanship (copying a key verse from the lesson that I had written on the chalkboard. If I had it to do again, I would have given several verses to copy each day. If there are multiple children, pray for understanding and then go around the circle with each child reading a verse and then explaining it. Teaching tips follow after the list.
I learned: (1) to keep my teacher comments to a minimum—if Hannah did a good job explaining, there was nothing to add and (2) to focus on the plain, natural meaning of the verse without over spiritualizing (I Cor. 15); and, (3) if there was something I thought that she did not understand in the verse, I’d ask her a question about it. It is NOT necessary to define every new word. Context is an excellent teacher—babies don’t get the dictionary definition of every word, but they learn to speak and understand just fine. Length: If some of the lessons seem long or if you are short on time, just split up the lesson into two or three lessons. About 15-20 verses was a good amount for a lesson.
Lesson #
Lesson
Ref.
Date
The parents of John the Baptist.
Luke 1:5-25
The angel Gabriel tells Mary about Jesus.
Luke 1:26-38
Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth.
Luke 1:39-56
John the Baptist is born (the forerunner and greater than a prophet).
Luke 1:57-80
The birth of Jesus.
Matt 1:18-25
Luke 2:1-7
The angels notify the shepherds about the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:8-20
Wise men worship Jesus.
Matt 2:1-12
Escape into Egypt.
Matt 2:12-23
The boy Jesus at the temple.
Luke 2:40-52
John the Baptist begins preaching. Jesus baptized.
Matt 3:1-17
The temptation of Jesus.
Matt 4:1-11
Jesus begins to preach and call disciples.
Matt 4:17-25
Luke 6:12-16
The Beatitudes.
Matt 5:1-16
Jesus has all the power and has control over this whole world.
The first miracle.
John 2:1-11
The miracle at the pool of Bethesda.
John 5:1-16
Jesus cleanses the temple.
John 2:13-25
Jesus and Nicodemus.
John 3: 1-21
The Samaritan woman at the well.
John 4:1-26
John 4:27-43
The nobleman’s son.
John 4:43-54
Jesus in the synagogue.
Luke 14:14-32
Blind Bartimaeus.
Mark 10:46-52
Jesus heals Jairus’ daughter.
Mark 5:22-43
Jesus and the children.
Matt 18:1-14
Matt 19:13-15
Luke 9:46-48
The lost lamb/the lost coin.
Luke 15:4-10
John the Baptist killed.
Matt 14:1-12
Feeding of the 5,000 men.
Matt 14:13-21
Jesus walks on water.
Matt 14:22-33
Jesus stills the storm.
Mark 4:35-41
The transfiguration.
Healing of the lunatick.
Matt 17:1-13
Matt 17:14-21
Jesus and the lepers.
Luke 17:11-19
Lazarus and the rich man—hell is real.
Luke 16:19-31
The rich young ruler.
Luke 18:18-30
Zaccheus is a miracle. Harder for a rich man to enter than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle yet Zaccheus was rich and got saved.
Luke 19:1-10
Parables
The sower and the seed.
Matt 13:1-23
The good Samaritan.
Luke 10:25-37
Lost coin and lost sheep.
Luke 15:1-10
Prodigal son.
Luke 15:11-32
Two debtors.
Pharisee and the publican pray.
Luke 7:36-50
Luke 18:9-14
Three parables about dinner guests.
Luke 14:7-24
The two sons.
Labourers in the vineyard.
Matt 21:28-32
Matt 20:1-16
The rich fool.
Counting the cost.
Luke 12:13-21
Luke 14:25-33
The wicked husbandmen.
The unforgiving servant.
Matt 21:33-46
Matt 18:21-35
Priceless treasures.
The talents.
Matt 13:44-53
Matt 25:14-30
Parables about prayer.
Luke 11:1-13
Luke 18:1-8
Sign of Christ’s second coming.
Christ’s second coming.
Matt 24:1-29
Matt 24:30-51
Luke 17:20-37
Wise and foolish virgins.
Wise and foolish men.
Matt 25:1-13
Matt 7:21-29
The triumphal entry.
Luke 19:29-48
The last supper.
John 13:1-38
Parting words: I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:1-13
Parting words: Promise of another Comforter.
John 14:14-31
Parting words: The true vine.
John 15:1-16
Parting words: The world will hate you.
John 15:18-27
John 16:1-3
Parting words: John 17: Jesus’ high priestly prayer.
John 17:1-26
The garden of Gethsemane.
John 18:1-12
Before the high priest in judgment.
Mark 14: 53-65
Peter denies Jesus.
Mark 14:66-72
Jesus before Pilate.
Mark 15:1-19
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Mark 15:20-41
His burial.
Mark 15:42-47
His glorious resurrection.
Luke 24:1-12
Emmaus and the upper room.
Luke 24:13-32
Disciples return from Emmaus to share that Christ is risen. Jesus appears.
Luke 24:33-48
The ascension. The promise of power to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ and be witnesses unto him. Focus on verse 8.
Luke 24:49-53
Acts 1:1-11
Next Survey: The Early Church: God Gives Power to Witness
Teaching Tips:
- Look at the day’s lesson beforehand even if it is just a few moments before beginning. Preparation time is a function of how comfortable you are with the passage. Break down each verse into phrases, as needed as opposed to giving the meaning of only the last few words or the last sentence of the verse. Hannah was trained to start from the beginning of the verse when analyzing it.
- Look to magnify the Lord. When I worked with children, I looked for what I called “the kicker,” that place of power.
- Pray before reading.
- No death, no dragging. If things seem long, shorten your lesson, freshen them with a new environment, go on a fieldtrip to prepare for the lesson (e.g. a mountain to open up the perception. I wanted Hannah to know about the topography of the earth. The Bible is full of geographical concerns—sand, desert, grass, mountain, valley, city, field, etc. We didn’t spend all or most of our time on fieldtrips—they were few and they were select. One year an easy mountain climb to the peak, another year a trip to the beach, another year a trip to the petting zoo, regular haunts included local farms). Over all these years, the richest source of information has been our own yard. Our local library has an extensive used book section where you can purchase magazines for maybe a dime. These pictures of deserts and animals like conies can be cut out and made into collages. Their children’s section can have phenomenal introductions to different climates, but you need to know what you are looking for and you must put it in context of the scriptures.
- Models have had an important place in our school—at select times. Although we occasionally used A Beka cards and Betty Lukens flannelgraphs (not using pictures of angels or the Lord), I found that they were not necessary—being reared without television allows a child to listen and be engaged-- yet I endeavored to impress this whole wide world and its elements in her mind so that as she read the scriptures, she had experience and understanding to hang them on. For instance, a scene with people in Bible time clothing, or in tents, or a ship on the seashore. This freshens and orients in a time when people are separated from each other and confined to relatively small space.
- For multiple children, you may want to try Bible tic tac toe on special occasions like an end-of-the-year banquet. This will test retention. Write down 9 key questions from your Bible lessons. Make a tic tac toe and place a number in each box. Divide children into teams and let first team select a number and answer the question. Then let the other team do like wise. Children do like it.
- Quiet time: It appears from my notes that this was a 1-2 hour time period each day where each person can meditate and pursue his interest, including Mother. We also had Tea Time for a while where we'd discuss what we'd done that day over a cup of tea.
- We sang hymns from diapers on up. She started piano at three and because she knew the hymns, she could play them by ear and minister.