How to Homeschool Using the Bible as Your Primary Textbook

The Bible is the history book of the universe, and gives an answer to every question. When choosing curriculum, we kept the Bible as the primary textbook. I would like to share with you 4 easy steps on how to homeschool using the Bible as your primary textbook.

When I was seven years old, the highlight of my week were the Saturday morning cartoons. My favorite, was about a family living in prehistoric times. It began with a fish who evolved into an ape, who evolved into a man, who had a family, discovered fire and invented the wheel. A year later I was enrolled in Catholic school, and was introduced to the church’s version of ‘the beginning‘, and I was very confused.

When asking which version was true. Dad said ‘science proved evolution was true, but there was nothing wrong with pretending the church was right’. Mom said ‘both accounts are true; when God created on one side of the earth, man evolved on the other side’. Neither could explain their version of truth, and I was worse-off after asking for their guidance.

Years later, as the calling to homeschool our own children became more clear, my husband and I were determined to teach our children the truth, not just teaching them with a Bible curriculum but using the Bible as the curriculum for other academic areas.

1. The Bible as Core for Science

God created the heavens and the earth.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
Genesis 1:1-5

In these five verses we are told God created everything out of nothing in one literal day, and it was good. With scripture as our core, we were introduced to earth science through the God’s Design for Heaven and Earth series, by Answers in Genesis. As our girls are getting older, we continue to explore science with the Bible as our core, with Apologia’s Biology and Zoology series.

2. The Bible as a Historical Document

Some of last century’s most well-known archaeologists declare the Bible as the single most accurate source document in history. The Bible provides dates, specific locations, names and descriptions of rulers, etc.

As we began homeschooling 4 years ago, we started at the beginning, Genesis 1:1. Diana Waring’s History Revealed series does this beautifully. Having the Bible as a basis, has helped explain the whys and hows of historical events.

3. The Bible as Literary Inspiration

The Bible has been a source of literary inspiration for centuries. Authors and poets like Shakespeare, Dickens, Milton, Twain, Arnold, Dickinson and Frost have been using Biblical metaphors in their writing for decades. Phrases like ‘the powers that be’, ‘my brother’s keeper’, ‘fight the good fight’, along with many others come directly from the Bible.

As we gather for our morning devotion, we not only discuss the doctrinal implications; but also discuss each passage as a work of literature, as we look at language, mood, setting and the characters themselves. We’ve used How To Read The Bible As Literature as an informal guide.

4. The Bible as a Guide for Writing

By constantly exposing our kids to it, we not only strengthen their knowledge and walk with Christ, but also promote creativity, through analysis and imitation. We’ve been using scripture passages for copy work and dictation; keeping the three components of classical writing in mind:

Theory
Analysis and Imitation
Practice

Memoria Press’ Classical Composition series incorporates these principles. The samples provided are taken from biblical passages as well as the works of classical authors.