For several days I have been tempting you with little sneak peaks into the newly anticipated “What’s in the Bible?” by Veggie Tales creator Phil Vischer.
Today’s the day that I am finally going to get to the nitty-gritty. The good. The bad. The ugly.
Positives – Phil Vischer set out to teach the Bible in 13 videos (the first two just released). God has burdened his heart by some startling statistics:
Kids today consume a staggering five hours of media each day, and may spend about one hour a week in church. Seven out of ten American adults believe kids receive inadequate spiritual instruction. For conservative Christians, the number rises to nine out of ten. It’s no wonder the Church is so biblically illiterate:
• 64% of Americans said they did not read the Bible because they are too busy.
• In a report on America’s religious illiteracy, USA Today reported that 50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married.
• A 2000 study showed that 60% of evangelical Christians believed that Jesus was born in Jerusalem rather than Bethlehem.
• Only half of American adults can name even one of the four Gospels
In Veggie Tales
Who wrote it? What is in it? Why was it written? What should we believe it?
This is what I think is done very well. Even as a person who grew up in church, I learned new things. I was amazed at how simple big “Bible” words became through these puppet characters. Typical of Veggie Tales, “What’s in the Bible?” is fun. I love the “adult jokes” that are thrown in for the Mommies and Daddies. I loved listening to Bubs laugh out-loud when he hears a kid joke.
The songs are catchy. I have found myself singing “in the Bi-a-ble” throughout the day.
While directed towards ages 5-9, these videos are appreciated by many ages. They can be viewed by preschoolers who will enjoy the puppets and picking up on Bible characters that they are learning about in Sunday School or the ABCJLM curriculum – all the while laying a Biblical foundation. Into elementary school, the children will begin to have a better understanding of “What the Bible” really is. They will begin to take the information on a personal level.
Possible Improvements:
The one complaint that I hear about this new series is that it isn’t Veggies Tales. First of all – it isn’t supposed to be. If you go into this with the assumption that it will be like Veggie Tales, you will be sadly disappointed. The characters are not going to be like Bob and Larry. We had several years and many videos to fall in love with these vegetables.
Honestly, I am still developing my own opinion about the new characters. Frankly, on a couple of characters, I am struggling with their personalities. Sometimes the characters say things that border on “rudeness”. If I didn’t have a preschooler, I wouldn’t think anything of it. But when you are working on saying “thank you” and “please”, you take notice. Big deal? You will have decide. But I am willing to give them a chance because the content is solid.
Video #1 (Genesis) was fun, entertaining and full of learning. Video #2 seemed a little slow but in all reality the concept is Exodus! At some point you need to remember that learning is the point and fun is an added benefit.
Overall – This is a video series that families need to have in their home. Churches need to take note as the information in these videos must to be told to kids and adults alike. We are teaching children the stories. But unless they know how the stories fit together for a common goal, we are all missing the point.
For more information – “What’s in the Bible?” and Tyndale Publishing.
This DVD was provided for review by Tyndale Publishing.
I definitely need to get these movies! I was just hashing over how I can get the kids to see the BIG picture of the Bible, rather than just mini-lessons, disconnected from the whole, out of kids Bible storybooks. I've been teaching virtues, one a week, with Bible stories and verses to reinforc, but how will my kids learn how all the pieces fit together in God's amazing story of/for mankind? Our Sunday School teacher, in a class about worldview, was just saying yesterday, that the Bible influences EVERY aspect of life, the "spiritual" and the "natural/material", but in order to understand HOW it does, people need to get the big picture. Understand the Bible as a whole, and see it as a historical guide to God's plan, not only as a spiritual "self-help book". I think it's a very good point, and I need to work on that, both for myself, and for my kids.
Heather – if you aren't already doing it, you might want to try out our ABC Jesus Loves Me curriculum. The 4 Year Curriculum is based on character education. Let me know what you think!
I have looked it over, and I am using it, in a sense. I printed up a few of your bible overview charts and I refer to them when making my loosely structured "lesson plans" for the week. I pick a virtue (not necessarily one that you have listed) to focus on based on what verse my son is learning at Cubbies/Awana, and then check out ABCJLM to see what you have found that goes with that virtue. Especially which Veggie Tales movie, or what libray books I can locate and use. I don't want him to have too many things going at once, as he gets Bible education in Sun. School, Awana, and the preschool homeschool stuff we do at home. So I customize his home/schoolwork to match up with the other things he's already learning. I just use the Bible part mainly, as I had already found other curriculum that I really like for the reading, writing, and math skills. When I see something extra, like your volume chart, and your visual perceptual worksheets that aren't available elsewhere, of course I snatch those up too!