Fruit of the Spirit ~ A Homeschool Study

by Jenny

(UPDATE: this blog has changed from itsahodgepodgelifeforus to jennybrook journeys...still same info but if you notice some conflicting labels, that's why. Thanks for stopping by!)

You may remember awhile back I was in search of a Fruit of Spirit curriculum to do with the kiddos? Whew! What a first homeschool day! was the post of our first day and list of curriculum we're using this year where I hadn't really settled on what to do for Bible.

This study is a work in progress but I'd like to share with you as I find materials and resources for our study of the Fruit of the Spirit ~ A Homeschool Study.
Well, I searched high and low! A lot of them are made for preschoolers or early elementary with little kid crafts and more childish coloring sheets. They are great but my kids are older (13, 11, 9) and wanted to take them through Galatians 5:22 and how to apply it for themselves now! A fruit of the Spirit study is not just applicable for little kids! My other criteria was "free" so the search took awhile. I stumbled upon this blog post "Fruit of the Spirit Bible Study" by Confessions of a Homeschooler blogger Erica. (I love her blog and all the resources she makes available, if you're ever looking for a great homeschooling blogger.) She linked the downloadable and printable study. I printed it and decided it would be a good jumping off point. Her study only lasts 3 weeks and I want to stretch mine out. I want it to last at least til Christmas break.

So if you're going to do this study with me, first step is to print her study.

We spent a whole week on the first few days worth of her study with questions like- Who is the Holy Spirit? & How do we walk in the Spirit? it wasn't hard! We looked up additional scriptures for each study. I used those lessons as a guide to spark conversations... We talked about these qualities (love, joy, peace, etc) are produced by the Holy Spirit not by being a disciplined person who lives by the law. "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit..." Gal 5:25 We talked about the fact that these are the "fruit" of the Spirit meaning the fruit we produce by walking with the Spirit. They are different then the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Cor. 12 & 14. The gifts are just how they sound- gifts. We had a great side tracking conversation about Spiritual Gifts...love it! And they love to get me off topic. ;)

(NOTE: Somedays, I merely used her main question as a guide for our bible time and not the activities, applications, etc. Make sure you read through the lesson to see if you want to stay on her track or veer off with your own questions or verses...)

Over the course of this study I plan to:

• Make a tree for our home to display our "fruit"
• With each fruit, they will find their favorite verses that represent that fruit to hang on the tree
• Create art using lots of different mediums for each "fruit" study
• Have some games/activities to play regarding the fruit
• Pick a verse from each "fruit" we'd like to memorize as a family
• Talk about real ways we can practice the "fruit" to each other and others
• Read and learn about real, living people who exhibit the fruit of the Spirit

I'm really looking forward to learning alongside my children the fruit of the Spirit, growing together in walk with the Lord.

 

Look forward to my next post in this series where we make the tree for our fruit!