How to Understand the Approach to Bible Principles

When I first started receiving my Noah Plan® curriculum books and Noah Plan® Curriculum Guides and “red books,” I was so excited! While I was swimming in an ocean of books, waves would come. I was overwhelmed, I was sort of confused on some things, and I felt a bit tearfully defeated. Eventually, I braved up to make the call, and I was encouraged by talking with a gal at The Foundation for American Christian Education. The rest of the story goes that I just kept “swimming”and here we are. So, today, I’d like to encourage you if you’re experiencing anything like I did at the start of my journey. It’s a quick explanation so you can get to the things you need to get to today!

How to Understand the Approach to Bible Principles

So, you have all of these books from the Foundation for American Christian Education. Congratulations!

The first thing I’d love for you to do is look through the left-hand column of any of the Noah Plan® Curriculum books. Take note of the different Bible Principles. You’ll notice that sometimes they are a paraphrase of a Bible verse and sometimes they are a quote. The main thing to recognize is what a principle is and that way you’ll understand why the one being used is chosen for any given lesson:

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:

PRIN’CIPLE, noun [Latin principium, beginning.]

1. In a general sense, the cause, source or origin of any thing; that from which a thing proceeds

5. Ground; foundation; that which supports an assertion, an action, or a series of actions or of reasoning.

6. A general truth; a law comprehending many subordinate truths; as the principles of morality, of law, of government, etc.

The way this is done is by using the Principle Approach® Method which is also known by its steps, the 4R’s: Research, Reason, Relate, and Record. The first step has to do with looking up the definitions of words for correct and proper understanding. This may also entail looking up key words within those definitions. Then the pursuit of looking for these words in Scripture to find the principle of that subject.

With various subjects, there will be different principles because there are a plethora of principles in the Bible.

Within the “red book” of Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History, you’ll see that there are seven principles mentioned. These principles are the principles that the United States of America was founded on. You may see these principles overlap in other subjects as well.

This is what it can look like:

Seeing how the principles fit within the lesson content provided and why there were only seven when it came to the red books was one of the biggest struggles for me. If you find yourself in a riptide being drawn away into a deep sea of confusion, I hope this explanation is a “lifesaver” and helps you get back in the boat and on your way.

If you have any questions about this, please feel free to post them in the comments below. If I don’t know the answer to your question, I’ll do my best to find the answer for you and together we will learn more. After all, sometimes we need friends to sail the waters of homeschooling life together.

Blessings!
PS
If you’d like to print the Principles Explained chart, you can go to the Caterpillar Members’ Club area.