A Disciples Of Christ Unit Study For Your Homeschool

Homeschooling is such a unique privilege for Christian families, and it is such a sweet blessing to pass along the Word of God to our children. We have, as parents, an incredible opportunity to mold our children into disciples for Jesus, and educating at home is a powerful tool for that. And what better way to experience personal discipleship with our children at home than to study the Disciples of Christ. 

Homeschool Learning During Easter and Lent

Now is a wonderful time to begin studying the Bible at home with a unit study about the Disciples! I hear so many moms say that they don’t have time for things like Bible or Art in their homeschools, which honestly breaks my heart. I can’t imagine our homeschool without Bible and art; they are the best and most cherished parts of our home education routine. 

If you are struggling to incorporate either, I encourage you to begin slowly. Add one or two days a week, and be as consistent as possible. Before you know it, Bible study can become a daily habit. By making Bible enjoyable for kids to learn, incorporating open discussions, and adding hands-on activities like art, your kids will love Bible study time. 

A great way to begin adding Bible study into your daily homeschool routine might be to start with Lent or Holy Week leading up to Easter. Lent is a 40-day period observed by Christians to commemorate the forty days that Jesus fasted in the desert. You can find the full story in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. By reading the Bible and studying all that led up to the Resurrection of Christ, you and your children can build a solid habit of reading God’s Word together. 

YOU ARE AN ARTiST has some incredible art lessons that will pair with your study of Christ and His Disciples too! We are so excited about this study! We have enjoyed Easter art and Bible Study along with art here at YOU ARE AN ARTiST, but learning about the Disciples of Christ is new. And we can’t wait to dive in; we sure hope that you join us!  

Our Disciples Of Christ Unit Study

There were twelve disciples of Christ that were early followers of Jesus who became His closest companions. We can learn so much from each of them and their relationship with Jesus. Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon, Thaddeus, and Judas Iscariot.

Studying the twelve Disciples can be a fascinating unit study for the whole family! The twelve Disciples are also known as the Apostles, and they traveled, ministered, and learned from Jesus for about three years. The Disciples are an educationally rich component of studying the Bible, so we have created an entire art series to help your family learn more about Christ through the twelve Disciples. Your children will love learning more about Jesus and the Bible with our hands-on art activities. 

We have also included Biographies of the Disciples and 5 Fast Facts for them all in our I Drew It Then I Knew It New Testament Companion Guide for your family to enjoy. Inside the Companion Guide, you can plan your studies with our art planners and use our book recommendation list to get started. 

We can learn so much from a Disciples Of Christ Unit Study. The Bible holds so many incredible stories and truths that our children will gain solid Biblical knowledge from this study. Through the documentation of Jesus’ Disciples, we can also learn more about His life as He walked the earth. We are called to spread The Good News so let’s help equip our children with all there is to know. 

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. – Mark 16:15 NIV

Here are a few ideas you and your children can explore through a Disciples Of Christ Unit Study:

You can choose to study as much or as little of this as you like, but we encourage you to take some time and dive all in if you can. There are so many incredible ways to add to your Disciples Unit Study – take your time and linger for as long as you need to. It’s much more exciting that way!

• Jesus: You can find out more about who Jesus was and all that He did. You can read His own words and parables to hear about His magnificent works and deeds. You can also learn the full story of His death on the cross and His wonderous resurrection. The relationship that Jesus had with each of His Disciples was different. And we can glean so much about Him based on his interactions with each of them. 
• History: By researching the New Testament, you can learn about 1st-century traditions and culture. Many excellent books can help your students to understand 1st-century life, one of our favorites is The World Jesus Knew: A Curious Kid’s Guide to Life in the First Century by Marc Olson. You can also create a timeline of Biblical events to add to your study or find one to follow. 
• Character: The Disciples are great examples for learning about love, compassion, truth, and understanding. Jesus taught the disciples so much about being like Him, and we can learn from Him too! Each Disciple experienced challenges that they had to overcome and had a unique relationship with Christ. There is much to learn about the character of Jesus through the Disciples and His interactions with them. Your family could highlight a character attribute each week to focus on and find scriptures about each character trait to incorporate. These would also be great for copy-work and memorization. 
• Prayer: The Book of Matthew in the Bible, written by the Apostle Matthew, is a beautiful book to dive into. Your children will love learning all about Matthew and drawing him alongside Nana! The Sermon on the Mount containing The Lord’s Prayer (also known as the Our Father) is in the Gospel of Matthew, and Jesus gives us the perfect example of how we should pray.
• Geography: Explore the geography of where Jesus and His Disciples traveled, ministered, and where significant events occurred. Looking at 1st Century maps of Israel is also a fun and fascinating way to study this time period through geography. (Nana has a Map to Bethlehem, too, if you want to add the birthplace of Jesus to your study.)
• Genealogy of Christ: The book of Matthew gives us a complete record of the genealogy of Christ. If you haven’t studied this area of Jesus’ Geneology extensively, you might be surprised by some of the people that were used and became part of the lineage of Christ himself. 
• Language: Study Biblical Hebrew words and meanings. For example, the Apostle means the one who was sent or sent on a mission. We have A Simple Start In Hebrew Guide & Art Course that would pair perfectly with this unit study if you want to add Hebrew word study and the Aleph-Bet!
• Math: As you study the New Testament or the Bible, for that matter, you will find plenty of references to money. To better understand tax collection, the culture of taxing by the Romans, and Matthew’s job as a tax collector, you can dive into 1st-century money. Look up the coins and find out what a shekel would buy? For example, two dinars were equal to one shekel, and a loaf of bread would cost you 1/12 dinar. For your kids to get a bigger picture of daily life during the time of Jesus, another book that shares these comparisons with money, costs, and wages is Daily Life at the time of Jesus by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh. 

The Chosen and Your Homeschool Study

Have you seen The Chosen? If you haven’t, you are missing out! The Chosen is a T.V. series based on the life of Jesus, and it is entirely family-friendly. For many children, it helps to have visuals to bring these Bible stories and characters to life. The Chosen is a great way to watch the life of Jesus as a family and spark some wonderful conversations afterward. It also will extend all the learning about the time period Jesus lived in. 

Because the show follows the life of Christ, your family will be introduced to the Disciples of Christ. We believe the show is well-done and worthy of your family time. You could watch an episode and learn about each Disciple as they are introduced and draw them along with Nana. Or, you could learn about them through the Bible, illustrate them along with Nana and then watch The Chosen afterward. 

There is no right or wrong way to incorporate the show, but we think it’s a wonderful way to extend the learning and add a visual aspect for the entire family. 

Enjoy Painting the Disciples of Christ with Nana! 

Matthew the Tax Collector – We enjoyed this one so much. Nana gives a short overview of tax collecting that will pair perfectly with this unit study on the Disciples. And if your children get stressed about drawing faces, no worries because Nana leaves the faces open. It’s optional if your child wants to add the facial features; my oldest is too much of a perfectionist for drawing faces, which made her feel comfortable knowing even Nana has felt this way before. 

Disciples James and John – If your children are fascinated by the trade of fishing, this one will be exciting for them. Not only are you introduced to the Sons of Thunder, but you get to paint this fun fishing net scene. This is also an excellent opportunity to learn more about fishing in the Sea of Galilee and the fisherman’s job back then. 

Additional Resources For Easter In Your Homeschool

We have so many other fantastic Easter and Spring Art Lessons for your homeschool! Many of these would be wonderful additions to your Bible Studies, Homeschool Easter Studies, and Disciples Of Christ Unit Study. Some of our favorites include – 

Easter Art Lessons: These are all accompanied by a Companion Guide too! So you will get the book list, planners, overviews, fast facts, and more. 

• Palm Branch 
• The Lord’s Supper 
• Crown of Thorns 
• Calvary’s Crosses 
• Easter Cross 
• The Stone Rolled Away
• Easter Eggs 
• Easter Lily 
• Church Stained Glass Window 
• Jesus and the Sheep

A Simple Start In Hebrew: You will get the Companion Guide to these art lessons packed with Aleph-Bet chart, word studies, traceable letter printables, and much more. 

• Day
• Peace (Full Moon)
• Faith
• Prayer
• Hallelujah
• Commandment
• Israel

I Drew It Then I Knew It – New Testament: Ready to linger in the New Testament? Enjoy all of these memorable Bible stories through the love of art!

• Jesus Blesses the Children 
• Zacchaeus 
• Jesus Feeds the 5,000 
• Jesus Walks on the Water 
• Jesus Washes The Disciples Feet 
• The Last Supper 
• Garden of Gethsemane 
• Paul and Silas Jail Earthquake 
• Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock – Revelation 
• Matthew the Disciple
• Disciples James and John
• (Join us as we add nine more Disciples to learn all about!) 

One of my absolute favorite things to study alongside my children is the Bible. However, there is something extra special about adding art to your children’s Bible studies at home. We hope that this gives your family plenty of ideas to create an incredible Disciples of Christ Unit Study at Home. 

Courtney is a Jesus-pursuing, native Texan, homeschool mom of three, and she believes homeschooling can be a peaceful and productive rhythm. At Grace, Grow & Edify she helps families create peaceful homeschooling atmospheres through faith, organizational strategies, and cultivating strong roots at home. She is also the founder of Homeschool Mastery Academy.