Homeschool Missions Curriculum: Using Growing Up Wild to Raise Mission-Minded Kids

The words of the Great Commission are clear. Matthew 28:19 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” But, how do we raise kids that have a heart for world missions? I found the answer when I discovered the Growing Up Wild homeschool missions curriculum from Wild Brothers Productions. Here’s how you can use this exciting DVD series to include missionary studies in your homeschool.

I received compensation and the Growing Up Wild complete pack in exchange for my honest review, but all the opinions in this post are my own.

What is the Growing Up Wild Homeschool Missions Curriculum?

Growing Up Wild is a 5 volume DVD set from Wild Brothers Productions. The episodes tell the story of the Wilds, a missionary family growing up in Papua, Indonesia.

These DVDs are a great complement to any Bible curriculum, showing kids about God’s heart for the nations. The videos will help kids understand what it is like to be a modern-day missionary. They will inspire them to think about how they can help reach the nations for Christ. 

Each DVD includes a variety of short missionary stories, showing how the Wild Family lives. An activity guide includes suggestions for related follow up lessons to help kids learn more about the topics discussed in the video.

Who are the Wild Brothers?

Growing Up Wild stars the Wild Brothers, four brothers growing up on the mission field. In the videos, their family is living with the tribal peoples of Papua, Indonesia.

The Wild family also has a YouTube channel where they chronicle their adventures on the mission field. More recently, they are sharing about their return to the United States.

Check out this video of their adventures building a house in the jungle, and make sure you subscribe to The Wild Brothers on YouTube for more videos like this one!

How to Use Growing Up Wild Missions Curriculum

There are many different ways that you can use the Growing Up Wild missions curriculum. No matter what the context, this curriculum will be a fun part of your child’s school day.

For Homeschool

This curriculum was created for homeschool families who are looking for a missionary study. Homeschool resources including an activity guide for each volume make this resource perfect for homeschoolers!

Although the DVDs are written for kids in grades 4 through 8, I think this resource could appeal to kids from preschool through high school. Families can watch these videos together to learn about missions.

Missions in our Homeschool

My kids loved including these videos as a part of our homeschool lessons. My 3 and 6 year olds were both captivated by the videos and enjoyed learning more about the Wild family. The videos showed what it is really like to be a missionary, and the descriptions of everyday life in Papua, Indonesia were fascinating to them.

My inquisitive 6-year-old was enthralled with the lesson about how the family gets and uses electrical power in the jungle. And my animal-loving daughter was so excited to see the family’s pet cat. It was wonderful to see my kids relating to the Wilds. I think this will help them understand and have a heart for missionaries for the rest of their lives.

I have also noticed my kids starting to think about how they can do their part to share the Gospel, both locally and around the world. It is so exciting to see how this series will inspire them to participate in the Great Commission!

For Sunday School

Growing Up Wild is also a great fit as a Sunday School curriculum. It would be perfect for a church that is looking to add short missionary highlights to their Sunday School classes. Kids could also do prayer projects. They could pray for the Wild Family or for different aspects of missionaries’ lives that they learn about in the videos.

Missions in our Church

I was excited to share the Growing Up Wild videos with my church’s Sunday School classes as well. The kids loved learning more about the Wilds and how they live. This was a great way to get the kids excited about ways that they can support our church’s missionary partners. And, the short video clips were the perfect addition to our current Sunday School Bible curriculum.

For Family Devotions

This curriculum would even be a good fit for families who want to learn together about missionary families, or who are considering being missionaries themselves. Watching these videos together would be a great starting point for family discipleship and teaching kids to have a heart for people around the world.

For Christian Schools

Even accredited Christian schools that are looking to include missionary biographies in their curriculum could benefit from this resource. The DVDs do a great job of sharing God’s truth through Bible application at the end of each video.

Learn more about Wild Brothers Productions here!

What’s Included in the Homeschool Missions Curriculum

The Growing Up Wild DVD series includes several amazing resources that make it easy to use for homeschooling.

Growing Up Wild DVDs

The main component of the Growing Up Wild series is the DVDs. Each DVD includes three short episodes that show kids what life as a missionary is like.

I love that each of the episodes focuses on a different aspect of life as a missionary. My kids are always asking questions, and the episodes answered many of the questions they had about missionary life.

The curriculum strikes a good balance of sharing motivational mission stories, while also highlighting the difficult times that missionaries sometimes have. Homeschool parents will appreciate that all the information is shared at an age-appropriate level for kids to watch.

Using the DVDs in our Homeschool

The episodes on each DVD are short, which helps with the ease of use. My kids were able to focus throughout the whole episode, even with short attention spans. And it was easy to find time to watch an episode, even during a busy homeschool day.

With a total of 15 episodes available, it would be easy to complete the whole series in a single school year. You could watch one video weekly to create a 15-week unit study on missionaries. This would be a great complement to any homeschool Bible curriculum.

My kids loved watching the Growing Up Wild series and they ask if they can watch another episode almost every day. They have learned a lot from the series and I can see how this series is helping them develop a heart for missions.

Growing Up Wild Activity Guides

Each volume of the Growing Up Wild series comes with a set of additional resources. These are included on a second DVD within the activity guide.

The activity guide includes an information page for each episode on the DVD. This serves as a teacher’s guide and includes activity ideas and lesson plans for a variety of different topics that are covered in the episode.

As a teacher, the activity guides were my favorite part of the Growing Up Wild series. I loved the suggestions for how my kids could explore more about the topics they were interested in. Watching the DVDs got them excited to try the activities in the activity guides!

Learn more about Growing Up Wild here!

Tips for Using this Homeschool Missions Curriculum

Here are some ideas for using Growing Up Wild in your homeschool as a homeschool missions curriculum. This curriculum is great for getting kids off the couch and into creation!

Connect Missions to Other Subjects

One of the things I love about Growing Up Wild is the suggested activities at the end of each episode. They are a great way to help kids relate to the new information they are learning, and to help them make connections between their Bible verse study and other subjects.

You can use the Growing Up Wild series to study many other subjects, like:

Science Curriculum: The episode talks about the family building their house near a large tree. Kids can draw a picture of a tree in their neighborhood.

Social Studies and Culture: In the episode, the kids talk to an elder from the village. As a follow-up activity, kids can interview an older relative or friend.

Field Trips: The episode talks about riding on an airplane. Kids can visit an airport or airstrip that’s near them.

Language Arts: You can make a list of books about missionaries and world religions to check out from the local library.

Geography Studies: Kids can find Papua, Indonesia on a map. Older students can research other places that missionaries travel to and add those to the map as well. Then, kids can pray for people in different countries on the map.

Connect with a Missionary Story

This curriculum does a great job of helping kids be able to relate with the Wild Brothers. This will help them be able to think of ways that they can participate in the work of missions too.

Challenge your kids to think about ways that they can share the good news of Jesus with others. Conversations like these will help your kids develop a fervent heart for missionaries and for acting on the Great Commission all around the world.

Learn More about Growing Up Wild

I definitely recommend the Growing Up Wild series for any homeschool family that wants to help their kids learn more about missions and develop a heart for sharing the Gospel. Grab your own copy of the Growing Up Wild curriculum today!

Check out more homeschool curriculum reviews here!