9 solid ways to engage your child with the Bible:
In homeschooling my 3 daughters, I have found it is critical to start them early learning about God and His word. In my new book, Alphabet Smash, I give detailed ideas for every letter of the alphabet so that you can do this too. Here are 9 ways to do this in your own homeschool.
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1- Pray together.
Create a prayer photo album of the people for whom you are praying. This can be done simply by printing off pictures from facebook and inserting them into a notebook or elaborately by putting together a photo album using photo quality paper. After several months of praying in this way, go back over past prayer requests and see how God answered your prayers.
Show your children examples of how prayer is used in the Bible and discuss prayers that God answered.
2- Read the Bible consistently.
Together. I prefer a real Bible to a children’s version. But it is okay to tell the story in your own words. Think about it. These are God’s words to His people. Express to your child the magnitude of that. To keep little one’s attention, I would often print out free printable coloring sheets of the story that they could color as I read. There is something about closeness and developing a special time to read the Bible together that will make your child want to do it. Have them all climb upon the couch to snuggle or consider reading during a meal when you have their attention. Don’t be concerned if attention wanders, just keep coming back. God will honor your efforts. Try short paragraphs of scripture at first. Keep it interesting.
3- Learn through Bible Characters.
Learning about Bible characters shows how God can use anyone He chooses; even sinful and imperfect men and women. Act out stories. Tell the story and have your child narrate it back to you. There is power in a child owning their own telling of the story.
“Bible story characters can paint a picture of how God used that person and how He can use us.” Christina Parker Brown
4- Engage your child with character traits.
Learning about compassion can be lived out through serving others, such as in a nursing home ministry or helping a neighbor. Teaching gratitude can be taught by keeping a gratitude journal. Showing affection teaches children to be affectionate. Giving to others teaches generosity. Point to the Bible to show where God teaches us about these character traits. Click here for a free Biblical Standards chart.
5- Engage your child with God’s word through art.
Use Christian ideas (crosses, lilies, etc.). Teach your child how God is an artist. And as children of God, made in His image, we are artists too.
6- Read about personal stories of missionaries.
I remember when we learned the story about the missionary George Muller and the orphans in his care. He had no food for several hundred children but trusted God to feed them. He had them get dressed, sit down at a set table, pray, and wait. Imagine the look on my kids faces when I told them how a milk man’s truck just happened to break down in front of the orphanage with milk for all the children. And then the knock on the door from the baker who listened to God’s request and brought bread to the children. Read it here. Now that teaches faithfulness!
7- Go on a field trip!
Visit the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte or other museums and see what a modern day prophet looks like. Take the family to a Creation Museum. Go and see a replica of Noah’s Ark. To make your child a part of the experience, get some chalk or a yard stick and have your child walk or measure the length of the ark. You can google Biblical discoveries or interesting pictures and videos right in your own home. When you hear about discoveries that confirm that the Bible is true on the news, share these with your child.
8- Make scripture personal.
When reading a passage or story, ask or tell your child how this applies to their life. Give examples from your own personal life or your child’s. For example, in Matthews 5:44, when Jesus says to pray for your enemy, explain how this can be hard when that enemy is the bully that is bullying your child. Or imagine your child as the Bible story character such as David, Joshua, or Peter. Ask “What would David do?” when your child is facing a challenging situation.
Try placing your child’s name in the place of the word ‘love’.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, love is not puffed up; love does not behave rudely, love does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NKJV
9- Memorize scripture together.
I cannot speak enough of the importance of storing God’s word in your heart. As I memorize and learn with my kids, we have an arsenal of God’s word as a weapon and tool against the adversary’s attacks. Memorizing scripture together is a humbling experience. As adults, I know that those words have brought me comfort in the dead of night or during a conflict. I can only imagine what those same words do for my kids throughout their own lives.
Creating Memories with the Bible & Alphabet Smash
Alphabet Smash has many easy ideas for sharing the Bible with your children, all that start with the letter of the week. It is a fun, hands-on, relationship building Christian curriculum for your preschooler or kindergartener that encourages play. It is an alphabet adventure that is engaging, simple to do and creates memories. It is homeschooling intentionally.
I recently shared the inspiration for Alphabet Smash and mentioned some memories of fun and easy activities we did together. Memories and relationship building are the biggest take aways of this curriculum.
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Here are some videos of my 3yo, then 4yo reciting scripture we had memorized. Notice how she starts as bashful and then gets more confident. It required many takes as she is watching herself speak on the monitor and would get so distracted 🙂 (Please excuse my messy school room!)
Preschool time is precious and short lasting time with your kids. And your influence is huge. Prepare your kids for the world by engaging your kids with the Bible early.
Alphabet Smash can show you how!
So what are you waiting for? Sign up today!
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