by Donna | Apr 13, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
I am going to list a few key products that we have used for devotionals for this age group. We generally kept morning devotions/read alouds shorter (thirty minutes or fewer) since we had other “character lessons” (i.e. chores!) and individual devotions to attend to as well. I will discuss the “under six year old” or lengthier types of materials later—though many listed in this post would work for youngers and/or olders.
As a rule of thumb, our non-schoolers (i.e. before six years old since we began kindergarten at age six and first grade at age seven), did not get up for morning devotions. I had other reading times with them at various points in the day—and they were in the evening devotionals/read alouds.
At this age, you will want to lengthen your faith reading time as much as you have time for and the children have attention spans for—and allow plenty of time for discussion and answering questions. On the lower end of this spectrum, your child may not be ready to sit for longer picture books or shorter chapter books, but keep trying! As an aside, any read aloud times that you instill in your children will help them to have longer attention spans in other scenarios, such as school and church. (Again, our morning times were always shorter than our ones later in the day.)
1. Bible
a. The Bible itself! We like to read aloud from Proverbs oftentimes in the mornings. Moreover, my husband has a special time with our guys called “Bible talks” in which he and the boys just read a portion of the Bible and discuss it for a few minutes. No other books needed—just “what does this mean to you?” and “what do you think this is saying?” You might start with familiar Bible stories in the Old Testament and Jesus’ parables in the New Testament.
b. “The Picture Bible” by David C Cook—this was listed in the preschool section, but children up to age twelve or so will enjoy this comic-book style Bible. Ray read this whole Bible aloud to each child when he or she was around age four. Then we “assigned” this Bible (in bite-sized pieces each day) to each child when he or she was around age eleven or twelve to read to himself or herself for personal devotions. https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Bible-Story-Book-Ed/dp/1555139906
c. Family Bible Library—I reviewed this book earlier in the year. This is a wonderful complete ten volume set of Bible stories. Read the review in full. If you have children ten and under, I highly recommend you find this set used, buy it, and use it every day. (That’s what we did! I read it to the kids when they turned four (sort of after Ray did “The Picture Bible”), then when each child became a fluent reader, between nine and eleven or so, he or she read the entire set to himself (or aloud to a little sibling). https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/02/day-fifty-nine-think-of-yourself-as.html
by Donna | Apr 8, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
I have always been interested in those “One Year,” “One Minute,” “Daily,” etc. type of books! The titles just shout “organization”! We have done many of these types of books through the years, but one that I think is beautiful, appropriate for older kids and parents—and appropriate for this month of “National Poetry Month” celebrations is “The One Year Book of Poetry.”
The description for this book states its purpose eloquently: “This daily devotional of Bible-inspired poetry contains some of the most eloquent, inspiring, and profound poetry ever written. Readers will glean understanding, wisdom, and inspiration for life’s struggles and victories. But most of all, they will learn more about their Savior and be inspired to devote their lives to him wholeheartedly. Includes indexes.”
Another review said, “Containing some of the most inspiring Christian poetry ever written, “The One Year Book of Poetry” features 365 devotionals, each with fascinating information on the poet, insight into the poem, and a concluding thought for application.”
In keeping with our “quick reads” in the morning, this book really fits the bill. As the reviews mentioned, it has the poem, as well as insight into the poet, the time period in which the poem was written, what the author meant in parts of it, etc. It’s like a devotional and literature lesson all in one!
If you have only littles, I would stick with the “Bible Time Nursery Rhyme” or “Prayers for the Very Young” for read alouds. However, any parent who enjoys poetry and devotional material would like this for his or her own night stand.
Look inside this beautiful devotional at https://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Book-Poetry-Books/dp/0842337121#reader_0842337121
This book can be purchased from Parable books (and many other sources, but I like to purchase from Christian booksellers when possible) at https://www.parable.com/parable/item.One-Year-Books-The-One-Year-Book-of-Poetry-Comfort-Phil.9780842337120.htm
by Donna | Apr 6, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
“Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church.”
Jonathan Edwards
When Joshua, our oldest who is now a twenty-eight year old husband, was first born, we were visited by a friendly college student who was selling a set of Bible stories. We let him in and listened to his spill—and saw the quality product he had to offer and, in spite of being two poor college students with a new baby, we bought. And it was one of the best purchases we made for our children’s first twelve years of Bible teaching.
Also about that same time, we were introduced to the concept that is summarized in today’s quote by Jonathan Edwards. We were instructed at a parenting seminar that our home should be a center—a hospitality center, a Bible teaching center, an education center, a healing center (where we should reach out to those who are hurting), and much more.
From these ideas, we decided that church should be an extension of our family—it should augment what we do at home (not replace it or even be the main tool with family supplementing it). We should be our primary faith teachers—and church, Sunday school, and other outside sources can help us achieve our faith goals for our children. When we look at our children’s “faith teaching” in this way, we feel the true sense of responsibility that we have in our children. We do not become dependent upon someone else to do it for us. Yes, others have helped us greatly through the years—including Sunday school, Royal Rangers, Upwards, homeschool groups, etc. etc. But our children’s Bible teaching is ultimately our responsibility—and nobody else’s.
Family Bible Library and the idea that our home should become a miniature church, so speak, merged perfectly together. It was (and has been for twenty-seven years) a tool that we have used to be a “little church” for our children—a place where they learn the Bible and its concepts every day through lifestyle, materials, song, prayer, discussion, and more.
The original Family Bible Library (the one we purchased twenty-seven years ago) is the 1971 version. It is and was wonderful. In a nutshell, this is what you get with that version:
*10 hardcover books covering dozens and dozens of Bible stories in chronological order
*Pictures, charts, graphs, etc. throughout
*Text written at approximately at fourth or fifth grade reading level, though definitely children as young as age four can listen and comprehend the material
*Short two-three page stories with questions following each story
*Study skills types of material following each story, including maps, charts, diagrams, etc. that help the reader understand more about the story, the time period, the region, etc. (this was my two oldest kids’ favorite parts!)
We used these with our preschoolers and elementary children by me (Donna) reading through the entire series with each child. (Others could join us, but at least the child whose turn it was did it with me.) Then, when each child turned ten to twelve, depending on reading ability, he or she did the entire series for himself/herself (or in some cases had a daily read aloud with a younger sibling and the “reader” read it aloud to a little).
Additionally, because our teens have done a lot of Bible teaching of younger kids (our girls through their girls’ newsletter; our olders who taught character in public schools; our boys now who work with cognitively disabled adults; etc.), the FBL came in handy to use as a resource for them.
I can’t say enough about this program—and recommend it highly for all families with four to twelve year olds as a daily devotional with parents (or for the child to read for himself for his own devotions). It spans multi-ages, especially with the study helps following each story. This, along with Character Sketches (https://tfths.com/character.php –upcoming review!) and a Bible, is a perfect Bible/character combination for using daily with children ages four to twelve.
Downsides: You’re gonna love me for this—but Southwestern Publishing is no longer printing FBL! There are some still available through various sources—and you can get it used for 25% or less of the original cost. People have these sitting around in basements and attics—they’re out there; you just have to look a little online. Training for Triumph (our homeschooling business/ministry) used to carry the new (2005) version, which is outstanding and more beautiful than the originals—if you can get that version, do so! However, we were told a year ago that they were not publishing more. (We have the1971 version and still love it and use it, so the new is not essential.)
1971 version link: https://www.amazon.com/Family-Bible-Library-10-Set/dp/B0013GAYR4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267324741&sr=1-2
2005 version link: https://www.amazon.com/Family-Bible-Library-8-Set/dp/B001FQ8YH4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267325676&sr=1-6
by Donna | Apr 4, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
Story of Stories: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-143-faith-books-for-teensstory-of.html
In His Hands: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-143-faith-books-for-teensstory-of.html
Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-141-faith-reading-with_24.html
Character Sketches: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-136-character-sketches-review-faith.html
by Donna | Apr 1, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
We have done many types of devotionals with our kids, besides the “open up, read, and discuss” method previously described. We used to belong to a homeschool organization that provided character training materials that we read aloud together most mornings for eight or ten years (mostly with Dad before he went to work). Additionally, we have used other devotionals—some of which I will link or describe below.
One of the keys to making morning devotions work in a busy family (especially if you are doing them with Dad before he goes to work, Mom before she works, with children who go to school) is to keep it simple. There are many good materials out there that are just five to ten minute reads that can be read during breakfast, if desired. If you make the morning devotions too long and drawn out, you will likely not stick with them because there are so many things that must be done in the mornings in a very short period of time.
In the next few days, I will share links to some devotional/character types of materials we have used through the years.
by Donna | Mar 31, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
One of the ways that we worked on our kids’ reading skills and taught them the Bible at the same time was to get everybody the exact same Bible to use together. That is, we each had the exact same version, same edition, etc., so that we could help the “littles” find the passages more easily (i.e. “Turn to page 698”). Then everybody followed along in their own Bibles.
We then went around the room and let each child read according to his readability level. For example, a new reader would sit closest to Dad and read one verse (short one) with Dad coaching/helping him sound out difficult words. Middle readers would read a couple of verses. Older readers would read more. Of course, in between, lively discussion would ensue, helping everybody make personal applications, etc.
Different people feel differently about easier versions. We personally used the New King James for group reading while Ray used another version personally, as did I—and the older kids had their own favorites as well. Again, we just dug in. You will be glad you did!
