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Devotions vs curriculum
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I struggle with the idea of a Bible curriculum because I worry it will make the Bible seem like a school subject. (As opposed to the life changing word of God) So I’m on the fence about removing it completely and encouraging (or requiring?) devotional time instead. So I would like to hear opinions on whether doing a Bible curriculum (we currently use CLE) takes away from the meaningfulness (not sure how to put it) of the Bible. Also what is a good age to encourage devotions and should they be required. Thank you. 🙂
We definitely lean towards devotion, as opposed to curriculum. Bible stories and/or Bible readings, hymns, memory verses, and catechism memory work have been the basis of our Bible time. Now that they are older, I’m adding in some theology readings as well.
A few good resources are all you need each year for Bible (Bible/children’s Bible), hymn book, catechism book (if your church uses one), and SCM’s scripture cards and box. We often use YouTube for singing our hymns, so you could just do this instead of a hymn book. The best thing about not using a curriculum is that we don’t have to keep re-buying it each year, just a one-time investment of a few good resources.
For devotions, our church has free booklets we sometimes use for independent devotions. We have gotten out of this habit since our move though. 🙁 They look up a few passages, followed by a short reading, and a prayer. It is a great habit to start.
We never forget family devotions, as it’s been such a habit for years now. I’m praying this continues through their adult lives.
We have done these things as part of our morning time:
-memory verses (weekly)
-Catechism memory
-reading children’s Bible (with the little ones coloring the Great Adventure Coloring Book)
-theology (at a middle school level)
-art study of various biblical artists (Michelangelo, Rembrandt, etc.)
-Latin prayers of the churchOnce the children are older, I encourage personal devotion beyond their prayer time.
I have done Bible study both ways, but prefer the family Bible study and encourage individual devotions. I don’t suggest personal devotions until they can read well enough alone. I offer them a devotional book or Bible only options. You may need to model devotions and give ideas.
I encourage them to share what they are learning and periodically ask if they are doing devotions, what time of day, etc.
For family Bible study we vary resources, sometimes using a study or book or Bible only.
We have a family Bible reading time AM & PM every day using the Bible or (an accurate) children’s Bible, and encourage individual Bible reading for our oldest, who is the only reader at this point. We don’t require anything right now, and I don’t know if we will ever do more than “strongly encourage”. I, too, worry about making Bible a school subject and how that will affect their view of it. But I also want SOME Biblical learning to be part of our school experience. My solution has been that once or twice a week during school time I read from a non-Bible book that helps explain doctrine & theology on their level. We’ve read & discussed “Leading Little Ones to God”, “Devotions for the Children’s Hour”, and the Westminster (Baptist edition) catechism. We’ve opted to leave out the Bible readings that go along with history for now, because we don’t want it to be overkill (esp. since our lives mostly revolve around church!), or have them think of it as just another “school book”. Later we will cover Biblical History to help in making those historical connections, but for now, this works for us.
Bible readings are done in personal time. However, our school curriculum has a Biblical Worldview and can include Scripture. Copywork sometimes includes Scripture. Ancient History can include some Bible. I think that just adds to their understanding of the times and their Bible readings. We use many Creation-based science books from Master Books.
I should add that once my child has made a profession of faith, I encourage personal devotions. They are interested at that time, and it is presented as a help to their commitment to Christ, not to please me or presented as a “have to”.
My children are youngish (my oldest is six), but I like starting off the day with Bible. During breakfast we have been reading through Leading Little Ones to God, as a devotional. I like it because even if I don’t read each day word for word, it is a good reminder of the things I want to teach my children, about the nature of God, God in Three Persons, why we need Jesus, why Jesus died for us, etc. I realized that we learn lots of Bible stories as small children and that it great, but this book reminds me of basic theology as well. It is nice to read it together and then just talk about it. We only recently started doing these breakfast time devotions and for us, it was just what we were missing.
Once we start school after breakfast, the first thing we do is our Bible time. Right now we are working through a book called Long Story Short which is technically a devotional as well, but I find it to be a fantastic bible study. I’m learning from it too! We have the old testament book but there is another one that is New testament as well. Sometimes we’ll sing a popular Christian song or hymn together, or my daughter is in AWANA and we’ll work on her memory verses. All this only takes about 15 minutes.
In the evening before bed we read a story from the children’s story Bible we have.
I guess I like doing what we’re doing and the books we’re using because it doesnt seem dry or like just another subject. It is part of the rhythm of our day, and not only are we learning the bible together but by bit, but we’re talking about it as well, and I like that.
After chores, before school, we do a devotion every day. This includes prayer by all of us, scripture memory, and hymns. Every other day, bible study is a part of our morning as well. I use Grapevine studies (my kids are 7, 5 and 4). For the most part, I feel it has been revealing the major stories of the bible. Each lesson is read directly from the bible (which now my 7 and 5 year old have one of their own. They look up the verses and read for the lesson.) and then they get to ‘stick figure’ color a picture of the theme. I feel this gets their feet wet with looking up verses in the bible, learning the books, drawing pictures really helps them internalize the material, and they really enjoy it.
We sometimes read from the bible at night before bed and my kids love this. I would say we do it 4 to 5 times a week.
I haven’t had my son (the only one who can fully read right now) read out of the bible on instruction. But, he often does it on his own. I might start having him read a bit during his rest time during the day, which he is required to read a half hour from a book of his choice. I haven’t done this yet, but feel that we get a lot of the bible in our day and week.
It seems to be something my children love, which I don’t want to thwart by making it all encompassing.
I don’t know when I will stop Grapevine. I feel it was something excellent for when they were really young. I am starting to feel there are too many gaps, but also ordered an upper level which I think will be great. We started at Genesis about 2 years ago and we are approaching the end of the Old Testament.
Not sure if this helps, but that is what we do. I guess I feel that God, the bible and learning about him are definitely an ‘atmosphere’ in our home. I don’t feel it is any different than CM philosophy on learning. If it is part of your everyday life, gentle and authentic…kids will be drawn to it.
Yes, I want my kids to choose Christ on their own. I don’t mind them questioning my faith. This hasn’t happened yet, but I expect it will in our journey. God has a plan and I believe it is our job to lay down an example of our faith for them to draw from. Sure, we shouldn’t push it on them. But we also must fervently show them the way. Fine line….as with ALL things about parenting! Ugh!
Blessings,
Renee
PS…May I add that the Holy Spirit should probably play a roll in what to choose for teaching the bible. I do believe that whatever we choose, the bible should be the central focus. THE bible. (I am not big on veering away from actual scripture.) I have tried this and ultimately always come back to, no curriculum is as good as the bible. However, I think there are many good helps that assist parents in navigating the bible with their children. What we choose can depend on age of our children, life experiences, things that touch our heart and helps that we feel called to use.
My kids will be required to read out of the bible daily at some point. Maybe someday they will dislike this. However, the bible is the living word and I have to trust (believe) the Holy Spirit will do his work:-)
Blessings,
Renee
My husband and I have also talked about this issue, wanting God’s Word to be part of our family life, not just school. Also, we want the kids to see Daddy as the spiritual leader of our family, so he’s in charge of our family Bible reading. My kids are 5.3, 3.5, and 1.5, so our Bible time is short, but consistent. Here’s what works for us:
M-F We get the kids up and they go straight to the couch with their Bibles, catechism, and hymnal. First, we practice learning a new phrase to a psalm we are memorizing. Next, Daddy reads a short passage from the Bible and models narration or sometimes asks them to “tell what happened.” Then he reads and teaches a small part of Luther’s catechism. Next, we sing our current hymn together talking about the meaning of new words. Finally, we pray together. This usually takes 10-15 minutes as we keep it short and sweet. (We’ve purchased some great little kids friendly illustrated Bibles, catechisms, and hymnals from Concordia Publishing House.) Daddy then leaves for work and the kids and I head to the kitchen to prepare breakfast together.
Saturday mornings they hop on our bed and we read a little devotional. And Sundays they go straight to the kitchen table for our Sunday morning “feast” before church. My husband talks with them about a worship related element, such as the church season, what colors you will see in church today, or a part of the service, such as the benediction, to help them learn about the order of worship and participate in the service. (We are Lutheran.)
After dinner, every day, we have family worship which includes reading from our story Bible and then the kids each get to pick a hymn that we sing together. We do this before reading books and stories. Then, after they are tucked into bed (all 3 kids in same room), we say the apostles creed, Lord’s Prayer, and “God bless…” altogether. We end with “I am Jesus Little Lamb” hymn.
We also try to “live liturgically” with special traditions for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, etc. It is a big part of our family culture.
As the kids get older, we’ll study the Bible and doctrine more formally, but we’ve decided not to make it a “school subject”, but rather a family activity led by my husband. Having these consistent routines in place has been a blessing for my family. 🙂
I like the idea above: to make it part of family life, not school. It’s certainly not bad to make it part of school, just a different choice; )
We’ve never used a Bible curriculum for the same reasons you mention. I have used two SCM guides but they were more guides than curriculum. The SCM guides help you to dig in and study God’s word using CM methods. Mostly, we have just read the Bible and discussed it throughout the years. I add in important Christian readings as my children mature and are ready for them. I plan on having my daughter read through the Bible in a year during her senior year of high school. We have also enjoyed adding in devotionals throughout the years.
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