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Encouraging Daily Bible Reading
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My ds7 LOVES to read. For several months after he picked out his new Bible, he was determined to read through the whole thing. Of course, it has taken him quite a bit of time because of the wording, asking me what different words mean, and such. I have noticed lately that he doesn’t seem as interested in reading his Bible as he once was.
I thought about “assigning” Bible reading to him, but then decided that might not be the best idea. I don’t want him to feel forced into reading God’s Word. I want him to want to read it on his own, but I realize my encouragement is necessary. I also know that how I approach this could, in a sense, make or break his desire to keep reading. He sees me reading my Bible almost every morning, although I admit, I sometimes I have to get myself out of a reading rut too.
He loves reading other books…constantly. It’s his Bible that seems to be collecting dust on his desk. I empathize with him, as I know what an easy habit it can be to fall into.
How do you encourage your children to spend time daily in God’s Word? Do you assign reading? Tell them to read for a certain time each day? Get them a devotional book?
Blessings,
Lindsey
Lindsey I wish I could help. Unfortunately, this is an area of big struggle at our house. My ds6 is not into Bible story time at all. Lots of grumbling when the Bible comes out. 🙁 So, I’ll be interested to hear what advice others will give you!
Lindsey
the only advice I have……
for a long long time I would get up and do personal study and devotions before anyone else would wake up, we always had family study in the evening……BUT my kids never saw ME sitting alone quietly reading my Bible………even though I DID read it, they did not SEE me doing it……….once I realized that part of my personal study was not just for my benefit but for my children also………I started doing this during the day, requiring them to play or read quietly, and it took practice, but once they realized this was a priority for me it became a priority for them too.
sorry, nothing earth shattering, but worked here.
Laura
I actually think it is okay to assign Bible reading. I have my dd7 read in her room every day after lunch during resting time. Shs is asked to read one section in her Bible, and then a chapter of a book she is reading, then she can choose.
I also leave her Bible (or other books I want her to read) out where she will see them frequently: on the coffee table, etc. This usually works. 🙂
Laura has a good point about making sure they see us reading ours as well. HTH! 🙂
What children’s Bible is he reading? Is it interesting? Does he understand it?
I am curious what to have my ds7 read. He moans when I have him read a Bible reader before his regular reader. This is a new habit for him. We started 2 weeks ago. He was okay with it for the first few days, then it got old and he nearly dreads it. I want him to like reading it. But, I explained to him that it is a daily discipline for those who love the Lord to read their Bibles. He said he does love God and then he read it. But, he was excited to finish the selection so he could move on to his storybook.
I have read a Children’s Bible story to him every night before bed and he is excited about it. So I wonder if our selected Bible reader is not the best choice for him.
Our boys (9,7) read their Bibles every morning during the time that my husband and I read ours. They read the King James Version and understand it.
Right-away-in-the-morning Bible reading has been my personal habit since I was 12. To continue with this when we started having babies (four of them), I had the little guy sit with a basket of baby books when he was around a year. It started out with just a few minutes, and worked up to the whole hour of my Bible reading. When ds#2 came along and got old enough, he joined the other side of the basket. Training them to be quiet and look at books takes some time, and at times seems unfruitful, BUT IT IS SO WORTH IT.
Now we have four children (9,7,5,3) and they all sit (mostly) quietly on their own beds reading Bibles and books while I sit on my bed reading my Bible.
When our oldest got to where he could read well enough (around 7) he wanted to start reading his Bible that someone had given him. I worked out a bookmark of 10-12 vs passages in Luke for him to work through. Then, I think he did Joshua, and after that, he wanted to start in on Gen to the end. After 2 full years of reading his Bible (first for 5 min, then 10, then 15, and now 20 min each morning), he finished the whole Bible! After that, he started over, just like my dh and I do.
Ds7 is now doing the same thing.
I’d encourage you to get a specific time each day, and it is so much better if it is before everything gets going.
He’s going to wane in his “excitement” but that’s life. Keep at it!
Hope our experience is helpful to you.
Lindsey,
Encouraging my children to read the scriptures on their own has been a dearest wish of mine since they were very small. Reading as a family and praying as a family are both central to us, but we knew we weren’t really “done” until the children internalized those habits on their own.
I agree, that the children seeing ME read on my own is critical. It establishes “this is what people do–they read their scriptures”
I used the Penny Gardner scripture readings not out loud, but for the children to use to do their personal reading. They would read one section each morning, then we would meet to discuss the section before moving on to our schoolwork. As soon as my children could read we began this. I think one way to help keep enthusiasm high is for you to take a few minutes to discuss each day with your child what he read and what he liked about it. A few minutes of one-on-one Mommy time is a good incentive!
Also when the children are pretty young, I sometimes reinforce a bit with materials they can do when they have completed a story or a section. My youngest loved doing the Old and New Testament lapbooks that Homeschool in the Woods has.
I think the biggest factor for us was our evening scripture time all together. We always made a big deal out of this–it is the very center of our home evenings, our bedtime routine. We didn’t say “Oh, we have to read scriptures now” but “It’s time we get to read out of the scriptures now! What will we learn tonight? What did we read last night?” I think our positive attitudes, our obvious enjoyment, went a long way in affecting the children. All my children have been reading on their own regularly, without my prompting or requiring, since they were about six.
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