Three Ways to Make the Bible Easier for Kids

by Bobbie Jamieson

Teaching children the Bible is actually a whole lot easier than I thought. All you need is passion and integrity. After all, if you cannot reach children with God's Word how do you expect to connect with adults. As with everything it starts with baby steps. We're talking half of a Bible chapter. Most children's Bibles are actually super legit. Bobbie Jamieson provides some top notch tips on connecting your kids with the Word.

"Now, I’m a grade-A theology nerd, but I didn’t actually set out to found a preschool seminary in our home. The parallel only struck me after we’ve been doing this for a few years, and it struck me because of the way these three basic habits all reinforce each other and help our kids engage God’s Word. So, we recently read of Jesus’ promise to give the Spirit in our story Bible, and our older daughter exclaimed, “Dad, that’s "where we are!”—meaning we’d just read of Jesus’ same promise to give the Spirit in John 16 in morning Bible. And when a character from the Old Testament is mentioned in one of the Gospels, she’ll often say, “Hey, I know him! He’s in my Bible!

  

“All told, this takes maybe fifteen minutes a day. Ideally we do all of this every day, but realistically we do most of it most days—maybe five days a week. We read about ten verses or half a chapter of Scripture at breakfast, along with catechism questions. And we read a story from the story Bible before bed. That’s it. But we can already see these habits radically shaping our kids’ minds, hearts, and lives.

We’ve had to shift our routine plenty of times when it just wasn’t working. We’ve found breakfast a good time for more active teaching since the kids have energy and, while they’re eating, are as close as kids get to being a captive audience.

“Kids love structure, and they thrive on routine. One of the best things about this ‘seminary curriculum’ approach is that you don’t have to think too much about it: just read the next few verses, teach the next few questions, read the next story.

Plus, the structure itself does a lot of explaining for you. Your kids won’t encounter the Trinity as an abstract puzzle to be solved, but as the Father, Son, and Spirit who work together to save us. And while they’ll ask questions you can’t answer, the catechism gives them plenty you can.

“If this seems overwhelming, start with just one piece of the puzzle, like reading a story Bible before bed. If you can cement that one habit, consider building on it. When it comes to teaching kids the whole counsel of God, a little every day goes farther than you can imagine."

Source: http://www.christianity.com/bible/bible-study-tips/3-ways-to-make-the-bible-easier-for-kids.html?p=2