In addition to the recommendation for school age children, Dr. Mohler gives 10 suggestions for profitably reading these books to your child. I love the way he ends this article:
No moment invested in teaching your child the Bible and reading Bible stories is ever wasted time. If your reading of a story is interrupted by circumstances (or by a child who has lost the fight against sleep), just pick it up the next time and move on. Enjoy every moment while your children are at this precious and promising stage of life.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend I came across my copy of Catherine Vos' The Child's Story Bible and remembered that I had tried reading it to my kids a couple of years ago and found that it was above their heads. Well, I'm sure that they are ready for it now and am glad for the reminder.
This article "For Older Children" is excellent. The 10 suggestions are very substantive. I'm looking forward to implementing them.
I enjoyed Mohler's post too. Please let me know how good the Vos book is. I have been planning on purchasing it.
ReplyDeleteRC,
ReplyDeleteWe've been using this over the past couple of weeks with our children (5 and 7 years old). They have been able to pay attention and follow the story lines very well.
I decided to begin near the end of the OT section hoping to get into the birth of Jesus narrative near Christmas time. What we discovered is that Vos has ordered her stories chronologically. So, we have been reading about Queen Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah. We have one more story to read and then we'll enter into the NT.
We all have appreciated the way Vos has organized this book. Her retelling of the stories has been enjoyable to follow. She evidences a keen grasp of the "big picture"of the Bible and ably draws the reader and listener's into each story.
Some children's books include questions at the end of each section. Vos will incorporate a question here and there within each section, but she has forgone adding lists of questions. I don't miss this feature. This forces me to ask my own questions. I often begin each new section asking if they remember what we read about last time. I'll also add questions as we read to make sure they are following me.
One last comment is that this book is simple enough for children of at least 5 or 6 years and still profitable for adults. My children are challenged with a serious consideration of the Biblical stories and my wife and I are fed, too.
I'm very grateful for this children's resource! I highly recommend it to you.
Jason,
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing me up to speed. I will probably pick it up this weekend and let you know how I like it. Many people have recommended it to me. I belong to the PCA and I am planning on starting a book with my children after the first of the year that goes through the catechism. I cannot overemphasize the importance of teaching your children the Bible.
My pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI've worked on some of the catechisms with my daughter and she loved them. I need to do more of this. There is a book the we used that was superb and I can't recall the title. I'll look it up and ask you if you are familiar with it. It works through the WSC.
Speaking of catechizing, I've found the TAG books helpful. This series goes through high school and includes catechism questions, hymns, and Scripture memory (as I recall it includes all or most of Ps. 119!). It's basically the same theology as the Westminster Divines, except that it's Baptist It's based on a children's catechism called "A Catechism for Boys and Girls".
ReplyDeleteDoug, This looks like a very helpful tool. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI found the title of the other book that I had mentioned (truth be told, I called my wife and asked her). It is Big Truths for Little Kids by Susan & Richie Hunt (Crossway Books, 1999). It includes a group of catechism questions, a story to flesh out the truths taught in the catechism selection, discussion questions, a verse of Scripture, and a prayer. It is geared toward the younger ages (preschool and early elementary).
Working though the catechism was great because there was so much interaction with the kids. I got to try to explain profound doctrines on the level of a 4 and 5 year old. That has been an invaluable exercise for me!
Wow! It's been a busy day on TheoSource. And I've missed it. I just got home from work. They've got us working overtime getting things done before we leave for Christmas vacation at the end of next week.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good discussion. Jason, I'm glad you've had a chance to use Vos' book. Even though my kids are grown now, I'd still like to get a copy of the titles Dr. Mohler recommended. It's always helpful to get "the big picture" of the Bible before diving into the details.
The story book we used with our kids was pretty good, but it tended to treat the stories in a disjointed way. Still, I enjoyed reading them to my daughters each evening, and sometimes I miss those times. When my first child was born, a neighbor told us to enjoy them all we could while they were young, because they grow up fast. That really is true. So please accept some advice from a guy that's fighting off a mid-life crisis: enjoy and teach them all you can now. This time won't come again. :-)