Tools for Teaching Tots
I wrote a post about a year and a half ago on family devotions. While I have been pretty inconsistent and at times lackadaisical in my application of what I wrote there, I am encouraged as I look back over the last year plus and think of how much Scripture we've been able to read together at the dinner table.
However, as you may know, it's sometimes hard to discuss with your 2 year-old child the complex theological arguments of Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. Not that we shouldn't make that effort, but it just might be difficult. You'll have to do a lot of simplifying in your language, and trying to take abstract ideas and connect them to concrete realities. Some people are pretty good at this...I'm not. I need help. I have to learn how to talk and think like a small child, because that is a completely foreign world to me. And so, if you're in that same boat, I think it's good to martial some allies to your cause. Let me suggest three that I use.
The Jesus Storybook Bible
This book is quite simply fabulous. As the subtitle suggests, Sally Lloyd-Jones shows throughout her children's Bible how every single story in Scripture points to Jesus. Every story whispers His name. This book is a well-worn favorite in our house. I could use a lot of supperlatives in trying to commend this book to you, but perhaps the best thing I can say is this: I had to tape the spine together, because it was literally disintegrating from use.
As a bonus, while I still think reading to your children is of utmost importance, you can also pick this up on DVD narrated by the inimitable David Suchet.
The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
Written by the late Kenneth Taylor, the New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes is a very different kind of project from The Jesus Storybook Bible. While Lloyd-Jones sets out to (in representing Scripture itself) write a cohesive story with one theme, Taylor's Bible is more of what you might consider a traditional Bible storybook. He covers nearly 200 Bible stories. Each one is dealt with very briefly and in language any child can grasp. There are questions at the end of each story...which sometimes are good, and sometimes not so much. But reading them helps me to think about the kind of questions to ask my kids. The text from which the story was taken is also included, and I like to go read the story from the "big Bible" while still keeping this one open so my daughter can see the pictures.
Everything a Child Should Know about God
This book, also by Taylor, has received an update in the last couple years...and by update, I mean a huge upgrade in illustration. I couldn't find this version new on Amazon, so I linked to the WTS bookstore. This one is laid out less like a Bible, and more like a systematic theology, which for a nerd like myself is awfully fun. But again, Taylor has a gift for taking big ideas and putting them into language a 2 or 3 year old can really grab hold of. Like the Bible above, there are questions -of varying quality- at the end of each story or section. But as I said above, even when I don't like the particular question they ask, I can take the idea and translate it into a question I can use to help my daughter really grab hold of what we're reading.
So these are some of the things we use in our house to learn the Bible together. Be sure not just to read, but to ask questions. Check comprehension. And try to learn some things by rote memory, even if you doubt the comprehension. Kids are amazing in what they can retain; they are worlds above me in this arena.
So I hope this gets you to thinking about how you can help your kids learn the Bible...and honestly, if you aren't real familiar with the Bible yourself, these books can help you, too!
However, as you may know, it's sometimes hard to discuss with your 2 year-old child the complex theological arguments of Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. Not that we shouldn't make that effort, but it just might be difficult. You'll have to do a lot of simplifying in your language, and trying to take abstract ideas and connect them to concrete realities. Some people are pretty good at this...I'm not. I need help. I have to learn how to talk and think like a small child, because that is a completely foreign world to me. And so, if you're in that same boat, I think it's good to martial some allies to your cause. Let me suggest three that I use.
The Jesus Storybook Bible
This book is quite simply fabulous. As the subtitle suggests, Sally Lloyd-Jones shows throughout her children's Bible how every single story in Scripture points to Jesus. Every story whispers His name. This book is a well-worn favorite in our house. I could use a lot of supperlatives in trying to commend this book to you, but perhaps the best thing I can say is this: I had to tape the spine together, because it was literally disintegrating from use.
As a bonus, while I still think reading to your children is of utmost importance, you can also pick this up on DVD narrated by the inimitable David Suchet.
The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
Written by the late Kenneth Taylor, the New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes is a very different kind of project from The Jesus Storybook Bible. While Lloyd-Jones sets out to (in representing Scripture itself) write a cohesive story with one theme, Taylor's Bible is more of what you might consider a traditional Bible storybook. He covers nearly 200 Bible stories. Each one is dealt with very briefly and in language any child can grasp. There are questions at the end of each story...which sometimes are good, and sometimes not so much. But reading them helps me to think about the kind of questions to ask my kids. The text from which the story was taken is also included, and I like to go read the story from the "big Bible" while still keeping this one open so my daughter can see the pictures.
Everything a Child Should Know about God
This book, also by Taylor, has received an update in the last couple years...and by update, I mean a huge upgrade in illustration. I couldn't find this version new on Amazon, so I linked to the WTS bookstore. This one is laid out less like a Bible, and more like a systematic theology, which for a nerd like myself is awfully fun. But again, Taylor has a gift for taking big ideas and putting them into language a 2 or 3 year old can really grab hold of. Like the Bible above, there are questions -of varying quality- at the end of each story or section. But as I said above, even when I don't like the particular question they ask, I can take the idea and translate it into a question I can use to help my daughter really grab hold of what we're reading.
So these are some of the things we use in our house to learn the Bible together. Be sure not just to read, but to ask questions. Check comprehension. And try to learn some things by rote memory, even if you doubt the comprehension. Kids are amazing in what they can retain; they are worlds above me in this arena.
So I hope this gets you to thinking about how you can help your kids learn the Bible...and honestly, if you aren't real familiar with the Bible yourself, these books can help you, too!
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