Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Bible Alive! Tuesday - Christian Ethics for Children

For Bible Alive! Tuesday, a monthly meme over at The Fantastic Five, I want to share with you about a family devotional book we've found excellent for teaching Christian ethics.

I love reading the Bible, in fact right now I'm listening through a downloadable audio version of The Bible in 90 Days, from our local library, of all places. This is another fantastic resource by the way. You might not have time to sit and read for the hour or so a day required to read through the Bible in 90 days, but listening along while doing mindless chores, like folding the laundry or cleaning up the kitchen, which require your hands but not your mind, is no problem at all.


I also encourage the older children, in our case ages 10 to 14, to read two chapters from the Bible a day, at least on "school" days. Doing this they've read from Genesis through into I Chronicles. My goal is to see them read through the Bible from cover to cover at least once while they are still children - something I didn't manage to do until I was an adult.

As I've mentioned before, we've been fortunate to have Phil Vischer creating the What's In the Bible series in pretty close step with the children's reading. So, I've had Phil to explain "the sticky bits" as he likes to call some of the less than child friendly passages in the text. Watching the DVDs is also a good chance for review and summation of what the children have read.


The younger children (ages 5-8) have their own scripture routine involving a lot of memorization for AWANA and Sunday School. We have the music CDs that put the AWANA verses to music, and the younger children listen to those at least once through every day, making the memorization process a snap.


Bible reading, and daily Bible reading is fantastic, and something I highly recommend for any Christian (actually I'd be thrilled if all my non-Christian friends would give it a try too). But, at some point, it's important to take all of that knowledge and apply it with understanding to the situations of daily life. That's what I mean by Christian ethics, and that's what we've found being taught through the devotions in Allan Hart Jahsmann and Martin P. Simon's Little Visit With God.

The devotions are short, about a page of reading. A scenario familiar to children is laid out, a scripture passage is read and applied to the situation, and discussion questions are suggested followed by a possible prayer for thought. Even though the lessons are short and simple enough for young children to understand, they are thought provoking and challenging, even for adults.

We were given an older copy by a family who enjoyed the book when their children were younger, so some of the names and situations have an old fashioned, "Dick and Jane" kind of feel, but the lessons being taught are still relevant. There is a 2006 printing of the book, updated for today's readers. We haven't had any problem with the older version though, the Man of the House simply substitutes names like Josh or Brianna for Orville and Sue, and has the children sneaking off to play video games instead of heading to the fishing hole.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

What a wonderful compilation of resources!

Also, I finally purchased the first of the "What's in the Bible?" series (it was on sale for $5), and I must say, the kiddos and I are GREATLY enjoying it!

I thank God for Phil Vischer and his creative crew, and their desire to help us all understand the Bible more clearly...

Ticia said...

I'm with you, and LOVE What's in the Bible. It's such a great series. I randomly pop them in for the kids from time to time.

I'm gonna have to check out the last book you mentioned, it sounds promising.

Oh, and I've had the hardest luck with finding audio Bibles to listen to. The last one I tried the person had a very soothing voice and it was hard not to get sleepy. Not so good when you're driving.....

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Ticia - The Bible in 90 Days is an NIV version, with a cast of voices, and sound effects - rain, animal sound, battle cries and the like, and a nice historical introduction to each book. My only complaint is sometimes the background music sounds like a soap opera soundtrack.

Christy Killoran said...

I had to giggle when I read your comment about the soap opera music!!! I am very interested in listening though because I have yet to read through the Bible in its entirety. I'm also going to check out What's in the Bible?

Debbie said...

We use the Awana CD's here too. I find that Selena loves them and has been listening to them for two years now. I have to check out the other resources you have listed.

Marcee said...

So, can you check out your audiobook for 90 days? If so, that is awesome!! Your library sounds sooooo cool. That sounds like a really neat idea to do with the kids (the audio book). Our boys read a chapter a day in their Bibles. Our history this year is based on the old testament, so we're definately getting our Bible this year. We're also doing the 40 day mission-minded family challenge by Ann Dunagon (http://harvestministry.org/challenge) You should check it out. You'll love the hand motions she uses for the ten commandments. Also, the boys were wondering when #6 comes out of the What's in the bible series, I see now that it is out. We love them. Thank you Leah for introducing them to us.

Beloved's Redheaded Bride said...

Due to your mentioning the "What's in the Bible?" series in another post awhile back, I bought them all! We have really enjoyed them. Thank You.

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Marcee - Yes, I can download it right from home through the Montana Library to Go, using my library card. I had to wait a couple of weeks on the hold list before it was my turn - but it was worth the wait. I'll check out the mission minded website too. It sounds interesting!

Beloved's Bride - That's terrific! I'm glad to spread the news about such a great series.

Wonder Mom - $5! Definitely worth the money :)

Livin’ The Yeh Life’s said...

Thanks for this compilation! Can I just send my kids to your house for school? (I'm sure you get asked that all the time! :) )