Thursday, August 14, 2008

DEVOTIONALS FOR KIDS






This week 3forme!! asked for suggested devotional tools for young ones.



WHAT WE DON'T CHOOSE


Whenever we look for any resource, be it a book, music or a devotional, we have a basic standard for what we don't choose. I think that is important too. Our basic guidelines would include include:

No “me” centered attitudes that demonstrate the world revolves around us rather than God and His glory
No resources in which the kids are trying to be “cool” is displayed (aka being prideful)
No sibling rivalry/sibling dislike
No unchecked disobedience/very few examples of disobedience as a whole
No examples of poor spirit or behavior that is opposed to our family goals to live for Jesus
No scenes in which children have little to no parental supervision or other examples that would oppose our family rules

Why? Well, there are many angles we can use to make our children wise. We can focus on the negative examples over and over or we can focus on the good instead. We have made a conscious decision to focus on the good and we think it has made a big difference.

In the case of a devotional, no overly "cartoony" resources in which Bible history is viewed as a cartoon or fairy tale rather than the truth of the Living God.



SOME OF OUR FAVORITES

To follow are our top 4 favorites. These are resources we have used and loved for our little ones. I hope they will be a blessing to you too!


#1 Scripture Pictures- by Nexgen. There are 52 short stories per book that are followed by a few questions. Again, the stories are short, the perfect size for your 3-6 year olds, but of course, we enjoy the devotionals as a family. The older girls get to remember back while the little ones get to enjoy them for the first time.



The format is a spiral binding at the top and the book itself can be set on the table in an easel type display. While you read the story, the children look at the large, beautiful artwork. They are wonderful. We own the OT and Life of Jesus books so far. In the Life of Jesus book we changed one sentence in the first story (It said something like “God will even know what job you are going to have.” Since we desire for our girls to be keepers at home we just changed it to “God knows just who you will be when you grow up” or something to that effect. I know, I'm a little picky.) These are really special books. They are a little large (17X11) but that is part of the fun- everyone can see.
You can purchase these books at Family Christian Stores for $29.99 (unless you have a coupon), at CBD for $21.99 or at Amazon for varied prices- as low as $12.99 used (or free if you use an Amazon credit card and earn points).

Note: The books are presented in English and Spanish – for bilingual classes and missions trips, so really your reading is half of the back of each page.


#2 Leading Little Ones to God- by Marian M. Schoolland.



This is a 173 page book includes 86 devotionals that are really well done. Water color art is sprinkled throughout. There is a suggested Bible reading passage with each story. This devotional was my tool (Tom primarily reads from the Bible alone) so I would read the devotional, ask our oldest daughter to read the Bible passage and then we would use the questions as a springboard for discussion.

You can find this at Amazon for $13.60 new or as low as $9.97 used.


#3 The Child's Story Bible- by Catherine F. Vos.


This appears to be Mrs. Vos' life work. She wrote this for her own children. Her mother had told her, she told her children and she instructed them to tell their children. A precious heritage indeed. This 382 page volume covers the Old and New Testament. The stories are a little longer, but written in an engaging fashion. This one always has my children begging for more chapters- and of course I love to oblige. Because we tend to spend more reading time in this one, I started having them color while I read. At each chapter we would stop and talk about the chapter. There are no pre-written questions.

You can find this at Amazon for $18.15 new, or as low as $7.93 used.


#4 For Instruction In Righteousness- by Doorpost.



This is a 298page, spiral bound, topical study that is really a blessing for busy parents. I have another post about this specific resource here that covers a little more on just what is in this book.


We also enjoy many wholesome character story books including Pearables.






But that's a whole other post. : )


May God bless you as you lead little hearts home!


 



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5 comments:

  1. Thank you..... I just think it's soo important to include teaching our kids about the Lord during our days. Since i'm in the preschool and toddler years it seems that it can get overlooked if it's not a prioirity in my day or if it's not a "habit" with my kiddies.

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  2. You're welcome Kelly! You are so right! You know, I think that is how "circle time" was born.

    After posting this I was referred to another resource that also looks wonderful for your age of babes or a mixed group.

    It looks so great I decided to order it for Bible this year. I think we can all grow in wisdom from these picture proverbs cards.

    http://ornamentpublications.com/

    I hope we'll be able to add this one to our favorites list as well. : )

    Blessings to you!
    ~Rebecca

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  3. I too have For Instruction in Righteousness but am not sure how to use this as a devotional for the kids (ages 10mths-6yrs). What does your time look like with that book? I've had it put away in a drawer and needed to take it out again this week (the issues just never stop!!) so my curiosity is peaked how to use it WITH the kids and not just on my own for study.

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  4. Hi Jaclyn,


    Great question! Doorposts is a resource for us. You're right! Last year I used it during our school time. We would read several verses on a topic, discuss them and pray together.

    We have done different things in different seasons. Our goal is to build in the good and weed out the bad. And I know we've made plenty of mistakes. Sometimes only hindsight is 20/20.

    In those cases we have had to go to our children and tell them we were wrong and show them in God's Word what the right thing is. That's ok. Don't be afraid to make or admit your mistakes. Just always defer to God's Word and be real with your babes.

    We are told: "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts..."

    "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" ~Isaiah 28:9-10

    Here a little and there a little. It's through the day (Deut. 6:4). It's everyday. It's life. That's all.

    Your children are quite young, some not even “weaned from milk.” I would remember that they have about a 15 minute attention span. That's ok. Some days you might think it was even a waste of time to sit down and have Bible time. But it's not. It's precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little- for them and for us! : )

    Everyone does devotion time differently. If it were me, I'd try to make it interesting. Just like school, we want them to develop a love for what we are doing. Scripture Pictures for a devotionals or reading a verse or two from Doorposts or Proverbs, then drawing a picture to relate to the verse(s) in their Bible binder is great! Something you will all enjoy.

    I would not expect little ones 3 and under to grasp this knowledge- although they will want to share answers too of course! So be sure to ask them questions in which the answer is “Jesus.”

    Also, try reading the bound volumes of Wee Lambs (by Rod and Staff Publishers) for character. You'll be surprised how much you learn as well! Those were such a help to me. : )

    Blessings to you!
    ~Rebecca

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  5. Thank you for posting this. A daily devotional for the kids is something that I have been researching and I am glad to have your input on it. I have been looking for something like the Scripture Pictures with no success until now. Thank you so much!

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