“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
We have done many types of devotionals with our kids, besides the “open up, read, and discuss” method previously described. We used to belong to a homeschool organization that provided character training materials that we read aloud together most mornings for eight or ten years (mostly with Dad before he went to work). Additionally, we have used other devotionals—some of which I will link or describe below.
One of the keys to making morning devotions work in a busy family (especially if you are doing them with Dad before he goes to work, Mom before she works, with children who go to school) is to keep it simple. There are many good materials out there that are just five to ten minute reads that can be read during breakfast, if desired. If you make the morning devotions too long and drawn out, you will likely not stick with them because there are so many things that must be done in the mornings in a very short period of time.
In the next few days, I will share links to some devotional/character types of materials we have used through the years.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
“When You Rise Up”: Faith in the Mornings— (Part IV of Many (!))
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
One of the ways that we worked on our kids’ reading skills and taught them the Bible at the same time was to get everybody the exact same Bible to use together. That is, we each had the exact same version, same edition, etc., so that we could help the “littles” find the passages more easily (i.e. “Turn to page 698”). Then everybody followed along in their own Bibles.
We then went around the room and let each child read according to his readability level. For example, a new reader would sit closest to Dad and read one verse (short one) with Dad coaching/helping him sound out difficult words. Middle readers would read a couple of verses. Older readers would read more. Of course, in between, lively discussion would ensue, helping everybody make personal applications, etc.
Different people feel differently about easier versions. We personally used the New King James for group reading while Ray used another version personally, as did I—and the older kids had their own favorites as well. Again, we just dug in. You will be glad you did!
One of the ways that we worked on our kids’ reading skills and taught them the Bible at the same time was to get everybody the exact same Bible to use together. That is, we each had the exact same version, same edition, etc., so that we could help the “littles” find the passages more easily (i.e. “Turn to page 698”). Then everybody followed along in their own Bibles.
We then went around the room and let each child read according to his readability level. For example, a new reader would sit closest to Dad and read one verse (short one) with Dad coaching/helping him sound out difficult words. Middle readers would read a couple of verses. Older readers would read more. Of course, in between, lively discussion would ensue, helping everybody make personal applications, etc.
Different people feel differently about easier versions. We personally used the New King James for group reading while Ray used another version personally, as did I—and the older kids had their own favorites as well. Again, we just dug in. You will be glad you did!
“When You Rise Up”: Faith in the Mornings—Just Read It Already! (Part III of Many (!))
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
As I stated earlier, sometimes I think we make Bible teaching with our children harder than it has to be. I am one who likes to read from devotional materials/character materials with my kids. My husband, on the other hand, can make a Bible lesson out of a pipe being put in the ground along the road, the orange of the sky in a summer evening, or clipping your fingernails! He can be deep, if needed, or he can be right to the point—this is what it means we should do.
I think we could all learn a lot from his approach. It just doesn’t have to be that hard. We can read. And we can talk. And we love our kids. Put all that together and morning devotions do not feel as difficult as they once did.
For many years, Ray did a morning devotion before work and I would do another later in the morning. Then we usually had evening devotions/family worship after dinner. Our morning devotions have varied over the years, but one thing that we have done more often than any other one book or method is that of simply reading and talking. (And now our schedule looks completely different with discussions and devotions with our teens while we drive; video lessons together on family night; Mom's read aloud during the school week; worship together as we travel. Again, there's not a right or wrong way!)
We did this "reading and talking" method extensively with the book of Proverbs—for years. Proverbs are wise words to live by—and a great way to start a family’s day. There are thirty-one—and correlate well with the days of the month. They are quick reads—great for mornings. And they give us instruction for how to live our lives—something adults and kids alike need to go into the day with.
Around Christmas and/or Easter, we would often focus on one of the Gospels. Other times we just picked a book of the Bible and made our way through it. We would sometimes use concordances, Bible dictionaries, and Bible handbooks, though we would often simply open the Bible and “read already.”
As I stated earlier, sometimes I think we make Bible teaching with our children harder than it has to be. I am one who likes to read from devotional materials/character materials with my kids. My husband, on the other hand, can make a Bible lesson out of a pipe being put in the ground along the road, the orange of the sky in a summer evening, or clipping your fingernails! He can be deep, if needed, or he can be right to the point—this is what it means we should do.
I think we could all learn a lot from his approach. It just doesn’t have to be that hard. We can read. And we can talk. And we love our kids. Put all that together and morning devotions do not feel as difficult as they once did.
For many years, Ray did a morning devotion before work and I would do another later in the morning. Then we usually had evening devotions/family worship after dinner. Our morning devotions have varied over the years, but one thing that we have done more often than any other one book or method is that of simply reading and talking. (And now our schedule looks completely different with discussions and devotions with our teens while we drive; video lessons together on family night; Mom's read aloud during the school week; worship together as we travel. Again, there's not a right or wrong way!)
We did this "reading and talking" method extensively with the book of Proverbs—for years. Proverbs are wise words to live by—and a great way to start a family’s day. There are thirty-one—and correlate well with the days of the month. They are quick reads—great for mornings. And they give us instruction for how to live our lives—something adults and kids alike need to go into the day with.
Around Christmas and/or Easter, we would often focus on one of the Gospels. Other times we just picked a book of the Bible and made our way through it. We would sometimes use concordances, Bible dictionaries, and Bible handbooks, though we would often simply open the Bible and “read already.”
Monday, March 28, 2011
“When You Rise Up”: Faith in the Mornings Part II of Many (!)
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
In keeping with a potential model in II Peter 1:5 as a basis for our how days would flow: “But also for this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue, knowledge,” we started our kids’ days out with faith. This included private devotions, family devotions, read alouds, etc. through the years. Over the next couple of days I will give some ideas for this.
Today I will focus on Bible reading together in the mornings. I have expounded over the past year on much of the teaching that we received twenty-plus years ago from Gregg Harris (father of Josh Harris of “I Kissed Dating Good-Bye” and Alex and Brett Harris of “Do Hard Things”) in his “The Christian Homeschool Workshop.” One of the things that he taught us was to attach things that we want to implement in our homes to something that is already in our schedule, beginning with meal times.
We took his advice on this (and many other things) and came home and attached Bible teaching to just before breakfast—when we “rise up.” This has looked different all the time—some of the time Ray did it before work (and the kids went back to bed after he left!); some of the time I did it before breakfast; some of the time I did it during breakfast; some of the times we snuggled in my bed and read Bible and character materials before starting chores and the busy-ness of the day.
One of the downfalls of so many people out there telling us how to teach our children the Bible, how to have devotions, etc. is that it is often made to seem much more difficult than it is! (There are way more benefits, but this is definitely a downfall in our opinon.)
Tomorrow I will list many of the morning devotional ideas that we have used—some are as simple as reading a Proverb and talking!
In keeping with a potential model in II Peter 1:5 as a basis for our how days would flow: “But also for this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue, knowledge,” we started our kids’ days out with faith. This included private devotions, family devotions, read alouds, etc. through the years. Over the next couple of days I will give some ideas for this.
Today I will focus on Bible reading together in the mornings. I have expounded over the past year on much of the teaching that we received twenty-plus years ago from Gregg Harris (father of Josh Harris of “I Kissed Dating Good-Bye” and Alex and Brett Harris of “Do Hard Things”) in his “The Christian Homeschool Workshop.” One of the things that he taught us was to attach things that we want to implement in our homes to something that is already in our schedule, beginning with meal times.
We took his advice on this (and many other things) and came home and attached Bible teaching to just before breakfast—when we “rise up.” This has looked different all the time—some of the time Ray did it before work (and the kids went back to bed after he left!); some of the time I did it before breakfast; some of the time I did it during breakfast; some of the times we snuggled in my bed and read Bible and character materials before starting chores and the busy-ness of the day.
One of the downfalls of so many people out there telling us how to teach our children the Bible, how to have devotions, etc. is that it is often made to seem much more difficult than it is! (There are way more benefits, but this is definitely a downfall in our opinon.)
Tomorrow I will list many of the morning devotional ideas that we have used—some are as simple as reading a Proverb and talking!
Friday, March 25, 2011
“When You Rise Up”: Faith in the Mornings Part I of Many (!)
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
In keeping with a potential model in II Peter 1:5 as a basis for our how days would flow: “But also for this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue, knowledge,” we started our kids’ days out with faith. This included private devotions, family devotions, read alouds, etc. through the years. Over the next couple of days I will give some ideas for this.
One of the things that I consider to have been successful in our home over the past twenty-eight years is the fact that, for the most part, we have had the same basic schedule during the first two hours of every week day, year round, our entire lives. When I say basic schedule, I am not talking about time schedules (i.e. 7:00-7:20 personal devotions; 7:20-7:45 family devotions; etc.) but rather I am describing a lifestyle of starting each day with faith and character—whether it is November, April, or July. I think we do kids a disservice (whether homeschooled or not) by allowing them to stay up until the wee hours of the night and sleep in til noon all summer. That is not real life at all—and promotes bad habits.
So, what is “faith teaching” in the morning?
It could mean, and has meant, many things for us, including, but not limited to:
1. Bible reading together
2. Praise music playing
3. Bible audios playing
4. Reading from a devotional or other book together
5. Reading from character books together
6. Each child reading his or her own devotional or Bible
7. Discussions, of course, discussions…
More on ideas for some of these later. Be sure to teach at the key times listed in Deuteronomy 6---um…all the time, that is!
In keeping with a potential model in II Peter 1:5 as a basis for our how days would flow: “But also for this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue, knowledge,” we started our kids’ days out with faith. This included private devotions, family devotions, read alouds, etc. through the years. Over the next couple of days I will give some ideas for this.
One of the things that I consider to have been successful in our home over the past twenty-eight years is the fact that, for the most part, we have had the same basic schedule during the first two hours of every week day, year round, our entire lives. When I say basic schedule, I am not talking about time schedules (i.e. 7:00-7:20 personal devotions; 7:20-7:45 family devotions; etc.) but rather I am describing a lifestyle of starting each day with faith and character—whether it is November, April, or July. I think we do kids a disservice (whether homeschooled or not) by allowing them to stay up until the wee hours of the night and sleep in til noon all summer. That is not real life at all—and promotes bad habits.
So, what is “faith teaching” in the morning?
It could mean, and has meant, many things for us, including, but not limited to:
1. Bible reading together
2. Praise music playing
3. Bible audios playing
4. Reading from a devotional or other book together
5. Reading from character books together
6. Each child reading his or her own devotional or Bible
7. Discussions, of course, discussions…
More on ideas for some of these later. Be sure to teach at the key times listed in Deuteronomy 6---um…all the time, that is!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
“When You Rise Up”: Ordering Your Day Around Spiritual and Character Teaching
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
One of the ways that we tried to show the children the importance of spiritual and character training in our home throughout our twenty-eight years of parenting was to put spiritual training and character training first in our day.
We used the model in II Peter 1:5 as a basis for our how days would flow: “But also for this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue, knowledge.”
From this verse, we taught our children and tried to manage our home in a way that reflected this—that we should put “faith” first in your life—spiritual training in our homes in the case of a family. And we should put virtue second—character training in the Christian home. Then we should put knowledge—or education.
Now, we are dedicated homeschoolers (we began twenty-eight years ago this fall by teaching my younger sister at home each day)—and we followed this pattern for our daily schedule and our prioritizing all of our school years—with tremendous success. Education (knowledge) was never considered low—but it simply came after faith and virtue. And our children’s amazing academic success has proven that this strategy did not hurt them one bit. (Our oldest son tested out of his entire college degree except for two classes for which there were no exams available. Our next child, a daughter (with severe dyslexia and dysgraphia) who is now a missionary nurse, received perfect verbal ACT scores two times and received full ride academic scholarships for all three colleges she attended. All of our kids have taken college classes during their junior and/or senior years of high school. Yep, this approach benefits academics too!)
What exactly does this “faith first; virtue next; knowledge next” approach look like in a family’s daily life? Join us tomorrow for the answer to that question!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
How's of Character Training--Teaching All the Time Intro
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words, which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:5-7
Okay, so I’ve used this verse like a half dozen times over the past fourteen months of the Positive Parenting blog. And I am using it again! This time, however, I am going to use it over the next few weeks to share with you many of the ways that we have implemented character training/spiritual teaching.
I will be breaking the time frames/teaching opportunities down to chronological orders, giving ideas for teaching during those times. We have had deep learning times, many life lessons, intimate relationships, and, most of the time, wonderful fruit, from our times with our children over the past twenty-eight years. I hope you will join us as we share dozens of these over the coming weeks!
Sneak Preview
WHEN YOU RISE UP
-Character building chore times
-Family devotions
-“Morning read aloud”
-schedule/daily disciplines
-Snuggle, rock, and read
-Schedules that put God first
WHEN YOU SIT IN YOUR HOUSE
-Story time
-Organization/upkeep
-Discussion
-Questions
-Listening together
-Daily fruitfulness
-Parenthetical Parenting
-Expectation Explanation
-Teaching like Jesus
-Reading together
-Games
-Prioritizing it—making the time to “sit in your house”
-“Good report” time
-Songs/sayings to build relationships
-Family worship
WHEN YOU WALK BY THE WAY
-“Who has shoes on?”
-As you drive down the road
-Who had good character?
-Daddy talks
-Meal times
-Car talks
-Twalks
-Terrific Tuesdays and Wonderful Wednesdays
-Movie and book talks
-Teachable moments
-“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”
-Listen more than you talk
-Phrasing your teen talk
-Appearance is reality
-Singing together
WHEN YOU LIE DOWN
-Malachi time
-Bible talks
-Bedtime stories
-Tying heartstrings
-“Get this teenager out of my room!”
-The eyes are the windows to the soul
Thanks for joining us! We love helping families!
Okay, so I’ve used this verse like a half dozen times over the past fourteen months of the Positive Parenting blog. And I am using it again! This time, however, I am going to use it over the next few weeks to share with you many of the ways that we have implemented character training/spiritual teaching.
I will be breaking the time frames/teaching opportunities down to chronological orders, giving ideas for teaching during those times. We have had deep learning times, many life lessons, intimate relationships, and, most of the time, wonderful fruit, from our times with our children over the past twenty-eight years. I hope you will join us as we share dozens of these over the coming weeks!
Sneak Preview
WHEN YOU RISE UP
-Character building chore times
-Family devotions
-“Morning read aloud”
-schedule/daily disciplines
-Snuggle, rock, and read
-Schedules that put God first
WHEN YOU SIT IN YOUR HOUSE
-Story time
-Organization/upkeep
-Discussion
-Questions
-Listening together
-Daily fruitfulness
-Parenthetical Parenting
-Expectation Explanation
-Teaching like Jesus
-Reading together
-Games
-Prioritizing it—making the time to “sit in your house”
-“Good report” time
-Songs/sayings to build relationships
-Family worship
WHEN YOU WALK BY THE WAY
-“Who has shoes on?”
-As you drive down the road
-Who had good character?
-Daddy talks
-Meal times
-Car talks
-Twalks
-Terrific Tuesdays and Wonderful Wednesdays
-Movie and book talks
-Teachable moments
-“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”
-Listen more than you talk
-Phrasing your teen talk
-Appearance is reality
-Singing together
WHEN YOU LIE DOWN
-Malachi time
-Bible talks
-Bedtime stories
-Tying heartstrings
-“Get this teenager out of my room!”
-The eyes are the windows to the soul
Thanks for joining us! We love helping families!
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