{Affliate link enclosed}
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you". Matthew 6:33Today I am joining with the Schoolhouse Review Crew in their 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials Blog Hop. Today I am going to talk about an important essential in our homeschool--The Bible.
If my husband and I had only one goal in raising our children it would be for our kids to learn to love the Word of God, hide it in their hearts, and to ultimately understand that it is how God speaks to us.
So how do we implement the Bible in our homeschool?
First off I do want to state here that what I have done has been trial and error. I really don't have a method to my madness. So here is my main 'mad method'.
When my kids are young we first read stories from a children's story Bible. When they learn to read they read from a children's story Bible until the can read from the KJV. Now lest you think they are not hearing the Bible, don't worry, during this time they are hearing the Bible being read during our Devotion Time and while memorizing the Bible.
Depending on their reading level at about 4th or 5th grade they read the Proverb for the day. After a year of so they then read a chapter of the New Testament. Eventually they build up to two chapter a day eventually adding in the Old Testament. I also implement copywork for my older students by writing out one verse from their Bible readings.
Ultimately my goal is by the time they graduate they will have read the Bible all the way through. I will admit I have failed with my up and coming senior, but he has read a majority of the Bible and by the end of the year he will have completed reading through the whole Bible. I also want to mention that every one of my kids' Bible reading has looked a little different compared to their siblings since so much depends on their reading ability and what I have learned from the previous child.
Another way we implement the Bible is to read one chapter from the Bible during our Devotion Time. We split up the chapter between myself and the kids who are reading. Lately we have been focusing on a Proverb for the day, but before that we were using Balancing the Sword Bible Study Set.
Lastly, we memorize a portion of scripture every term. We have worked on doing just scripture verses, but I have found that memorizing a portion seems to stick better than a lot of random verses.
So there you have it--short and simple. I know there are many great resources for implementing and memorizing the Bible, but for us this has worked very well. This has been a slow process, but I am seeing the benefits. They are learning to make Bible Reading a daily habit and they are also learning to love God's Word. Many times they will come and ask questions or share something that they have read.
One more thing - You know how hard it is to do your own Bible reading? Well, it can be that way in your homeschool, too. Don't despair. Just pick up where you left off and keep working on it!
Coming up tomorrow--Living Books.
Please stop by the following blogs for more Homeschooling Essentials. Also, head on over to the Schoolhouse Review Crew for even more!!
Mary @ Winecup Christian Homeschool
Jenni @ Conversaving
Meghan @ Quiet in the Chaos
Karen @ Tots and Me
Beth @ Weavings
Tawnee @ Adventures in Homeschooling
Karen @ My Harbor Lights
Amy @ Wildflower Ramblings
Kristi @ The Potter’s Hand Academy
Tara @ This Sweet Life
I think the Bible was a great topic for a homeschool essential. Sometimes it can get lost in the focus on academics, but I feel if we neglect this, we have really missed the point of homeschooling. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete