Thy Word Have I Hid In My Heart

One of the joys of homeschooling is the privilege of spending part of the morning with my children learning about the Lord together.  Whether we are reading from the Bible, reading a Bible story book, memorizing scripture, coloring a picture, or praying together, this is a precious time. 

This is our fourth year of homeschooling and we've discovered a few gems in those years.  I tend to stay away from devotional-type books or watered-down Bible stories so the resources I've included are rich and meaningful and yet perfect for little ones.  But as always, use your own discernment and choose what is best for your family.

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We begin each morning (often while we are still at the breakfast table with a Bible story.  Depending on the length, we read one or two stories a day until the book is complete.  Our two favorites books both had short simple stories, making it easy for the children to do their required narration (telling back the story) at the end of each passage. 

Last year we read through The Step-By-Step Bible.  I loved that the stories were included in chronological order, not necessarily the order they appear in the Bible. 

We moved on to 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories at the end of last year and are continuing this year.  This book also moves in chronological order and has only simple black and white illustrations that do not detract from the stories.  With both books, I rarely finished reading that someone did not beg for more! 

In our first and second year of homeschooling, we read directly from the Bible and then colored the corresponding page from Bible Pictures to Color (published by Rod and Staff and part of their Preschool ABC series). 

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We also spend a chunk of time on Mondays and little bits of time on the remaining days of the week memorizing scripture.  Our favorite book was the precious Sammy and His Shepherd which we read through last year.  It told the story of a sheep (Sammy) and of his personal relationship with his shepherd.   At the top of each page the author included a line from the 23rd Psalm so each Monday when we returned to Sammy's story, we also memorized part of the passage.  This is a can't-miss book!  (I also found it very interesting to read through A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 on my own during this same time.)

Another fun resource for Bible memory was My ABC Bible Verses.  On each double-page spread was a Bible verse for one letter of the alphabet and a simple story to illustrate the point.    Each week we learned a new scripture and then tried to see how many of the previous weeks' scriptures we could remember. 

We have also used our trusty Rod and Staff for Bible memory, too.  They have excellent and cheap coloring books for several passages of the Bible.  We plan to use them again this spring when we memorize Psalm 1.  (Though the are places to order Rod and Staff materials online, because they are a conservative Mennonite publisher, they do not have their own website.  To order their catalog directly and see a complete list of what they offer, call 1-606-522-4348) 

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Another element we added to our homeschool last year was the study of missionaries.  I wanted to find simple, easy tellings of the lives of various missionaries and we found the perfect resource:  the Heroes For Young Readers series, published by YWAM (Youth With a Mission).  Each 32-page biography tells a different missionary's story through poem.   Last year, we read about five or six missionaries and we plan to do the same this year.  Using a small cross sticker, we mark the missionary's location on our map to illustrate how God's word is reaching all parts of the world. 

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Over the years, Brian has faithfully led a short devotional time for the kids one night a week.  He has begun a few books and later abandoned them (for being too difficult or too shallow or too boring), but they've found a few great ones, too. 

My Bible Coloring Book

Leading Little Ones to God

Lest this long list seem daunting, remember that we have discovered these books over many years, not all at once.  Some were given to us, some were purchased, some were borrowed.  Don't forget to check your library and Ebay, too!

I'd love to hear about your Bible time treasures, too!