more about reading Scripture with kids

I wanted to add a bit onto the last post but didn't know quite how to fit it in.

It's taken me several years to figure out what works for reading the Bible with little kids. Right now what it looks like for us is largely what it looks like for Carrie Ward, the author of that book Together. The longest sitting-down-and-being-quiet time in our house each day is at breakfast, when the kids are hungry and busy eating for a while, so they are quiet, alert, and attentive (or at least as quiet, alert, and attentive as a 4-year-old, 3-year-old, and 14-month-old ever will be). That's when we read the Scriptures together.

I started out just reading bits and pieces to them. Usually parts of the Psalms, Isaiah, the Gospels, and the Epistles. Just encouraging words. The good stuff. Whatever I flipped to and wanted to read and could cram in around all the requests for butter and needing a refill of milk. Pulling lines from this psalm and that epistle to share verses mainly about God's goodness and love and grace. But as they've gotten older and have been ready for lengthier passages of Scripture, I've started reading straight through. I think we started that in November or so after we moved to Spokane. We've read through Genesis and Matthew and now we're working through Acts. It's not moving at rocket speed, and we don't do it every day, although we always intend to. There are days when breakfast gets too hectic, in which case we try to make it happen at lunch or dinner. When we're reading through a book of the Bible like we are now, I want to make sure both Priscilla and Abraham are at the table, so if one of them is still asleep at breakfast or something (a frequent happening this month while they've taken turns being sick) then I read out of Psalms or the day's chapter of Proverbs (although I admit that I've been leaving off the negative half of the Proverbs verses).

I've been reading to them out of an NIV (1984) and Message interlinear, which I love. I love it for me, because I've been reading through the Bible in the Message to get a better grasp on passages which have gotten too familiar or I've glossed over too many times. I love having the interlinear because I love the NIV, and there's something on nearly every page where I just want to glance over and see what the difference is in the NIV translation versus the Message interpretation. But it's also fantastic for reading with the kids. There are parts while reading the NIV to the kids where the wording just gets too complicated and I can't think how to rephrase it. So I look at the other column and transpose some of the words from the Message into whatever verse or passage I'm reading to them. It works really well, I think, and often I will read a verse in the NIV and then repeat in the Message and then repeat it in the NIV, just to make sure they have a good handle on the concept. When I find a key verse that I think would be useful for us to understand better or memorize, I repeat it a few times. I often like to have the kids repeat it with me so that they can remember it.

I've also been getting into the habit of reading the Bible to Rilla and Abe at night. We did it while we were in Iowa and our bedtime routine was switched up a bit, and they absolutely loved it and kept asking for more. I've been telling them Bible verses at bedtime for a few years and they love that and have memorized many passages of Scripture that way. I usually stand tell them Scripture as I am tucking them into bed. It's just part of our whole routine, one of the last things I say to them at the end of the evening. But apparently I haven't been memorizing any new Scripture in a while because it's at the point where I just can't think of anything new. They've memorized some really good passages that way, but they are kind of burnt out on hearing the same ones over and over (especially Proverbs 3:5-6, I think, because that is my old reliable fallback when I'm super exhausted and it's all that comes to mind). So I've started reading little passages from the Bible to them at night and let me tell you, they eat it up. I read somewhere (I think it was in Nurtureshock, actually) that the last thing kids hear at night is what they will think about all night, and it is incredibly important for their development that it's something good. Thus the Bible passages thing. This week I've been reading 1 John to them and they really enjoy that time.

Anyway, I share all of this because for me, it's a part of living purposefully, a part of raising children well and carefully, and it's taken me quite a while to arrive at these simple practices. They work well for our family and I know how hard it can be to figure out, let alone establish, careful times in the Word with children. And I have benefitted in so many areas of parenting from reading about what others have done that if this helps anyone brainstorm what works for them... wonderful! And if you have children of any age and don't know at all where to start, I really encourage that simple saying-one-verse-a-night thing.

I also thought I'd mention what Bibles for kids I have found most useful. We gave each of our children a new Bible for Easter, and I am really satisfied with the ones we settled on getting for them. I've spent quite a lot of time looking at what options are available, and I really think these are among the best choices for kids' Bibles. Even though we're reading the actual Bible together, the children's versions are still useful and fun for them to read. Here are the ones I like the best.

For Ezekiel (so, the zero to maybe twenty months range), we found the Hug-a-Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. She wrote The Jesus Storybook Bible (which I dislike, sorry to say, although I like many of her other books) and this too is written in simple, lovely rhyme. It's all Scripturally accurate and very simple. My older kids like it too, and they will listen when I read it to Ezekiel, even though each "story" is only six lines or so. It does a great job of expressing big important truths in simple, cheerful words.

For Abraham (most kids ages three to five, I suppose), we found My Favorite Bible by Rondi deBoer and Christine Tangvald. It is just lovely and probably my favorite kids' Bible ever. Like The Jesus Storybook Bible, it foreshadows the coming of Jesus ("the Promised One") all the way through, so it has that important aspect, but it is also lovely to look at and the words are all Scripturally accurate. It seems to me like some kids' Bibles are written by people who only want to share the bare-bones, straight-up story... not the actual meaning of it all. This one shares what happens accurately but also expounds on the deeper meaning of everything that goes on, and I really love that.

For Rilla (most kids ages four to seven, probably), we found My Read and Rhyme Bible Storybook by Crystal Bowman and Cindy Kenney does a great job of presenting the truth well and tying together the big picture as well as making it fun to read. I would pick this one or My Favorite Bible any day; they are both really excellent.

So anyway. Just a few more thoughts on this Bible-reading topic.