As a home schooling parent, I desire to see my children equipped to function as competent adults in this world. I diligently train them in the academic skills needed for success in a career as well as their future role as a husband or wife. Proficiency in math is required both for college entrance and managing a family budget. Science will be used every time she cooks a meal or he changes the oil in the car. Studying history gives my children an understanding of the past on which their western culture is based. English prepares them to communicate effectively on the job and in corresponding with me in my declining years! But there is one subject that prepares my children both for this world and for the one still to come. That subject is Bible.

God’s Word is the manual that gives my children the foundation needed to relate properly with God and with people both now and in eternity future. It teaches them the principles they will need to reflect the Lord Jesus in a fallen world. These principles will continue to serve them as they display the Lord’s grace in the ages to come (see Ephesians 2:6,7). Although many things will change between earth and heaven, truth and righteousness will not. Therefore, the Bible must be the most important subject matter I teach my children!

Scripture study differs from other subjects even in the very way the textbook is written. The words recorded in my Bible are eternal and go beyond mere words on a printed page. John 6:63 tells me that these words are spirit and impart life to my children’s spirit. Math and grammar don’t claim to do that! Home schooling takes on a whole new dimension when Bible is given its foundation place in our daily schedule. Take a quick glance at what God promises to the child who studies and applies His Word:

• This child will have more insight and wisdom than all his teachers—Psalm 119:99.
(That’s you, Dad and Mom!)

• He will become wiser than his enemies—Psalm 119:98.

• The child who is “simple”, or has learning disabilities, is promised light and understanding if he learns God’s Word—Psalm 119:130.

• By constantly using the Word of God in his daily life this child will learn to discern between good and evil—Hebrews 5:12-1. (Don’t we long for our children to know how to discern on their own between what is good and what is not in our society?)

• He will be successful in the things that God calls him to do—Joshua 1:8.

• She will understand the fear and knowledge of the Lord and find that God has committed Himself to guarding her course in life and protecting her—Proverbs 2:1-8. (This one gets taped to every mother’s prayer journal.)

• He will have an inner conviction of wrong attitudes and thoughts—Hebrews 4:12. (Nothing works better than God’s Word for internal attitude adjustments!)

So how do we go about implementing the scriptures into our daily teaching time? Although we need to “talk of them when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, and when we lie down and when we get up” (Deut. 6:7), we are still responsible to formally disciple our children in the Word of God. (Formal and informal discipleship are both seen throughout the Bible.) Many families leave Bible time for the evening family devotions. Others tackle it as the first subject of the school day. Some leave the scriptures to be discussed throughout the day as “teaching moments” arise. What works best for your family?

Once we have chosen a time, we need to think about our approach to studying the Bible. Again, this depends on what works for you and your children. The point is that we start somewhere! Hopefully we will not get stuck on just one approach but will branch out and try new ways of learning the scriptures from year to year. The following approaches to studying the Bible are only a beginning.

Reading through the Bible: Many families try to read through a portion of the Bible together each year. Some tackle the whole thing! Either way, it is a good avenue for your children to gain an overview of God’s dealings with mankind. Of course they will see their own reflection in the lives of the men and women of the Bible! My husband promises each child $66.00 (a dollar per book) if they can read the entire Bible through in one year. He keeps a master chart of their progress and checks with them daily to see how they are advancing.

Reading through the Bible works best when combined with life application discussions. Discussion questions can begin with How, Why, When, Where, What and Who. “Jimmy, why would God want you to know the information in this verse? What might be some examples of how we could obey this passage in our family? What is the command of this verse and who is responsible to carry it out? Where are God’s promises in this passage and what are the conditions for receiving those promises? Julie, why do you think only one leper came back to thank Jesus for healing him?”

A spiritual journal is another way of responding to a time of Bible reading. Pre-schoolers can draw pictures of what was read. Older children can record their thoughts and personal applications in their own journals. Some may just narrate the passage in their own words. Writing requires one to think and personally process what has been read. A spiritual journal also allows a place for review and encouragement when your child wonders if he really is maturing in the things of the Lord.

Topical Bible Studies: This is one of the best ways of discipling your child in the scriptures because it allows him to study at a point of need. What is your child in need of at this point in their life? Encouragement, financial insight, peace (as opposed to fear), proper attitudes towards others, kindness, or faith are a few suggestions along the lines of character topics. Doctrinal topics might include salvation, death, prayer, heaven, angels, the deity of Jesus, the Trinity, the Second Coming, the inerrancy of scripture, and missions. Great personalities of the Bible can also be studied as topical subjects especially if they demonstrate a particular character quality you are researching.

Choose a topic and then begin a scripture search for the passages that address your topic. An exhaustive concordance is handy to have at this point. Along with your key topic word (fear, encouragement, etc.), look up any synonyms, antonyms, and related words in the concordance. Record the scriptures and the insights gleaned from them in a notebook. Younger children will need your involvement while older children will be able to do this during their personal devotional time. It is also a great family worship activity. Each topic may take several days or weeks for research, compiling information, and recording insights. Application may take a lifetime!

Inductive Bible Study: An inductive approach is the in-depth study of scripture. It allows you to examine a book of the Bible (both in overview and by one passage at a time) by asking yourself, “What is this passage saying? What does it mean? How can I apply it to my life?” Study tools such as an exhaustive concordance and dictionary are encouraged. Outside resources, such as books written by Bible teachers, are used only after you have depleted all of your own personal studies. Colored pencils, symbols, and underlining are utilized to help you compare and contrast words and phrases. This is a great way to train your children to study the Bible on their own. For a more detailed explanation of the inductive approach, see Kay Arthur’s How to Study Your Bible.

Bible memorization and meditation: This is not an option! It is one of the things that will keep our child from sin—Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee (Psalm 119:11 KJV). Memorization is the process of implanting Scripture into our mind. Meditation is the process of thinking and musing on those Scriptures so that they become implanted in our heart. Together they provide a resource of instruction and application that the Holy Spirit can draw from at any given time. Peter did not stand up on the day of Pentecost to preach with an armful of scrolls. The Scriptures he quoted came from his inner man at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. (See Acts 2:14-41 for the variety of Scriptures he used.) The result was a spontaneous sermon that brought over 3,000 people to the Lord. May our children someday do the same!

Memorization techniques are as varied as our children’s learning styles. Jewish children memorized scripture by putting the words of a passage to a melody. Your child may enjoy making up his own Scripture choruses for the verses he is memorizing, or you might pick up a Scripture music tape from a Bible bookstore. Try having him act out the verse in interpretive drama or using hand signs for the different words. Artistic children may enjoy drawing pictures or posters that represent the passage.

Rote memory works by taking just a portion of a verse at a time and verbally repeating the words over and over or constantly writing the verse in a daily journal. Some parents make a tape of their child’s memory verses for him to listen to each night as he falls asleep. Help your child memorize his verse by writing it on the marker board and leaving keys words out. He fills in the missing words from memory. Scripture can also be written on a piece of paper and then cut out to make a jigsaw puzzle. The child then puts the puzzle together as an aide to help him memorize.

Meditation involves our child by thinking of ways that his memory verse can be applied to a life situation. Many of the discussion questions mentioned earlier would be appropriate in helping a child transport his memory verse from his head to his heart. Older children might want to keep their meditations in a spiritual journal.

Bible Curriculum: The home schooling market place supplies many aides to help your family in any of the above approaches to Bible time. Bible curriculum often proves very useful to a weary dad determined to lead family worship at the end of a busy day. It can also come in handy for the mom who doesn’t really have the time or energy to design her own Bible curriculum. The teaching techniques gained from using a Bible curriculum will enable you to better teach on your own in the future.

Some questions to consider when choosing a Bible curriculum: Does this look boring? Will my family/child enjoy the style of this curriculum? Is it designed for homeschoolers or a classroom of 30 children? Does this curriculum go beyond fill in the blanks and basic Bible stories? Am I choosing this curriculum just because it is at my child’s grade level or because it is what my child needs at this point in his life? Does the doctrinal slant of this curriculum correspond with my family's beliefs? How expensive is it? Is this material non-consumable—can it be reused again in a few years with another child or repeated again as a family? The Bible curriculum we publish strives to meet all of these conditions. Check it out in the homeschooling section of our website bookstore.

The focus of schooling our children in the Scriptures will always be the Lord Jesus Christ. It was He who was the Word in eternity past: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God (John 1:1,2 KJV). It was He who took on flesh and bone and walked among us: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:14 KJV). And it will be He who will someday came again to planet earth: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.... And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.... And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KING, and LORD OF LORDS (Rev 19:11,13,16 KJV). May we, and our children, stand ready to meet Him.

Download a PDF printable form of How To Teach "Bible" 49kbs

© 1996 by Susan Gaddis