Homeschool World Forum

angw8 · User Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 44 Location: Australia

WE have made the Bible the centre of our homeschooling and can testify that it produces excellent results.
My children have been trained to do their own private Bible reading everyday from the time they could read fluently .
Prior to that ,I read to them everyday.
We have used the Bible for learning to read, for penmanship practise, for grammar, for history, comprehension and so on.

We read from the Bible as a family too in our morning and evening family worships .Great read aloud practise too because everyone takes turns.
For more about this read The Family That Prays Together in The Narrow Way[.

And we have found in our own experience that this method produces good test scores too.My girls were accepted into university at 15 .
Great for character too.
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Ang

Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. ...

mdsmomct · User Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 46 Location: CT

That is wonderful to hear. I cannot think of a better "core" for your education than God's word. Now you and the children are reaping the reward!

My son is 2.5 and I try to read to him daily from the Bible but he seems to prefer other books still. I read Gladys Hunt's "Honey for child's heart" and she also encourages Bible reading daily and I completely agree with it, but how do I get him to listen?

How did you approach Bible reading when your children were this young?

angw8 · User Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 44 Location: Australia

When mine were that young ,I approached it a little differently than when they were older.
I read to them when they were in bed every evening and they fell asleep on the Word of God.

During the day ,I did stick drawings to accompany my reading.The stick drawings held their interest.(The reason they were stick drawings is because that is the extent of my art ability.And they can be drawn fairly quicly .Anything that takes too long may cause the child to lose interest.A little blackboard can work for this ,a little whiteboard or a sheet of paper in your lap.)
I did the same passage for a week too.And I used any other helps I could (that were not too much effort on my part ).
Examples of these -clothes pegs (we hang up our washing ),little plastic animals ,hand actions .If there were numbers in the reading ,I used the child's hand to count them .

Let me assure you when you are reading everyday ,it isn't a preparation thing .I kept it very simple .And at that age, the day time reading was not long.The bedtime one often was though.At bedtime ,the child's main concern was that I stay .So didn't mind what I read.And it helped them go to sleep. Again even at night ,I frequently read the same passages.

Also I at that age I started memory verses.If your child can speak well ,you may want to consider these.
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Ang

Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. ...

ScottHughes · User Joined: 04 Apr 2007 Posts: 15

What bible translation do you use? Aren't most bibles translated in an archaic vernacular, such as sixteenth century English?

I'm just curious.
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angw8 · User Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 44 Location: Australia

We do use the King James Version from the start.
My children had no problem with it because they have grown up with it.
Friends whose children didn't grow up with it ,said it took about 2 weeks to get used to it after consistent daily usage.

In spite of what many think ,the King James is not difficult.Just adjust to 'thees,thous and wilts'.
The archaic words are in the minority. Smile

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Ang

Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. ...

4given · User Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 735 Location: S.Indiana

angw8 · User Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 44 Location: Australia

The issue goes deeper than the language used.
I believe it is a matter of manuscripts that were translated from.

To my knowledge,the King James is the only version to have been translated from the Receptus Textus .
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Ang

Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. ...

mdsmomct · User Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 46 Location: CT

Thank you for the advice. I will definitely use it. At night he does not like us to stay in his room so I will do more with it during the day. I was thinking we should be doing verses as he does speak very well and memorizes things quickly. Thanks again!

I grew up with the King James version and love it. But my dh insists we use the NIV since we are Catholic. I am planning on smuggling in a King James version for me and ds- I just like it better I guess since I grew up with it! Wink

angw8 · User Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 44 Location: Australia

Something I neglected to mention that is in my opinion very important -I always prayed with the children prior to reading the Bible .
I prayed serious prayers too,asking God to use the reading of His word for the noursishment of the child/children.

We approach the Bible with reverence . Its not just another book.

And we often prayed again when we had ended our reading of the Bible,even if it is part of school time .

I encourage my children to pray as well at these times.
Its precious hearing young children praying "Please help us understand ...."

When reading to a young child I will read the original rendering and then if necessary give a paraphrase ,if the word if it is not part of the child's vocabulary. With familiarity this becomes necessary less and less.

Don't underestimate the value of Bible reading even to a young child.
God will bless your efforts.
_________________
Ang

Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. ...

clang100205 · User Joined: 19 Aug 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Michigan

Ang That is awesome. I am hopeing to do the same. We will also be using the KJV aka AV. My husband and I believe whole heartly to use the Bible for every aspect of life if we are to raise God fearing, God honoring children.
My husband and I also use the KJV only so that is why we are teaching them on this version. It is a 5th Grade reading level were most others are higher. Sometime we have to explain a word here or there but for the most part my Daughter understands it.

Carmen
Bethany k/1st
Rebekah Pre K
Abigail Baby

Jazzy · User Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 214

What a wise suggestion, Ang!

My children and I have been doing daily lessons from Leading Little Ones to God, and then reading from the Bible. I let my oldest son (7) read and it is so precious to hear God's word coming from his mouth. We pray together after the lesson. I think I may add a nightly Bible reading time as well.
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alexisminnis · User Joined: 11 Aug 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Vancouver, BC

Wow, what a blessing to hear! It must be beautiful to see your children picking up and reading the Word of God on their own! I pray that I can instill the value of reading the Word in my son also (right now he's only 21 months and so he's not reading yet) Wink

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mommyto2gr8ones · User Joined: 02 Dec 2008 Posts: 32 Location: Concord, NC

That sounds like an awesome curriculum to have!! I would really like to set my sights more to that way of doing school.
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judyh · User Joined: 25 Apr 2009 Posts: 17

I am searching around for Christian homeschool curriculum and found someone recommending the SOW or Student of the Word. Has anyone use this before. I briefly went through the description and found it very difficult to understand. There aren't any pictures and i am thinking that my 2 kids will get bored very easily. So far, i am working hard to homeschool just using the Sunday school materials but i know its not enough.
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judy

Enjoying homebound education and homeschool curriculum with my 4 year old dd
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mamaof3peas · User Joined: 29 May 2009 Posts: 1

I just joined and saw this and wanted to tell you , i have made a commitment to the Lord myself about our upcoming school year starting next week. I am making bible study our first priority. I even ordered a curriculum that looked very simple, yet very hearty in content, teaching the hows and whys along with the daily reading. here is a link if anyone is still looking. i just ordered foundation 1, and plan to try to do a foundation each year. there are 3 foundations in all, and it covers the whole bible more or less, in the kjv. plus its only $20 for the foundations.

http://www.homeschoolingbible.com/