How I intoduced regular bible study to my children

I have always thought it a good thing to be able to start the day with reading the bible or time alone with God. Who wouldn't love to brave the day knowing he/she was already grounded in God's word or His Spirit? Would our behaviour be different? Would our thoughts be different? Would our day turn out differently? For me, the answer is yes. But it isn't easy, and I know for some people this is not the right time of the day for them. Westley for example, is not a morning person. His best time with God is in the evening, when it is dark and he can be outside, alone.

As a parent educator, I am often thinking about the habits I can teach my children, while they are young, so they can each be the best person they can be when they are adults. It is important to me that they have a personal relationship with the Lord, and I want to help them the best way I can. So I have started mini-bible studies with Sunshine and Sweet-pea. They have been responding well and by doing it in the morning, each day feels like a success. It is working for now. It may not always work and there may be interruptions from time to time, but I hope to continue with it as long as it is still working for us. So if you are wondering, this is what I do...

PREPARATION

• I read the paragraph sometime before I sit down with the children, so I am prepared for translating into a language they understand.

METHOD
In the morning not long after we wake up...

• I give them a 5-10 minute warning that we are about to do our bible reading together.
• I make a cup of tea.
• I get the beanbags out ready for them to sit on, and I sit down in my reading seat.
• I ask the girls to join me, Harrison has a beanbag too, but he is free to come and go as he pleases.
• We recap on the highlights of the previous day (or two if required) to set the scene for the new reading.
• I tell them I am going to read the scripture (about a paragraph, or theme - you know how chapters are split up under headings - I just kind of pick one of those chunks under a heading).
• I read it to them from my bible, the New King James version.
• I explain in language they understand the main points that happened.
• I ask them a few questions to check they listened to me.
• Now the fun part - drawing! I ask them to draw something from the story. I will usually ask Sunshine to write something too, which is me telling her the letters to write. 
• Then they get to show Daddy their awesome work and feel totally proud of the great job they did.

We have started with Luke, as I know my girls are excited by and a bit familiar with Jesus's birth so I thought it would increase their interest. So far so good, they ask me about it on the weekend because I haven't been doing it on weekends so I think that is a good sign :)

Picture study

Okay, I just did some great planning for picture studies that I thought I'd share. It is really simple, but has helped me get my head around things and maybe it will help you. I first got the idea for a picture study from Charlotte Mason's writings and various websites promoting Charlotte Mason's approach to education. I am very fond of Charlotte Mason's approach to education. One of the subjects Charlotte promoted was picture study. As someone who knows very little about paintings and drawings and artists who produced famous works, I thought this was important for my children to learn to appreciate (and me at the same time!).

OUTCOMES

1. To recognise that artists have his/her own style.
2. To enjoy looking at artwork or be able to appreciate the artist's talent.
3. To be able to identify an artist through his/her work.

METHOD
(some of the ideas below came from this article on the Homeschool World website).

• This method is targeted to an audience aged 5-11.
• Pick one artist to study for a few weeks.
• Look at only one picture per session.
• Talk very briefly about the artist. Keeping the information very simple like, the name of the artist, where they lived and when.
• Showing the child the picture and asking them to look at it for a few minutes.
• Asking the child to talk about the picture. What do they see? How does it make them feel? What colours are they using? As the child gets older I would remove the picture and ask them to describe it, or draw what they remember of it.
• Potential activity (I will treat this activity as purely optional at each session): Child can reproduce the artwork, or how the artwork makes them feel in their own way somehow. Ie, painting, drawing, craft, pasting.

RESOURCES

• Pictures will be found mostly online.
• Library might be good after we have studied the one artist for a few weeks so we can see multiple works in one (different) setting to bring it all together.
• A trip to the art museum.

ARTISTS TO STUDY

• Claude Monet (I plan to start with this one because I think it will appeal to Sunshine).
• Thomas Kinkade (we love his paintings so much, I must, must, must introduce him soon!).
• The four ninja turtles, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo and Donatello (because it will be good for me to be able to distinguish each of their styles too).
• Rembrandt van Rijn
• Pablo Picasso (not a fan myself, but it will be good to show Sunshine how different artists can be).

... and that should keep us busy for the next nine months or so! I have a few more suggested artists on my list but I would like to look into them first before I officially put them on the list.