The Littlest Bible Student

You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. Deuteronomy 6:7

Isn’t it amazing how young children love to have the same stories read to them over and over again? I remember being very young and listening to The Cat in the Hat on my little Fisher Price tape player. I listened to it so much that I memorized the words, and I remember it being the first book I was able to read all by my self. My son Jacob is the same way. When he was two, he would have me read the same book to him every day before his nap and before bedtime; Giraffes Can’t Dance. If I happened to skip a line or miss a word, he was very quick to correct me.

Around the same time, my husband and I decided that we wanted to make sure and read the Bible to Jacob every day. We started doing this at night, and we read The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Children’s Stories. At first, we were simply going through a new story each night. The stories are very short, and they are written for very small children. Again, Jacob would really want us to read the same story over and over again. My husband, on the other hand, really wanted to make sure that we read through all the stories. We felt good about reading the Bible daily, but Jacob didn’t seem to be retaining much.

Then, one day I had an idea; one that should have come to me much sooner. You see, when teaching 5th grade math, I was always nagging the parents to make sure they studied the multiplication table with their 5th graders on a regular basis so that they would remember their facts. I told my husband that day, instead of reading Jacob a new story each night, we should spend a whole week on one story. He was skeptical at first thinking we would never be able to finish all the stories. But, we gave it a try.

Within a few nights, we both knew we had found a great way to study the Bible with Jacob. Because we read the same story each night, we were able to ask Jacob questions and talk with him about what we were reading. And, Jacob was very proud that he was able to remember the people and things that were going on in the story! That was about 9 months ago, and we are almost finished with The Beginner’s Bible. In addition to reading the story as a family at Jacob’s bedtime, Jacob and I also read it before he takes a nap each day. That means we are reading the same Bible story 14 times a week! Another thing Ryan started doing was reading the story and pausing so that Jacob could finish the sentence. It is amazing how a little boy can wiggle around so much during the story, but still knows exactly what’s being said! We now start a new story every Sunday, and on Saturday we have what we call Silly Saturday. On Saturday evenings, Ryan will read the story, but he will insert wrong words or names to see if Jacob has been listening. Jacob thinks this is SO funny! Most of the time, he is able to supply the correct word and we have lots of laughs.

Through all of this, I have learned that it is never too early to start regular, meaningful Bible study with your child. I will always cherish these times as a family!

I would love to hear how you study God's Word with your family. Have a blessed day!