How to Teach Your Children Weekly Bible Verses

Knowing God's Word is vital nourishment for our spiritual well-being.  Not only must we know It, but we must hide God's Word in our hearts.  When the enemy comes in to devour, we must be ready to fight with the Word of God.

I have been a Christian since a child, but I must admit, I had never really learned Scripture.  Even in reading my Bible, I never made memorizing Scripture important.  The only time I learned Scripture is when It was in a song I heard often or I had to learn It for church.  If I were to make a guess, I would estimate that I only could quote 15-20 Bible verses off of the top of my head, on the spot, much of my Christian life.

During much of my life, despite trying to grow closer to God, I found discouragement and discontentment controlling my thoughts when things weren't going well.  I didn't have God's Word hid in my heart (Psalm 119:11), so I didn't have the encouragement of it to remind me of God's care for my life during any hard times.

As an adult, learning Scripture is not much different for me than learning It as a child.  I find it difficult to sit and read a verse to try and remember it.  Even if I do, it usually doesn't stick as long.

Now that we have children, we have learned over the years that learning Scripture needs to be apart of our everyday life.  Not only will this help us to remember it easier, but it will help us to USE it in our everyday lives.

So, I want to share with you the techniques my family uses for us to learn Scripture as a family.  We encourage you to do this as a family.  Mom and Dad can't both help the children if they don't both know the Bible verse the children are learning.  In the same sense, there is no confusion on everyone focusing on different verses.  You may use some of our ideas and you may not use any of them!  I just want to encourage you to begin learning God's Word as a family and hopefully you'll gleam ideas as well.

We have began learning a weekly Bible verse to learn as a family.  On Monday, I write our new Bible Verse on our kitchen door.  Here is this week's verse:

Before anyone can exit the door, we must read aloud the Bible Verse.  The more we say it, the easier it is to remember!  The more we go outside, the more we say it!  Of course, you don't have to have chalkboard paint and be ready to slather up your nice kitchen door.  A simple piece of tape and paper will do to put your Bible verse on.  Just find a spot that works for you.  You may decide to put the Bible verses over the snack cabinet, in your car where it must be said before you leave...wherever you decide, find a place that you use a lot so your verse will be said a lot!

I also take several times throughout the day to ask my child her Bible verse.  In doing this, she and I are both learning the verse.  At the beginning of the week, when she doesn't know the verse, I simply have her repeat each word after me.  As the week goes on, she gets better and better.  I then begin just helping her when she's stuck on what the next word is.  By the end of the week, she's got it down!

 

"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5

As a reward for each time she says her Bible verse (even if she's just repeating after me), she gets a treat.  It may be a piece of candy, getting a sticker, reading a new book, or blowing out a candle.  Find a few things that your child loves and mix it up (you don't want your child eating candy all day long) and certainly you want age appropriate rewards!

I usually remember to ask Araylah to say her Bible verse when she asks me for something.  If she's asking to color,  I say, "Sure!  While I'm getting out your colors, can you tell me your Bible verse?"  It's a great way for me to remember to ask her!
For our family, we primarily have chosen verses that will pertain to her.  Sometimes her verses are long, sometimes they are short.  I've been asked, "why don't you just have her say, 'Jesus wept'?"  Certainly that is a powerful and important verse in the Bible, but it's not a verse that my child can understand yet at her age or that I feel I can relate to her everyday life.  I want to try to only use verses that are relevant to her everyday life or that I feel I can explain on her level.  Otherwise, it's just for a show.  Learning other verses, as she learns more and more about Jesus, will come.  But Mark and I decided we just want to use verses that our children will presently understand.

I'll give you an example of this with another way we choose to learn Bible verses.  One of my main disciplines for my two year old is time-outs.  When she does something inappropriate, she is to go to the couch and sit quietly for 3 minutes.  I explain to her, her offense, report to her, her punishment, set the timer and go about my business.  When the timer goes off, I return to her.  I remind her of what she did and how it is not appropriate nor acceptable.  We then go to a chart I have on the wall (The If-Then Chart).  If she was being disobedient, we read Ephesians 6:1.  She would repeat it after me (as soon as she was old enough to repeat me).  I would then explain to her what the verse means and why it is important.  I would then ask for an apology, hug, and kiss.  If anyone else was wronged, she would make it right with that person as well.

So you see, we are saying Scripture throughout the day.  When you say it so much, it is BOUND to be memorized.  We don't do anything real creative when it comes to memorizing it, we just say it aloud a lot!

"Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:30

***There are some resources that we do use to help us along.  For example, we love to sing in the car, but we only want to sing songs that are edifying.  We love to listen to our CDS from Bible Truth Music.  They are cute songs of children singing Scripture (KJV).  Music has a way of making verses easier to remember.  It has even benefited me!  Now when I'm humming a catchy tune in my head, it's God's Word!  It is such a blessing! 
You can also get FREE CDS and/or downloads of passages being sang by the beautiful Tirzah Joy by emailing her through her website here. It's called Sing The KJV. You can also visit her on YouTube here.

***Another resource we use is in the form of a DVD!  Moore Family Films produces wonderful movies for the entire family!  One of their great films is the A-B-C Say It With Me Bible Memory Verses.  It's a wonderful DVD filled with children saying a Bible verse for every letter of the alphabet.  My two year old learned all of those verses in two weeks!  You can read my full review of this product and watch the trailer here. 

*** If you're looking for another DVD resource, you may want to check out Scripture Talk!  This DVD offers a way to memorize, not just KJV Bible Verses, but passages.  My just turned two year old learned 1 Corinthians 13 in just 9 days (way faster than me)!  They put the Bible verses to motions and keep it very entertaining for children (and adults) of all ages!  You can read my full review here!

***If you're looking for something while you travel or tangible, this next resource is wonderful!  I am so thankful for Christian moms who share their work for FREE to help the rest of us!  You can get an ABC printable with KJV Bible Verses for your little one for FREE!  Just hop on over to Andrea Hamilton's blog to print them!

***To Memorize Psalm 23, we found a KJV children's book.  We would read it many nights before we went to bed.  We didn't push it, but eventually, it became natural and memorized.  When we felt she had most of it memorized, we made it her weekly Bible Verse for that week (all 6 verses):

Unfortunately, these books are hard to come by.  So, I made a cheesy notebook with the Passage we  learned next (The Lord's Prayer):

Obviously, I would have made the pictures horizontally, but my printer is giving me fits right now.  Luckily, my three year old doesn't mind one bit!

One thing I encourage you to do is to plan ahead the Bible verses that will be memorized.  I just took the same day out of every week and typed it out.  Then I wrote verses alongside each day that I wanted Araylah to memorize.  It's great to have a printout of the verse you want for a few reasons:
 1) You don't have to go looking hurriedly for a verse when you realize you haven't picked one out for this week and
 2) You can be confident that you are giving your children verses that are relevant to them because you took the time ahead to plan it out.
Print it out and put it up high so you can see it.  If your children are having issues being obedient in church, you can move up Leviticus 19:30 on your list.  Don't be afraid to change the schedule based upon your children's current needs.

To my shame, my two year old probably knows more Bible verses now than I did most of my Christian life.  I feel confident she knows more than many adults sitting in pews every Sunday as well.  I don't say this in pride for her.  I say it because it pleases my heart knowing that when she is facing a difficult time, Scripture will be in her memory to comfort and guide her.  I didn't have that in often cases growing up.  The Word of God is our friend.  It is our help.  But if we don't study It and cherish It, It will just collect dust on a shelf.  I encourage you to begin instilling the Word of God into your home, regardless of the age of your children.

*****If your child is old enough for writing, you might also consider this next resource.  What better way is there for your child to practice their penmanship than with writing Scriptures?  Not only is their handwriting improving, but so is their vocabulary, as well as memorizing God's Word!  I stumbled upon this resource, and though I haven't used it yet, it is King James Scripture and it appears to be a great book if you're wanting some a little more formal than just telling your child to copy "Romans Chapter 12."  You can view the book here.*****

The newest way we are learning Bible verses as a family is during Family Bible Time!  We each read four verses during this time of verses we have already learned.  This way, we don't forget them!  I found this method here.  But you can watch the video below!  It has been great for our family!

 


My goal in this post is to encourage you.  We are a normal family and we have been blessed by the countless other families who are teaching their children the Word of God!  Your child can do it!  Work at their speed and on their level, but don't underestimate how much they can learn.  Young minds are like sponges.  If you're like me, your little one will be correcting you when you miss one little tiny word in 1 Corinthians 13!

What are some ways you choose to teach your children Bible verses?  I'd love to hear what works in your home!  It might help other families, including my own, to have some more ways to memorize God's Word.

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How much sleep is too little and how much sleep is too much?

Sleep....just hearing these words makes me sleepy!  As a homeschooling mom, I find it difficult not to stay in bed if the kids are still asleep.  I have a schedule of all of the things that I believe the Lord wants our family to accomplish in a day.  I have a personal calling to homeschooling.  So why do I sleep in at times, knowing I have things to do? 

I love sleep!  I think laziness can even be attributed to it as well.  For me, I think a lot of it is that "me time" that I often think I'm "entitled" to.  It's hard to make it to the bathroom without a little one knocking at the door, so when I'm in bed, that's "me" time.

While many people will tell me that I "deserve" some "me" time, it's just not true.  Our culture has pampered us and taught us that it's "okay" to rest and do it in the most relaxing way possible.  Certainly I'm not suggesting we shouldn't rest.  God set the example of the importance of rest.  I think we need to have time set aside for this, and I do.  As far as the "me" time, God provides that for me.  I don't have to go looking for it.  Often when I'm overworked and tired, it's because I have been following my own desires and plan and not His.  Yet, I often find myself wanting more than what I have set aside.

Did I not set aside enough sleep?  Do I just need more sleep than the average person?  Trust me, I have asked myself every question in the book, mainly searching for justification.  But if I slept as long as I wanted to, I wouldn't be productive.  I'd sleep so long to where I couldn't function.  I love sleep, and that's not a good thing.

I enjoy having my Personal Bible Time first thing in the morning.  It just has a way of humbling me and reminding me throughout the day of what God is calling me to do.  It helps me to be more patient, loving, kind, and cheerful.  It's pretty obvious to others when I've not had my morning time with the Lord.

But often, I oversleep, telling myself I'll do Bible Time later.  I actually did that just this morning.  Even after turning off my alarm, convincing myself I'll do Bible time during the children's nap times, the Spirit would wake me up to remind me of what I should be doing.  You'd think that'd get me up!  If I really want to please my Father, wouldn't I follow His gentle promptings?! 

Yet this morning, I slept.  I got 8 hours of sleep, it's not as though I was deprived of sleep.  Even if I had, I would have gotten up for any other event in the world that I had to do.  I'd get up for a doctor's appointment, a breakfast date with a friend, to go yardsaling with my Grandma....anything that required accountability, I'd be up.  So when I'm accountable to God, why do I not get up?  If I really want to know more about Him and spend time with Him with no interruptions, why do I remain in bed?

Proverbs 6:9

"How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?"

 

Proverbs 20:13

"Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread".

As you can see, it's not wise to have a love for sleep.  Yet, this world teaches us to love sleep and to hate work.  We have it backwards from what the Bible teaches us.  Sleep is good, but too much sleep leads to all sorts of problems, including slothfulness.

 

 

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the amount of sleep needed for each person varies on a variety of factors, but generally, the chart below is a good example:

 

I have found that when I sleep 9 hours, I'm actually groggy.  I find that 7-8 hours is best for me, if I can just get out of bed!

My husband works a late shift, so I get up a few hours before he does.  This gives me time to have my quiet time, get ready and begin making his supper for the evening, while getting the kids ready for the day.  Often, I think it would be easier if he and I got up at the same time to be accountable for one another.  But right now, that's not really an option.

Sleep is a great thing!  God created sleep!  If we labour all day, going to sleep will not be a problem.  When our head hits the pillow, we can rest knowing we did the things that pleased our Father and that we worked all day long.  When we are tired from a long day, we are far more likely to go into a deeper sleep, quicker.

I find myself often staying awake thinking about things....lots of things....even things that really don't matter.  So really, I may be in bed for about 8 hours, but I'm usually not sleeping that long.  I would say this is another problem that contributes to not being able to get up in the morning.

Also, if I have any caffeine of the night, I notice that this plays a role at allowing me to sleep.

But a big reason for me is that I'm not labouring all day long.  Being at home, things are more relaxed.  If I were at work, I'd be running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  Although I certainly have those days here, many days are spent in leisure....those are usually the days that I'm not following my schedule.

It's in those days that I find myself being slothful, tired, unproductive, and grumpy.

So, knowing all of the reasons why I'm struggling to get up in the morning, here's what I'm doing to purpose to get up on time:

1)  Going to bed on time.  If I don't make it to bed on time, I will not get up on time.  I must be as rigorous about my bedtime as I am with my children.

2)  Place a note by my alarm (which needs to be placed away so I have to get up to turn off) reminding me of the importance of uninterrupted time with my God.  Once I'm awake, this usually is no problem, but when I'm in that sleepy mode, it's often hard to convince myself.

3)  Follow my schedule.  My schedule is full of the things that I have prayed about that I believe God wants us to accomplish in a day.  The schedule is as it should be, and if I follow it, I will be tired by the end of the day.  But my sleep will be, oh so sweet.  If I would make it a point to follow my schedule each day, I won't have to think about all of the things I need to do, because it is already laid out for me, and I'm not behind because I'm staying on schedule.

 

4)  Although we rarely keep caffeine in our home, it's important to set a time aside for foods that will keep me up.  I need to set a time for none of those past a certain point in the day.

5)  I sing a song to my girls every morning as I wake them up, "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory."  I need to begin to sing this song to myself.  I need to follow my own advice.

6)  Reevaluate my priorities.  If I can get up every single time I have a doctor's appointment scheduled the next morning, even when I've only had 3 hours of sleep, I should be able to get up to begin my day at home.  God has called me to do a high calling by staying at home with my children.  I often take it for granted.  I need to take each day and consider it more important than any other commitment I could have to anyone else.  This is a commitment to my Lord!  Surely I would want to keep my commitments to Him first!  I must have my priorities in order.

 

7)  Ask my husband to hold me accountable to getting up and getting things done throughout the day.  I have such a desire to please my husband.  If I would ask him to hold me accountable to my schedule that I made for myself, certainly I would need to get up on time to get it all done!

8)  If I continue to have struggles getting up after all of these changes above, then I need to move my Bible Time to the children's nap time, and just get up at the time the children will get up.  When the baby is crying to get up, I kinda HAVE to get up.  I can then go to bed later than they do at night to accomplish the tasks I normally do during their naptimes.  Although I would rather have my Bible Time in the morning, it's important to make sure I have it every day, and not get behind one day.  It's better to have it during a less ideal time than to not have it at all or to have it at a time when I am so tired I can't concentrate.


So here are the things I am purposing to do to help me with this character flaw in my life.  Let me ask you, do you struggle with this too?  What do you think are your reasons for wanting to stay in bed?  Maybe you once struggled with this, but have overcame it.  Did you do any of these things to help you do so?  What else did you do?  Maybe you don't struggle with this issue at all.  What words of encouragement would you give to those of us who do struggle in this area?  I'd love for you to leave your encouragement in the comments below!

I hope that we can all encourage one another to be doing the work that God has called us to do.  It may look different in each of our lives, but God has an individual calling in each of our lives.  We should not let ANYTHING, even sleep, come between us and our calling.  Some of us may sleep 5 hours, some may sleep 10.  We have to prayerfully evaluate the sleep we need and accomplishing the schedule God has called us to do throughout the day. 

 

 

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Disciplining Toddlers

So today I put my 2 1/2 year old on the couch for a 2 minute time out...problem was, I forgot about her!  She was still sitting there 10 minutes later!!

Does this ring true in your life, or do you find yourself not knowing what to do for discipline?  Maybe you're a pro and can offer some suggestions in the comments below. 

The main point of this post will be, "How do you discipline a toddler that either can't really talk yet, or has a limited vocabulary?" 

Well, that certainly will be up to you and your spouse, but I would like to offer some ideas that have helped me out along the way (and that I am still using).  I feel so grateful to have found these out now, and not later on when my kids were beyond this stage.

One thing that I found that has been soooo important in disciplining my small children has been the If-Then Chart.  One of my biggest struggles in discipline has been consistency.   Often my oldest child would do something, and I would discipline her based upon my current feelings or time management.  For example, if she began telling me "no" and being disobedient (which would be common for a young child with a limited vocabulary), then I would discipline her based upon what I was doing.  If I were busy or out in public, she might actually get by with it.  If I was up much of the night with baby, she'd probably just be told to go to time-out on the couch so I could rest (and then I might forget about her).  The problem was, I was disciplining her based upon my needs and conveniences and not her best interest.  Even though my child is only 2 1/2 and I didn't stay down that road long, I don't ever want to get back to that.  I want to discipline my child so that I can teach her the ways of God and to be obedient. 

In comes the If-Then Chart.  It was just $6.50, so I thought I'd try it out.  It's dry erase, so as the child gets older, or you realize a consequence is not working out, you can easily change it.  We did change a few of the Scriptures on the chart as they were not KJV. 

What the chart does is it has a picture and description of an offense.  For example: "Arguing, Complaining, and Whining" has the verse, "Do all things without murmurings and disputings. -Philippians 2:14" next to it.  Then, there is a blank left for the consequence. 

I know this sounds so simple, but if you're like me, this may work for you too.  Written in the consequence we have, "Time-Out 2 minutes."  When she whines about doing something we have told her, instead of being obedient, I can take her to the chart, have her repeat the verse after me (she doesn't understand the verse, but it's good for Bible memory).  Then I explain that when she does this, it's not being obedient to Scripture.  I then point to her consequence.  Then, I tell her to go sit on the couch (or somewhere with no distractions) and that she needs to sit there for 2 minutes until I come back for her.  I then ask her to show me how to be quiet as a reminder of how she is to behave.  She then places her finger over her mouth and says "shhh." 

It actually only took a few times for her to learn time out.  The first few times (not long after she was two when we felt time outs became necessary) I would sit with her.  I would explain to her that she is to sit there quietly for two minutes and Mommy would sit there quietly with her for two minutes.  When she tried to move or talk, I just corrected her.  I think one time I made her time start over until she was settled and quiet.  I then told her that she was expected to act as though she were in Family Bible Time (this was really the only other time I could relate to her of how to behave.  We have family Bible time and she is expected to sit there quietly until it is over).  I think that is why she was able to catch on to time-outs so quickly. 

After a couple of times, I would no longer sit with her.  However, I would stay working on something real close by so she could see me.  Then, I would tell her "1 minute" left and such, to let her know that I hadn't forgotten about her and that, even though she didn't understand time at all, Mommy would let her up soon.  I now no longer have to even be in the same room as her time out.

When it is time for her to get up, I will go over to her and say, "When Mommy tells you to do something, are you supposed to whine and complain like that?"  She has learned to answer "No."  But often, she does not understand what I am saying.  I try to use the same words so she can learn what I am saying over time.  Next, I usually try and give her the right response.  Usually, I say something like, "When Mommy told you to put that toy away so we could go sit on the potty, what should your response have been?"  Here, she's usually quiet.  Every now and then, she will give me another "no," showing me she is not understanding me completely.  But that is okay.  I just give her the right answer.  I then have her tell me "Okay, Mommy" five times.  We count it on our fingers (which helps with our counting).  Then I usually try and reassure her, telling her that I love her and that I don't want to put her in time out, but it's important not to be disobedient.  I then have her say she is "sorry" and we hug and move on.  From there, it is forgotten.  It's not to be brought back up (at this age, she probably won't remember it anyways). 

I can't tell you how this method has worked well for both Araylah and myself.  For her, she is learning how to be obedient.  I am constantly telling her to "use her words," and if she doesn't have them, I will help give them to her, but she is not to scream out of frustration.  We are still working on that.  But she is learning how to communicate.  She is learning early on, what is acceptable and what isn't.  I'd so much rather her test her boundaries with me now than when she is older and realizes where to push my buttons!  She is learning Scripture, right responses, and obedience.  She is learning character traits that I want her to have. 

It's a lot easier for me to discipline her when I realize that these are wonderful opportunities to train her now, while she is young.  When I look at it as a chance to get to the heart of the problem, rather than just the offense itself, I'm helping to prevent any future issues from building up because I ignored the issue.

The chart helps me because I don' t have to remember a different discipline for every situation.  It's written down.  But the big thing is, I am consistent.  If Araylah does something wrong, she knows the consequence when she does it.  She is choosing that consequence.  It makes it easier on me because I am not disciplining my children out of convenience, selfishness, or emotions.

The key for me at this age is to discipline immediately.  Often, a child will forget what he/she did, and they are not communicating well enough to remember even if you explain it to them later on.  Therefore, the discipline would almost seem harsh to them, rather than a consequence.

I also find that this chart helps with family or maybe a babysitter.  You can be sure that your discipline is consistent and it's not just dependent upon the person giving out the discipline.

I have learned that even with all the patience in the world, training a child takes time.  I cannot expect her to get it the 1st time or even the first 100 times.  Every child is different, which is all the more important to be consistent.

I would LOVE to hear your feedback on this one as I am a mother-in-training myself.  What have you veteran moms used that helped you in training your young toddlers?  Please comment below and be an encouragement to those of us still with young ones!!!

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