One Year of Youth Devotions - Wholesome Reading

My student finished this book and I bought the next one at his request.  Actually, he read it at least twice - once all the way through when I gave it to him last January and then almost every night.  There is a one page chapter for each day of the year.  It is interesting for a preteen. However, I would not recommend it as a substitute for daily Bible teaching.   He just picks up the book and reads it alone, without his Bible.

Bible Note Taking Form

Flexible form for taking notes as one studies the Bible

"Selective Bible reading involves using the right bait when you troll the Scriptures." Howard Hendricks

On these index cards are six 'lures' that you can use with any text, six questions to ask any passage of Scripture from Howard Hendricks' Living by the Book.

I have a copy of these in my Bible. As we are going through the book of Matthew in our study of the Life of Christ, I ask these questions and write them down in our journal. The next day before we read the next section, we review by seeing if we remember the answers. If not, we look them up.

I have it printed on an index card and you can download a copy of it here.

We are on chapter 17 and it is the sixth week of school.

Bible Study is our favorite subject.

Living by the Book by Howard G. Hendricks and William D. Hendricks. Moody Press, Chicago, 1991.

The Origin of Language

First words revealed to us:

God: "Let there be light"

Adam: "And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name." (Maybe his first word was "cow.")

The serpent: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

The woman: “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Bible Study in our Home School

1. When my son was very young, I read to him The Child's Story Bible by Catharine Vos - twice. When he was in fourth and fifth grade, I had him read it to himself.

2. By the time he was in second grade, he could understand direct readings from the Bible. I attribute that to the poetry I have continually read to him since he was a wee babe and then using the New King James Version which is also poetic in nature. I read through most of the Bible to him in second and third grade. We used the free worksheets at the Calvary Chapel website sometimes as we went along.

3. In fourth grade, we used the New Tribes Mission curriculum called Firm Foundations: Creation to Christ. Fifty lessons - we did one a week.

4. During the summer we read a chapter in Proverbs each day. We also use Youth Devotions by Josh McDowell. Grandpa's Box was a good summer read as well.

4. In fifth grade, we started Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History. It is about 186 lessons, but we are only reading one Bible chapter at a time. We are in sixth grade now and still working on this. We are in 2 Samuel now. It is my plan to finish it this year.

We are also going through The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus by John Cross using the video lessons and workbook questions.

5. Seventh grade: I think we will go through some of the Wisdom literature and Prophets.

6. Eighth grade: The Gospels.

7. We are covering the epistles and systematic theology in our church services and downloaded Bible classes from Grace Bible Church in College Station, Texas, Pine Valley Bible Church in Houston, Texas, and West Houston Bible Church in Houston, Texas.

My son has been memorizing Bible verses at AWANA since first grade.

I haven't found many "meaty" Bible Study tools out there designed for upper elementary level children. So I am combining resources to make my own. Here is a list of the books I am using now:

1. Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament is our spine.

2. What the Bible is all About for Young Explorers by Frances Blankenbaker as an introduction to each book as we get to it.

3. I read out loud from the NKJV Nelson Study Bible. It has thorough study notes. Almost every question my son asks about culture or figurative language, etc. has been explained in the notes.

4. The Bible Knowledge Commentary edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck is a good exposition of the Scriptures. I don't agree with all in this commentary, but it is has good explanations, good illustrations, and makes no bones about which parts of the Scriptures are controversial in interpretation by mainstream evangelicals. The contributing authors all studied the Bible in the original languages and used a historical/grammatical/literal interpretation method. It is honest and sincere.

5. Every Prophecy in the Bible by John F. Walvoord. -- I am using this to systematically show my son that every prophecy we come across that has been fulfilled already was fulfilled literally. Fulfilled and future prophecy demonstrates God's sovereignty, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, justice and righteousness. God uses the Scriptures to reveal Himself to us.

I made a lapbook to go along with 1 Samuel using the resources above. Most of it was designed after we read and I just used it as a review. I will post that next.