Children | Knowable Word

Teach Bible Study During Family Devotions

November 30, 2015 By Ryan Higginbottom

skeeze (2014), public domain

My daughters have gone dance crazy this fall. Everywhere I look, I see pointed toes, pliés, and skipping, twirling children.

My girls will join their dance studio’s production of The Nutcracker in a few weeks. You can imagine the preparation this requires—buying costumes, reserving a venue, and cramming gobs of detailed instructions inside little heads. What an undertaking!

Train Them Up

Just as my daughters need months of ballet lessons before they hit the stage, they also need training in the skills and habits of Christians. Following Jesus is the central calling of their lives, and I cannot send them off unprepared.

It is vital that we provide our children with a solid approach to Bible study. At this blog, we advocate the OIA method. While the terminology isn’t sacred, we think the skills of observation, interpretation, and application show up in all faithful descriptions of Bible study.

So how do we pass along these crucial skills to our children?

Gather as a Family

We have opportunities throughout each day to equip our kids to study the Bible. Chief among these chances are meals and times of family worship. It’s a privilege to engage all of your children at once about the most important things in the world!

But most parents know that family devotions can feel more like a chore than a privilege. The adults are exhausted, the baby is crying, and the older children are feeding spaghetti to the dog. It is difficult to steer a ship this large (especially with a mutinous crew).

Let me encourage you to stick with it. Family devotions can be a source of deep joy and they can prepare your children for a life of loving and obeying God. Family devotions are worth the effort.

Realistic Expectations

If you’re feeling guilt about family devotions, you may need to adjust your expectations. We must be both faithful and realistic. If we set the bar too high, we will frustrate everyone.

First, consider your weekly schedule. For most families, our weeks bear more resemblance to each other than do our days. Survey a typical week for your family and seize a pocket of time on each lightly-scheduled day for family worship. Don’t beat yourself up when you miss a few days.

Next, consider the content. I’ll advocate for the Bible below, but ponder what else you might do. Involve your children as much as possible and make it fun. Let them choose praise songs or hymns. Ask them about the best parts of recent days and join in a rousing prayer of thanksgiving. The elements of worship can vary. If you make family worship memorable and fun, your children will anticipate and remind you about it!

Study the Bible

Given my push for realistic expectations, it might seem strange to suggest Bible study. Doesn’t Bible study require long, private periods of concentration?

No! Since the Bible is for everyone, so is Bible study. Training children to study the Bible is as simple as asking three questions: What? Why? So what?

What? Children should observe the Bible. You may want your older children to help out with the Bible reading, but anyone can listen and observe! Ask your children to pick out the main characters, the actions, the commands, and so on. The younger your children, the more time you’ll probably spend on the “what” question.

Why? As children get older, they should move into interpretation. Follow their observations with “why” questions. Why did Jesus heal that blind man? Why did Joseph’s brothers sell him? Why does Paul say we should always pray? Ask questions like this to move your children toward the main point of the passage.

So what? With this question we enter the land of application. What difference does all of this make? Children usually need the most help with this question, but you might be surprised how eagerly they suggest applications once you get them started.

Final Remarks

Let me leave you with a few recommendations as you consider how family devotions might work in your home.

Don’t neglect the Bible. Story Bibles can be a blessing for young children, so feel free to incorporate them. (My youngest really loves the pictures.) But don’t let them replace God’s word. Your children can handle more than you think.
Involve the whole family. Ask questions of all the children—and all the adults! Children should see the adults in their lives modeling good Bible study habits.
Revisit Bible passages. If your family devotions bog down, return to the same passage the next time. You might also consider studying the same passage with the family that you (or your children) are reading in personal devotions.

We have several articles on teaching Bible study to age-specific children, along with devotional guides for readers and non-readers, at our children’s Bible study page.

Teach Your Preschoolers to Have Devotions

July 17, 2015 By Peter Krol

On a recent drive home, I had the following conversation with my 6-year-old daughter:

What did you learn at baseball practice tonight?

Lots of things!

Like what?

The same thing I learn at every practice.

And what is it that you learn at every practice?

I don’t remember…

No wonder she has to relearn it at every practice.

This is how shepherding children usually feels: seeking clarity, repeating things, practicing skills, and repeating things. Training our children to walk with God is no different. We can start early, promote good habits, and practice those habits year after year. The rare “Aha!” moments are glorious, but most of our parenting will consist of innumerable “try it again” moments.

Preschoolers are Ready for More

Let’s not wait for the children to be ready to walk with the Lord before encouraging them to start practicing. If God placed them in your family, they are ready. Of course you should address matters of belief, character, and wisdom as you have opportunity. And from the children’s earliest days you can train them to hear God’s voice and respond to it.

Let’s say you’d like to hand your children a Bible and teach them to use it. You’d love to give them a handsome devotional page and begin coaching a new season. And though you are ready for this step, your children are not. They would stare blankly at the indecipherable runes and hieroglyphs and ask you where the pictures are. Your child cannot yet read.

What do you do?

Illiteracy is No Obstacle

We’ve found four things helpful in our household. I’d love to hear your ideas as well.

1. Read to them

You can read the Bible as a family. You can read one-on-one. You can read in groups. Whatever it takes, however it works best for you, read the Bible to them.

The key, as always, is to read the Bible. Supplement their Bible intake with children’s Bibles, but don’t limit the children to the supplements. Like a good Amish cook, keep the grease right in that pan and don’t ever wash it out. Let your instruction simmer in the caloric, fatty goodness of God’s own words. Your children will get used to them and be able to understand them. These children are much smarter than we think they are.

For example, I had a child who consistently resisted instruction from us. He would get distracted and make excuses, refusing to hear counsel. We disciplined him when appropriate, but we clearly needed something more. So I had a private devotional time with this child in James 4:6-7. This child could not read, but he could understand that God would oppose him if he was proud. He knew he wouldn’t win if God fought against him, and the Scripture softened his heart toward us.

2. Read near them

Children will imitate what they see. It’s nice if they know you go into a room alone to have time with Jesus, but it’s even better if they can see you spend time with Jesus day after day. Soon enough, their play time will include “time with Jesus,” and they’ll find “Bibles” to carry around with them.

3. Have others read to them

My wife knew our kids would learn to use technology before they learned to read, so she taught them how to use a simple mp3 player. We loaded it with nothing but an audio Bible, and asked them to listen to it every morning. She would give them a track number (Bible chapter) for the day, and they would draw pictures while listening. But their drawings would take longer than a single track/chapter, so they’d hear multiple chapters in a row. The next day, she’d give them the next assigned chapter, which would involve some repetition from the day before. (In other words, on the day for Exodus 15, they’d hear Exodus 15-18. The next day would be “Exodus 16,” but they would hear Exodus 16-19.)

In these pictures, we’ve seen Noah carrying animals onto his boat, Abraham watching the stars, and Israel fleeing from “Ejip.”

Whales and drowning soldiers in the Red Sea, while long lines of Israelites pass through on dry ground (Exodus 14):

People gathering manna, baking it in the oven, and fighting Amalekites (Exodus 16):

4. Work it into their routines

Whatever you do should become routine (not mindless but regular). The more repetitive it gets, the more normal and expected it will be. And how many of us wish our time in Scripture and in prayer would feel normal and natural?

To be clear, our family life is not one of complete Bible bliss. We still eat dinner, watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and play baseball. We build legos, and we fight. But we try to organize life around the Scripture in basic and repetitive ways.

Here’s your chance to help the next generation. May they rise up and call you blessed.

NIrV Study Bible for Kids: Fine for What it Does

July 10, 2015 By Peter Krol

As soon as our children can read, my wife and I are committed to giving them each a Bible and teaching them how to use it. Four of our five now have full title to their own copies of the Good Book, and said property has quickly become used, bumped, beaten, carried about, dropped, and otherwise handled with great frequency and fervor. Just as we’d hoped. (Hardbacks are a must at these young ages.)

The first two children to reach this milestone won themselves the ESV Grow! Bible, which appears to be out of print now and drawing a high price on Amazon. I wouldn’t recommend capitulating, though. The Bible has a solid hipster feel to it, but there’s generally too much on the page. Kids can struggle to figure out which words are Bible words and which words are not.

Because that design was too busy, we took a different route with the third child and provided her with the ESV Children’s Bible. This Bible is nice and clean, giving full attention to the sacred text while peppering it with full-page pictures of key stories. This was great for her, but we still found our new reader struggling with the ESV translation. The words were too big, the sentences were too long, and she regularly lost her place. She often gave up and went back to board book children’s Bibles.

So we changed it up altogether for the fourth child. While our church uses the ESV, we wanted to make sure our child would develop motivation to read on her own. And since we had no problem with simplified children’s paraphrases (like those found in the board books or in The Jesus Storybook Bible), we decided to try a simplified translation keenly focused on being clear. We went with the NIrV.

Now our 3rd child (6 years old) and our 4th child (almost 5 years old) generally share the NIrV. Both love it and can read it well. Just the other day, I overheard my 6-year-old reading about designing the priest’s clothes in Exodus 28. She had a blast with it, and I’m all about encouraging such delight in even the stranger parts of the Bible.

I was delighted to receive a free copy of the NIrV Study Bible for Kids from BookLookBloggers.com in exchange for an honest review. Small price to pay to get a second NIrV in the house.

I like many things about this Bible:

My youngest readers can read it well on their own.
The “study Bible” parts of it aren’t too bossy. Full-page pictures are scattered throughout. There is generally one small box of extras every 4-5 pages (though the frequency is higher in the gospels).
The extras highlight memory verses or simple cultural facts that children can relate to.
Books have one-paragraph introductions followed by a list of “good verses [really, passages] to read” within the book.
The front has two pages to orient young children to the Bible’s layout.
The physical volume has a sturdy cover and binding.

This edition has limitations, of course.

I love it for beginning readers, but I want to graduate these children to another translation as soon as they’re ready for it.
I tried to read Ephesians in one sitting, and it drove me nuts. Because the sentences are so short, many words must be repeated, thus making the text longer than other translations. For example (I’ve italicized the repetitions that don’t show up in most translations):

God’s grace has saved you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesn’t come from anything you do. It is God’s gift. It is not based on anything you have done. No one can brag about earning it. We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do. (Eph 2:8-10, NIRV)

For these reasons, we’ll never read the NIrV out loud as a family. The children do just fine listening to adults reading a mature translation.

But that said, I must agree with the NIrV’s preface: “People who are just starting to read will understand and enjoy the NIrV.” For it’s intended purpose, it’s great. I’m happy to recommend it as a stepping stool, but not as a cornerstone, for early childhood Bible education. 3 out of 5 stars.

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Disclaimer: The Amazon links are affiliate links. If you click them and buy stuff, you’ll enable us to continue blogging about our children’s Bible reading habits. “It is not that I want your gifts. What I really want is what is best for you” (Phil 4:17, NIRV).

Teach Your Child to Have Devotions

June 29, 2015 By Ryan Higginbottom

As a Christian parent, one of my chief desires is for my children to come to faith in Jesus Christ. I pray frequently and fervently for God to give them new life, for without his Spirit their hearts will not change. (John 6:44, Rom 8:9)

Salvation Through the Word

Romans 10:17 teaches that there is no salvation apart from the Word of God. So as soon as your child can respond to sound, he should hear the Bible. Scripture songs, Bible stories, family worship, testimonies—let the rich story and good news of God’s salvation be the soundtrack of your home.

A child may begin the journey to faith by imitating his parents, but he must eventually confess Jesus as Lord with his own lips. Now God is sovereign over everything, including salvation, so there is no sure-fire formula. But on a human level, we can take this step of obedience: when your child is old enough to read, give him a Bible and train him to use it.

Devotions for Children

Erik Schepers (2015), Creative Commons License

My oldest daughter (eight) reads ravenously. This is a gift from God, yet my wife and I joke that we are in a small company who must discipline for too much reading. (Otherwise, her teeth might never get clean, you see.) I long to channel her love of reading toward God’s Word and to help her build a habit of private devotions, including time for both prayer and Bible study.

At Knowable Word, we maintain that personal Bible study is most profitable using the Observation-Interpretation-Application (OIA) method. But children this age may not be ready for all the OIA terms and worksheets. For my daughter, I simply want her to read and think about the Bible. So, I designed this devotions sheet for her, and I am excited to share it with you.

Explanation

The document is intentionally simple. My daughter should be able to meet with God in a meaningful way without feeling overwhelmed. Though it depends on the child, it could be used by most children between ages 6 and 10.

During “Bible Time,” my daughter reads one passage and writes down one observation and one question. She should pray about something that springs from her reading.

The “Prayer Time” portion of the sheet is also uncomplicated. The prompts follow the easy-to-remember ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) model of prayer.

The writing space is important. Writing stimulates our thinking and focus, and when my daughter records her thoughts it helps me care for her. I know she’s completed her devotions, and I can follow up in response to her answers, if needed.

Let me leave you with some advice about helping your child begin a devotional life.

Don’t be too ambitious — Whether or not you adopt this document, use something your child can complete without difficulty. Don’t pile on a heavy burden, and don’t try to impress anyone.
Use something helpful — This sheet may work for some children and not for others. Think about age-appropriate devotions, but don’t fuss too much about the tools. As your child grows in age and spiritual maturity, his devotional tools will likely change too.
Interact with your child — Don’t tuck a devotional plan between your child’s arms and expect him to scamper into the end zone. Your child needs love and guidance. Talk about the Bible with your child; teach him how to pray. Look over his responses on the sheet and pray for opportunities for heart-level conversations.
There is no magic formula — This bears repeating: salvation is of the Lord. As you press forward in faith, pray for your merciful God to be merciful to your children.

Link to Devotions Sheet

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Teach Bible Study to an 8-Year-Old

April 10, 2015 By Peter Krol

Last week, I asked my class what God had taught them so far this year through our study of Romans. Here’s what I got:

I’ve learned that I can’t please God by keeping the law, doing good deeds, or through church rituals.

I learned that Abraham was justified by faith.

Everyone is sinful and needs righteousness from Jesus.

I learned what circumcision means.

No joke. These four remarks came from a group of 3rd-to-5th grade boys in our local AWANA club class. My friend Jeff and I have had the honor of teaching these boys since the beginning of September. The AWANA program focuses on Scripture memory, and our 30-minute teaching time gave us the opportunity to develop the boys with the skills not only to memorize verses but also to read and study larger passages.

When I asked them what they’ve learned so far, I honestly had low expectations about what they’d say—and shame on me. Their answers delightfully shocked me and showed me evidence of God’s powerful work through his word.

And here’s what I’ve learned in the process.

1. Read the Bible

These kids can handle more than we brilliant adults usually think they can handle. So Jeff and I decided not to use a specialized curriculum to drive our class. We’d simply read the book of Romans and talk about it with the kids. We started at Romans 1:1. We’d read a verse, ask some questions, read the next verse, and continue week after week. It’s tempting to think these children need pre-packaged guidance from experts who have never met them. But we wanted them to get used to hearing the voice of their God who knitted them in the womb.

On the first week of class, I told the boys we’d have a special visitor with us every week. “He’s an old, old teacher. His voice breaks the oak trees in Park Forest, and he moves Mount Nittany out of his way to get here. He will speak to us in this very classroom. You can’t see him, but a silly thing like that won’t stop us from hearing him.”

Wide-eyed, they took a minute to figure out who this teacher would be. But once they realized it, they were ready to hear him. From time to time, I could quiet rowdy chatter by asking one of them to read the next verse to the class. I’d then project my voice and say, “Quiet! God is about to speak to you through [reader’s name]. You’ll want to hear this.”

2. Know the main point

Classes went well when we came prepared with a clear main point to focus on. And by “main point,” I mean the main point of the passage and not the main point of whatever we decided the children needed to hear that day. The lessons that stuck (see the first three quotes above) were the ones where they could see the main point right from the text. It made those lessons clear and memorable, and it gave the boys something to return to every time they read Romans from here on out.

3. Observe the structure

The structure of the passage gives them a summary of key lessons. The children struggled in classes when we didn’t have a clear structure, because a long verse-by-verse stream of consciousness wouldn’t hold their attention. But when we could show them, paragraph by paragraph, what Paul was saying—breaking down the argument into simple chunks—they were much more engaged.

4. Make them observe the text

The children loved to answer questions. And they loved to shout out whatever answers came to mind. But we refused to accept any answer that didn’t have a verse number attached to it. Week after week, we had to remind them that the answer to every question was right in the passage we had just read. Now that the year’s almost over, they’ve gotten it. Most questions produce a corporate nose-dive effect, where most heads in the room bow down to examine the text.

5. Define terms

We didn’t use children’s Bibles or work books. We wanted to give each child the confidence to open, read, and understand his own Bible. Most of them had the NIV, so that’s the version we taught from.

This means we had to deal with “atonement,” “righteousness,” “justification,” “Gentiles,” “reconciliation,” and “circumcision.” We had great fun on the day we dealt with that last term, which is why it showed up in quote #4 above. Though some boys won’t stop giggling at the term, most have learned from it how earthy and relevant the Bible is.

6. Illustrate everything

I need to work on this one more. Our application time had some rough spots. But one highlight came when we discussed Romans 6:15-18, and we talked about the start of soccer season. Sin is like your coach from last year. Jesus is like your new coach this year. Choosing to sin is like scoring goals on your own net just because the opposing team is led by the coach you played for last year.

We didn’t complete the book of Romans, as I had expected. We’d cover 2-3 verses per week at first, but now we’re up to 10-15. I hope we can cook through chapter 7 in these next few classes and land on Romans 8:1 in the last week. But it was worth it to adjust my expectations to give the boys time to really get it.

And we haven’t discussed OIA principles at all; we’ve merely practiced them every week. Our intention has been to inspire them with confidence to read and study the Bible on their own. We can give them helpful terminology for the process another time.

It’s great fun to see them learning to study the Bible. Next year, Jeff and I might get to teach the girls’ class, and we’ll have to reconsider how to handle “circumcision” then… Suggestions are welcome.

Making Use of the Sermon to Teach Bible Study to Kids

April 8, 2015 By Peter Krol

Parents, you have a weekly opportunity to train your children to study the Bible. It’s taken me some time to realize it. Perhaps this nudge will help you take advantage of it as well.

Erik Raymond writes about “Helping Children Benefit from the Sermon.” He offers tips for both parents and pastors. Parents, have you considered:

Reading the sermon text before church?
Asking the children questions about the text?
Praying together for the preacher?
Asking and expecting your children to take notes or draw pictures about the sermon?
Reviewing the children’s notes after church?
Praying together for what God taught you?

Raymond’s ideas challenged and encouraged me. I encourage you to check it out.

Answering Kids’ Questions About the Bible

October 22, 2014 By Peter Krol

Desiring God posted an article from Jon Bloom called “Be Ready to Answer Your Kids’ Questions About the Bible.”

Christianity stands or falls on the reliability, inspiration, and authority of the Bible. Children pick up on that early. We tell them that they should trust the Bible. At some point they will (and should) ask why (if they feel it’s okay to ask).

He goes on to answer the following questions in language suitable to a 9-year-old.

How do we know the Bible is reliable?
Who decided what should be in the Bible?
How do we know the Bible has no errors in it?
Who can understand the Bible?
Why do we need the Bible to know God?
Does the Bible tell us everything we need to know?

Are you ready to answer these questions? Check it out!

Teach Bible Study to a 12-Year-Old

August 15, 2014 By Peter Krol

This is a guest post by Ben Hagerup, who serves as Director of Campus Ministry for DiscipleMakers. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their 7th child this winter.

Pre-teen boys rarely hug their fathers in front of their friends, but mine did—after our first Bible study. “Thank you, Daddy! That was fun, and I learned a lot.” Imagine my delight as we launched this semi-monthly training group for our church’s middle schoolers. The usual response at the end of each hour-long meeting was, “What, we’re already done?!”

Mid-way through the year, I asked my sons what they liked about the Bible study. One said (and the other agreed), “Daddy, before you showed us how to study the Bible, I would just read a chapter and then stop. I didn’t know what else to do. But now I know what to do! Now I know how to understand it.”

Robert S. Digby (2009), Creative Commons

Would you like your 12-year-olds to understand the Bible? How can you set them up for success?

1. Cast vision for Bible study

Before explaining how to study the Bible, tell your 12-year-old why to study the Bible. Because Bible study is hard work, your child must be convinced the reward will be worth the effort.

The chief purpose for Bible study is not to appease God or parents, but to know Jesus. The Scriptures are about him (Luke 24:44-47), and knowing him is eternal life (John 17:3). Don’t underestimate your kids. They can get this.

2. Teach them the basic skills

The basics of the OIA method can be taught in 5 minutes. In our first Bible study, I explained the model simply.

Observation is asking “What does it say?”
Interpretation is asking “What does it mean?”
Application is asking “How should I change?”

I showed my students how Jesus demonstrated these principles in his usage of the Bible. I illustrated the principles with everyday experiences like stopping at a traffic signal. When you see a red light (observation), you know it means stop (interpretation), and you apply the brake pedal (application). They got it pretty quickly, and we organized each Bible study around these categories.

3. Practice the skills with them

Learning to study the Bible is like learning to swim or ride a bike. There is no substitute for regular practice. It doesn’t need to happen often, but it does need to be consistent.

Our study group for middle schoolers met twice per month for one hour. With only these 2 hours each month, I was able to both demonstrate and rehearse how to:

Observe the text
Ask good interpretive questions
Get the author’s main point
Draw good connections to Jesus, and
Apply the passage to the head, heart, and hands.

The last time I tried to teach my older children how to study the Bible, it didn’t sink in because I never took the time to practice it with them. This time around, we made more progress when we had a forum with other children to practice and reinforce the skills.

4. Expect them to practice the skills on their own

“Feed a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach him how to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Our goal must not be for these adolescents to admire our study skills or our love for the Bible. Nor should we lower our expectations to keep the disinterested on board. No, we want our children to be motivated and equipped to study the Bible themselves. Therefore, practicing the skills with them is not enough. They need to practice on their own and check in with you for feedback.

In my study I gave homework, asking each student to study the Bible passage for at least 1 hour each week (thus 2 hours before each meeting). I gave them a worksheet to aid their study, and the completed worksheet served as the child’s “ticket” for admission to each meeting. At one point, I asked a boy to stop coming because he wasn’t doing his homework or participating in the discussion. If we want to increase our kids’ motivation, we must give them something worth investing in!

5. Add to their toolkit over time

Mastery of a complex skill requires not only practice but also ongoing instruction.

At each meeting, I taught my middle schoolers either one more thing to look for or one more question to add to their worksheet. Early on, we focused on repeated words and basic facts (the who/what/where/when/how/why of the passage). Next, I taught them how to ask interpretive questions and answer them from the text. Later, I looped back to observation and gave them 3 more literary devices to look for (continuation, comparison, contrast). At each meeting, we would practice the skills we had learned thus far, and then I would share one more skill. So we’d add another tool to their kit each time we met, making them more adept journeymen in their Bible study.

I can’t describe the priceless joy I gained from seeing these pre-teens learn to love God’s word and dig in on their own. May you know this joy, too, as you lead your children to know Christ through the Scripture.

Help Your Kids Love Bible Study

January 29, 2014 By Peter Krol

Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 19:14)

If we want to help people to know Jesus, we should help them learn the Bible. To help them learn the Bible, we can help them learn to study the Bible.

These things are not just for adults. That’s why I write fairly often about how to help children learn to study the Bible.

Andrew Weiseth, writing at The Resurgence blog, shares my passion. He recently wrote an article called “1 Simple Way to Get Kids to Love Bible Study.”

His method is simple: Take advantage of their love of play. Act it out; make it fun. Bring the text to life.

I suggested a similar thing in my post about teaching 4-year-olds.

What do you think? Have you found such a technique helpful for children?

Check it out!

Teach Bible Study to a 6-Year-Old

August 16, 2013 By Peter Krol

I love Ender’s Game, a sci-fi story about 6-to-10-year-old children being trained through games to fight adult wars. After the novel’s first printing, author Orson Scott Card received complaints from readers contending that the children in the story were too “mature.” In fact, a school’s guidance counselor argued that Card’s depiction was “hopelessly unrealistic. [Children] just don’t talk like that. They don’t think like that.”

In the Introduction to the novel’s revised version, Card reflects on the accusation:

This may indeed be part of the reason why it was so important to me…to write a story in which gifted children are trained to fight in adult wars. Because never in my entire childhood did I feel like a child. I felt like a person all along–the same person I am today. I never felt that I spoke childishly. I never felt that my emotions and desires were somehow less real than adult emotions and desires. And in writing Ender’s Game, I forced the audience to experience the lives of these children from that perspective–the perspective in which their feelings and decisions are just as real and important as any adult’s.

The nasty side of myself wanted to answer that guidance counselor by saying, The only reason you don’t think gifted children talk this way is because they know better than to talk this way in front of you. But the truer answer is that Ender’s Game asserts the personhood of children.

Now while I fundamentally disagree with Card’s Mormon theology, I think he’s on to something in his views of children and their capacity for mature thinking and feeling. Jesus was more ready for children than his disciples were (Matt 19:13-15), and we should be ready, too.

Age 6 is a great time for children to begin learning serious Bible study skills. They can pick up the basics when they’re even younger, but now is the time to build strong foundations in preparation for their adult lives. How can you make the most of this time of life?

1. Teach them how to read

The early history of literacy is a history of Bible education. People learned to read so they could read the Bible. Increasing literacy rates have brought much good to the world, especially making the Scriptures available to wide swaths of humanity.

We easily grow weary when we’re slogging away at the difference between lowercase b and d, or when it takes 45 minutes to get through a 100-word picture book.

But remember the vision. As you help your 6-year-olds practice sounding out those words time after time, you’re investing in their ability to read (and eventually study) God’s word. You’re bringing them closer to the Lord, and it’s all worth it.

2. Give them a vocabulary

At age 6, your children are ready for big concepts. Each child’s pace is different, but you should be ready to give them whatever they can handle. Don’t let your discomfort hold them back.

For example, I had to have the first “sex talk” with one of my children at age 6. I repeat: age 6! This child was already asking questions about bodies, development, and appropriate levels of touching and interaction with others. How could I withhold important truths at such teachable moments?

In the same way, 6-year-olds are often ready for weighty discussion about Bible study. They just need a good vocabulary for it.

They can usually handle the big words: observation, interpretation, and application. Work them into your regular conversation; they’ll get used to them. As you do, you’ll give the children a framework to handle these big ideas.

3. Translate the vocabulary into plain language

Don’t give them big words just to impress your friends.

Make sure you explain the terms in plain language. “Observation means listening carefully to what the Bible says.” “Interpretation is when we ask ‘why.'” “Application means becoming more like Jesus.”

Give plenty of examples. “The boy in that movie didn’t observe what his mama told him to do, did he?” “Do you see how your little sister keeps asking you ‘why’? That’s because she wants to understand the world. She wants to interpret.”

Make sure the children can explain the concepts back to you. “What does it mean to observe the Bible? How could you do it better when I read to you?” “Why does God want us to apply what he teaches us? What does God think about people who hear his word but don’t live it out?”

4. Practice it every chance you get

You need to model good observation before your children will do it themselves. They need your help to interpret the Bible and their world. They won’t get application if you say one thing but do another.

Since OIA is communication, you have the opportunity to practice it with your kids every time you communicate with them. It’s not brain surgery. So every once in a while, take a moment from the conversation to remind them of how the conversation worked.

As you do, you may be surprised by how “adult” your children’s thoughts and speech really are.

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