Bible study in our homes with our children is one of the greatest blessings that any Christian parent can experience. We are all concerned about the best method and the best curriculum that we could use to get the greatest benefit. There is no perfect method or perfect curriculum, but there is one perfect book, the Bible. So starting right there, let me explain how we do Bible study in our home.

First of all, I do not approach our study of the Bible as though it were a subject. I want our study of the Bible to be a lifestyle. We don't sit at our desks by the large whiteboard on the wall. We spend this time in the living room where we keep our Bibles stacked neatly on the coffee table. The reason is because I want to train my daughters to have a quiet time with the Lord every day, not just on school days. I want to train them to have their quiet times with the Lord every day of their lives, long after their school days are completed.

We don't use a Bible curriculum for our study. We do a discussion/narration type of study using the Bible as our only text. Here is the general format we follow every day: Pray, Review, Read-aloud, Discuss/Narrate, Memory work, and Prayer.

1) Pray. We take turns opening up with a short, simple prayer asking God to help us to understand His word. This is great practice for children to learn to pray out loud.

2) Review. Each child reads the narration written the day before. This helps us to remember what we read the previous day, but also encourages them to write well since they will have to read it aloud.

3) Read-aloud. We are reading the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation, one chapter at a time. We have been doing this for a couple of years and are now in 2 Corinthians. We each take turns reading aloud. This is great practice for everyone, but especially for the younger children. As soon as the child has a good grasp on phonics and reading, it is great to include them. You will have to help them with the more difficult words, but you will be amazed at how well they can do. It is a wonderful thing to hear your children reading the Bible aloud.

4) Discuss/Narrate. We now discuss what we just read. We go back and underline verses that meant the most to us and discuss why they were meaningful to us. Now is the time for writing in their notebooks. The younger children (grades 1-2) can draw a picture after they have given you an oral narration of the chapter. The older children (grades 3 and up) need to write a written narration of what was discussed. This will be read aloud the following day.

5) Memory work. We are using the Topical Memory System by the Navigators. Each week we memorize a new verse, while reviewing verses we have already learned. We have memorized verses relating to our obedience to Christ and Christ being the center of our lives. We have also memorized all the books of the Bible, the 12 Tribes of Israel and one of my favorites, Psalm 8. Remember, the Grammar stage is the perfect time for memorizing. Do not miss this opportunity to give your children the most important, most valuable information they can have.

6) Prayer. This is the time that we pray for our world, our country, our President and government leaders, our church, our pastors, our family and friends and each other. We keep all our prayer requests on 3x5" cards which we pass out. Everyone prays out loud for the cards they have. This is great practice for the young ones and a wonderful habit for all of us.

Here are examples of written narration that you might expect to see:

Ashley - age 11
Romans 8 - Life Through the Spirit
God's Spirit knows what we need, even when we don't know what to pray for. The Spirit intercedes for us.
If we obey our sinful nature, we are controlled by the nature. But if we obey the Spirit, He controls us.
Romans 8:31 - If God is for us, who can be against us?

Cassidy - age 8
Romans 12 - Living Sacrifices & Love
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. God wants us to love our neighbors and not to treat them badly.

I hope this has been an encouragement for some of you who may be struggling with how to do Bible study in your home. This has worked very well in the Atkinson household. After we have read through the Bible together, and as my daughters get older and are capable of having their quiet times with the Lord by themselves, I look forward to the day when I am not leading the study. I look forward to each of them keeping their own private Bible notebooks and spending this time alone with God. 

My goal is to have healthy, happy daughters who are solid in Bible truth, Bible history, Bible memory, but most importantly, are solid in their own personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. I want them to love Jesus with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind and that requires a loving mother and a loving father spending a lot of time on their knees praying for their children. So do not forget to pray for your children. They are our greatest treasures.

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Sheri Atkinson and her husband, David, homeschool their two daughters in Roseville, California.  She is the founder and president of Classical Christian Home Educators.