You might not be a person of faith, but you are still very welcome here! I would be remiss not to put Bible into my resources, because for me and my family, it was a foundational part of our every day living. Not in a stuffy religious way, that’s a turn off for sure, but in a real and authentic, “nobody is perfect but we keep trying afresh each day” kind of relationship with the Lord.
I can often be heard telling like-minded moms that I counsel…”Even if the day was trying, full of distractions or failed attempts at schoolwork…if we had our family Bible time together…then I counted it as a good day”.
My ultimate goal with homeschooling is to raise kids of character, kids that have a heart for people who are hurting or struggling, girls and guys that have good work ethics and good attitudes, young people that honor others and God above themselves. I really believe that’s part of true success in homeschooling.
We won’t always get it right, we will still argue, we’ll still say things we didn’t mean, we’ll still mess up and get off track… but that’s why… or maybe I should say that’s especially why I love to instill a God centered perspective and love into their hearts and minds.
These are some of the resources that I used. A family Bible time for us would look something like cozying up on the couch together or sitting under a green leafy tree on a lovely morning and reading a chapter or a chunk of verses out of John or 1 Thessalonians or reading a few verses of Proverbs. Then we would talk about it, what we thought God was teaching us, how we think it applies to our life or what we see happening in the world. Maybe we would read a page of a devotional or one of the books I have listed. Then we would pray together for people on our heart, people we knew who were hurting or needed wisdom or comfort or courage.
I never wanted Bible to be formal or something to check off the list. I never want my kids to view the Bible to be like a math or language textbook. I always wanted it to be a gentle, sweet and meaningful time to capture their hearts. The following resources are some of the books that have been a blessing to us.
Good And Evil
My absolute favorite comic style Bible story book that was primarily written to capture the attention of adults as well as children alike.
Window on the World
This book features different people groups from around the world and can also be a great resource for cultural studies as well.
What is a Christian?
A great little book to help engage elementary age kids. This book also holds a special place in my heart, as it was the book that prompted my oldest son Ryan to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Created For Work and Practical Happiness
Written with young men in mind, I highly recommend these books to instill in your sons solid lessons of character through short stories with discussion questions after each one.
Then Sings My Soul
This gem of a book, especially good if you love old hymns, features a hymn with the words and tells the story behind either the song or the writer of the hymn. You could use this as part of a music curriculum or just a little addition to your family Bible time.
Gotta Have God Devotional Series
An easy introductory kind of devotion for elementary age kids, boys especially.
Bartholomew’s Passage
This was a book that I would read each winter time near Christmas. It became a family tradition to read chapters each day in December of this highly engaging and well written story that takes place in Biblical times.
The Big Book of Questions and Answers
If you are new to family devotions, this might be a great starting point for you, especially with younger students.The book contains question prompts with a verse to read, very user-friendly.
Leading Little Ones to God and More Little Visits with God
These are classic books that can be used for family devotions… so classic in fact that Ryan teased me and wondered if they were not too “old “to include in the resources section. I chuckled and told him that yes, the books look so weatherworn because I loved using them for family devotions when they were young enough to nearly all pile on my lap 🙂
