Someone recently asked me what I thought a kindergarten-aged child should know about the Bible. All I can tell you is from my own experience.<\/p>\n
I believe they should know about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit-and that all of those beings love him no matter what. They should know every major Bible story and be able to name the books of the Bible, the apostles, the sons of Jacob, and the judges. They should have some major memorizing done, individual verses here and there, and larger passages as well, e.g., the 23rd Psalm, the beatitudes, scriptures like Romans 12:1-3 and good old John 3:16. And those things should be explained as well as a five- or six-year-old can understand them, which may be more than you think. They should have a large repertoire of spiritual songs, not just children’s songs, but some of the hymns from the songbook as well. They should be praying several times a day.<\/p>\n
The person who asked looked at me, dumbfounded. “That’s impossible,” he said. No. It’s not. I could do most of that, and my children could do all of it. I can still hear five-year-old Lucas reciting the twenty-third psalm, and three-year-old Nathan singing all five verses of “Twust and Obey.”<\/p>\n
What’s that? “It isn’t about learning facts.” Of course, it isn’t. But tell me, which do you teach first, critical analysis of the poetry of Keats versus that of Milton, or memorizing the alphabet? They will never understand faith till they see it working in the life of Abraham; or courage, until they know the stories of David and Esther; or unselfish devotion until they hear about Ruth gleaning in the field. Isn’t that why God put those facts there in the first place? Things… written aforetime were written for our learning<\/em>\u00a0(Romans 15:4).<\/p>\n And you know what works even better? Learning about the generosity of Barnabas and then seeing a father like mine, who gave so generously that the IRS audited him. And learning about the compassion of Dorcas and then a seeing a mother like mine, who took food off her table to give to a neighbor whose husband was killed in an automobile accident, and then organized a food drive for that same neighbor and her five small children.<\/p>\n And as to the amount I think a child should know so early? The problem is not a child’s capacity. The problem is adults underestimating their capacity. And maybe the problem is we do not want to spend the time it takes to do this. This is not something you accomplish in 15 minutes a day of “quality time,” that great myth that has been foisted on American parents. God never expected that meager amount to be the time we spend teaching our children.<\/p>\n Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah. And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and upon your gates.<\/em>\u00a0(Deuteronomy 6:4-9).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I think that pretty well covers it all, don’t you?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Dene Ward Someone recently asked me what I thought a kindergarten-aged child should know about the Bible. All I can tell you is from my own experience. I believe they should know about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit-and that all of those beings love him no matter what. They should know every major…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1031,1028],"tags":[358,665,29,107],"class_list":["post-59969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-childhood","category-parenting","tag-bible-class","tag-child-rearing","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59551,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-beat-my-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":59969,"position":0},"title":"Should I Beat My Child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Donald P. Ames Guardian of Truth\u00a0XXXI: 3, pp. 75, 87 February 5, 1987 Before you answer the above question, may I, first of all, ask if you really understood it? Webster defines \"beat\" all the way from \"spank\" to \"flogging.\" The Bible also uses it in a similar fashion. And,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/02\/spanking.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36253,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/firearms-and-teaching-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":59969,"position":1},"title":"Firearms and Teaching Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford In 2010 and 2011, I became the father of two extremely inquisitive children. In 2019, I also became the owner of a firearm. Naturally, I gave some thought to how these two areas of my life should interact. Should I keep my gun locked away from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/toy-gun-300x201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2095,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-spanking-hurt-a-childs-feelings\/","url_meta":{"origin":59969,"position":2},"title":"Can spanking hurt a child’s feelings?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My son was very rude and would not explain his behavior. I must mention that it has been over a month since the last time that I spanked him. At that time I gave him a spanking in front of everyone. It was very effective, so I used the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13917,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-suggest-is-a-proper-bedtime-for-preteens-and-teenagers\/","url_meta":{"origin":59969,"position":3},"title":"What do you suggest is a proper bedtime for preteens and teenagers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for a great site. I have one question. I have three children: two girls (ages 15 and 9) and a boy (age 12). One of my daughters asked permission to sleepover at one of her girlfriend's home. I contacted the girlfriend's mother and informed her about my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44714,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/children-and-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":59969,"position":4},"title":"Children and the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Somewhere along the line, it seems to me, there has been an assumption that all the stories in the Bible have to be something for children. If some account is disturbing, then there is a problem with the Bible - as if the Bible was written just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33626,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-telling-children-to-obey-their-parents-enable-abusers\/","url_meta":{"origin":59969,"position":5},"title":"Doesn’t telling children to obey their parents enable abusers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I completely disagree that you would teach\u00a0obeying parents\u00a0to children or people at your church.\u00a0 Honor does not mean \"obey\" and if a child or adult is being abused by their parent, they should\u00a0not\u00a0obey. 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