One of the most important aspects of our life together here at home is spending time praying together and studying the Bible together. We don’t always hit all the “Big Rocks”, but this is one we try hard to not miss too often. That said, I always do best at consistency when I have a plan! One year we memorized the Ten Commandments and talked about them in depth (loosely based on my Dad’s Ten Pillars class, which everyone should take!), and last year our curriculum included a Bible plan and the kids impressed me by learning quite a few chapters of the Bible!

This year, I had a desire to help the children ponder, think, and apply. I found a list of scriptures that all highlighted the character of God, and then made a plan:

This was just enough to fill a school year’s worth of devotions, with enough space to add in special Christmas and Easter readings. I bought everyone a blank composition book, got a stack of Bibles, and filled our Circle Time basket. We followed the above structure, which allowed us to incorporate recitation and handwriting into our Bible time (and I do love killing several birds with one stone!) While the boys did copy and meditation work, the girls would work with me a bit extra on memory, and then draw pictures to go along with the verse.

There are several ways to memorize scripture as a group. Sometimes we’ve done lots of rote repetition, learning little chunks at a time. This year, I emphasized listening, and then reading out loud together. I’m amazed, when I add a few hand motions for Fiona, and use the same expressive patterns for the older ones, how quickly they learn this way! Fiona knows some of the verses better than others, and I’m sure not every one has stuck in Beatrice’s long-term memory, but we are hiding the Word in our hearts together and it is so good.

Of course, my favorite day was when the boys would share what they wrote in their journals. Some weeks required a bit of prompting to go deeper than the obvious “God is good and God loves me.” But some weeks I was so blessed by the observations they made, and what the Holy Spirit would speak to them.

The scriptures we’ve covered (and will cover in the next few weeks!) are:

John 3:16
Matthew 6:26
Psalm 103:12
Psalm 103:4-5
Romans 8:32
Psalm 139:1-6 (over a couple of weeks)
Psalm 107:9
Luke 19:10
Isaiah 1:18
Psalm 103:3
Isaiah 53:5
Job 19:25
Psalm 86:15
Isaiah 40:31
Jeremiah 9:23-24
Ephesians 1:7-8
Psalm 103:19

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Along these lines, I bought a 3-ring binder last year, titled it “Circle Time”, and divided into different sections: Songs + Hymns, Scriptures, and Book Reports. This is allowing me to keep track of the songs we’ve committed to memory (I make copies of lyrics, which we use until we’ve memorized a song or hymn), the scriptures we’ve learned, and the books we’ve read out loud together “for fun.”

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What plans or ideas have you implemented in your Bible time? Do you have a devotional book, or a loose plan?