Using Bible Stories Year After Year

This time of year is always fairly spiritual for me as I meditate and ponder fully the work of the cross, the work of God to redeem His people.

Yesterday I was reminded by my 15yo daughter that this is also an opportunity to learn more about the Lord…and opportunity for our children to develop more of those *mental hooks or pegs* in place or to make some connections. As we were reading the story of the Passover and the Exodus, my daughter and I were having some great discussions…and I tried to ‘enlighten’ the boys (rather unsuccessfully might I add) when ‘Miss A’ said,

“Mum, why don’t you just stick with the story like you did for me at that age?” Well DUH!!!!!!!! (See, I’ve told you more than once that I can be a tad thick-skulled).

When I immediately agreed with her, she went on to remind me that reading and discussing the stories was what I had done with her, and that hearing them year after year enabled her to build upon the mental hooks more and more until she is now at the point of understanding a great deal. Uh? It takes a 15 year old to remind me of things.

The local Christian school here has done very little in commemorating or teaching about Passover or Easter. I find this sad. I think they had ample opportunity, especially this year. In Victoria, the schools only schooled for 6 weeks and then they had two weeks holiday for the Commonwealth Games…then they returned for 2 weeks of school before breaking again for end of term one holidays. Those 2 weeks back at school could have been a great time for teaching in their Christian Studies period. However, they chose to have the students watch a video…the animated Moses, Prince of Egypt.

Now don’t get me wrong…I’m all for using modern technology (we use tv and dvd’s fairly liberally) and then documenting that as a learning activity or opportunity. However, I was saddened at the lack of teaching on the Centrality of Our Faith. There’s also a time and a place for watching animations…I guess I just expected a little more from a combined Yr 8/9 class at a private Christian school.

On the bright side, if it is acceptable to chart Moses, Prince of Egypt as the Christian Studies subject for the week…then it is certainly acceptable for me, as a homeschooler, to document similar activities as one learning opportunity in a subject – not that I care to compare to a school system, but it can be an interesting exercise.

You might also like to read the following posts:

1. Not excited About a New Year – Lacking Motivation I’ll confess. I’m not jumping up and down with excitement over lessons (school) this year. Nope! There was a time...
2. Your Measuring Stick What do I use as a yardstick to measure my family’s growth by? I think a lot of us can...
3. Our Family Bible study Often the Bible is like a mystery- we want to read it and study but how? How can we study...
4. High School – Learner Permit We have one child entering the High School Years and so we have our “L” plates on. ‘A’ is, at...
5. Should You Register To Homeschool? Do I have to register or follow a particular curriculum? If only I had a penny for every time I’ve...