Our family has tried different approaches to our family devotional time. I saw a really awesome video about a family’s devotion time together and it inspired me! My brother-in-law is a Pastor and father of four. I figured he was a good place to start for a resource that I could print up and use to teach my children in the way they should go.
I wanted fundamental truths to be made clear at a very early age. I wanted a strong foundation to be laid now and they can then ask questions and try to understand more about that foundation later. Does that make sense?
My brother had an immediate solution: Catechism for Young Children. He also gave me another idea, but this is the first part and what we will be implementing for now. One change at a time, right?
What on earth is a catechism you may ask?
So basically, the manual that was provided to me is a way to simplify the heavy doctrine. Now I don’t mean to complicate things in any way by saying the Gospel is “complicated.” And I surely don’t mean things can or should be simplified to the point of omission. This is merely a way to still give the message of the full Gospel to my children – one bite at a time. I want to give my children set answers to questions they may have in the future and of course, the questions they will inevitably be asked as they grow up.
So what is the solution again? A Catechism for Young Children or a Gospel Primer! I know you homeschooling mamas are familiar with the word primer! That is right up our alley!
With our two girls here and one little boy on the way, we need to start laying a strong foundation now! So we have decided to teach our children these questions and answers (that is, the Catechism)! The PDF I am referring to is available for you to download as well (yay!). Thanks to my brother-in-law for sharing it with us and allowing me to share with you freely! All together there are 145 questions. With about 10 per page, we can comfortably cover a page over the span of our family devotions (after dinner). The more familiar they get with the questions and answers, the faster we can go.
The first page (the first 8 questions) are so important and I was so thrilled to know that Shelby (my 3 year old) knew most of the answers. However, she didn’t know a few points and those are specifically what we can work on throughout the next day.
I have put the pages back to back in sheet protectors and then placed all of the pages in a little half inch binder. And yes, I made a binder cover to share with you too! {Click here to download Family Devotions Notebook Cover - It looks like the green and yellow image below, but the size below is not correct. Click on this link so you can get the correct size}.
A “Family Devotion” notebook is such a great tool for you and your family. You can add your memory verses to it, family prayers, prayer requests, additional reading materials, additional resources and more! If you sponsor a child, this would be a great place to add that information as well!
So without further ado, here is your Gospel Primer/Catechism for Young Children download!
About Nikki
This is very similar to what we use, but we just plan on focusing on the first five questions everyday for a year. When he turns three we’ll see if he’s ready to add anymore (and of course we’ll add more if he surprises us in the year), but our goal each family devotion is the first five questions. And I love the binder cover printable. I haven’t made mine yet, and now I don’t have to! You rock!
Leigh Ann @ Intentional By Grace recently posted..Family Devotions {A Catechism for Young Children}
Yes…thanks for the inspiration behind this
And I did the font just for you!! Yes, Karli will only focus on the first few, but Shelby is sailing through!
Nikki recently posted..Family Devotions {A Catechism for Young Children}
A great resource for teaching the shorter catechism is a book called “Training Hearts, Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism” by Starr Meade. I haven’t gone through the whole book, but I’ve worked through the first part with my kids, and it’s very good. It deals with one question/answer per week with six days of short devotionals and scripture reading to help the children understand the concept. I’m not sure about using it with toddlers or preschoolers, but absolutely with elementary age kids. You might be able to paraphrase things a bit to help the younger kiddos understand better.
Amy @ Gospel Homemaking recently posted..Menu Plan Monday :: February 4, 2013
Awesome Amy! Thanks for the resource!