As homeschooling parents, one of the reasons we teach our K-12 children at home is so we can share our Christian faith and values in our schooling.
But how can we take the time to do this when so many other schooling demands pull on us, like core academic subjects and sports and enrichment programs?
When I decided to homeschool my child over 10 years ago, having a daily devotion was extremely important to me. It still is.
Here are my ideas on how to incorporate kids devotionals into your school day:
• Start your day personally first thing by reading Scripture and prayer. Feed yourself spiritually and you will be able to feed your children! If you are not experiencing daily refreshing times at the feet of Jesus, how can your students experience it? Be a model to your child. I’m not talking about 30 minutes of intense worship time, I’m talking about setting aside a few minutes a day to listen and talk to the Lord.
• Start your school with your devotional. Avoid making early morning appointments that can conflict with this time. My son completely accepts that devotional is the first thing we do! He looks forward to it! If I get nothing else done but the devotional, I know that I have accomplished the most important subject in our school.
• If you don’t know how to play an instrument and want to incorporate music, go to the Web! There are wonderful worshipful videos out there on YouTube and GodTube. I’ve even found great video devotions that are child-friendly. When I’m tired and want a break from giving the lesson, this is a great resource!
• Include an object lesson and/or an activity. Again, the Internet is a great resource for this. Make the devotional interesting and lively.
• Spend time reading Scripture directly from the Word. I think this is very important, that children hear the Bible, not just stories about the Bible. Maybe they won’t “get it” at first, but we know that the spoken Word will not return empty. You are feeding their spirit by reading the Word of God!
• If you want an additional family devotional where Dads can be included, make it short and sweet. We are going to be starting a new church small group that encourages families to spend 10 minutes per week in devotions as a family. This does not sound intimidating at all! We can squeeze in 10 minutes in our busy lives!
I hope this gives you some food for thought with kids devotionals. Jesus commanded Jesus to “Feed His Sheep.” I think that this is our primary role as homeschooling parents—to feed our children the Word. Many blessings!
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