I wanted to share some thoughts on Bibles and kids in the next two posts. In this post, I will make some general suggestions for you to consider.  In the next post, I will share some of our experiences with various Bible versions and story books.

Some Suggestions

1. Get your children a Bible and require them to bring it to Bible class.  This will typically mean you remembering to bring the Bible when they are small and staying on them to keep up with it, but it is apart of their training.
2. Get your children a Bible that they can read easily.  Before they can read a small pocket size KJV is fine, because you are just teaching them to take their Bible to class and to love it.  But when they get in Kindergarten and are learning to read, don’t require them to read from the King James Version.  I will share some easier to read versions in the next post.
3. Don’t let them use an iPod or Tablet for their Bible.  Children need to learn how to navigate a Bible with pages and establish an emotional connection with it being God’s Word.  Also, the temptation is just to great to get distracted with other items on the device.
4. Make your child’s Bible special to them.  Bibles serve as great gifts for birthdays and Christmas.  Have a grandparent or parents give the Bible and write some counsel or special words in the front of it.  Have the child’s name engraved on it or buy a case for the Bible.  Talk to the child about how  special the Bible is and their need to read and follow it in life.
5. Read the Bible with your children.  Some ways you can accomplish this include:

• Having Bible story time regularly as a family. (I will share some good books in the next post.)
• Reviewing your children’s Bible class material with them.
• Reading a chapter from the Bible with them.  Instead of a book, sometimes read the Bible before bed, or let them read it to you.
• Require your children to read the Bible on their own.  The ABR (Advanced Bible Reading) program designed by Chad Thompson and Kyle Butt which functions similar to Accelerated Reader is a great program to use.  Kids read a section of the Bible and then take a test over that section and earn points.

What other suggestions would you have for kids and their Bibles?

Part 2 will be posted Sunday.