Bible Curriculum

I was asked recently what Bible curriculum I would recommend for homeschoolers to use with their families.

It just shows how far we homeschoolers have been brainwashed to think that in order for our children to learn the Bible, we must have a curriculum for it.

When my mother was a girl, she and her siblings ate dinner together with her parents around the dining room table. When the meal was done and the dishes cleared, my grandfather read the daily Bible reading aloud to his family, every evening. If they ate food every day to sustain their physical bodies, then they also consumed the Word of God every day to sustain their inner man. Even when my mother and her siblings were teens, with things to do and places to go, they absolutely did not leave the table until their father had read the daily Bible reading to his family.

I really prefer this approach instead of a Bible curriculum. Dad takes up his responsibility as the spiritual leader of his family, as it should be. As far as what to read for the daily Bible reading, here at A Little Perspective we read through the Bible in one year: 2 chapters per day in the Hebrew Testament, 1 chapter per day in Psalms and Proverbs, and 1 chapter per day in the Greek Testament. If that is too much, as it would be for most young families, how about reading through a three-year plan, with one chapter per day for most days. Moody Bible Institute has an excellent three-year plan that we have adopted.

The greatest deficiency of modern believers, especially in America, is lack of knowing what God has actually said. Most believers have not read the entire Bible, nor do they read daily in the Word of God. It is a deficiency reflected in our culture!

When a child reaches middle school years, besides hearing the Bible read by his father every day during family reading time, he should read the Bible separately for himself. Middle schoolers should follow the same three-year plan linked above. No curriculum is necessary; the Word of God is a wonderful teacher, when we let Him teach.

When a child reaches high school years, besides hearing the Bible read by his father every day during family reading time, he should write out the Bible separately for himself. Copy each day’s reading into a notebook, from his printed Bible (no Bible apps). Use the same three-year plan used to read the Bible in the middle school years. Why write it out? The heart and mind make connections when writing, that often go unconnected when just reading alone.

Now if a child enters into daily family read aloud time as an infant, then by the time he reaches middle school years, he will have heard the Bible read through four times (taking three years each time). Then he will have read it himself during middle school, and copied it himself during high school – eight times (including the family reading during middle and high school) to have learned the entire Bible from front to back before launching out into adulthood. What a solid and wise foundation for his future life! And can you imagine how much our culture would change if this were the case?

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. – Rom 10:17

Bible curriculum recommendations (even though the above is my first recommendation):

A Little Perspective Bible Studies Index
Foundations Press Bible Curriculum