Several years ago, I wrote a few articles for Heart of the Matter Online, and I just decided to post them here so I don't lose them. :)

Putting the Homeschool Cart Before the Horse

By Elizabeth K. Tsukayama

 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” Proverbs 1:7

I started attending our local homeschool conference when my oldest child was 22 months old, and I am so glad I did! At that point, my husband and I were not looking for information on the nuts and bolts of teaching different subjects, but rather inspiration on the visionary aspects of homeschooling – the big picture.
Our firstborn is “one smart cookie”. At 22 months, he knew the alphabet backward and forward, could count to some fairly large number, and talked like a five year old. I was understandably proud of my little genius and was constantly looking for ways to increase his scholastic abilities.

That first homeschool greatly changed my focus. I attended a workshop by Marilyn Boyer, and she described her firstborn just as mine was. She then went on to explain how important it is to take advantage of those formative years to fill their little hearts and minds with Scripture, rather than being so concerned about cramming in “academics”. And she gave many practical examples of how to do this, which you can check out through the link on her name.
I went home pumped! I taught my little 22 month old his first Bible verse – 1 John 4:16 “God is love”. And we began to memorize a Bible verse just about every week. I am SO thankful that we changed our main focus early on! Now, six years later, our children have stored up so much of God’s Word in their little hearts, and He promises that His Word will not return void!
Here are some ways that we have made the Bible a priority for our homeschool.
As soon as they are old enough to repeat words, we begin teaching them to memorize Scripture. We start with little verses like 1 John 4:16, and Psalm 34:8 – “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Another one they learn as soon as possible is Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”
In order to facilitate this learning process for the littlest ones, I like to take a piece of construction paper and write the verse faintly in pencil, then help them trace over the words with a marker. I say each letter as we trace it, so they are actually learning “academics” while focusing on God’s Word! We decorate their construction paper and hang it on the bedroom wall. Their bedroom wall is now wallpapered with God’s Word! It is great! It may not be your idea of classy interior decorating, but I love having it always visible and available for constant review. Often, before bed, we choose a few verses to go over. And if any of the children are afraid at night, I encourage them to look at the verses on their wall and think about them instead of thinking about whatever is making them afraid. It works like a charm!
Another thing I have done that makes memorizing the Bible super easy for children and adults alike is to put the verse to music. I often use simple tunes from other songs, like the verse “God is Love”, I put to the tune of “He is Lord”. Sometimes I make up a simple tune that fits the verse. If I can’t think of any tune, I ask the Lord to help me think of one, and He does! I am no musician by any stretch of the imagination, but I believe the Lord has helped me think of a tune in order to facilitate the teaching of His Word to my children. I also include the reference inside the song so that in future years they will be able to call to mind not only the content of the verse, but also where to find it. I know that as a child, I memorized a lot of verses, but I often have a hard time recalling the reference!

If, however, you draw a blank when it comes to a tune for the verse, there are resources that have already done that job for you! Steve Greene has two CD’s (also available in DVD) called “Hide Them in Your Heart“. No Greater Joy has a CD called “ABC Bible Songs” that my children really enjoy. And I am sure there are others.
For my two older children now, rather than decorating construction paper, I have them write their verses in a copywork book and make an illustration of it. These illustrations have been so revealing of what the Lord is teaching them through the verse! I am always excited to see what they are going to come up with!  They really take pride in their copywork books and often look back on them, which is also fabulous review! This is also their handwriting practice, so again, they are getting the “academics”, while keeping the focus where it should be – on God’s Word.
Now, beyond memorizing verses, once my children got old enough to start more formal homeschooling, we continued to strive to keep the Bible as the cornerstone of our day. One practical way to make it a priority is to make it the first thing we do each day. I want to put the MOST time and energy into teaching my children the Bible, even if nothing else gets done academically. Of course, academics are also important, don’t get me wrong. But I wish to ingrain in my children the absolute necessity of God’s Word for life.
I often tell them this as we begin, “Let’s start with Bible, because that is THE most important thing in our lives!” Or sometimes I say,

“If we didn’t eat today, our bodies would begin to feel weak, and they would begin to get sick if we went even longer without eating. That is how our spirits are too! We need to continually feed on God’s Word in order to keep our spirits strong and healthy!”

And don’t forget to make it FUN! I want to impart a LOVE for God’s Word to my children. I think more of this is caught than taught.

If your children see you loving and treasuring God’s Word, enthusiastic about reading it daily on your own, being passionate in the way you talk to them about it, and serious about living it in your personal life and in your home, they will be far more likely to love God’s Word too! I believe this is why God says in Deut 6:6-9 that God’s Word must first be in YOUR hearts (the parents), in order to be able to teach them to your children:

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (emphasis mine)

There are many good Bible curriculums out there that you can use for your homeschool. You can also put your own together with what you have available already or, like me, what you find at used curriculum sales! If you need a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing, I blogged about what we did two years ago for our Bible curriculum HERE. We wrapped up that study with a lapbook, which we still use for review too! You can see pictures of the lapbook HERE.
And this year we are doing a study of Proverbs that I put together, and we are loving it! I love that I am learning right along with the children and the Lord continues to teach me as I teach them.
Even though I blogged about it in one of the links above, I want to draw special attention to the Scripture Memory System that I learned from the Simply Charlotte Mason site. What a brilliant idea! Once you have learned quite a few verses or passages of Scripture, it is an absolute must to continue reviewing with your children in order to keep them fresh in their hearts, and yours. This is the very best way I have come across to easily and painlessly keep reviewing every single verse we have memorized once every month. I highly recommend it!
If you would like more encouragement, more vision, and more creative how-to ideas on keeping your homeschool Bible-centered, I would encourage you to procure a copy of Robin Sampson’s most excellent book, Heart of Wisdom.
So, don’t let time pass you by! Take advantage of your children’s soft hearts and malleable minds that are as absorbent as little sponges to soak up God’s Word.
Above all other scholastic studies, help them hide a treasury of God’s Word in their hearts, following Deuteronomy 6:6-9 in the most practical and literal way possible in your homeschool. It will not return void!!!