Join Lori as she shares the importance of not only reading to your children but reading Christian books to your kids.
Well hey, friends, it’s Lori Joiner, Your Discipleship Coach! I am thrilled you have tuned in to another week of Your Discipleship Coach Kid's Edition.
Now as parents, we would all, hopefully, understand just how important it is to be reading out loud to our children-especially when they are young. But I want to stress the importance of this today. For all age groups! Parents of older kids, don’t tune me out just yet thinking this is a small child-only podcast-I have some ideas for you, even when your kids are older.
I want to share some basics as to why to read to your kids and then I will transition to many of the books I have read to my children and how books, me reading to them, and even paying them (I’ll explain more later) has helped their Christian development.
So today, the Your Discipleship Coach Podcast KIDS edition tip is…read Christian books to your children.
So, understand that it is never too early or too late to start reading out loud to your kids. If this is not happening, especially if your kids are in elementary-start now!
Learning to read is a process that begins long before a child starts school. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents start reading to their children from birth. When parents or grandparents read out loud to their children, even when they are infants, they are helping build important foundational literacy skills. Children over time learn that text, those scribbles on the page, have meaning. Each time you read the child picks up and develops new vocabulary, and they embrace that reading is fun.
When Josh and Jake were little, I did a lot of reading to them. I was always reading, nap time, bedtime, quiet time. As much as I could. We went to the local library every 2-3 weeks and would go home with bags of books to have new things to read each night.
Reading to your children will help their cognitive development. Cognitive development affects how children think, learn, how they explore. Reading helps stimulate this function in their brains. Helps them acquire and process information and appropriate the correct response to information.
Of course, reading makes you smarter! Your child will literally learn more words I always loved pointing out words that could have two meanings. I would say-Does that mean a Bear (rarrrrr) the shelf is bare? Is that a pen I write with or a pin I poke you with? My boys are not in junior high and I still do this. I am always looking to sharpen their vocabulary and word skills.
Reading is so good for their memory. When you read your child a story, ask them a question about it when you are done. They will be tested on this later-it’s called comprehension. Can they recall what you read them, and can they have a thought about it? You may read a story about a child that is scared of the dark. Ask your child about that scenario, can they remember a detail, can they recall why the child was scared? Can they relate it to their life?
Of course, my kids had their favorite books that they would want me to read so often they could eventually recite the entire thing from memory-We had one book, “one hungry monster,” I can still say start to finish to this day because my boys loved it so much!
There are so many other reasons to read to your children-just a quick google search will have you online for a good amount of time reading all the benefits. I know you have a long list of things to get done each day. However, always put reading to your kids at the top of the list. Read to your kids, daily if at all possible, it will help them so much in life!
But out of all the great reasons to read to your kids that I have already mentioned, the number one reason to read to your kids-is that you can read to them about the Christian faith. When I would go to the library, I do not recall finding a lot of Christian books for children. Maybe there were some, but those I actually had to purchase. I could find Shel Silverstein, Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, Dr. Seuss, Biscuit goes to school, etc, but when it came to books about God-I needed to find those, purchase those and fill my child’s shelves with those from an early age.
The ministry Answers in Genesis (https://answersingenesis.org/) is a great place to start to find Christ-centered books for your children of ALL ages.
I first read my boys A is for Adam and The My Creation Bible book from this amazing website and ministry. A is for Adam is a large hardback book, with bright colors and big pictures and each letter of the alphabet introduces a basic Christian teaching. We read this book countless times. The My Creation Bible is just a storyboard book about creation, mankind, animals, Jesus, etc.
As my boys were learning to read, this is preschool age, I was able to purchase several books from ZonderKids and get basic I Can Read books of basic Bible stories. These were Bible stories they were learning at home and church but now they could identify some of the words. It was so thrilling to hear them begin to read basic Bible stories themselves.
As my sons’ got older I bought them the Answers Book for Kids. Each small hardback book is 22 questions from kids about topics such as
· Creation & the Fall
· Dinosaurs & the Flood of Noah
· Sin, Salvation, and the Christian Life
· Evolution & "Millions of Years"
· God & the Bible
· Space and Astronomy
· Babel and the Ice Age
· Satan & Angels
These are good for elementary ages and you could simply read one question and answer each night if you wanted.
As my kids have grown older, the bedtime reading does not happen anymore with me there. They go to where they were reading chapter books all on their own at night. So much reading I was coming into their room an hour after bedtime making them put the books down and go to sleep.
So now, I have to be strategic as to when we will read a Christian book together. Also, I want to read some of the books with them as I want to answer their questions or explain something to them that may be taught to understand.
So this past summer, each afternoon during lunch, I read to them from a book called-
“Talking to your kids about God-30 Conversations Every Christian Parent Must Have" by Natasha Crain.
My friends, this is no lightweight book. This is an in-depth book about weighty spiritual topics such as…(I read a few from the chapter index)
So each day we would read tighter and discuss. They did not argue with me on this, reading is just part of the culture of our home. They did not say, “I want to watch cartoons, or I want to watch a video.” Again, I started the reading as a part of my parenting long ago. So in a way, it is just normal.
The summer before, we took a road trip to see our extended family in Kentucky. On that trip, I read to them the book called The Case for Christ for Kids is the perfect resource to answer the questions about Jesus kids 8-12 ask most such as:
· Historical evidence, and scientific proof backing up what the Bible says
· Kid-friendly stories that make the facts easy to understand
· Ways to talk to other people about Jesus and share what they know
· It has illustrations and graphics to make the topics memorable for kids eight and up
I really wanted them to not zone out while I read to them the important info in this book so I decided that for each chapter I would quiz them afterward on the information. And for each right answer, they would earn one dollar. So I would read a chapter, then create questions from the chapter and they earned a ton of money that road trip but more-they really listened to the helpful spiritual information.
So my point is that even when they get older, and the entire world of bedtime stories is no longer happening from you as a parent, reading to your kids can still happen at lunch, on road trips, etc.
Another idea I want you to have is that I purchase my kids Christian books often. At Easter, Christmas, birthdays they are getting Christian books. Not just Lego sets, not just nerf guns, not just clothes, but books and Christian books at that. This past Christmas I bought my son Josh the book My Name Is Tani and I believe in Miracles-the Amazing true story of one boys journey from Refugee to Chess Champion. I picked this book up at Mardell’s a local Christian bookstore in my city. I also bought Jake my other son some graphic novels about Bible stories.
But just make a point that at Easter, stick a Christian book in tier basket, at Christa stick an age-appropriate book under the tree, at their Birthday, a new Christian daily devotional. Books, devotionals, Bibles, scripture bookmarks, all are helpful in always pointing your children to God in each phase and stage of your child’s life.
While I have donated many many of my kids books because we read A LOT and we read and read tons of types of books and topics, I have not given away most of my Christian resources and books. That is because I am keeping an eye on my downline. I see myself reading each of these books with my future grandchildren. So invest in these resources now-go to Answers in Genesis at each milestone and order books that will help your child now and for eternity. Go to Mardell’s Christian bookstore or any of your local Christina books stores and purchase age-appropriate Christin books and begin to fill your child’s shelves with books that they can read or be read to them. Give books on birthdays and holidays to family and relatives. And if you have not already, create a culture in your home of reading, that culture will serve you so well as your children age-and you can keep giving them faith-based books.
I can promise you this-even when my boys are in high school and college, I will be searching for faith-based Christ-centered books to give them to enrich and strengthen their faith.
Let’s pray!