Wee Catechize

We have been doing a version of catechism with the children for the past few years. It started with reading through "Training Hearts, Teaching Minds" and the desire to give our children a solid foundation of biblical truths.

Now, before you dismiss catechizing as an archaic practice or too quickly equate it with a Catholic-only practice, let me say that I have found it a wonderful way to ensure I'm 'covering all the bases' as I attempt to train  my children in Biblical doctrine. Someone else likened it to teaching the times tables and I have to say, I believe that is a more than adequate analogy. 

We've gotten off track in our home with teaching through the questions more often than we've sailed right through. Even so, it is nice to have a schedule of sorts- a checklist of fundamentals to make sure we've covered as we go; to pick up where we left off. 

It was while looking for varied schedules that I came across this blog post:

  'Cheerios with a Side of Catechism'

If you click over there, you'll find a link to catechism themed songs and a print out of questions that you can take your child through. 

 Around the same time that I came across the post, we were trying to wrap our brains around the most unexpected blessing: we found out we were going to have Riley. 

When I read the suggested age on the list of questions, I fell in love with the idea of starting simplified catechizing as early as possible. (Another one of those things I feel bad about not catching on to sooner with The Bigs... thankfully, God is so much bigger than our parenting gaps!)

Since that time, we've found some additional resources and more supporters/discussions about the value of 'catechizing':

Voddie Baucham

Paul Washer
CJ & Kevin Mahaney w/ Curtis Allen

But now, without further delay, Riley answers the first two questions from the revised

Wee Catechize

We have been doing a version of catechism with the children for the past few years. It started with reading through "Training Hearts, Teaching Minds" and the desire to give our children a solid foundation of biblical truths.

Now, before you dismiss catechizing as an archaic practice or too quickly equate it with a Catholic-only practice, let me say that I have found it a wonderful way to ensure I'm 'covering all the bases' as I attempt to train  my children in Biblical doctrine. Someone else likened it to teaching the times tables and I have to say, I believe that is a more than adequate analogy. 

We've gotten off track in our home with teaching through the questions more often than we've sailed right through. Even so, it is nice to have a schedule of sorts- a checklist of fundamentals to make sure we've covered as we go; to pick up where we left off. 

It was while looking for varied schedules that I came across this blog post:

  'Cheerios with a Side of Catechism'

If you click over there, you'll find a link to catechism themed songs and a print out of questions that you can take your child through. 

 Around the same time that I came across the post, we were trying to wrap our brains around the most unexpected blessing: we found out we were going to have Riley. 

When I read the suggested age on the list of questions, I fell in love with the idea of starting simplified catechizing as early as possible. (Another one of those things I feel bad about not catching on to sooner with The Bigs... thankfully, God is so much bigger than our parenting gaps!)

Since that time, we've found some additional resources and more supporters/discussions about the value of 'catechizing':

Voddie Baucham

Paul Washer
CJ & Kevin Mahaney w/ Curtis Allen

But now, without further delay, Riley answers the first two questions from the revised

Memory Work: The Apostle's Creed

What do you believe?

Can you sing it?

BOB Made Me?!

Rye All Ready For Church

Awhile back, I happened across this post regarding the old school tradition of catechizing children (big fan of that here at Aletheia!)

Cheerios® with a Side of Catechism

If you click over, you'll find a link to songs designed to help teach even the little tykes responses to catechism questions, as well as a printable checklist of catechism questions. 

What I liked most about this article & printout, in contrast to the other materials we have used in the past, is the inclusion of tots... 

Rye will be 2 in November and we are already beginning to teach her. 

She can respond properly, and she has, but lately she has begun to tap into her sense of humor and has learned how to be...um, precocious about various things. 

Including Question #1. 

(She feels no need to be sassy about "What does the letter A say?" I guess theology has an affect on us all, no?)

The child knows she's funny and has already learned to play into that...(Heaven help us)

Sometimes I ask her "Who made you?" and she just grins and shakes her head "no" to engage a little tug-of-war before offering the correct response "God made me!"... but the other day, after I asked her, she paused a moment before declaring

 "BOB! Bob made me!" 

And she laughed. 

Which leads me to Slugs & Bugs (& Lullabies)...  

Some of the songs are as offbeat as my precious baby girl, with all the nutrition of a *VeggieTale®. 

They're to be thanked for this alternate God Made Me song 

(which is lodged in my brain...and isn't that the whole point afterall?):