I heard Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis speak today and although I have heard him several times before, something he said today really stuck with me. He was talking about the “Millennial Generation” (the kids in their 20’s right now) and how they are starting to leave the church. It was an hour long message with lots of points, but I feel like the main point he was making was that society has started to disregard the absolute authority of God’s Word (the foundation upon which everything stands).
Obviously, as Christian parents we teach our kids about the bible and God’s Word, but I would like to also teach my kids how to defend what they believe and why. I want them to be able to answer some of the tough questions and be prepared to give an answer for the reason of the hope that they have (1 Peter 3:15).
What resources have you guys used and what was your experience with them?
Apologia Who is God series is great. We have used it on and off for a couple years because there is so much info in it it was hard to use as a devotional, it’s something that needs to be done as its own subject, but it made even me think about things I might not have thought about without that book. We only used 1 journal and did it as a family. I feel like my children are better able to understand who God is for themselves, not just because I told them who He is but because they explored it with me. They have recently given their lives to Lord without my prompting them and I feel like this resource helped them.
I really love the Answers in Genesis magazine. We talk a lot about Creationism at home & use AIG articles to help us back up our faith in the Ultimate Authority of Scripture. The Institute for Creation Research is another great resource, although I find the AIG magazine to be a little easier to understand. We used Apologia Human Anatomy (elementary) this year & really enjoyed it as well. Great topic!
I have tried using the first book in that series, What We Believe, with my daughter but it seemed to go a little over her head, I had to do a lot of explaining. She seemed to get it eventually, but I decided to wait a bit longer. What ages are your children?
We started using What we Believe when my children were 6,7 and 3. There is a lot of information that can go over their heads but that’s part of why it has taken me so long to get through it (we are still working on it). Funnily enough my 3 year old is the one who really ‘gets it’ but she has a personality that understands concepts outside of the box. I would read a section to them and explain it again in my own words or terms. I would have them narrate back to me what we read and the stories throughout the book really helped bring things back to their level again. I also like to find something in our lives that we understand or know a lot about, things that are important to them, to explain what the book is saying. When answering the questions I would help them with wording, and sometimes I would just write what they said in the notebook and I would also answer the questions in the notebook so we can look back and understand what we learned about.
I really enjoy reading the blog ‘Christian mom thoughts’. She has many resources for teaching your kids apologetics. we do not do a curriculum, but we try to challenge our kids to go beyond the surface while reading the bible and with the things they learn at church. We encourage questions, don’t white wash biblical facts, and try to challenge the kids (mostly the oldest, as #2 is only 3yo) with our own questions and scenarios. We teach him to not accept answers just because a teacher or we say it’s true. Always go back to the Bible. As he gets older, we will encourage him to read and study about more difficult concepts. My husband has his masters in this area and also teaches college classes on it, so he enjoys discussing anything to do with religion/philosophy/apologetics.
