How to Study Your Bible for Kids

I've looked all over for material for my 8 year old to learn how to read and study her Bible. There seemed to be only two classes of material - kids Bible stories and studies for teenagers (which always include things that do not pertain and are not appropriate for her age group. Kudos to Kay Arthur for writing challenging material for kids!

My wife and children (ages 12 and 10) have been using the book and they just love it. I have used the inductive Bible study method through Intensive Care Ministries (Dan Finfrock) as well as Hendricks' Bible study Living by the Book and this book is better than the latter and almost as good as the former. Kay Aurther and Janna Arndt have created a wonderful resource to help children understand the Inductive Bible Study Method. Although the different colors and pictures can be intimidating the basic method and message of the book is very good.

I've used many of Kay Arthur's publications and products and they've never disappointed me. She's truly a Bible scholar and one of today's finest Bible literacy teacher world wide. Men and women both are privileged to sit under her teaching, simply because she relies totally on the Holy Spirit to be the teacher.

I love Kay. She always seeks to make real-world applications. She does this so well for adults, I was curious to see how she would do with kids. In summary--not quite as well. This book could be better described as "How to teach your kids the Bible". It has wonderful precepts and concepts, but these will be better used by adults FOR young children than BY those children. Teens will be OK with these concepts, but I doubt a teenager would pick up a book with this cover. If you have teenagers who are really into specific books of the bible, I would suggest (for Revelation at least) "Dragons, Grasshoppers & Frogs!". For general bible study for teens, I think "What the Bible is all About" by H. Mears would be a better choice. Again--Kay's precepts and concepts here are great. They are just a bit above the level of the audience for which they are directed.

This book has great content. My group of thirteen 5th graders is enjoying the book a great deal. However, the teacher needs to be smart about how to take concepts that are WAY above the heads of this age group and make them understandable. I wasn't too impressed with the books explanations. Using only the book I still got blank stares back from my group. An example of this would be the importance of historical, geographical, and cultural context. The book gave abstract examples that were not helpful to the kids. It took some time and some more age relevant examples for the kids to get those concepts. With that said, I still think this book is worthy of consideration.