5 Ways to Easily Include Bible Study in Your Homeschool Lessons

Were you hoping to have more of a focus on Bible study in your homeschool lessons, but when you take one long look at your routine, you see that it often gets dropped? Well, you can always rearrange the way you do school and make sure it begins to take priority—that is one of the joys of homeschooling! Or maybe you do incorporate the Bible, but you are looking to dig a little deeper.  If you are looking to add a Bible study element into your day, now is the perfect time! Here are five excellent ways to get started:

1. Read Together

Regardless of the ages of your children, read the Bible together at some point during the day. Setting this routine in place can work wonders for your homeschool. It’s interesting because when my first child was in elementary school, I determined that between my husband and I that we would read the entire Bible with him before he graduated high school. I figured that if we read a chapter whenever we could we would eventually get there. Of course, we are now doing this with all of the children, but I stand amazed at what steady plodding can do. Right now, we are almost done with the Old Testament. It will be completed before 2021. We are also over a third of the way done with the New Testament, which means he will have had the entire Bible read to him by the time he is fourteen and a half, which brings us to our goal a few years early! Of course, you can choose to study the Bible in whatever way works best for your family. Maybe you want to try to read the Bible in a year, or two. Or maybe it would work best to pick one book at a time to study and study them in depth.

2. Learn the Biblical Timeline

Throw history into the mix by teaching your children the Biblical timeline. Excellent resources are available through Grapevine Studies or Bible Road Trip. Many companies also incorporate this into their daily history lessons. Rather than approaching history from a secular standpoint, many Christian curriculum organizations, such as SchoolhouseTeachers.com, teach from a Biblical standpoint so children are able to see when on a Biblical timeline historical events took place.  

3. Character Studies

Kids love lessons that are relatable. I often read a book to my toddler and preschooler and both of them look at the images, and if they see a child in the book, they say “That’s me!” They then want me to replace that character with their name throughout the story (which can be challenging with two of them)! Whether you have younger or older ones, pick a favorite Bible character and study him/her in depth. Choose characters that would both engage and challenge your children.

4. Missionary Studies

While our family was on our year-long mission trip, we did a series of missionary studies. My children were able to learn about real-life examples of missionaries from all walks of life. When we came home, we continued and my teenage son even did a report on a book written by a missionary he met while we were on the mission field. Does your church support missionaries? Do you have friends on the mission field? Find out if they have written books or have any of their experiences posted online. Have your children read, research, and learn about these people that they have personally met! Encourage them to read about missionaries of old as well. There are so many examples of people with great faith in the past that they can learn and glean from. This is a such great way to encourage independent reading!

5. Community Service Opportunities

You might be surprised to see the spiritual gifts that your child has come out when given an opportunity to serve. Now is the best time to give them this opportunity. Many facilities that feed the homeless have continued to stay open during the current pandemic, and many of them are struggling to find volunteers. The way they run things may look a little different, but the homeless are still in need and many are still out there serving them. Call up your local shelter and see what their needs are. If they aren’t accepting new people to serve meals, they may request homemade cookies, hot meals, gloves, jackets, socks, or backpacks for the homeless.

Now is an excellent time to look at how Bible study is included in your homeschool and hopefully some of these ideas sparked something that you can begin implementing in your homeschool!