The Well Versed Family Book Review

In January, I was really convicted to join Beth Moore's Siesta Scripture Memory Team and commit to learning 24 passages of scripture in 2011.  I told myself that I was going to work on putting God's Word to memory myself so that I could teach my children by example and then begin working with them.  Little did I know, that 2 months later, I would get the opportunity to read a book that would totally change my mindset on our children memorizing scripture.

We have 3 younger children (ages 5, 7 & 9) and although they are being raised in a Godly home, active in church and homeschooled, to be honest, we have done a terrible job of teaching them to memorize God's Word.  Sure they learn their Bible verses for Sunday school & Girls in Action/Mission Kids but other than that, we haven't taught them to put God's Word to heart through scripture memory on a daily basis.  Of course, I've had every excuse in the book.  "They are too young", "They could never memorize those long passages", etc.  That mindset has been changed thanks to a fantastic book called "The Well Versed Family" by Caroline Boykin.

The Well Versed Family teaches you how scripture memory is do-able for your family and shows you how to do it step by step through easy memory games, quick family devotions, memory tips and tools and preprinted Scripture verse cards.  There were so many great things in this book that will have you saying "oh, we could do this" or "I've never thought about doing it that way before".  The key is to look for teachable moments with your child, and then slow down long enough to seize them.  At the beginning of the book, she teaches you why it is so vital to put scripture to memory and shows you the foundations of a well-versed family.  She teaches you 5 ways to know God's Word, how to "seize the teachable moments" and how to develop a mind for memory.  Then she suggests lots of different ways that your family can begin putting scripture to memory...together as a family unit!  Here are a few of my favorite suggestions from her book:

Index Cards: Write out the verse in short, easy to learn lines on an index card.  You can even use different color cards for each Scripture memory category (for example: salvation=blue, Proverbs=yellow, sin=pink).  For younger children, you can even make memory verse flash cards by pasting a picture or two on the back of the index card.  Proverbs 15:3 "The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good" you could put a picture of eyes or glasses on the back of the index card. 

Memory Card Box: Keep verse cards in an index card box.  Use card dividers to categorize the verses you've learned.  Let the kids decorate the box with paint pens or markers.  Keep the box in the kitchen for review during mealtime or even in the car for review during long trips.

White Board: Write the verse you are working on for that week on a dry erase board.  Say the verse.  Erase one word and say the verse again.  Repeat until the whole verse has been erased and put to memory.  

And there are so many more wonderful ideas in her book!  We are going to be using the Memory Card Box idea at our home.  David & I are going to create a list of categories and scriptures that correlate with those categories.  Then we will choose colored index cards to make our dividers and begin filling our box with these verses.  How often have you heard it said "Children do not come with an instruction manual?"  Well, actually they do...it's called the Bible.  In life, it isn't if something difficult or tragic is going to happen, it is when.  Our kids need to have seeds of truth in their hearts that will guide their choices and instruct them in Godly living.

If you don't want to choose your own Scripture verses to begin memorizing, there are 80 preprinted Scripture cards in the back of the book that you can simply cut out and use however you would like to get you started.  The key here is that you don't have to begin with memorizing long passages of scripture. You can memorize simple verses that have a powerful message.  For example, Psalm 56:3 is a great one to teach younger children "When I am afraid, I will trust in you."  

Included in the book there are also 5 Family Fun Devos for Bible Memory.  These are simple devotionals that do not require a lot of extra supplies to help show your kids that learning the word of God and putting scripture to memory is fun.  Not only do they learn a verse in this devotional but they also have the chance to "share" about this verse and then see the Word come to life.  These devos are created where they could also be used in Sunday school, mission trips, backyard Bible schools, etc.

There are 11 Memory Verse Games & Activities as well to get children excited & active in scripture memory.  Some of them include Bible Verse Old Maid, I Spy...A Verse, Fill in the Blanks and more.  Of course, eventually your family will be ready to memorize longer passages of Scripture.  There is a chapter dedicated to helping you begin to learn longer passages with great tips like putting them into an easy to learn, line-by-line format, underlining key words and color-coding the passages.  

If you have ever said "my kids can't memorize scripture yet", "my kids are too young to do that" or "there is no way I could teach them to memorize that" this book is for you. I said those same things, I have felt that same way and this book has taught me that our children are never too young to begin putting the word of God to memory.  This is a do-able task and one that will truly bless our children for generations to come.  Our kids are a generation at risk in a world that is determined to turn them away from the Living God.  Let's use The Well Versed Family to begin to raise kids of faith through do-able scripture memory! 

Enter to win a copy of this book at The Homeschool Village ~ 

giveaway ends Thursday evening!