How to Study your Bible but Kay Author

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I am thinking of using this for our family Bible time (they have one for dd's age as well) and am wondering if anyone has used it before? Any thoughts?

[fairfarmhand]

I am thinking of using this for our family Bible time (they have one for dd's age as well) and am wondering if anyone has used it before? Any thoughts?

I haven't used that particular book, but I did another Kay Arthur study and I'm not a fan. Her style really focuses on writing and underlining and marking in various colors. It REALLY bugged me. You can look inside the book on this site to get a feel for it.

 

http://www.christianbook.com/new-how-study-your-bible-workbook/kay-arthur/9780736930567/pd/930567?en=google-pla&kw=bible-studies-0-20&p=1167941&gclid=CLH6kZfJvbMCFQUFnQodREEAEw

 

I am sure there are plenty of good points to her studies and books, but personally I didn't care fore it.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I learned a lot from her about how to read verses in context. First, you read the whole book, then the whole chapter, so see what the author's overall point is. Once that is figured out, you use the overall point to clarify the meaning of individual verses and groups of verses.

 

Now I see how often people wrongly interpret a verse because of not reading in context of the entire book.

 

That said, I don't follow all her underlining and using multiple colors suggestions. That would drive me crazy.

[Rosy]

I am a Precept Leader and a huge fan of Kay Arthur and Precept Ministries. I have the book you're talking about and it has been an invaluable resource. However, I'm not sure it would be my first choice for family Bible time. It describes the method in detail, but it isn't a directed Bible study.

 

I would consider getting that book to use as a resource, and using a Precept Upon Precept Bible study for yourself and your older child, with a corresponding Discover 4 Yourself study for your younger child. This way you could all be studying the same material using the same methods, but in an age-appropriate way.

 

Enjoy!

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I am a Precept Leader and a huge fan of Kay Arthur and Precept Ministries. I have the book you're talking about and it has been an invaluable resource. However, I'm not sure it would be my first choice for family Bible time. It describes the method in detail, but it isn't a directed Bible study.

 

I would consider getting that book to use as a resource, and using a Precept Upon Precept Bible study for yourself and your older child, with a corresponding Discover 4 Yourself study for your younger child. This way you could all be studying the same material using the same methods, but in an age-appropriate way.

 

Enjoy!

This is a good idea, I will look into it. My sons have used the Discover 4 yourself guides and we liked them, now it is dd's turn. Doing something we all can study together will be nice.

[milovany]

We did one study with the kids and weren't fans because, in our opinion, it relies too much on personal interpretation. (What do YOU think this means based on what YOUR understanding of the context is?). How would *I* know? LOL. We ditched the study for learning about the Bible through our church in order to see what the historical meaning of the Scriptures are, as taught by the church fathers and saints through the ages. It's been a better fit for our family.

Edited November 7, 2012 by milovaný

[6packofun]

Eh. Too much to DO. More complicated than necessary, IMO.

 

Google the S.O.A.P. method--we use it with our kids as a starting point before going into deeper ideas on interpretation, exegesis, etc.

[CookieMonster]

My third grader is using the Discover 4 Yourself Precept Ministries/Kay Arthur studies and it's a good fit for him. There is some underlining and circling but it really helps him. He notices things he would gloss over. He is learning how to study the text. I wish I had gotten it to use with all of us together as a family study - it would have worked really well (my kids are still young). But, I already had something else for my 1st grader and my 3rd grader is into being independent.

 

I have the "How to Study Your Bible" book and I'm not sure that I would use it as a family Bible study.

[Harriet Vane]

I have taught various ways to do inductive Bible study to groups for many years.

 

Kay Arthur's methods are excellent for learning how to do manuscript study. I used many of the Precepts 4 Kids books with my own kids. They were a bit wordy (too much explanation) but the actual practice of inductive study is excellent.

 

However, the How To Study the Bible book from the Precepts 4 Kids series is not as well written as the others in the series. The explanations are long, unnecessarily elaborate, and often downright confusing. The only way that I recommend this one is if the parent takes two weeks per chapter--one week to do the chapter, and one week to practice that skill on another passage from the Bible. Also, the chapter on word study is particularly difficult, and will require a lot of coaching from the parent to make it understandable.

 

The other books in that series are markedly different in tone, though, and I found they worked well for my daughter and for the group I taught from them.

[Amy Jo]

I haven't done a study with the kids yet (hope to next year) but I wanted to say that the underlining and marking really pulls together for me IF I take the time to make a list for individual keywords (sometimes I don't do every keyword - but the more I do the more I learn).

[Ellie]

Precept Bible studies are my favorite--more comprehensive than any other I've done in the last 38 years. They have, in fact, spoiled me for any other Bible study; they are my standard of comparison. I'm a trained Precept leader; :-) The underlining and circling and whatnot are just ways to help you focus on what is being said.

 

ITA with Rosy, except Precept Upon Precept studies have to be lead by a trained Precept leader; that is, you can buy the individual workbooks, but not the teacher resources, such as the DVD/CDs or the teacher guide, and those are invaluable. It's the leader-lead discussion that really makes the study. There are other Precept studies, though, that are not PUP and which anyone can buy. I'd check those out, especially the "In and Out" series.

[Rosy]

A trained leader is extremely valuable and enhances the experience; however, I think a mom could work through the book with her kids and still get something out of it. It would be a good idea to take the leaders training if possible, though.

 

I am currently going through Romans with a friend from church who is new to Precept. We go through it more slowly and without the DVDs. It is a different experience, but it gives us a little more flexibility to slow down through the more complicated parts.