Dianne-TX Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 *I apologize in advance if this should be on the Curriculum Board.* We are fundamental, Bible-believing Christians who believe the Bible to be true and the spoken word of God himself, attend Bible churches that preach expository, believe TULIP, agree with the teachings of Calvin and other reformers (except on infant baptism), and listen to or read anything we can from John MacArthur. (I think that covers it, but I may have left something out.) :) I am wondering if it would be beneficial to use the Westminster Catechism to get down to the basics of theology for my dc. Is there something else that can do the job that the Westminster does? We read the Bible everyday, memorize scripture, use family Bible studies or Bible supplementals for families/kids, but I have to admit I like the question/answer and basics of the Westminster. I am not well versed on it, but from what I've read, it really breaks things down. What should I be aware of? I know John MacArthur has a book for kids called Faith to Grow On that asks and answers questions. Would this be comparable to the Westminster? Thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 We used the Shorter Catechism for young children and found that it was a good systematic approach to cover what we believe. I appreciate that one question pretty naturally leads to the next. There are a couple answers that I thought didn't capture the total nuance of the question's ramifications, but on the whole I liked it. Don't be misled by the name, it covers heavy stuff like original sin, the covenant of works and the covenant of faith. FWIW, I was learning right along with the kids and they really liked quizing me. I grew up in a church without any such tools and I think that it is a good one to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 The Family Worship Book: A Resource Book for Family Devotions by Terry Johnson also has the shorter catechism for children in it. We use it because it also has older hymns we'd like our dc to learn. It's wonderful to hear even our 3 y.o. answer questions from the WM catechism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinmom Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 We like the catechism from Founders Press...Truth and Grace Memory Books. They include both catechism and memory verses, great hymns, etc. The books are leveled from K-12 and are not expensive. They've fit the bill here. You might consider looking these over as well...just another good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie in Oh Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 we are using Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade. If breaks the catechism up into weekly study for each question. We just skip the questions on infant baptism and insert our own beliefs there. It is a wonderful resource to teach the doctrines of the faith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianne-TX Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 nt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianne-TX Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 the second Susan Hunt book, Leading Little Ones to God??? (not sure if that's the name or not. the name leaves me at the moment). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillary in KS Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 How old are your children? "Leading Little Ones to God "(Schoolland, I think) is more for young children. We use it this year for my 8 and 5 year olds, but next year the 8 year old will move on to something more challenging. I'll second Starr Meade's book. It's fantastic. I think it's best for children 10 and up, though younger ones would certainly benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 GREAT post and question. We are a like-minded family, even down to the exception of infant baptism. We are Thanks! :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose in BC Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I did it once with the kids when they were 5 - 6 and am amazed at how much they do remember. It does a good job laying the foundation in a child friendly way. Having said that we're going through it again now (we started a year ago and are 3/4ths of the way through). We belong to a home church and we're using it as the children's lesson for kids ranging in age from 2 - 13. It's working very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Here's our favorite, painless way of memorizing catechism questions and answers.... http://www.songsforsaplings.com/cd_qavol1.php Questions with Answers Vol. 1: God and Creation Questions with Answers Vol. 2: The Fall and Salvation Questions with Answers Vol. 3: Christ and His Work This is taken from the Westminster Catechism (one of the ones for younger than Adults) You can download all the words for free from the site, to see if you like them. For us, it's perfect. With a couple times through, you could ask my son "Who is God" and get the paragraph of an answer, which includes the verse as well. You can understand the answer, which is different from the cd that I almost ordered from somewhere else. The first cd is really my favorite, but the Volumes II and III are good too! Carrie:-) (PS if you like them, and have friends to order, too, you just need 8 families who want a complete set, for the really great price!(I opened it up to my homeschooling group) Otherwise, they are still not too expensive.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Here is a list of Baptistic catechisms (the main page has confessions as well) from a Reformed source that might be a better fit for you. The Westminster things would certainly be paedobaptistic (which is perfect for us!) and might not be what you want. The only drawback I see to using one of these instead of the Westminster is that there are more resources (like what others have rec'd) available with the Westminster. I haven't read through any of these, but I see that there is one adapted by Piper which might be a very good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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