I want my children to know God. I want my children to know about God. I want my children to understand what God is like. We have studied different Bible topics each school year so far and I’ve been wanting to cover the names of God with them. I found a great resource, so I put it in the plans for next school year.
Learning the names of God and the meaning of the names will help my children better understand the awesomeness of God. But it goes beyond knowledge of the names. It will be a discussion-starter. It will give my children knowledge of the character of God.
I will be covering this topic with a 6 year old, a 10 year old, and a 12 year old. The age range is pretty big here, but I plan to do this together with my kids.
My main source is The Names of God by Ann Spangler. If you click on the link it will take you to Amazon where you can preview some of the Bible studies. Altogether, the book contains 52 Bible studies related to the names of God. Each study has the name in Hebrew or Greek with the English meaning. The study then continues with a related Bible verse, a couple pages of notes/comments about the names, questions, and further Scripture references.
Here is my current plan:
1st grader, 5th grader, 7th grader: Say and briefly discuss name that we are covering that day.
5th grader and 7th grader: Further discuss or read the other pages in the study. Do questions and further Bible texts if desired.
1st grader: The day’s name and meaning will be written on a white board for my 6 year old to see. Then she will get a white piece of paper to write the name, meaning, and any art related to the topic. Once done we will post it on the wall.
By the end of the school year, we will have 52 names of God on our wall and have learned more about our amazing God.
We will probably cover this study once or twice a week. This will be coupled with our study on the types and shadows of the old covenant once or twice a week. We also have a daily meditation time where the focus is on communion with God.
