Buyer Beware

I've got devotions on the brain this week. Bear with me.

Here's one I didn't like: Sticky Situations is meant to present kids with the kinds of moral and spiritual dilemmas they might encounter in their everyday lives. The little stories that make up each devotion do just that: pose a moral dilemma. The possible responses are given in multiple-choice format, and then there is a Bible verse to look up which will guide the reader to the correct answer.

I want my kids to learn to apply their Bible reading to their lives, but this is not the tool to teach that skill. I have a degree in English and I taught literary interpretation for 10 years and I had trouble seeing the connections between the stories and the verses that were supposed to guide their responses to the situations.

This one had so much potential. What a bummer that it falls so short. I think there is some value in the stories themselves. They would be nice jumping-off points for family discussion and even role playing, but the spiritual content is sorely lacking and that means it's entirely up to the parent to supply Bible verses, stories, etc. to lay a foundation underpinning the moral choices.

If you feel up to that, by all means buy this book. But if, like me, you might have trouble providing a biblical foundation for every sticky situation, you might want to look elsewhere.

Devotional Picks

I have been on the hunt recently for another family devotions book to do with my kids around the dinner table. The one above was recommended by a friend from church, so I picked it up at a local Bible bookstore.

It's listed as an 8-12 year old book, but it's probably not going to hold the interest of anyone over the age of 11. It certainly is full of odd and interesting animals -- each devotion is along the lines of a "What am I?" quiz, with lots of info about the animal, but not revealing what it is until the very end. Then there's a scripture and an application lesson followed by a prayer. The devotions are short -- maybe even too short -- and they feel light on content, especially spiritual. In fact, the spiritual content almost feels like an afterthought. The devotions seem targeted for much younger kids; I think a child as young as 5 could probably track with this pretty well, though the social/spiritual issues might not ring any bells with them quite yet. It does have some pictures, but they're cartoony, not meant to faithfully render the animals in the devotions. Still, any pictures are helpful with smaller kids.

I am going to try this one for a few more days with my kids, but I think it may go back to the store. My hunch is that it might work better as a read-on-your-own book than as a family devotion.


Did You Know Devotions was option two. I liked this one, maybe because I'm kind of a trivia geek. It's actually quite similar in format to Weird and Wacky, but instead of wild animal facts, it tells little stories about odd occurrences in history -- like a recipe book sent out with a recipe for caramel which was missing a key ingredient. Without that ingredient (water) the mixture would actually explode on the stove. The story is then tied to a biblical truth and a life lesson. It's for 6-8 year olds, but I think it could go a little older -- maybe to 10 or 11, depending on interest level. It seems to be better adapted for family devotions and it seemed to have a little more spiritual heft than the first book. No pictures in this one, so not as little kid-friendly.

Still looking for the perfect devotional....

Mama Gets A Mulligan

Before Christmas, I shared a post about buying devotionals for my kids. I had chosen one for my 3 year old that I thought was a little over her head, but possibly one she could grow into.

Turns out I was way wrong.

There's nothing wrong with this book, except that it's just too mature for her. We tried reading it a couple times, but there weren't enough pictures and the lessons, while excellent, just went in one ear and out the other. She'd get about two-thirds of the way through one and say, "How 'bout Pinkalicious, Mama?"

Sigh.

The book languished on her shelf for a few weeks, and then we decided to start doing dinnertime devotions again. I grabbed her book for lack of anything more family friendly, and that's what we started reading.

Well, it was a hit.

Turns out it is perfect for family devotions -- it hits our 6 and 8 year old just right, has thought- and discussion-provoking questions for them and a clear, biblical tie-in that makes sense to them as well. They love stories about animals and animal behavior, so that's a good fit, too.

And what about the 3 year old? She is so proud that we are using her book for devotions, she actually pays attention. I'd say most of it is still way over her head, but she listens with interest to her siblings' answers.

I would love to pat myself on the back here, but it's really kind of a fluke that it worked out this way. But, lesson learned: sometimes a book in one context doesn't work. In that case, try a different context.

'Tis the Week Before Christmas...

and Bookivore is in a fair way to losing her mind.

The rush and craziness that accompanies this season sometimes makes it feel almost not worth it -- which is just a shocking, awful thing to admit. I have tried this year to make little oases of calm in the midst of the hustle and bustle. One such oasis is advent devotions, something we've always wanted to do, but never seem to have made a priority until this year.

Beyond the obvious spiritual benefits to reading a devotion with your kids, there are benefits on the learning front as well. Check out this quote from Education.com:

"Research shows that reading aloud to children promotes their development of language, vocabulary, even motor skills (as they learn to turn pages). Kids who are read to consistently from an early age don't only learn to read more easily, but they also show better language scores long after kindergarten is a distant memory-- years later in upper elementary school. In fact, the research on reading aloud is so strong, that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently began advising member doctors to prescribe daily reading to young children." (highlighted emphasis mine)

Reading something like a devotional book, particularly one that is meant to be used by a family and is therefore targeted to a wide range of ages, helps children build vocabulary. The questions for discussion provided at the end of the devotional help kids connect prior knowledge with new information, always always always a good thing.

I have looked everywhere for the research article that discusses this but can't find it, so I'm going to report it anyway without factual basis. You can take it with a grain of salt, if that's how you roll. A study I read about 10 years ago found that if a parent reads to a child -- not just kids' books, but anything at all; newspaper, cereal boxes, whatever; the child's perception of reading as an important, desirable activity increased by a nice fat amount (I want to say 30%, but I don't remember the specifics). But, and this is the kicker, if the child's father does the reading, the percentage of increase more than doubled. This is true to a somewhat lesser degree if the child merely sees the parents reading -- it conveys a sense of importance to the act of reading.

If your kids have a man in their lives, make him read to them. Even if it's just the sports scores from the paper or the instructions on how to program the DVR, his input is invaluable. Trade off reading duties with your husband at bedtime (or make it his job completely -- you probably deserve a break anyway).

I know it's like a sound byte that you're sick of hearing, but reading to your kids makes a difference. After the new year I'm going to do a weekly post on specific techniques to help improve reading skills in kids. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Devotional Books

This year, as every year, we try to get something faith-related for our children for Christmas. Often, Santa brings these presents to underscore the Christ-centered nature of this holiday. Last year, my two older children got Bibles. This year, we're giving them devotional books.

We do family devotions (kind of sporadically) so I wanted them to have something personal. Something that would stay on their nightstands. Something that they could read alone and meditate on, or read with a parent and talk about. Enter the devos of 2009.

For my 8 year old:

What I like about The One Year Everyday Devotions by Stephen Arterburn and Jesse Florea was that it almost always uses a Bible story for the lesson. Many, many kid's devotionals use a modern story to illustrate the lesson, then they tie that story to a biblical principle. I think this is okay, but I'd rather my kids get really familiar with the Bible itself and what they can learn from it, especially for my 8 year old. Another thing I liked was that this devo uses the New Living Translation for the Bible passages, which is very accessible and understandable for kids. The lessons are a good length and have pithy points that seem more likely to stick with the reader. The writing style is nice -- casual and conversational.

For my sports-crazed 6 year old:

I struggled with a devotional for my 6 year old. I had a hunch he'd be offended by anything that seemed too babyish, but at the same time something like the Arterburn devo is just beyond him. Truthfully, the reading level of Heads Up: Sports Devotions for All-Star Kids by Dave Branon is also beyond him, but I think the subject matter will appeal to him so I'm going to risk it. This devotion (probably more for 9 year olds and up) uses examples of real athletes from a wide range of sports who are living out their Christian faith. There were some nice lessons dealing with things like sharing your faith, and how your behavior can undermine your witness. In addition to the lessons, there are random sports factoids which I think my son will find interesting. We'll be reading this one to him for a year or so, but I think it's one he can grow into.

For my 3 year old:

God's Amazing Creatures and Me by Helen and Paul Haidle says it's for 6-10 year olds, but when I flipped through it at the bookstore, I thought it might appeal to my 3 year old. Some of the lessons are going to go straight over her head, but it has pictures on every page and uses animal characteristics and behavior to illustrate biblical principles, particularly the idea that God has a plan and design for each of us. In one devotion, it describes how a male Emperor penguin incubates its egg on its feet for 60 long days in the freezing cold. Nothing much happens with that egg until the 60th day -- then, there's the baby! Enter the story of Elijah and his perseverance -- what if Elijah had given up because nothing much seemed to be happening? It'll be a stretch for a 3 year old, but I think it's a nice one to grow into.

I want to hasten to say that I went through probably 15 different devotional books looking for ones that would be a good fit for my kids -- for their reading levels, comprehension abilities, and interests. Unless you know the book well, it's probably NOT A GOOD IDEA TO BUY ONLINE. This is one purchase where you need to go to a bookstore (and not Barnes and Noble -- a Christian bookstore so you get a really good selection of devotionals) and spend some time looking through devotionals until you find one that you think your child(ren) will like. And by "spend some time," I mean plan on about 30 minutes or so. If you're not giving it as a surprise, you could take your child(ren) along and let them look, too. I made a list of the most promising ones, then came home and looked them up on one of the Big Two websites to check the target ages and read reviews from others who had purchased them. Then I went back and purchased them.

Why so much care? I want their devotionals to be appealing and inviting, something they look forward to reading with us or by themselves. If we can instill in them this practice now of reading their Bibles and thinking about what they read, it will be something they come back to again and again into adulthood.

Just keepin' our eyes on the prize.