A little backstory…
I began working on this curriculum about 15 years ago when my children were young and I couldn’t find anything that honored their experience, their intellect or the way that they engage with God. Since then, there has been so much goodness poured into children’s spirituality. To all of us contributing in this field I say, “Thank you, and keep on, keeping on.”
I have always understood our little family as a Monastery of the home. The idea came from the Celtic understanding of the hearth as an altar of sorts where warmth, nurturing and cultivation of all of life flow. Our kitchen table held a space for shared meals, for prayer throughout the day, for education, for board games and crafts, and for a family Eucharist on Sunday. Each of these everyday realities of life shaped and formed us.
Beth and David Booram recently blogged about the idea of a Monastery of the home. Cloistering At Home is a great idea and they offer helpful suggestions for how to create structure and warm welcome.
As a result of all that is changing in our world and the invitation to engage with our children in a manner that perhaps we never have, I am offering Life with God for Children: Engaging Biblical Stories and Practices for Spiritual Formation in it’s digital form for free. (If you’d like a printed copy, you’ll need to hop over to Amazon and purchase it. Many, many thanks to those who have contributed!)
About Life with God For Children…
There is a temptation for adults to train children as if they are cyborgs. We, adults, think we are beginning with a blank slate that is passively moldable under our influence. Rather than crack open the “nature verses nurture” debate, let me just say that it’s both and more. Children come pre-installed with their own temperament, developmental level, and even with their own imprint of the image of God. As they grow, their life experiences will shape them as well. As a result Life with God for Children is moldable to the child. There are portions for nearly every kind of learner, there are options, and there are developmental levels. It can be changed, and it should be changed, to meet the needs of the children we teach. We are teaching children, not curriculum.
Children are constantly being taught. We teach them new words, we teach them to brush their teeth and make their beds. Often the kind of direct teaching we do makes them passive participants therefore the learning experiences never really become their own. When we employ these methods in Christian formation, we are risking inoculating children against the very abundant life we want them to have. But this is not the best way to learn, this is not the way that sticks. Like adults, children need an experience with God. Life with God for Children makes the space for children to have an experience with God. Children are often asked to listen to God, and act on what God says to them. Following in the footsteps of other Renovaré resources, twelve classic spiritual disciplines are used as a means to experience the Trinity.
Life with God for Children is also for adults. If we are “doing” this curriculum for children and are not engaging in life with God ourselves, the reach is limited. Children can spot a fake at fifty paces; and in addition we, adults, are missing out on the very life Jesus came to bring us. It is like trying to serve a gourmet dinner and refusing to taste it. The guests are going to think something is fishy.
Life with God for Children could have been called “With Squared.” It is spiritual formation material for children and their adults. My hope is that it is food for a life with God with children. We are co-pilgrims with these folks who teach us patience and kindness and childlike abandon to the Father. They are naturally made for it and we have much to learn.
Life with God for Children is for God’s children, the young and the old. (er… “older”) :)
Links for: Life with God for Children: Engaging Biblical Stories and Practices for Spiritual Formation
Life with God for Children: PreK- K (click on this link and the digital copy is yours!)
Life with God for Children: Grades 1&2 (click on this link)
Life with God for Children: Grades 3 & 4 (click on this link)
Life with God for Children: Grades 5 & 6 (click on this link)
A few other materials that you’ll need:
Children’s Bible- in this curriculum we used the Beginner’s Bible, for grades PreK-2nd, which was the best we could find at the time. The page numbers and stories referenced in the PreK-K and Grades 1 & 2 editions are from this Bible. However, my current favorite children’s story bible is the Growing In God's Love story bible. Please feel free to experiment and see how the curriculum might support the stories in this Bible, too. For grades 3-6 use whatever bible is accessible to your child. Emerging readers might find the International Children’s Bible (ICB) helpful.
Life with God for Children is built around the character profiles in the Renovare, Life with God Bible. Adults can use this for background notes as well as for their own spiritual formation. Remember, life with God is more caught than taught.
The timeline is an important piece and it can be downloaded here. It was created by Kristy Guenther. If you’ve got the paper and the ink, print it out and put it up. Please do check out her other amazing work on her site Kristy Guenther Art.
Perhaps I can leave you with this blessing from my new book, Spiritual Conversations with Children: Listening to God Together:
May you experience children with a renewed heart.
May you become increasingly aware of children and greet them in common places like the grocery store and the park.
May your deepening sensitivity to childhood experiences change the way you think and live.
May you encourage a child’s life with God through listening to what is being spoken and also to what is being said.
May your life become one of prayer for children as people who are on the margins of society.
May you honor the God-given autonomy of children, taking special care not to manipulate or smother them.
May you be granted the awe-inspiring opportunity to witness a child’s life with God.
With love,
lacy