Circle Time

For the last couple of weeks I've been implementing "Circle Time" with the kids.  This happens in the morning after Clementine goes down for her morning nap, around 9am.  We sit on the floor in a circle (hence the name) and have a time together reading the Bible, singing, and praying.  Here's roughly what it looks like:

• Mama reads Psalm 100 out of the Bible
• Kids and Mama practice memorizing Psalm 100, with plenty of actions and going very slowly 
• Mama reads out of The Big Picture Story Bible
• We talk about what we read for maybe 2-3 minutes
• We sing a hymn, encouraging the two younger ones to memorize the chorus
• Mama and whoever else wants to prays

That's it!  Short, sweet, doable for busy moms with young kids.  And I have seen so much fruit from it!  My kids are now asking to do Circle Time if I forget, and are reciting Scripture and singing hymns... it's beautiful!  And the best part is it's SIMPLE and SUSTAINABLE.  I'm not setting myself up with grand ideas about doing some sort of inductive Bible study with my preschoolers and then giving it up after two days because it's too much.  This is really, really simple and easy and short.  But I can do it pretty much every day!  I love it, and so do my kids, and for the first time I feel like I'm really consistently feeding my kids spiritually.

I do require them to SIT and to be still, to listen attentively, etc.  But the time is short enough that that's not too much of a problem for a 2.5 year old and a 4 year old.  If Clementine is awake then it's really rough so during her a.m. nap is best.

I got this idea from Preschoolers and Peace, by the way.

Here's some evidence of the fruit I've been seeing - Moses singing our current hymn, "Nothing But the Blood":