Teaching My Daughter...

Neither my husband or i go to church. He was raised catholic i was simply allowed to believe how ever i wanted to. When i was pregnant with my son i found a book called "God gave us you" we read it constantly after my son was born and my neighbor found out there are more books in the set called "God gave us Heaven" "God gave us Christmas" and "God gave us two" by Lisa Tawn Bergren. we own them all and read them to my son who is only 11 months old. I would keep it basic for your daughter simply answer her questions as she presents them. Certainly if you want her to have a relationship with God beyond just knowing the name and basics then perhaps you should start taking her back to church. Good Luck :)

You don't have to drag your husband with to go to church. Or to send your daughter to a sunday school class.

There are some great Christian Preschools too!

I would find a children's bible or go to a Christian Book store.

Please do something with your daughter though I as an adult didn't know squat not even the meaning behind Christmas or Easter until I was like 26 years old and a friend explained it. I strugle with religion because my parents NEVER did anything to educate me. I am not one to like church I think it's boring but I go here and there. I make it a point to take my daughter to Sunday School and she goes to a Catholic grade school even though I'm not Catholic.

I don't have any ideas on books.. try a Christian book store and ask them what ones are best or even Barnes and Noble.

One thing I was going to suggest is call and ask some churches if there are any youth groups for children in your town. Here we have AWANA it open to any religion and any child from Kind. on... but I know if the child is more mature they will allow them at 4 but they prefer an older sibling or parent there in the begining to see how they will do. They learn lessons from the Bible and then they play games and do fun things. They meet every Wed. night from 6-8.

I also know at our church, you don't have to be a member to have your children go to Sunday school. There is alot of kids who come that thier parents don't (or have never been there).

Just some other options.

Hi Kim,

Have either of you ever tried going to a non-denominational church??? It is completely different from Catholic so you may like it better. They base their beliefs on the bible not on saints or other idols. Why don't you guys take a month or two and try a different church every week and see if you can find one you all like??? We've been to 4 different churches in the past 3 years but have now been at the same one for the last year. We know it's where God wants us to be.

And they USUALLY have excellent kids programs and Sunday School classes. And watch in the summer for Vacation Bible School. It's usually like a 4 or 5 day program that is lots of fun, high energy, and shares a wealth of info with the kids.

Kim,

I just checked on eBay, and there were a lot of "Sunday school" books (often several bunched together) and curriculums for <$10.

Sorry I was short last time I posted I had a kiddo demanding my attention to fix legos :)

Anyways, when my son was young he watched veggie tales non stop and it was a good fun way to introduce him to the concepts of church. While we did that we read a page out of a picture Bible every night, there are tons to choose from depending on what type of pictures you like. They all pretty much say the same thing. When he got older (end of 1st grade) we read out of a real childrens Bible with words (I read the pages first still cause some of the verses are intense so I can skip over some stuff til he is is older)
We also go to church and there are many types of those. If you want information on the different types of churches and things to look for with children you can contact me and I'll let you know the ones that we have found important.

Hi Kenzie

I hope you do not get offended by my suggestion but why don't you take her to Sunday school and see if she may like it and there is a wealth of information that she may get that you would miss on. However, my suggestion on the book would be the Bible. You could get a kid's version for her and start from there. God Bless you in your quest.