Teaching Prayer before Meals
Getting little kids to say long prayers with complicated words is not easy, so for this reason we had just stuck to the simple dinner prayer that all Lutherans know, "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest..." at the end of which our kids would at least say "Amen". (This is an alright prayer, but I think that it is a bit too simple and can be rushed through too easily, giving little thought to the words.) Before we had children, we used to say the prayer found in the Small Catechism which goes:
Now that Evelyn can read and Dominic can copy just about any word we say, I thought we could return to this prayer. I wanted to do it in a way that would evoke participation from our children, so that they would learn to say the words of the prayer and not just the amen. In the vein of teaching it in "a simple manner", I made a book with the words of the prayer spread across several pages. I asked Evelyn to help me think of pictures to draw that would go with a section of the prayer. She liked that a lot! When I was done drawing the pictures, I let her color them in. Now we had our own prayer book that she helped make and she was eager to use it.
When we say prayers, Evelyn says the words along with us and Dominic tries his best to say all of the words too. In fact, Dominic is usually the one who insists that we use the prayer book. Evelyn enjoys the novelty of our voices blending in prayer together and I think she is proud of herself that she is able to participate. This has worked so well, that I think I'm going to make another prayer book for our evening prayers!
The eyes of all look to You, O Lord,
and You give them their meat in due season,
You open Your hands and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
Lord God, Heavenly Father, bless us and these Thy gifts,
which we have received from Your bountiful goodness,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Now that Evelyn can read and Dominic can copy just about any word we say, I thought we could return to this prayer. I wanted to do it in a way that would evoke participation from our children, so that they would learn to say the words of the prayer and not just the amen. In the vein of teaching it in "a simple manner", I made a book with the words of the prayer spread across several pages. I asked Evelyn to help me think of pictures to draw that would go with a section of the prayer. She liked that a lot! When I was done drawing the pictures, I let her color them in. Now we had our own prayer book that she helped make and she was eager to use it.
When we say prayers, Evelyn says the words along with us and Dominic tries his best to say all of the words too. In fact, Dominic is usually the one who insists that we use the prayer book. Evelyn enjoys the novelty of our voices blending in prayer together and I think she is proud of herself that she is able to participate. This has worked so well, that I think I'm going to make another prayer book for our evening prayers!
Comments
Actually we've been praying the meal time Catechism prayers (including the Our Father) with our children (3.5B and 1.5G) from early on. Our son (who knows it) goes through phases where he actually prays it with us. Our daughter chimes in with her "A-mee" and at the point where you bless yourself with the sign of the cross, she takes both hands and points to her chest.
I like your prayerbook idea. I'll share that with my wife and see what she thinks about giving it a try.
"God is so good" - ahh! One of the biggest mistakes that adults make is in thinking that religion has to be made "age appropriate". My kids constantly suprise me in what they are able to learn, especially that which may be considered beyond their "understanding".
That's great that you say the Lord's Prayer also and I think that will be the very next step we take!
Thank you also for adding my blog to your blog roll! It's been a long time since Ann Arbor, but it's nice to hear from you again!
I think you're right-on about the whole "age-appropriate" confusion that adults have. Our son is a poster boy for the whole "knowing things beyond the capabilities of a 3 (now almost 4) year old"; our daughter will be the test to see if our son is "just gifted".
Humble as Moses,
Nathan
(P.S. For learning, it also doesn't hurt that we say the Lord's Prayer every day, at least three times a day. Repetition is the mother...)