I have been slowly (and I do mean slowly!) going through the ABC Jesus Loves Me preschool curriculum with my toddlers for about half a year now.
Even though we have repeated some weeks due to short attention spans, and busy schedules, in that short time, my girls have grown educationally by leaps and bounds! The creepy thing is that Thyme (1 Ā½ years old) is actually learning right alongside her 3 Ā½ year old sister, learning her ABCs and 123s and colors and shapes and so onā¦ I had no idea they could learn SO FAST!
I have been meaning to start blogging more about homeschool topics, and after much thought, I have decided to share the VERY FIRST thing we do each morning before we embark on homeschool endeavorsā¦ and that is, pray!
If my kids learn ANYTHING from a home education, I think the most crucial aspect as a Christian mom is teaching them how to approach God and talk to their Creator. And before we do anything, we open our day in prayer.
Children are born with faith. Teaching your toddler and preschoolers to pray at an early age is one of the easiest things, and it is quite likey that once you encounter the faith of a child, spending time in prayer with them may teach YOU a thing or two!
Below are three tips for how to introduce your children to prayer:
Model Prayer For Your Children
As parents, our job is simply to demonstrate for our kids how easy it is to talk to God. When a child of any age hears their parents talking to God, displaying an intimate relationship with the Creator, it is already instilled in the child that prayer is simply talking to God and having a conversation!
Children need to know early in their lives that they can talk to God just like they talk to Mommy, Daddy, or a best friend. They need to understand that God is there and attentive to what they have to say. Instead of putting them on hold or playing a recorded message, God is always willing to listen – whether they are on the playground, at a friend’s house, in the car, or at church.
One of the first ways children learn the importance of prayer is hearing their moms and dads pray.
Encourage Your Toddlers to Pray With You
My three year old loves to pray with me before we start our homeschool sessions every day.Ā She is always so excited to talk to God, and is always so quick to thank God for the mundane things that we take for granted as āgrown upsā. It is humbling to see her faith blossom as we talk to God each day before learning the ABCs and 123s.
Aside from homeschool prayers, I always invite the girls to join me in praying for God’s favor, protection, and peace each day. I always make sure we thank the Lord for something specific – a gift, talent, or physical item. It is so precious to see the girls so eager to express thanks for things they have in their life, from the big things to the tiny details!
Introduce Different Types of Prayer
The main topic of our prayers are thanksgiving in nature. I encourage the girls to express thanks for things from the food we eat, the family we have and the gorgeous day.Ā You can learn a lot about your toddler just listening to what they are thankful for, because they want to thank God for everything and I do mean everything!
But it is also important to teach toddlers to pray for healing by praying over their hurts, pain and sicknesses. Teach them to pray for forgiveness, by helping them to pray when they have sinned. Teach them to pray for others by sharing prayer request with them and praying together.
When your day has prayer throughout it and it includes your children at their earliest age, this alone will be the tools needed to teach your toddlers and preschoolers to pray on their own.
Those girls are so beautiful! I’m so glad that you are the kind of woman that would lead our girl in prayer! You are such an amazing momma!
Awwww, thank you husband of mine! I am BEYOND blessed to have you as a partner!!!!! <3
I love these photos! It was so cute when Tessa prayed for her Auntie Jessi to make it home safe & sound. Love these babies. Btw, when we did home preschool w/ Jeremy, you were learning right along with him & you two are the same ages apart as the girls are.
Yeah, sometimes Tessas prayers just break my heart!! And wow! It is crazy to think Jeremy and I have the same spacing as Tessa and Thyme… so if this is a pattern, Thyme will be WAY SMARTER than Tessa, right???? (I kid, I kid!!)
Thanks a lot š
This is super interesting and useful dear. š
NEW REVIEW POST | Make Me Bio Clean Powder + Nacomi Natural Cream.
I am glad you liked the post dear! <3
I don’t pray. Wouldn’t make sense for me, because I don’t believe. Neither do my parents, so I’ve never seen them praying or do anything religious.
Prayer is just talking to the Creator, it doesn’t necessarily have to be passed on from parents to children. I believe because I see a world that could not create itself, and complexities in natural all the way down to the tiniest molecular level, and I know that there had to have been intelligent design. <3
Interesting post sweetie
Kisses
IndianSavage.com
Thanks Maggie!
So helpful, interesting guide!
Kisses, Paola.
<3 <3 <3
This sounds like some really practical advice.
I am glad you found the post helpful!
very interesting post
new outfit on my blog
have an happy day, kisses
Thanks for stopping by my blog sweetie! <3
Loved your post and the pictures! And yes, praying with the kids helps a lot; I remember my dad and granny always praying, at least twice a day, and I was taught to do that – so at night, before sleeping I prayed. Very sweet memories, very cherished, so I thank for your post soooo very much, all full of love through the memories now… and some tears too š Hope you have a very lovely day!
DenisesPlanet.com
Awwww, I am glad you liked the post! It is so precious to pray with my little ones, I love seeing how they talk to God. I learn so much from them, and I hope they treasure these memories one day too!!
What an inspiring blog post! I pray every day as I think that it’s really important.
Have a lovely day š
Rosanna x
Happy to hear that! Glad you found this post uplifting! <3
So many great ideas here! I always pray with my daughter or son (whoever I am putting asleep that night) before bed. Sometimes I lead it, sometimes they do. I always enjoy it when they lead it, it’s interesting to hear what they say and pray to God about. š
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Right?! The things my kiddos say they are thankful for just floor me.. it really is humbling to hear the prayers of a child!
My whole family does not believe in God and so I have also never prayed and it’s nothing I would encourage in my children. If they choose to do so, they would obviously be allowed to.
-Kati
That is awesome that you are allowing your children the choice!! <3 <3 <3
As a Christian mom to be, I really appreciated this post and will be using the tips you’ve shared here in teaching my little girl how to have her own relationship with God, which is so important! Thanks for sharing, beauty, and I hope you’re having a wonderful week so far!
XO,
Jalisa
http://www.thestylecontour.com
OMG, did you confirm that it is a girl?!?!??!?!
My parents introduced me to God, prayer, and church at an early age. Iām so grateful they did, this provides me with a firm understanding and a beautiful relationship with the Lord. It all started with praying before meals and saying my nightly prayers before bed. I know it must be hard trying to teach toddlers the beauty of prayer, but I also know it will stick with them.
I am happy to hear all these accounts of Christian women who remember prayer time with their parents!! I hope my girls have similar happy memories! <3
I think it’s amazing to raise your children with faith. And homeschooling is quite a challenge. I hope it always goes smoothly for you.
Me too!!!! haha! (I am a little scared of how smoothly it will go when we get into real curriculum!)
Such a great post and the pictures are adorable!
Thanks Christine! <3
YES! Exactly. The sad thing is that now that I’m sending the boys back to not-home-school, we have dropped the morning prayers for most days. It got lost in the rush. thankfully, I taught them all to pray from babies, just like you, so they know, and I love it when something comes up and my oldest will say, “Let’s stop and pray for Mom right now.” love love love that. But sad that we’ve dropped morning prayers without me even noticing. Maybe tomorrow I can remember to bring it back.
Our prayers get lost in the shuffle sometimes too… but isn’t it just like our kiddos to remind us about what is important?! Great comment my friend, so nice to hear from you on this topic!
So important to teach the cuties about prayer and the love of god great post