I love Ender’s Game, a sci-fi story about 6-to-10-year-old children being trained through games to fight adult wars. After the novel’s first printing, author Orson Scott Card received complaints from readers contending that the children in the story were too “mature.” In fact, a school’s guidance counselor argued that Card’s depiction was “hopelessly unrealistic. [Children] just don’t talk like that. They don’t think like that.”
In the Introduction to the novel’s revised version, Card reflects on the accusation:
This may indeed be part of the reason why it was so important to me…to write a story in which gifted children are trained to fight in adult wars. Because never in my entire childhood did I feel like a child. I felt like a person all along–the same person I am today. I never felt that I spoke childishly. I never felt that my emotions and desires were somehow less real than adult emotions and desires. And in writing Ender’s Game, I forced the audience to experience the lives of these children from that perspective–the perspective in which their feelings and decisions are just as real and important as any adult’s.
The nasty side of myself wanted to answer that guidance counselor by saying, The only reason you don’t think gifted children talk this way is because they know better than to talk this way in front of you. But the truer answer is that Ender’s Game asserts the personhood of children.
Now while I fundamentally disagree with Card’s Mormon theology, I think he’s on to something in his views of children and their capacity for mature thinking and feeling. Jesus was more ready for children than his disciples were (Matt 19:13-15), and we should be ready, too.
Age 6 is a great time for children to begin learning serious Bible study skills. They can pick up the basics when they’re even younger, but now is the time to build strong foundations in preparation for their adult lives. How can you make the most of this time of life?
1. Teach them how to read
The early history of literacy is a history of Bible education. People learned to read so they could read the Bible. Increasing literacy rates have brought much good to the world, especially making the Scriptures available to wide swaths of humanity.
We easily grow weary when we’re slogging away at the difference between lowercase b and d, or when it takes 45 minutes to get through a 100-word picture book.
But remember the vision. As you help your 6-year-olds practice sounding out those words time after time, you’re investing in their ability to read (and eventually study) God’s word. You’re bringing them closer to the Lord, and it’s all worth it.
2. Give them a vocabulary
At age 6, your children are ready for big concepts. Each child’s pace is different, but you should be ready to give them whatever they can handle. Don’t let your discomfort hold them back.
For example, I had to have the first “sex talk” with one of my children at age 6. I repeat: age 6! This child was already asking questions about bodies, development, and appropriate levels of touching and interaction with others. How could I withhold important truths at such teachable moments?
In the same way, 6-year-olds are often ready for weighty discussion about Bible study. They just need a good vocabulary for it.
They can usually handle the big words: observation, interpretation, and application. Work them into your regular conversation; they’ll get used to them. As you do, you’ll give the children a framework to handle these big ideas.
3. Translate the vocabulary into plain language
Don’t give them big words just to impress your friends.
Make sure you explain the terms in plain language. “Observation means listening carefully to what the Bible says.” “Interpretation is when we ask ‘why.'” “Application means becoming more like Jesus.”
Give plenty of examples. “The boy in that movie didn’t observe what his mama told him to do, did he?” “Do you see how your little sister keeps asking you ‘why’? That’s because she wants to understand the world. She wants to interpret.”
Make sure the children can explain the concepts back to you. “What does it mean to observe the Bible? How could you do it better when I read to you?” “Why does God want us to apply what he teaches us? What does God think about people who hear his word but don’t live it out?”
4. Practice it every chance you get
You need to model good observation before your children will do it themselves. They need your help to interpret the Bible and their world. They won’t get application if you say one thing but do another.
Since OIA is communication, you have the opportunity to practice it with your kids every time you communicate with them. It’s not brain surgery. So every once in a while, take a moment from the conversation to remind them of how the conversation worked.
As you do, you may be surprised by how “adult” your children’s thoughts and speech really are.
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