Q: Who made you?
A: God.
Q: What else did God make?
A: God made all things.
Q: Why did God make you and all things?
A: For His glory.
Q: How can you glorify God?
A: By loving Him and doing what He commands.
Q: Why are you to glorify God?
A: Because He made me and takes care of me.
For the past few months I've been using a book I received from Crossway Books with my Littlest, Big Truths for Little Kids.
It is a combination storybook and beginning Catechism for the preschool/early elementary set. Each chapter begins with a series of questions and answers like those I listed above (For those who didn't grow up in a tradition that uses the name ~ catechism: a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians), followed by a chapter in the story of "The Catechism Kids," Cassie and Caleb and their friends.
The story was definitely the "Hook" that caught my son's attention, with plot lines that incorporated Biblical truth and character. He was always very interested in hearing more about the "kids" and their friends. I chose to have him "answer" all of the questions up to the current chapter before we would read the next one. This incorporated a fair amount of review, and I'm relatively certain that he is pretty solid on the earlier questions and answers.
A little bit about the catechism Q&A, just in case you aren't familiar (I wasn't, although I have since realized that we have been involved with a variety of programs that included a catechism, they just didn't name it such).
The questions and answers are based on the Westminster Catechism, which is a Reform, Calvinist Theology fairly widely followed by most Presbyterian and many Congregational and Baptist churches.
The questions and answers are fairly general, systematic, and fairly easy to memorize. My one complaint with this particular book is that there is no listing of scripture to back up the answers to the questions. I find that even a five year old looks for corroborating evidence when presented with a question whose answer includes "Because the Bible tells me so." He wants to know WHERE in the Bible that specific answer is found. I realize that many of the answers can be found in numerous passages, but I would have appreciated the work of looking them up to have been done for me, for the ease of having the answers at my fingertips.
That being said, I think this is a fine, gentle introduction to basic Theological truths, that would be useful in any home or church library.
If you would like to get a good feel for the book, the product page at Crossway includes a great preview (Click on "Google Preview" under the book graphic) that includes many of the pages in the book.
Retail price for Big Truths for Little Kids is $17.99.
Blessings~
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