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3 Simple Steps
to teach the Bible using the classical model

​At its core, teaching God's Word to your students using the classical model consists of three simple steps: memorize for knowledge, discuss for understanding, and mentor for wisdom. While Bible Quest can help this process by providing a plan and tools for parents and teachers to use with their students, the Three Simple Steps can be implemented by anyone, and cost nothing to use! Explore each step below and take advantage of some tips and tricks to maximize teaching the Bible in your family.​

​Memorize for Knowledge

God gave your children the incredible ability to memorize, so why not leverage that strength to give them Scriptural knowledge? Psalm 119:11 says, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." There is growth as a follower of Jesus that comes as a direct result of knowing the Bible. After all, we can much better discuss and apply God's Word if we know what it says! Any student can benefit from memorization, though children through the preteen years will experience the easiest memory process. 

 

There are three driving elements to any successful memory work: frequency, duration, and intensity. Frequency has to do with repetition of memory content in the short term. Repeat memory work frequently until students can say it together without too much stumbling over words, then say it together one last time. Duration has to do with repetition of memory practice over longer periods of time. Once a student has employed frequency and can recite the entire memory selection without stumbling too often, slowly transition to recitation once a week, once a month, and eventually even less frequently for long term retention. 

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Intensity has to do with easing the process of memory in some way, either by positive emotional impact or by ordering or presenting the content in some way that aides recall. Most of the enjoyment in the act of memorization comes once the material has been presented and practiced a little so that students can recite it fairly easily. When that happens, try changing up how you recite the material with fun voices, by marching or hopping as you recite, and employing review games. Feel free to make memory time enjoyable, even humorous and silly, provided that the content remains correct.


Memory content can also be organized or presented in such a way that it is easier to memorize. When the memory content itself includes rhyme, rhythm, or even music, it makes the process much easier and more effective. For more about using music in the classroom, and in particular for teaching Scripture verbatim, check out this article and this article. When presenting memory work, try creating corresponding actions for students to use or associating certain pieces of memory content with locations or pictures to help with recall.​

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For a more in-depth look at memorization, along with specific suggestions, go to our Memorize for Knowledge Page.

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Memorization Resources

For more about Biblical memorization, take a deeper dive on the above content on our Memorize for Knowledge Page, or feel free to explore these resources:

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For a discussion about memorization between Nathan King and Yvette Hampton of Schoolhouse Rocked, see The Power of Memorization, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

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Bible Quest employs memorization in the Equip Phase of the program. Two articles about the phase include:

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​Discuss for Understanding
One of the best ways to foster Biblical understanding in students is by engaging with them in intentional conversation about God's Word. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." Conversation about the Bible and Biblical concepts allows parents and caring mentors to lovingly cultivate connections between things that students commit to memory.

 

Young children will not often benefit much from this conversation process, but preteens will exhibit a marked increase in understanding how things work together and teenagers (and adults) will respond well to this learning method.

 

Any dialogue about what God's Word says is beneficial, but there is a tool that can help to make conversations even more effective: the Five Common Topics. These topics are definition, comparison, circumstance, relationship, and testimony. Developed by Aristotle millennia ago, this particular list of topics allows for the leading of engaging, relevant discussions about whatever students read or memorize by asking questions pertaining to each topic. For example, if a teacher or parent is leading a conversation on the creation account found in Genesis that is focused on definition, they could ask, "What is the definition of creation?" If conversation dries up in a given topic, simply move on to the next one and ask questions that pertain to that topic: comparison ("Is there anything that we do that is like what God did in creation?"), circumstance ("What were things like at creation?"), relationship ("Why did God choose to create?"), and testimony ("What else does the Bible say about creation?").

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For a more in-depth look at conversation, along with specific suggestions for the kinds of things to ask during a Five Common Topics discussion, go to our Discuss for Understanding Page.

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Biblical Conversation Resources

For a more about using conversation to teach the Bible, go to our Discuss for Understanding Page.

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Bible Quest calls the understanding-focused (or "dialectic") phase of learning the Empower Phase. For more about intentional Biblical conversation in the Empower Phase, feel free to explore these articles:

​Mentor for Wisdom
Once students have committed God's Word to memory and understand it well through intentional conversation, they are ready to both apply it and present it to others. This is best done under the guidance of a mentor. Mentorship on some level occurs in the normal course of life as students observe their mentors, and this real-life example shouldn't be discounted,  but mentorship can also include intentional, planned opportunities. Mentoring with God's Word is always useful, but the specific activities discussed here are best employed with teenagers and older. Seize a few simple, wisdom-building opportunities to coach your student to both apply God's Word in their own lives and clearly communicate it to others.


Ideally, mentors will be able to coach students in real-life circumstances as they practice putting God's Word into practice and navigate how to trust and obey Him even when their own inclinations would prefer to do things a different way. That sort of mentorship can (and should!) happen simply in the course of life events. However, it's also possible to make intentional opportunities for wisdom-building experiences through investments in time, treasure, and energy in mission trips and local service projects. These sorts of endeavors can be highly formative to teenagers, and allow them to trust God and see Him work, validating both His Word and His care for your students.


There are other options for intentional wisdom-building growth. Simulations and literature allow teens to assess their actions and the actions of others in the light of Scripture and under the tutelage of a mentor. A few simulations that could provide this sort of opportunity include mock trials, student congress, and some board games. For literature, consider choosing books about missionaries, martyrs, or reformers. You need not agree with everything in a book for it to be valuable fodder for mentorship. Rather, be sure to talk about those things with your student.​


Another opportunity exists for wisdom-building mentorship if your student will be sharing God's Truth to others in the form of video or audio media, plays, stories, poems, songs, sermons, direct teaching, performances, or other creative presentations for an audience. When they do this, lead them through the Five Canons of Rhetoric, an ancient tool designed to help develop and present content to others. The Five Canons are invention, arrangement, elocution, memory, and delivery. Invention is the process of coming up with what to say: the student's content. Arrangement has to do with how the student's content is organized, given their audience and their purpose. Elocution has to do with making a presentation stylistically accessible and pleasing to the audience. Memory has to do with bringing the content into the mind, ready for presentation to others. For some sorts of visual or recorded presentations, this canon will be irrelevant. Delivery is the actual presentation of the content to an audience. Have your student practice their presentation, and then give constructive feedback to help their content make the maximum impact.

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For a more in-depth look at wisdom-building activities, along with specific suggestions for using the Five Canons, go to our Mentor for Wisdom Page.​

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The most important mentorship activity you can do with any of the above activities is to debrief with your student when it's over. What worked well? What worked poorly? Did anything you did (or read) align with Scripture? Did anything differ with Scripture? What does God's Word have to say about the whole thing? Debriefing conversations allow for mentors to help students think through the implications of what they experienced and view it in the context of Scripture, helping to develop Biblical wisdom.

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Biblical Mentorship Resources

For more detail about the Five Canons of Rhetoric and other wisdom-building activities, go to our Mentor for Wisdom Page.

 

Bible Quest calls the wisdom-focused (or "rhetoric") phase of learning the Expedition Phase. For more about intentional mentorship to help develop wisdom, feel free to explore these resources:

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​How Bible Quest Can Help

Wouldn't it be great to have ready-made memorization resources to conversational and Bible study activities to opportunities for helping students develop presentations of God's Truth? Using the classical model, Bible Quest provides a plan and ready-to-use tools like Scripture memory songs, games, and activities to make lifelong teaching of the Bible easy and effective. Simply pick a few tools for the week, practice them together, and enjoy how easy and effective teaching God's Word can be. Try four weeks free at biblequestclassical.com/free

 

Here are a few additional articles about the purpose and distinctive approach that Bible Quest uses in teaching God's Word!

One Final Thought

Many parents and caring mentors struggle with feeling unready for the task of teaching their students the Bible or engaging in mentorship, but God has put the students into your life with a purpose, and you are already mentoring them simply by being with them! Your influence need not be perfect to be effective. In fact, provided you are an ardent follower of Jesus, even when you falter in your efforts, your students can still learn from how you respond to those failures. Do you apologize when you fail? Do you forgive when you are wronged? Do you work to speak the truth in love? Do you strive to follow Jesus? God's Word will not return to Him void; take solace that He can use any of us for His purposes. It is simply our task to put our faith and trust in Him as we serve Him and do what He calls us to do. May God bless you in the ministry He's given you to your students!

©2024 by Bible Quest

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