Children Worship Part 6: Book Review Parenting in the Pew

Online articles about the book:
Sunday School Zone is quickly becoming a favorite FREE resource for lesson special touches.  It has story teaching pictures, coloring pages, lesson plans, two versions of preschool lesson plans, and a blog with all kinds of information. 

This book has two blog posts that you might find interesting. 

Parenting in the Pew starts Saturday night.
One of the favorite tips is to keep Sundays simple. When our kids were little and my family lived out of town, we had grilled cheese and tomato soup on Sundays for lunch.  We didn't worry about a fancy meal, and we could eat immediately after arriving home. 

Parenting in the Pew review It shares how practical, insightful, and parent oriented the book is.  That she shares stories and talks about children who might be different from others who can sit.  I agree with his review.  

Parenting in the Pew

What I like about it:

• Third revision and I've read the 2nd and 3rd and the book gets better.  
• Perspective of the author: "Daddy, I'd like you to meet my children." 
• Suggested approach: training our children to worship rather than working to have quiet children. 
• Author's definition of worship: "the surrender of our souls to a God who is jealous for our attention, time and love.  Worship is a challenge With children it is a bigger challenge."... "We need to work at our worship."  
• "Worship is for God's glory, not my benefit."
• The author sees children for who they really are: those who believe, can worship in spirit and truth, especially when given a purpose to praise and the truth is shared.  Children make connections and find joy that adults often miss and can benefit us by helping us pay attention.  
• She's honest- worship is hard work, but it's important so you prepare for it the day before. 
• She encourages your view to be doing all that you can to help your child encounter God in worship during the worship service. And she offers very practical ideas to do this.
• She includes strategies for music, prayer, and sermons. As well as thinking about baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the preparation and needs that children have to participate in these important biblical responses. 
• She is Word centered and that fits into her perspective, her strategies, and how she approaches the whole book.  

What I'd think about changing:

• including more strategies for those kids who need movement, help focusing with something in their hands, or ways to make worship purposeful with notes, coloring, activities since not all kids can be quiet without more supports, and some families have 4 or more children and need different ways to help kids learn, grow and thrive, as they can't whisper into six kids ears at the same time.  
• another author's perspective from a church that isn't as liturgical and has a different structure to the service.  
• discussion questions with the chapters
• A Dad's perspective.  A child's perspective.   
• stories of failed weeks, or when kids had to be removed, etc.  What to say when you step out, etc.