The First Six

The preschoolers have spent the last two weeks learning about the Ten Commandments. We are ending our school year learning some important basics of our faith. We’ve already talked about the Lord’s Prayer, Golden Rule and Fruits of the Spirit.

Sometimes it could be hard to talk to kids about big stuff. You might wonder what are the right words or how much is too much. From my experience, kids love facts and they definitely know when you’re hiding something and they don’t like it. Another strategy I employ is stick with the basics. If they want more information, they will ask. So start with a little.

This is how we discussed the first six of the ten commandments.

1. The first commandment is “You should have no other gods before me.” This means that obeying and living for God should be the most important thing in your life.
2. The second commandment says, “Do not make idols and bow down to them and worship them.” Back in Bible times the people would carve images from wood and stone and bow down to them and pray to them. We don’t do that today, but this commandment still applies to us today. We should not make anything more important to us than God.
3. The third commandment says, “Do not say God’s name in a bad way.” This means that we should only use God’s name when we are praying to him or talking about him. We should not use his name when we are mad, or as a swear word, or when we are excited about something.
4. The forth commandment is “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” Do you know what Sabbath is? It’s Sunday! God wants you to set aside a special day during the week to rest and remember him. 
5. The fifth commandment says, “Honor your father and mother.” We honor our fathers and mothers by treating them with respect and obeying them. So that means we need to listen to our parents and simply do what they say.
6. The sixth commandment says, “Do not murder anyone.” That means do not kill anyone. That’s a pretty good rule I am sure you will all obey. But you know in the olden days life was different and people had to be reminded of simple rules like this.