How to Build a Biblical Worldview in Your Kids Before the Teen Years
Why a biblical worldview curriculum is important, and how to make your home a safe place for hard questions
There is a lot we want our children to know before they leave our homes.
We teach them how to read, solve problems, care for others, work hard, and make wise decisions. As Christian parents, we also have the privilege of helping them understand who God is, what His Word says, and how Scripture shapes the way they see the world around them.
This is where a biblical worldview curriculum can be incredibly helpful.
Our children are constantly forming beliefs about God, themselves, other people, truth, and the world. Those beliefs are shaped through what they hear, what they experience, what they are taught, and the conversations happening around them.
Barna Group has reported that a child’s worldview is largely formed by the early teen years. By around age 13, many of the foundational beliefs that shape how a child sees the world are already taking root.
That makes these early years so valuable.
Worldview is formed in everyday conversations
Worldview formation rarely happens during one perfectly planned lesson.
It happens around the dinner table.
It happens when your child hears something confusing from a friend.
It happens when they see something online and ask you what you think.
It happens during Bible study when they stop you halfway through a passage and say, “Why did God do that?”
These moments give us opportunities to bring our children back to Scripture and help them think biblically about real life.
Deuteronomy 6 gives us such a beautiful picture of this. God’s Word is talked about throughout the normal rhythms of the day. At home. On the road. In the morning. At night.
That kind of discipleship is ongoing.
A strong biblical worldview curriculum can give you structure and language for these conversations, while the everyday moments in your home give your children space to see those truths lived out.
A foundational worldview curriculum should do more than teach Bible stories
I love teaching children the stories of Scripture.
I want them to know Noah, Moses, David, Esther, Paul, and the life of Jesus.
As they grow, I also want them to understand how the Bible fits together and how its truths apply to the questions they are already beginning to ask.
Who is God?
What is sin?
Why did Jesus have to die?
Can we trust the Bible?
Why does God allow suffering?
What does Scripture say when culture teaches something different?
How do I know Christianity is true?
A helpful foundation worldview curriculum should give kids more than information to memorize. It should help them learn how to open Scripture, study it carefully, ask good questions, and understand why they believe what they believe.
These skills become especially important as our children get older and begin encountering ideas outside our homes.
Your child will eventually ask something you cannot answer
This has happened to me plenty of times.
A child asks a question about God or the Bible, and I realize I don’t know exactly how to answer.
Sometimes I know part of the answer.
Sometimes the question sends me back to Scripture, a commentary, or someone wiser than me.
I’ve learned that one of the most valuable responses can be:
“That’s a really good question. I don’t know the answer. Let’s look into it together.”
Or:
“I’m not sure. Let me study that and come back to you.”
Then actually come back to it.
Our kids get to watch us study.
They see us search Scripture carefully.
They see that following Christ includes a lifetime of learning.
Most importantly, they learn that their questions are welcome.
Make your home a safe place for hard questions
Our children will have questions about God.
Some may surprise us.
Some may feel uncomfortable.
Some may make us wonder where the question even came from.
But we want our children to know they can bring those questions to us.
If they are wrestling with Scripture, faith, culture, or something they heard from a friend, I want my kids to know our home is a safe place where we can talk about it.
Those conversations give us an opportunity to pray together, open the Bible, and search for truth.
They also help us see where our children need more teaching.
Sometimes they even expose areas where we need to grow ourselves.
A biblical worldview curriculum can help build a strong foundation, and open conversations at home help our kids learn how to use that foundation when real questions come.
What if your child is already older than 13?
Keep going.
Your opportunity to disciple your child did not end when they became a teenager.
Teens still need conversations about truth.
They still need to see you opening Scripture.
They still need to know you take their questions seriously.
In many ways, the teenage years can bring some of the richest conversations because kids are beginning to take what they have learned and work through how it applies to their own lives.
Listen to them.
Ask thoughtful questions.
Pray with them.
Study alongside them.
Give them room to wrestle while continuing to point them back to God’s Word.
Teach them how to study Scripture for themselves
As our children get older, one of the most valuable things we can give them is the ability to open the Bible and study it carefully on their own.
Teach them to slow down and observe the text.
Help them notice who is speaking and who is being addressed.
Talk about historical and biblical context.
Encourage them to ask questions.
Show them how to compare passages and look for repeated themes.
Give them opportunities to explain what they are learning in their own words.
Over time, they begin developing the skills to study Scripture for themselves.
This is one reason I created the Foundations of the Bible Scripture Studies.
For older students, especially teens, Foundations Volume 3 walks through the Gospels to Revelation while teaching students how to observe the text, understand Scripture in context, ask thoughtful questions, and apply what they are learning.
If you are looking for a foundation worldview curriculum that helps your children build their beliefs on Scripture, Foundations gives families a way to study deeply together while also teaching older kids how to approach God’s Word on their own.
My hope is that those skills stay with them long after the workbook is finished.
When life brings a question they were never specifically prepared for, they will know where to go.
Back to God’s Word.
Keep the conversation open
Helping our children develop a biblical worldview happens over years of reading, studying, talking, praying, and living life together.
A good biblical worldview curriculum can give your family a strong framework.
Your conversations around the table help make those truths personal.
There will be questions you know how to answer.
There will be questions you need to research together.
There may be seasons when your child wrestles more deeply than you expected.
Keep talking.
Keep listening.
Keep praying.
Keep opening Scripture together.
Those ordinary conversations may become some of the most important lessons you ever teach.
