We’re going to be working on the catechism this year for the Bible portion of our homeschooling.  I want to share some of my favorite tools so far, but first let me back up for those of you who are unfamiliar and explain what the catechism is.

What is the Catechism?

A catechism is a set of questions and answers designed to teach.  The idea is to learn them so that when someone asks one of the questions a student can reply with the correct answer.

Theoretically, this method can be applied to any subject; you could have an English grammar catechism, or a periodic table of the elements catechism, or whatever you want to teach.  Traditionally, however, “the catechism” is a method of teaching foundational theology.

Many people associate catechesis (the process of teaching via catechism) with the Roman Catholic church, because the Catholics do have a catechism.  However, protestants have a long history of catechesis, as well.

Protestant Catechisms

There are a number of catechisms available, but a handful are better-known than the rest and more commonly used.  Perhaps the best-known catechism is the Westminster Shorter Catechism, written to teach the same theology as the Westminster Confession of Faith.  This is distinctly protestant and, more specifically, Presbyterian.  (The Westminster Larger Catechism is a lengthier version.  It’s good for teaching but, in my opinion, rather overwhelming for memorization.)  The Baptist Catechism (Keach’s) is probably the best-known credobaptist* adaptation.  It is intended to teach the theology found in the 1689 London Baptist Confession.*

Although both of these catechisms are designed for memory, they’re still a bit long and hard to understand for the youngest children.  Consequently, some even briefer, simplified versions have been written.  The Children’s Catechism (Engles/Engels) was written in 1840 as an alternative to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, for very young children.  The First Catechism was written by the folks at Great Commission Publications (a Presbyterian publishing house) more recently.  It is very similar to the Children’s Catechism, but somewhat modernized and clarified at a few points.

 Why the Catechism?

Many fundamental doctrines of the faith are not readily understood from single individual verses of Scripture, but from the teaching of Scripture as a whole.  So short of memorizing the entire Bible (a noble goal, but probably not realistically within the grasp of most of us), it is difficult to cover all these key ideas.  The catechism, therefore, aims to teach a brief systematic theology that provides a framework for remembering and understanding all other biblical ideas.  It is not meant as a substitute for Scripture memory; it is different and separate.  (The catechisms do have Scripture proofs for each question and answer, though, which are excellent options for Scripture memory.)  Those who have been “catechized” tend to have a solid understanding of what the Bible teaches and are better prepared to articulate their beliefs to others.

(The catechisms previously mentioned contain what has been considered orthodox protestant Christian doctrine since the Reformation.  It is not uncommon, however, for a given church or family to differ with the catechisms on a few minor points.  If that’s true of you, you don’t have to throw out the whole catechism!  Just tweak the parts you don’t agree with.  It will still provide your children with a strong foundation — and knowing where they differ with the historical confessions can actually be very useful knowledge.)

What Are We Using?

I promised you some tools, though, so what are we using this year?  Well, we’re using a combination of studies and music.  And I’m teaching at two levels.  The 2-year-old and 4-year-old will be studying the First Catechism and the Children’s Catechism.  (These are really very similar, and we have resources that use both, so I’ll be using them together.)  The 8-year-old and 13-year-old will primarily be studying the Westminster Shorter Catechism, with some added focus on the Baptist Catechism (because we are credobaptist*, and because of the resources we do and don’t have available).

Music for the Little Ones

By far my favorite resource so far is Ask Me Whooo.  A friend recommended it (actually friends recommended all of the resources I’m going to share), and I’m so glad he did!  Ask Me Whooo is the First Catechism set to music.  It’s word-for-word, so that makes rhythm a bit tricky but, given the limitations, I think the writer did an excellent job.

The first album is available on Spotify, and when I streamed the first song just to check it out, Caleb (the 2-year-old) came running.  He loved it!  Literally only the second time we played the album, he was starting to sing along.  (And even mama has the first few questions and answer stuck in my head!)  As music is such a wonderful aid to memorization, I think this tool is going to be priceless.

Books for the Little Ones

The music is going to be handy for helping my young ones memorize the catechism, but we aren’t stopping there.  There are two resources we’ve picked up to help me teach them what the things they’re memorizing mean.  (I’m sure Livia will understand it better than Caleb, but it doesn’t hurt him to hear it, too.  Sometimes young children surprise us with how much they grasp!)  From the Lips of Little Ones walks through the Children’s Catechism question by question.  It has (brief) daily lessons over 73 weeks, and includes Scripture memory verses that correlate.  This is intended for ages two and up, so I think it will be a good fit for our little ones, without being overwhelming.

Big Truths for Little Kids has some mixed reviews, and our copy hasn’t shown up yet, so I don’t have a personal opinion yet.  However, I think as an addition to the other things we’re using, it will be beneficial, even if we decide we’re not crazy about it as a freestanding resource.  It uses story-based devotionals to illustrate the questions and answers in the First Catechism.  (Some of the Amazon reviewers felt the stories focused too heavily on sin.  Our take on the stories remains to be seen, but even if we only use some of the stories to add to our use of From the Lips of Little Ones, I think it will be helpful.)

A Book for the Big Kids

The older girls are ready to learn more in-depth, so we’ll be studying the Westminster Shorter Catechism.  We’re going to be using The Westminster Shorter Catechism for Study Classes, which includes an explanation of each question and answer, together with review questions to help gauge the students’ understanding.

Music for the Big Kids

To round out their study since we’re credobaptist*, as well as to aid them in recalling the questions and answers, we’ve ordered a copy of the Baptist Catechism Set to Music, from Founders.org.  (It isn’t here yet, so I can’t speak to the musical quality.)  I will probably not require that the kids memorize these longer versions of the catechism, but to memorize the shorter First Catechism that the little ones are learning, and to be familiar with and understand the Baptist Catechism and Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Family Devotions

One additional option we’re putting into use is Starr Meade’s Training Hearts, Teaching Minds.  This is a family devotional based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English (which is the same as the WSC, just with the obsolete wording updated).  This may be used in conjunction with, or completely separate from, any of the other resources.  I expect to use it as our morning devotion, just to give a different angle on and greater dimension to what the girls are learning in their studies.  (This book is geared toward elementary and middle schoolers, primarily.)

Get the Resources Mentioned in This Post

• Ask Me Whooo (I went ahead and bought the mp3 album, even though it streams free, so I could put this on the kids’ mp3 player.  We love this for playing music and memory work for the little ones.  I have no idea why it’s so expensive; maybe they stopped making it?  We paid about $15-20.)
• From the Lips of Little Ones
• Big Truths for Little Kids
• The Baptist Catechism Set to Music
• The Westminster Shorter Catechism for Study Classes
• Training Hearts, Teaching Minds

Read the Catechisms Online

• The Westminster Shorter Catechism
• The Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English
• (The Westminster Confession of Faith)
• The Baptist Catechism
• (The 1689 London Baptist Confession)
• The Children’s Catechism
• The First Catechism

*”Credobaptist” is the belief that only professing believers should be baptized.  It is most often associated with baptism by immersion (although technically the method and recipients are two different ideas).  This is in contrast to “paedobaptist,” which is the belief that believers and their children should be baptized, and which is most often associated with baptism by sprinkling.  Although there are other subtle differences, this is the primary distinction you’ll see between the Westminster Confession of Faith and its associated catechisms (the largely “Presbyterian” ones) and the 1689 London Baptist Confession and its associated catechisms (the largely “Baptist” ones).