I find that just sitting down first thing in the morning with the Bible and the Lord you read aloud to him.  The Lord will lead you and show you about what you are reading.  You will see yourself in the word, things you are doing now or have done in the past and you will be able to relate these to what the word of God is saying in his word.  We started off reading 1 week in the old testament Genesis 1:1 then the next week Mathew 1:1 and at the end of each week I'd mark where we left off and so when we came back to that chapter the week after next we would know where we were.  We need to know the whole word of God beginning to end and to teach our children the whole counsel of God.  I have found this very effective and it becomes routine.  God first and everything else after.  It works for us, I hope this helps.

I just talk about the Lord a lot with my grandson. I also use Christian Liberty as part of his studys.

You can also get him a Bible of his own and he can look different stories up on the internet.

If he isn't going to Sunday School now, let him go.

There are some great books that would help your son.

I got a whole colection of Bible books here on PBS. "The Bible Story "there are 10 volumes.

its by Arthur S Maxwell. They are great books for kids. They usually have them in the waiting room of doctor offices.

I would also suggest reading straight from the Bible. You'll be

surprised at how much the little ones understand without having

to be dumbed down. For sequence and coloring pages, I

use Calvary Chapel's site:

http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm 

We spend an entire week on one lesson  so the kids really have

time to absorb it.

 My kids also enjoy doing the fill in the blank

and True or False questions aloud (I know - weird :)  We have

just made this part of our regular day. We sit down as a family,

sing a couple of fun songs for the little guys and learn the

Bible together. 

ETA - I re-read your post about concerns of what to leave out.

I, personally, don't find it NORMALLY necessary to leave things

out. Sometimes the child picks up on a particular point of the

story and draws attention to it himself. Then I just answer

the question honestly, not trying to make a big deal about

it. An example of that this week would include the story

of Hannah. The reading included the story about her

being one of two wives to Elkanah. My 5 y o thought it was

weird to have two wives and I just explained that the

customs were very different way back then. Ok, no big

deal, and off she went to play.

The story of the first-born killings and also the baby

killings  in Genesis do tend to

be more upsetting to some tender children than

others.  If you suspect that would be the case for

your child, it certainly doesn't hurt to save that

lesson for when the child is a little more mature.

Thanks for all the tips! So far he has learned the 10 commandments & we talk alot about what I've read. I've tried to read to him, but he gets bored so easily (adhd) that I'm trying to come up with something to keep his interest. He's fascinated by what I tell him which is good, I just wish he would let me read to him more. :)

On this page

www.pennygardner.com/bible.html

you'll find links to click which will take you to lists of Old and New Testament Episodes which we have found helpful.  These are suggested readings or  "episodes" (stories) straight from the bible.  It will give you and your child a good overview of the whole bible, bit by bit.  Some are well-know stories, while others aren't as familiar.  Our whole family has enjoyed these.

Blessings,

Tonja

I, too, would just recommend reading straight from the Bible. Are some of the words tricky? Sure. However, the Bible is not a hard book to read, or to listen to. There are so many great stories between those covers. Also, I strongly discourage the "dumbing down" of books for children. They tend to live up to the expectations set before them.

I'm not sure what is meant by "teach about" the Bible. If you are unsure about a particular topic, you might look it up online. You could pick up a teaching Bible, too. You don't say what religion you claim, but would Sunday school, or Bible study, or AWANA, or catechism be an option?

For some fun ways to reinforce God's word, I recommend daily devotionals (Keys for Kids is a good one for kiddos), craft lessons (Celebrate! is a series of craft books that go along with scripture), or memory verse stuff (AWANA, Bible Explorers). I wouldn't rely only on the "fun stuff" though. The Bible is the meat of the diet. :)

Walk Thru the Bible has a great coloring book that teaches the books of the bible and what each book is about. Like for Exodus they have a huge EXIT sign and all the people running through it. (get it? they exited Eygpt) The front is a coloring page and the back explains about it.

Great for memorization! Char

My son newest bible is the Nirv version.  It is the NIV basically written at a 3rd grade reading level.  Can you go to a christian bookstore and look through some of their books.  There are devotional books written specifically for that age group. 

If you visit the books site listed below, I've reviewed several of the books I've used for Bible studies with my own children.  Though the list hasn't been updated for a bit.  I also am reading through the Bible out loud to DH so often DS listens in (he's the oldest at 6).  I also try to do a Bible study on a regular basis myself.  This has been very helpful.  Having just read or re-read a particular scripture, it's easier to bring to mind when I need to discuss something with the children. 

There are some great children's Bible story books that will take a younger child through the main stories of the Bible to form a foundation.  I like the individual Bible story books as well, just to keep around so that when the children are choosing a bedtime or any time book they see that these are options. 

Your son is older now, so the firstborn son issue may not arise.  My child was disturbed by that as well.  But I emphasized that the Pharoah had been warned many many times and could have prevented this very last consequence.  I pointed out how extreme all the other things that had happened were building up to that point and how stubborn Pharoah must have been.  Also, it was Pharoah who first chose to set the path in motion by killing all the Hebrew boys (except Moses).  Just getting the story without the nuances of understanding can be frightening. 

When reading through the "big" Bible I skipped much of Leviticus and I also do not read the portions involving certain types of immorality. There is a place and time for us to discuss those issues but my oldest isn't yet 7.  KWIM?   

The children's Bibles speak to him on his level and have images and words that are engaging.  I do want my child to be engaged and I don't expect him to comprehend the things that an adult might.  Besides, even adults can't comprehend all that the Bible tells us.  Reading the Book is a gradual process of revelation.  Because I read the Bible and we look to its words, he is exposed to the full text through my teaching on a pretty regular basis.  (The other two are as well, but they are so much younger that my experience with them probably doesn't apply to your situation.) 

If your son is brand new to the Word you may want to select key stories and read them from your Bible.  That will give you an opportunity to talk to him and gauge the level of input he needs from you.  Then once you've established the framework you can give him his own copy to read front to back. 

Finally, if you visit the Links for Schooling page below, I have a section of Bible Study resources for kids (the age ranges vary but the links are all to free websites that I've found.) 

I appreciate all the great resources available to us and haven't found any yet that have caused my child to become dumb. ;-)  Follow your Lord's prompting and you'll do find.  It is a wonderful journey to grow in God with your child.  Enjoy!\

Oh- on this page (mixed in with all sorts of other book news) you'll find some reviews of Christian books I've been reading that I haven't found time to put onto the other website yet.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HWTK/Book%2BNews%2Band%2BReviews/

A lot of times we will just discuss one verse. Let the words sink into his heart. A favorite teacher of mine says, "You don't have to teach a lot to teach a lot." Sometimes one simple idea is enough.

Today we read a story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and discussed Mathew 24:35. My son made a scroll and wrote the verse. In his typical style, he also illustrated it.  He enjoyed it very much.

I am always on the lookout at thrift stores for good Children's Bible Story books.  I have bunches of them now.  I know that what I remember from my youth is the pictures and stories out of Bible storybooks.  So I like to go through those with my kids.  The pictures really help the story stick I think.  (If they are visual learners then that is exceptionally true!)  At most thrift stores you can find them for $1.00 or so.  I also keep extras because our church is growing like crazy and they are really good for new Christians who haven't grown up in the church and have no background in the stories and incidents that I take for granted.  So I give them to people who can use them.