How To Learn The Ten Commandments Effortlessly

photo by Chris Friese

Repetition is a great tool for learning. The goal is to either make it fun or effortless (both is better) so that learning is taking place without the student - in this case, your child - being aware of it.

You know how you leave reminders for yourself lying in conspicuous places so that no matter where you go, there’s a reminder staring you in the face? Each time you come across a post-it stuck to the bathroom mirror, a note tucked in your checkbook, or a reminder taped to the door you go out in the morning, you’re triggering your brain through repetition.

It’s quite effortless, as long as you remember where you put the notes and they’re put in enough places that a distraction doesn’t pull you off focus.

Using this method of effortless reminding is another way of teaching your child the Ten Commandments. Your focus will be on one commandment at a time, learning that commandment for two to four days (or a whole week if you want to make it that).

For children who are reading, write a commandment out on several sheets of paper. Better yet, have your child do this (again, part of the repetition). Then post the sheets of paper all around the house.

For nonreaders, go to the Garden of Praise website and print several copies of one of the commandments. If your child likes to color, print the blank black and white posters and let your child have at it with a box of crayons. Then, post them around the house.

Reserve one wall in your house to eventually hold all ten commandments. It is true, this inspiring décor will probably never win you a front cover spot on Better Homes & Gardens, but you’re going for a reward of a different kind here. We’ve often used our dining area, which makes it easy to discuss the commandments as we eat our meals.

After a few days have gone by, move on to the next commandment. Remove the previous sheets of paper, leaving one on your reserved wall, and put up the new sheets. As you move through the commandments, review them as a family so that the previously learned ones remain fresh.

It really doesn’t take much time or effort to pull this off. Pick an evening or Saturday to prepare your commandment for study, allowing yourself 15-30 minutes to work with your child to write or color. You can do it instead of watching the TV for that timeframe. Hang them up and begin deliberately integrating the commandments into your family’s life. It’s an effortless way to learn the Ten Commandments.

Would you help begin a word-of-mouth campaign for The Greatest Mission Trip? Pass the blogsite along to your friends and colleagues via email, or ask your church to post a resource link to it from their website. My heartfelt thanks for helping spread the word!

Related Articles:

Getting Down To Basics

An Old Fashioned Way To Learn The Ten Commandments

Using The Stepping Stones Game To Teach The Ten Commandments