As a homeschooling Mom, I’m always looking for tools that will help me transmit faith to my children. I don’t want them to be Christians because I’m a Christian, but to have a faith that is their own. That means helping them question and explore and giving them the tools to see the evidence for God. One of the tools that I’ve liked because of its targeted nature for upper elementary kids is the God’s Crime Scene series. I also like Understanding the Time for high school students.
There are currently two books in the series: God’s Crime Scene for Kids: investigate Creation with a Real Detective and Cold-Case Christianity for Kids: investigate Jesus with a Real Detective. I talked about Cold-Case Christianity here. Both books work through basic apologetics with kids through the lens of a police cadet academy and middle-schoolers who are learning to think logically and deductively about different elements of Christianity. The books contain great illustrations and are filled with tips and apologetic tools but in a way that younger kids can understand. While there are adult versions of the books, I love how these introduce important questions in a way that younger students can begin in wrestle with them.
In God’s Crime Scene the cadets are on the quest to discover who left a box of items in the attic for Jason to find and why. The detective uses this process to help show how there is evidence for a Creator. The website that supports the book has videos, worksheets, and activities to supplement the material in the book. You can explore the site here. Here’s a sample of one of the videos:
For older students I really like Understanding the Times, a textbook produced by Summit Ministries. Going to Summit is the best way to get the information. I went three times as a college student; my husband jokes I was a slow learner. My course of study was one that required a firm grasp of my faith, and I loved spending a couple weeks a summer with students who were similar to me yet also very different. This text combines the information on worldviews in a way that you can learn without having to attend the camp. It will equip your students with an understanding of competing worldviews, and in the process they will be better able to defend their faith.
What resources do you like for apologetics?