Welcome to this weeks edition of 4 Moms, 35 Kids: How Moms of Many Manage. This week we’re answering reader questions.
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How do you decide on each child’s name? Are they named after someone or do the names mean something to you?
Our oldest daughter is named after one of my best friends in college. With Kaitlin, Alyssa, Sadie and Savannah we simply chose names that we liked and I dedicated an entire post to the reasons behind Isabella Promise’s name.
Each of our boys is named after at least one man that we admire. Matthew from the Bible, Wesley is a family name, Mather is a tip of the hat to three Puritan ministers, Jackson after ‘Stonewall’ Jackson and Bradford after William Bradford the author of Of Plymouth Plantation
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“My kindergartener has just begun to read and we would like to have him begin reading his Bible. Which versions have you tried, if any, at this age. I tend to think that if he read a Story Book Bible that it would stray from…well, the Bible.”
We have mainly used the NKJV for our children, but we also regularly use the Geneva, NAS, ESV and KJV in our home and would be happy with our children reading from any of those versions as well. Our kids start reading from the Bible as soon as they are able to read so we offer them a lot of help initially and they gradually become accustomed to the language.
Here are some tips for choosing a Bible for your beginning reader:
- Pick a version that you and your husband believe is accurate.
- Pick a version that you will be happy with your child memorizing. (If your children spend regular, frequent time reading God’s Word, they will begin to memorize large portions of it.)
- Large print
- No commentary
- Get a sturdy Bible or purchase a tough case to store it in.
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What is your list of necessary baby equipment?
Of course the only thing that you ‘need’ for a baby is food and someone to love him, but there are certainly some things that make caring for a baby easier other than diapers and clothes.
- Car seat
- Diaper bag
- Pack ‘n’ Play with a bassinet insert
- Baby carrier – I consistently and regularly use both a Moby and an Ergo.
- High chair or booster seat
- Swing (optional)
Hmm, we do keep things to a minimum, but I think that I may be forgetting something….any ideas?
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Are you involved in a church that has a youth group? Do you participate and how?
Our church doesn’t have a youth group. 
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Come back later today for an opportunity to win this:
Be sure to visit the other moms of many to read their answers to your questions.
Smockity Frocks
Life in a Shoe
The Common Room
For more Moms of Many posts visit the 4 Moms page.
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Hi, I'm Kimberly. 
I so enjoyed reading your children’s names and why you chose them! We have done a lot of the same with our 10, some named after folks, some not. I think maybe we used some really good first names as middle names early on though, like David, Andrew, etc.
Oh well, they all got named!
Agree also with your Bible recommendations. The Bible storybooks…I have found 1 or 2 that are accurate to the Biblical text, but why search for one when you can use the Bible itself? It is such a JOY to each of my children when they can participate in our morning Proverbs study by reading a verse or 2, and not just listening along! I think those early joys give them a desire to read God’s Word on their own too.
Enjoyed this week’s Q&A,Kim!
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I have noticed a couple of times you saying no commentaries. Does your family not use commentaries?
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 11:54 am
Hi Cassie,
I don’t recall ever saying no commentaries, but perhaps I’ve forgotten.
We have no problem with commentaries. We use them and encourage our children to use them. However, we do tend to avoid Bible story books simply because we’d rather the children hear the stories as recorded by God in His Word. We don’t think there is anything wrong with Bible stories, but just prefer to choose the Bible.
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Ive been meaning to ask this question for a while and keep forgetting! But here it is: with Bible reading, how do you guys address the less child friendly stories in the Bible? My oldest loves reading the Bible and we read a lot together as a family. But there are those stories that we read through and I hope they dont catch what is really going on! lol, some conversations I am not ready to have with them. They are 6 and under. Thanks!
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
March 2nd, 2011 at 6:47 am
As the children have questions we answer them simply. We’ve found that they haven’t been curious about ‘those’ issues until they were ready to start hearing about them. Sometimes we, as parents, may not feel ready, but if they’re asking, they probably are.
We answer questions simply and only go into as much depth as they need. If they have follow up questions after our fist simple answer, then we give them more info until their curiosity is satisfied.
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