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Family Schedule​—The Family Study

¹ The greatest gift that you as a Christian parent can share with your children is your love for Jehovah. An important setting in which this can take place is “when you sit in your house” for the weekly family Bible study. (Deut. 6:5-7) Whether you have a believing mate, live in a religiously divided household, or are a single parent, you can help your children draw close to you and to Jehovah by having a regular family study.

² Getting Started: The first step is to establish the custom of studying as a family. If you are not sure when to hold the study, why not discuss this as a family? (Prov. 15:22) If you have younger children, you may prefer to have several short sessions throughout the week. Determine what works best for your household. Set a specific time for the study on your family schedule, and be resolved to stick to it.

³ What might you study? Some prepare the lesson that will be considered at the upcoming Congregation Book Study or Watchtower Study. Others enjoy material designed especially for young people. The father of a young son and daughter said: “One thing that makes our study a high point in the week for the children is that we act out scenes from My Book of Bible Stories. The depth of impression and the comprehension that result are far more important than how many paragraphs we cover.”

⁴ Study Each Week: The family study should be held on a regular basis and be joyfully anticipated by all family members. Some flexibility as to day and time may be allowed for handling unexpected situations. There also may be occasions when an adjustment in the subject matter is needed. But any necessary adjustment should not cause a prolonged deviation from an established family study schedule. In one household, the daughter comments: “If the time of our study has to be changed, Dad always puts the new time on the refrigerator door so that all of us know when it will be.” How commendable such efforts are to maintain a regular family study! As you go on bringing your children up “in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah,” you demonstrate your love both for them and for our heavenly Father.​—Eph. 6:4.