Neuroscience Proves This Biblical Habit Rewires Kids' Brains

If reading the Bible with your kids has ever felt small, repetitive, or like it's not making a big impact, I want to show you what's actually happening beneath the surface because it's more powerful than it looks. There is a simple practice, passed down for generations, that can profoundly shape the way your child thinks and grows, and not just spiritually, but neurologically as well. This isn't just a parenting idea or some homeschool trend, it's something both scripture teaches and modern science is proving. It's probably much simpler than you think. It's this. Reading, meditating on, and even writing scripture. When you look at the Bible, this kind of daily repeated habit is actually instructed. In the book of Deuteronomy, parents are told to teach God's word diligently to their children, not just a Bible story here and there, but throughout the day. When you sit, when you walk, when you lie down, when you rise up, it's meant to be woven into everyday life. And then in Deuteronomy 17, kings were commanded to physically write out the law themselves. Think about that. Not just read it, not just hear it, but write it as well. God designed this long before we ever understood how the brain works. If you're new here, hi, my name is Sheri. I'm a Christian homeschooling mom married to my high school sweetheart, Nelson. We've been married for 25 years. I love encouraging other moms here on my channel and on the blog, ourlifehomeschooling.com. I also help ordinary parents give their kids a better education at home through my new course, Beyond School, The Home Education Breakthrough. This is a mom mentorship where I sit down and take you step-by-step through the simple routines that I've learned in over 16 years of homeschooling. If I could sit down with you and pour out my heart about all that I've learned from homeschooling our children, this is what's packed into this course. You can learn more about it by watching my free masterclass. The link is below. This picture is a rare exception. Painted during her annual trip to the South of France. When I was in college in psychology classes, probably specifically child psychology because I had some education classes, one concept really stuck with me. Repeated thoughts and actions actually shape the brain. This is called neuroplasticity if you want to give it a title, but basically it's the more that something is repeated, the stronger those neural pathways become. Just like forging a trail in the woods, the more you walk it, the clearer and easier it becomes to follow. It's the reason why toddlers want you to sing the same song or read the same book over and over again. With each repeated time, they're understanding it more. You'll hear them repeat it throughout the day because it's what they're thinking about. So when we read scripture to our kids regularly, we're not just checking a box spiritually, we're literally building pathways in their brains. The more we read the Bible to them, the more they understand it. And the more they understand it, the more appealing it becomes. From the time our kids were little, we started a habit of reading the Bible morning and evening. I read it to the kids in the morning and my husband reads it to us all at dinner. This isn't some kind of legalistic ritual. It's just something that's become a habit. We go for times, evenings maybe, where it doesn't happen for a little while because we're in a busy season. It's just something we always come back to. And it's been a habit in our home for many years. I'm convinced that this daily habit of reading the Bible has helped improve our kids' reading skills, comprehension, vocabulary. It helps their reading readiness when they're getting to that age where they're just starting to be old enough to learn how to read. It's helped improve their attention span. Have you ever noticed that the more your kids hear the same passages, the more familiar they become with it? At first, it might feel confusing or hard for them to follow. But over time, something changes. It becomes more recognizable, the stories connect, and their understanding deepens. Repetition leads to familiarity, and familiarity leads to confidence. Now, this forms even deeper pathways in the brain when kids actually write out what they're reading, writing scripture. This is one of the reasons we do copywork in our home. Copying the Bible isn't the only thing my kids copy, but it's kind of sprinkled throughout some of their copywork assignments. We copy a lot of passages from quality literature, poetry. But copying works from excellent authors slows down the brain. It's the difference between taking a ride in a car and taking a walk. You notice so many more landmarks when you're walking. And it's the same way when you write something out. It slows down your brain, and it cements those ideas more deeply. This is actually something I do in my own life. I've made this a habit for myself. When I have my morning Bible reading all alone, at the end, I will try to pick out one meaningful verse and write that verse for the day. And it's something that always comes back to me. And it's hard as adults to memorize scripture. It's so much easier for kids. But I found that this habit of writing a passage of scripture or writing a verse every day, I may not memorize it, but the essence of it is there. The ideas are there. They come back to me. To write is to remember. It's why I believe in copywork. We practice copywork every day as part of our writing program. There's some interesting history that's part of this as well. In early American history, many families owned just one book, the Bible. For much of history, the Bible wasn't just a religious book. It was the book people learned to read with. And yet, literacy rates were remarkably high. Why? Because reading wasn't treated as just an academic subject. It was part of daily life, centered around scripture. In early America and parts of Europe, many households owned very few books. And so the Bible was the central text in the home. Parents read it aloud daily. Reading wasn't separated from ordinary life. It happened around the dinner table, in family worship, and in church gatherings. The Bible functioned almost like the original household textbook. And you might expect literacy rates to be low in a society with such limited resources, but the opposite was true. Literacy in early colonial America was remarkably high, especially compared to the centuries before the Reformation when access to the Bible and the ability to read it personally were often restricted. There's a well-known quote that is often attributed to Horace Greeley. He said, It's impossible to enslave, mentally or socially, a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom. Whether you look at that spiritually or culturally, the connection is clear. Regular engagement with scripture has shaped both minds and lives. Beyond this, putting the academic benefits aside, we can't miss, we shouldn't miss, the most important part. What our kids truly need is truth. The message of the Bible tells us that we're living in a fallen world. We're all sinners, and we are in need of a Savior. That message, the good news of God's plan of salvation, isn't just helpful, it's essential. Parents often devote enormous amounts of time and energy to their children's physical needs, feeding them, clothing them, enrolling them in activities, and trying to create the perfect environment for them while giving far less attention to their spiritual needs. Their spiritual need is their greatest need. Our kids need to hear the gospel, the good news that the whole Bible points to, Jesus saves sinners like us. And the more our kids hear it, the more deeply those truths take root. Just to give you a little update on where we are in our homeschool, we finish in a couple of weeks. This week is our last full week, and then we're going to do two half-weeks after this. So I've been working on completing our kids' portfolios, and for two days in a row, two of our older girls made lunch for everyone, which was really helpful. It allowed me to be able to sit and put together some of the kids' portfolios, sit one-on-one, talk with them, have them get out the papers that I needed. And so this is one huge benefit of having older kids. Our older kids have finished volleyball for the season. This wrapped up last week with the final tournament, which was a lot of fun. But that and our co-ops have ended, so we've just felt a big sense of relief. And with those things behind us, I feel free to spend some time working on assembling their portfolios. We have another graduate this year. Our second son is graduating, and we're part of a larger organization that supports all the local homeschool co-ops. The biggest thing that they do is provide a graduation for all the seniors in the county. So he has some responsibilities for this. All the seniors help and do some part of planning their graduation. It's really bittersweet when you come to this moment as a homeschool mom, because although this is what you've been preparing them for, and they're ready, it's time, you've also had such an investment in this part of their lives, and now they're ready to move on. And I have so many really sweet memories. And, you know, it wasn't always perfect. We have all the problems and struggles here that everyone has. I didn't always do it perfectly. I failed at many things, but I don't regret investing this time in him. I'm so thankful for the time we've had together. So we're kind of moving on, ending our schoolwork. And around here, this time of year, things really start picking up in a different way. We have a small property, and here on our land, we raise most of the food that we eat, all of the meat we eat, and a lot of the vegetables. And that is a big part of our summer. So while we're technically off of school, the kids are still learning so much. And I can't wait to share some of that with you in the next couple weeks. The bookwork slows down, but the life skills learning ramps up. If reading the Bible is a habit you'd like to make in your home, I just want to remind you that every time we read scripture with our kids, something is happening beneath the surface. Connections are forming. Pathways are becoming stronger. Even when it doesn't feel dramatic in that moment, we're making it easier for them, not just today, but for the rest of their lives, to read, understand, and return to God's Word. So what does this look like in real life? It doesn't have to be complicated. Start small. Just read a portion of scripture every day. Talk about it naturally with your kids, just like Deuteronomy 6 describes. And if you can, you can include copywork, copying scripture as part of your homeschool. I have tons of free copywork on the blog, seasonal copywork for spring and summer, and also copywork from quality literature. It's linked in the description box below, but you can also search at rlifehomeschooling.com. Psalms 119, 130 says, Your testimonies are wonderful. Therefore my soul observes them. The unfolding of your word gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. If this has encouraged you, I hope you'll like and subscribe. I do one video a week on homeschooling encouragement for everyday moms. I'll see you next week.