Introducing a Concordance

     I have found that once a child has learned to read reasonably well, and can use a dictionary, then the child is ready to learn about concordances.  My favorite way to introduce the concordance is while reading Dangerous Journey, a book utilized in our fourth grade literature studies.  The book is an abbreviated and illustrated version of Pilgrim's Progress, an allegory of the Christian life.  The book is rich in symbols and allusions to God's Word.  Therefore, it is a natural choice for finding phrases of Biblical verses within a literature book. 


     The method was simple.  Five phrases from the book that were parts of well known Biblical verses were chosen.  Each day, the child and I found one of the phrases in the book, and then decided which words would be good words to look up in the concordance.  I gently guided the child toward nouns and verbs.  When we looked in the concordance and found 253 verses listed for a common word, the child learned to choose a more specific word with less verse references.  Once we agreed on a word, we reread the phrase from the book.  Next, we read through each verse reference to find similar wording and meaning.  When we found a match, we read in the Bible the full verse and context.  By comparing the Biblical verse and context to the book's passage, we were able to determine if the verse was indeed the one the author was alluding to in the storyline.  The child then wrote the Bible verse and reference on a worksheet I had made for this purpose.

     I wanted our children to have a simple guided introduction to using a concordance.  This method has proved successful with our two older children.  And, in the years to come, I look forward to teaching our younger children about concordances as well.

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