Child Training Boot Camp by Pam Forster

Child Training Boot Camp: A Thirty-Day Bible Study by Pam Forster (Bible Study For Busy Mamas) (Doorposts)

Child Training Boot Camp by Pam Forster is one of the Bible studies in her Bible Study For Busy Mamas series, published by Doorposts. This thirty-day Bible study is not one of the journal/workbook style studies where you answer questions on blank lines in the book, thus it is only 103 pages. Each day instructs you to look up and study parts of the Bible and use a separate notebook to reflect upon the insight you've gained. There are also suggested activities to bring your kids into the study process and share what you're learning with them. The children's activities are optional, but they're also varied enough to make it easy to find something that will benefit and help you bond with your kids for each and every lesson.

This Bible study dwells a lot on word study, rather than just personal interpretation. One thing I dislike is that most of the lessons require you to use a specific website in order to follow Pam's instructions to look up certain verses, references, and words. The problem with this is two-fold. First, you have to have a computer, tablet, or smartphone with you in order to do the lessons. You can't just use your Bible (even if it has a built in concordance). Second, you get so caught up in following the how-to's of looking things up on the website, that you lose track of the purpose behind everything you're doing. It's hard to stay focused on the material at hand.

What I like about this study is that each lesson is designed to take 15-20 minutes, but it's okay if it takes you longer or if you break it up and spend 3 days on one lesson. That makes it a lot easier to fit into a busy schedule. I also like that it starts out by discussing obedience, disobedience and how to teach obedience before covering specific issues such as whining and quarreling. This means you learn why it is important for your kids (and yourself) to be obedient and how to be obedient - before you learn how to teach obedience.

Overall, I'm giving this book 4/5 stars. I really like the approach she uses and there's a lot of good insight to be gained from this study. However, I found myself repeatedly trying to work on it during down time in the car - only to remember that having my Bible with me wasn't enough to actually do very much in the study.

*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*