Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it

(Proverbs 22:6).

A relative of mine asked me the other day how and when do you start building those family habits that support you in training up a child in 'the way he or she should go'.

This relative has no Christian traditions from her own family background to fall back on. Today, the family attend church but the children are still in the crèche and not at Sunday School age yet. She asked me, "When do you start praying with your children?" She was impressed at our family Christmas lunch celebration with the simple Scripture reading and short commentary we read out followed by prayers.

It was easy and normal for us to do this as my husband had grown up with this tradition in his family. We have made it a part of our Sunday lunchtime meals to have a short reading from the Bible since our children were little. Our children, now adults, are not embarrassed by our family rituals as they grew up with them.

What do you do to encourage your children to know Jesus better as a regular part of family life?

My husband was rarely home for dinner during the week, so I remember during one period of the children's upbringing, using the children's dinner time to teach them Bible verses. I tried to make it fun and a bit of a game so that their memories of that time would be positive ones. During this time my husband and I were doing Navigator courses ourselves and learning verses by heart from Scripture is strongly encouraged by the Navigators.

Others I have spoken to tell me that after church or Sunday School their parents would quiz them about what they had learnt. Most parents said they prayed with their children at bedtime and some said Grace at mealtimes. I think it's also a good idea to pray with your children about an issue at the time it arises and not necessarily wait until bedtime and many parents said they tried to do that with their children.

To parents who were brought up with these routines or rituals, they seem obvious, but for some Christian parents with no model of Christian parenting to fall back on, it becomes more of a challenge.

Would you be willing to share some ideas that work for your family?