Our Bible Study: The Charlotte Mason Way

I love teaching in the Charlotte Mason style and respect her so much as an educator because she put a priority on the spiritual lives of the children she instructed as she herself was a follower of Christ.  She wanted parents (educators) to not just teach Bible, but lead the children to fall in love with the Word of God and that is what I want to create for my kids.

First off, we start our day off with breakfast and Bible.  We begin my going through our Scripture Memory Box.  All the elements in the box are available through Simply Charlotte Mason for free.  We downloaded the King James Version for our memory work.  As with living books, Charlotte Mason didn't want kids to have a diluted version of the Bible, nothing paraphrased or watered down.  Children can understand the Bible wholly by itself and the Word, undiluted,  is so much more interesting to them. We have since done away with our Bible "story" books and the kids enjoy navigating through the Bible on their own.

Download all the elements for this box at Simply Charlotte Mason

Since we are Christians that have been moved by the Holy Spirit to understand more fully our Hebrew Roots, we then move on to our Torah portion for the day.  It is just something that we felt moved to do as we try to make our walk with God as close to Christ's example for us.  We read through the passages posted for the week at TorahPortions.org.

Finally, we move on to our Ambleside schedule for the day.  I love that Ambleside incorporates both Old and New Testament for the kids to study.  Ambleside schedules whole parables, broken down over a few days of verses.  My 5th grader will read his passages on his own and I will read aloud to our 2nd grader and Kindergartner, then we narrate together what was read.  

The following are a passages from Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling series, Home Education:

Bible Recitations-  The learning by the heart of Bible passages should begin while the children are quite young, six or seven.  It is a delightful thing to have the memory stored with beautiful, comforting, and inspiring passages, and we cannot tell why and and how this manner of seed may spring up, grow, and bear fruit; but the learning of the parable of the Prodigal son, for example, should not be laid upon them as a burden.  the whole parable should be read to them in a way to bring its beauty and tenderness; and then, day by day, the teacher should recite a short passage, perhaps two or three verses, saying it over some three or four times until the children think they know it.  Then, but not before, let them recite the passage.  Next day the children will recite what they have already learned, and so on, until they area able to say the whole parable.  (Mason vol.1 pg 254)

Method of Bible Lessons- The method of such lessons is very simple.  Read aloud to the children a few verses covering if possible, an episode.  Read reverently, carefully, and with just expression.  Then require the children to narrate what they have listened to as nearly as possible in the words of the Bible.  It is curious how readily they catch the rhythm of the majestic and simple Bible English.  Then, talk the narrative over with them in the light of research and criticism.  Let the teaching, moral and spiritual, reach them without much personal application. (Mason vol.1 pg 252)

Ambleside Online has the whole Charlotte Mason series on there site here.  It is also available for Amazon Kindle for as low as 99 cents per volume.  I really love the first volume, Home Education and that is what I keep referring to as I plan out how to tackle each subject.

Here is a video from my YouTube Channel, just talking about our Bible Study!


Blessings,
Ann