Miss Mason recommends teaching children parables. We collected several of her quotes about how and why to teach parables, as well as a list of parables to choose from, but it’s so often helpful to see what it looks like in a real family, with real children!
Our first {very cute} example shows how this process looks with younger children. The family read the story of the Widow’s Mite every day for a week; this video is checking to see how much he remembers.
The second family has been using Simply Charlotte Mason’s Scripture Memory System for a number of years and added the parables to the existing routine with the 11 year old’s scripture memory work. They plan to have a look at the depictions separately, as part of the Morning Basket portion of the school day.
These are just two examples of what it might look like to learn the Lord’s parables. Each home will approach things a little bit differently, and this is to be expected: no two homes have the same people or the same circumstances. Personal revelation is an indispensable support for the homeschooling family: it is good to study the question of how various goals might be reached in your family’s educational efforts, but when you have done that, don’t forget to take your conclusions to the Lord for His counsel and approval. He has called you to teach your children; you may rely absolutely on His assistance in doing the job well.
DoriAnn Haskins is a wife and a mother of three. She has been using a Classical/Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling for ~8 years, since her oldest started doing preschool. You can find her blogging at Baby Steps, where she primarily posts about homeschooling life, educational philosophy, and the Gospel.
*Painting is “The Widow’s Mite” by James Tissot, between 1886-1894, courtesy of WikiMedia.