That They May Know You:

A Charlotte Mason Framework for Bible Lessons

If you have been following my work, you know that I am a big fan of “Trial and Triumph” by Richard Hannula. It is a part of our homeschool curriculum, so I have had the delight of reading the stories aloud to my firstborn and and now to my second. In our home, we read the assigned readings over a weekend breakfast, as we all benefit from hearing about the great cloud of witnesses, who have run before us. Imagine my delight in a recent reading to spy the life verse for The Children’s Feast in the conversion story of Scottish Reformer, John Knox. 

Hannula writes, “John Knox put his faith in Christ after reading John 17, ‘Now this is eternal life: that they may know you are the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’” If you open to the preface of my Charlotte Mason Bible Lessons, there too, you will find that John 17:3 guides my prayer for you and your children as I seek to set a Feast of God’s Word before you through the feeble work of my hands offered to the multiplying power of the Holy Spirit. This Scripture guided prayer of mine begs the question, “How do my Charlotte Mason Bible Lessons help you and your children know God?” Let’s walk through the framework together and find out. 

Read the Bible Reverently:

It is fitting to go back to Charlotte Mason’s words and intentions for her method of Bible Lessons that I am following. Charlotte wanted the actual words of the actual Bible to be read both beautifully and reverently to children. She knew that because children were born persons, made in the Image of God, that they had Spirits that would rise to the life-giving Words of their Creator being spoken over them. For that reason, she wanted to give them “considerable knowledge of the Bible text” from the narrative portions of both the Old and New Testaments. 

“But let the imaginations of children be stored with the pictures, their minds nourished upon the words, of the gradually unfolding story of the Scriptures, and they will come to look out upon a wide horizon within which persons and events take shape in their due place and in due proportion. By degrees, they will see that the world is a stage whereon the goodness of God is continually striving with the wilfulness of man; that some heroic men take sides with God; and that others, foolish and headstrong, oppose themselves to Him. The fire of enthusiasm will kindle in their breast, and the children, too, will take their side, without much exhortation, or any thought or talk of spiritual experience.”

-Home Education, pg. 249

I knew from “Home Education,” Charlotte thought there was “no better help in the teaching of the young children than we get in Canon Paterson Smyth’s Bible for the Young.” What I have since learned is that John Paterson Smyth’s publications impacted even the passages that Charlotte Mason assigned in her PNEU schedules. When you pick up my Charlotte Mason Bible Lessons, they will not only have the passages, which John Paterson Smyth and thereby Charlotte Mason covered, but they are also broken down for you into short, narrateable portions.This is the first way I believe children can be brought to know God, through the gradual unveiling of Himself through the reverent reading of His Word. 

Narrate it Faithfully:

I am assuming that if you have found this blog post, you have looked for Charlotte Mason Bible Lessons, and have a baseline understanding of the Charlotte Mason method, so I will not wax on about the importance of narration, though this topic is worthy of much attention and thankfully many others in the Charlotte Mason community have spoken more eloquently about it than I ever could. I would draw your attention to Know and Tell, by Karen Glass,  as well as the words of Cindy Rollins, as outside of the words of Charlotte Mason herself, the tireless work of these women has greatly impacted my passion behind having children narrate the words of the Bible faithfully. Charlotte did make the following qualification regarding Bible narrations.

“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.” 

-Home Education, pg. 251

While she found it curious, I have found it to be magical. It causes me to worship that the LORD has wired our minds in such a way that when we narrate the text faithfully in this way, the Words of Scripture somehow seep into the very bedrock of our minds. In this, I am reminded of a few lines of the great hymn, “How Firm a Foundation.” “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.” I truly believe having your children narrate the actual words of the actual Bible back faithfully is the second way children are brought to know God. 

Discuss it Engagingly:

As I come to this final part of the framework, I realize it is the most overwhelming and I am so grateful that the reading and narrating of the Bible serves as the main dish of the nourishing feast we are called to set before our children. But, I would be remiss to not share a Bible Lesson Recipe for also setting delicious side dishes and delectable desserts on the table as well. From my own experience preparing nourishing meals to feed my family through Bible Lessons, this part can be the most time consuming and therefore the easiest to throw the towel in on and ring the bell that dinner is served as is. 

This is why I have created my Charlotte Mason Bible Lessons. I want to simplify this piece for you. Facilitating an engaging discussion with your children after the passage is reverently read and faithfully narrated is a joy, but to follow Mason’s method as is, this requires that you find time to sit down with Paterson Smyth’s commentaries, which were intended for Sunday School teachers sitting down to intentionally prepare to teach a lesson to their class. There is more material than it is possible to cover in our short lessons and trying to digest all the material in a quick weekly planning session and come up with a list of possible discussion questions that engage both our children’s minds and imaginations is a tall order. Let’s be honest, even the planning session itself is hard to come by as we balance all the other needs of our home and homeschool. 

While I hope the breaking down of the passages to be read and narrated is helpful to you, others have done this. The unique value my Charlotte Mason Bible Lessons add to your homeschool is that I have done the immersive work of combing through Paterson Smyth’s lessons, gathering the treasure, digesting it, and presenting it in an easy-to-implement, question-and-answer format, so that you can do the fun part of sitting down and enjoying the meal with your kids. You can ponder and think deeply about the text alongside them, and more easily guide the conversation on rails for the remaining part of your Bible Lesson time. Capturing your children’s attention and imaginations with engaging questions that cause them to think more deeply about God is the third and final way that I believe your children will know Him. 

In Closing: 

May there be many future strong and courageous John Knox’ raised up among our children because they received nourishing and grounding Bible Lessons throughout their childhood, led by the Holy Spirit-dependent hands of their mothers. May a generation rise up who indeed know God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3).