Bible

Of all subjects, the most important is Bible lessons. When Charlotte Mason wrote about the knowledge we should give to our children, she said, “First and chiefest is the knowledge of God, to be got at most directly through the Bible” (A Philosophy of Education, p. 254).

Teaching the Bible can be done with a three-way approach: Bible history, Bible study, and Scripture memory.

Bible History

The Old Testament accounts, the life of Christ recorded in the Gospels, and the acts of the early Church provide wonderful opportunities to read and narrate. Since those historical accounts are written in narrative form, it is easy to simply read them and ask the children to retell the stories in their own words.

The Simply Charlotte Mason history curriculum includes Bible history in the first three plans, covering the Bible narrative alongside the Ancient World history that happened at the same time.

Bible Study

Other parts of the Bible which are not historical narrative provide much opportunity to study and discuss. The Epistles, Proverbs, and Psalms are all excellent choices.

Don’t settle for fill-in-the-blank type studies that treat the Word like a textbook. Instead, encourage your students to read and put the passage into their own words to test their comprehension. Discussion questions are welcome, as are gentle applications.

Feel free to make use of Bible study helps, such as Bible dictionaries or commentaries. But be careful not to use those aids as a crutch. Teach and show your children how to study Scripture for themselves first before they read another Bible student’s comments.

Sometimes it is difficult to find good Bible studies that adhere to these study methods. Our search for well-done Bible studies led to our writing and publishing our own:

Scripture Memory

Charlotte’s students memorized several portions of Scripture every school year, both large and small portions. She explained, “It is a delightful thing to have the memory stored with beautiful, comforting, and inspiring passages, and we cannot tell when and how this manner of seed may spring up, grow, and bear fruit” (Home Education, p. 253).

We cover this subject in more detail on our Scripture Memory page. Go there to find suggested memory passages, along with a simple and effective Scripture Memory System that will help you learn new passages while reviewing all the passages you’ve already memorized.