Charlotte Mason Homeschool Series- The Knowledge of God

Charlotte Mason Homeschool Series: "Of the three sorts of knowledge proper to a child, the knowledge of God, of man, and of the universe,––the knowledge of God ranks first in importance, is indispensable, and most happy-making. Mothers are on the whole more successful in communicating this knowledge than are teachers who know the children less well and have a narrower, poorer standard of measurement for their minds."- Charlotte Mason

Our Mornings are always begun with devotions. I am so passionate about devotions because I feel Parents hold the key to their children's view on God, not only that, but a Mother and Father have a particular responsibility to display a Love for God in the most intimate place- the home. Children watch and their world-view is fashioned and formed by what they see them do and how they act at home as well as how Mom and Dad talk about God daily.
So...

We begin our day setting the timer for 25 minutes.

One Child will pray one day and the other another day. Although Miss Mason preferred children being read right out of King James, I chose to read out of the Child's Story Bible by Catherine Voss. It is the best and well- written Bibles for children I have ever read- she does an excellent job telling the stories of the Bible in an accurate way and also tying the Cross and God's redemptive plan all throughout the Bible beginning in the Old Testament. - An excellent substitute!

We spend a few minutes in Narration- them "telling back" the story in their own words- with me usually asking a question such as in our reading yesterday about the friends lowering the crippled man through the ceiling to Jesus: " What is a warning to us today about how the Pharisee's treated the sick and lame on Sundays?" or " What example did Jesus leave about why the people loved him so much?" and they will think and answer based on how they perceived the passage.

We also weave into our devotions a reading from Pilgrim's Progress one day, and the next a reading (to my daughter's) from How to be a lady by Harvey Newcomb (when my son is ready, we will begin to incorporate a missionary reading such as YWAM's books on various missionaries.

Next, we spend a few minutes on Scripture Memorization- currently we are focusing on Two Way's To Live scripture verses so my children know scriptures to share the gospel. Simply Charlotte Mason has a great how-to on making a box to aid in family scripture memory.

Lastly, we listen to a hymn. One hymn a month. Right now, we are listening to Be Still, My Soul sung by Second Chapter of Acts on Grooveshark and I encourage my kids to close their eyes and think of Jesus being in the room and use that time to thank the Lord for the Cross and for Grace for the day.

And then our day officially begins!