Method of a Lesson in Advent Reading
Charlotte Mason talks about the method of a lesson and I thought I would jot down some thoughts as we have done our Jesse Tree as a family. My children are one and three, so growing in their habit of attention and ability narrate (and not formally asking them to really do it overall). It has been a joy to see my oldest get slightly more accurate in narration and able to laugh with my husband later at the earnest attempts when they border on apostasy.
The general rule is that (not including reading out loud) the teacher/parent is speaking 20% of the time and the children 80%. Keep this in mind and try not to be too “talky,” which is VERY hard!
Well-Chosen Text
I have gone with the Egermeier’s Children’s Bible for its’ attention to keeping the details of the biblical text and holding to a narrative form. I know others have used the Vos Bible with great success as well. I think many well-loved children’s Bibles often talk down to the child and do not call him up to the beauty of God’s Word. Feel free to contact me if you have other suggestions!
First Little Talk
Shofar? Altar? Tongs? This setup time is to give the children definitions or pronunciations of words they may not know that are imperative to the meaning of the story. I was teaching an older student last week and failed to define “harem,” which distracted from the flow of the reading of the text. It gave me a good chuckle to define it enough but not too much. However, this would have been far less distracting had I given it in my first little talk.
I have a picture of a shofar that I printed out years ago in prepping my Jesse Tree materials. (It may be laminated…) It stays in my binder and I whip it out to remind myself and my children what it looks like. The ornaments themselves also can serve as a first talking point. I tend to underline any words that will be helpful and write in the margins. This helps me to know what to focus on next time I read in a class, or with my family next time.
Reading and Narration
With the little ones I read longer passages, not shorter. This allows them to listen to the progression of the story and give a narration at the end with lots of details upon which to draw. This will likely be oral narration, but I plan to have a drawn narration with my oldest as we read about David this week. Older children can do a written narration to reflect on the text as well. Keep in mind that they do not need to formally narrate younger than six as they will do it “by nature.” My oldest is usually eager to do so regardless.
Second Little Talk/Response
We often talk about God as redeemer and one who keeps His promises. Many accounts can be drawn back to these questions. Keep them open ended and rich for discussion! This is often discussion, but maybe it is a drawing or your family discussed something that could be turned into a service project or handwork!
