On teaching Catechism

Charlotte Mason taught Catechism.

Lately I've been reading a lot from CM enthusiasts about just how to do that. Because CM families come from far and wide across all denominational lines, there are many ways people have implemented her ideas without a formal catechism, but as a lifelong member of the Church of England, Charlotte read, memorized, taught, and understood much of what she grasped from a formal Catechism in question-and-answer format as well as regular Bible reading, just like a Catholic.

And although her theology may have been lacking from a Catholic perspective, her concern was not with the lofty debates of doctrine, but with being good, and doing good.
From her profound faith and her study of philosophy she came to believe that parents should welcome children and educate them, that families formed society, that knowledge of God was the ultimate end, and that a method was needed to enable all people to understand these things clearly.

Although I have often read of atheist families teaching using the Charlotte Mason method, I have been surprised by it--- put simply, Charlotte's inner Christian life and her study of philosophy clearly formed all her ideas about education.

Obviously, we can see that she "pointed towards God" in all her subjects... science, math, literature, etc. And we've often examined how she did that. We also know that she regularly taught Bible lessons.

The tradition of Catechesis is no light matter--- in Catholic circles we know all about the importance of the task. However, in most Catholic families, even homeschooled families, Catechesis is a formal task taken on on Sunday mornings in a religious education class by a trained professional, and often happens rather incidentally at home.

So how did Charlotte, who desired to empower families to teach their own children, formally teach Catechism?

It began in the earliest stages with the telling of stories-- as naturally as possible and in all settings the child would encounter on a regular basis.

While, wondering in amazement at the order of numbers in an arithmetic class. While walking during nature study---

A mother knows how to speak of God as she would of an absent father with all the evidences of his care and love about her and his children. She knows how to make a child's heart beat high in joy and thankfulness as she thrills him with the thought, 'my Father made them all,' while his eye delights in flowery meadow, great tree, flowing river.

These little talks should be quite natural, but they prepare the mind for the seed which will be sown in formal catechesis. Nature Study is the perfect time to do this, but for me, one of the best times has been early in the morning, when we first wake up. I like to spend that time outside on the deck, with the birds, and read my Bible quietly. Sometimes my children join me, and have many questions about what they see and hear!

Naturally, Charlotte used memory work/explanations from the formal catechism. But she also used her own favorite method of presenting the children with living ideas and first-hand accounts of events in the life of Christ and the Church.

In my endeavor to imitate her method, I use both a formal catechism and living books-- chief among them biographies of the saints throughout time and excellently written stories which provide careful lessons about virtue.

Charlotte placed chief importance on the study of the Gospels-- something which many protestant traditions often miss out on in practice, emphasizing the epistles and St Paul's teachings on "righteous living" over the Life of Our Lord.

For Catholics, this is a no-brainer.... the Gospels are the core of our daily meditations.

I should like to urge the importance of what may be called a poetic presentation of the life and teaching of Our Lord. The young reader should experience in this study a curious and delightful sense of harmonious development, the rounding out of each incident, of the progressive unfolding which characterises Our Lord's teaching; and, let me say here, the custom of narration lends itself surprisingly to this sort of poetic insight

.In her PNEU schools, the children alternated between studying the Old Testament and the New. This technique is very efficient to keep reading interesting and to help make connections. As Catholics, we are fortunate to have daily readings in a lectionary-- one from the Old Testament, one from the Psalms, and one from the Gospels. On Sundays, we often have a reading from the epistles as well.

This tradition was continued when the Church of England was formed, so Charlotte also had this "food" for meditation daily. No need to re-invent the wheel, a natural or formal study of these daily readings as depends on the ages of the children puts us in touch with the life of the Church, the community of believers, and with God's Word daily. This is the work of Catechesis!

Two techniques for studying  these might be used: the first is Lectio Divina, which I have blogged about before here, and the second is narration and discussion.

Charlotte explained her ideas about teaching "the things of God" quite clearly here in Volume I:

The Times and the Manner of Religious Instruction.––The next considerations that will press upon the mother are of the times, and the manner, of this teaching in the things of God. It is better that these teachings be rare and precious, than too frequent and slighty valued; better not at all, than that the child should be surfeited with the mere sight of spiritual food, rudely served. At the same time, he must be built up in the faith, and his lessons must be regular and progressive; and here everything depends upon the tact of the mother. Spiritual teaching, like the wafted odour of flowers, should depend on which way the wind blows. Every now and then there occurs a holy moment, felt to be holy by mother and child, when the two are together––that is the moment for some deeply felt and softly spoken word about God, such as the occasion gives rise to. Few words need be said, no exhortation at all; just the flash of conviction from the soul of the mother to the soul of the child. Is 'Our Father' the thought thus laid upon the child's soul? there will be, perhaps, no more than a sympathetic meeting of eyes hereafter, between mother and child, over thousand showings forth of 'Our Father's' love; but the idea is growing, becoming part of the child's spiritual life. This is all: no routine of spiritual teaching; a dread of many words, which are apt to smother the fire of the sacred life; much self-restraint shown in the allowing of seeming opportunities to pass; and all the time, earnest purpose of heart, and a definite scheme for the building up of the child in the faith. It need not be added that, to make another use of our Lord's words, "this kind cometh forth only by prayer." It is as the mother gets wisdom liberally from above, that she will be enabled for this divine task.

A practical example of how to do that might be to consider that you yourself should study the daily readings and the week's catechism lesson ahead of time and be in prayer about ways to instill that information to your children in a natural manner, simply incorporating them in your own wonder and awe as these things become concrete in your life.

Still too vague? I know what you mean. It took me a long time to find a method that followed these principles but also followed a schedule. So here's what I came up with.

Following breakfast and morning prayer, and before chores, exercise, etc, we gather for a Catechism class that lasts about fifteen minutes.
On Mondays, each of my children studies their own level of a formal Catechism lesson (we use the Our Holy Faith series.) They read the lesson, narrate, and we discuss. It's very simple.
On Tuesdays, we all together read from a living book that elaborates on a habit/virtue we are studying and trying to implement.
Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays we read from a living book that tells the story of an event in salvation history or the life of a saint.
On Fridays, we do a simple picture study-- only we study a work of sacred art.

To further simplify our lives, these selections are usually not random but come from our history curriculum, which is thoroughly Catholic and uses living books as a foundation. That way I don't have to teach history later in the day. ;)

In addition, we have a five minute period of recitation each day where we recite together scripture memory verses and catechism questions we are learning and have learned.

Because prayer is the foundation of a relationship with God and therefore effective Catechesis, we observe a family morning prayer time and a family evening prayer time. (We use  prayer from the liturgy of the hours... the official hourly prayer of the church in which we chant the psalms.)

Because Charlotte taught hymns, understanding the profound relationship between sacred music and the learning of sacred things, we learn a hymn together and sing it during our prayer times, memorizing approximately one per month.

As a Catholic family, we also have the benefit of being able to take our children to liturgy often. We don't go every day, but we go often enough either to mass or simply for a quiet holy hour together that my children gain the benefit of regular time spent in God's concrete presence.

In the evenings, usually after dinner, we study the Bible. At this stage, I more often TELL a Bible story than read one, but from time to time I read from a big, beautiful Bible in King James English. Either way, they remain mystified and engaged... asking questions til late in the night, forming their playtimes on Bible stories that rouse their imaginations in the day.

What has amazed me about doing all this is that it knocks out many of the CM "subjects" I want to incorporate: picture study. hymn study. bible. catechism. history with living books. nature study.
This is how our family has begun the difficult and rewarding work of Catechesis, using Charlotte's ideas about the divine life of the child.