By Serena (Irene) Bingle, originally published on St Irene Press, curriculum available on Etsy (http://stirenepress.etsy.com), and on the main Website. Please share this information with Orthodox parents of school age children!
Just this week, one of my friend’s sent me a few links to some new homeschool curriculum on the market. There were a lot of curriculum choices available nine years ago when I started homeschooling, and there are even more now! There is Charlotte Mason, Classical, traditional and various hybrids of both methods combined into one curriculum.
When I was a new homeschooler, I remember being pulled this way and that by each new shiny curriculum and method. Years ago, a veteran homeschool mother mentioned a curriculum to me, and I naively responded: “Is that a living books curriculum? I am planning to only use those.” Well, two neurodivergent kiddos later (currently a 2nd and 8th grader), I have put aside my idealism and now strongly believe that the best homeschooling method is the method that works best for the homeschooling parents and their kids! I have always been an “eclectic homeschooler” pulling ideas and curriculums from each of the major homeschooling approaches.
One of the reasons I created the Orthodox Christian Morning Time Curriculum the way that I did was so that it could easily be added on to any curriculum, whether a traditional all-in-one curriculum, Charlotte Mason style or even online coursework. Right now, there is not much in the way of academic Orthodox Christian homeschool curriculum available, so my hope is that the Orthodox Christian Morning Time Curriculum can help families to add an Orthodox Christian element to their schooling more easily, whichever curriculum they use.
The Orthodox Christian Morning Time Curriculum revolves around reading the Lives of the Saints, has Orthodox Christian copy work, and was inspired by some of the general concepts found in the Charlotte Mason method and classical education, while allowing families to use this as an add-on to the homeschooling method of their choice. When I started the curriculum, I was participating in a classical memory work program called Catholic Schoolhouse (which is similar to Classical Conversations.). Mostly there for socialization, I realized that I could make an Orthodox Christian version of this sort of curriculum for use at home that could be more geared to the formation of an “Orthodox phronema.”
The Orthodox Christian Morning Time Curriculum contains:
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- A Saint per week to focus on (The Great Collection of Lives of the Saints by Chrysostomos Press is encouraged, but any source will do.)
- A short paragraph of memory sentences about the saint
- Catechism excerpts for memorization by St. Philaret of Moscow
- The Troparion and Kontakion of the Saint of the Week (links to sheets music, and audio files are available for most of these.)
- A Bible Memory Verse
- Thoughtful poetry, with a spiritual emphasis, for memory work
- Daily copy work that corresponds to the poem, saint’s live, and Bible verse
- Journal prompts for each week
- A recommendation/checklist at the beginning of the curriculum to rotate between Arts/Crafts, Foreign Language, Art Study, and Journaling (assuming most families school for 4 days per week.)
There are 32 weeks available (which could take many families two years to finish) and I made sure to include a variety of Saints in the curriculum, from ascetics, those known for charity, to Fathers of the Church like St. Athanasius, with a mix of both male and female saints. I also chose the copy work from the Lives of the Saints very carefully so that if someone was not able to attain the full volumes, their child could still be exposed to key moments of the lives written by St. Dimitry of Rostov. In fact, if someone didn’t want to use the full curriculum, the copy work portions alone would be beneficial!
The Orthodox Christian Morning Time Curriculum, is most suitable for ages 7 to 16, especially since it’s encouraged to read the longer lives from a Synaxarion over the course of a week (editing as appropriate for the age of children listening). If you have older children, and the youngest is 6, I would definitely use it for everyone for the sake of convenience, but the copy work and most of the curriculum is ideal for ages 7 and above.
Whichever homeschooling method you choose, I hope that the Orthodox Christian Morning Time Curriculum will help your family to learn more about the Saints, the Church, and form an Orthodox Christian rhythm to start your day!
There is a sample available here for this curriculum, as well as samples to two other elementary/middle school history curriculums available from St. Irene Press.
(As an afterthought, I’d actually love to see an Orthodox Christian version of Seton Hall, BJU Press, or Memoria Press someday. I know so many families love the Charlotte Mason method in the early years, but a more “traditional, boxed” curriculum could reduce some of the initial hurdles for families that are hesitant about homeschooling, or perhaps prefer such a method.)
This looks like an amazing addition to an Orthodox homeschool.
However, and I apologize in advance for being my usual contrarian self, but… at least for the first 5 years, if not until age 10 (especially for boys!) children should not be SCHOOLED at all. To confine a child to a schedule, and impose the kind of structure you find in formal public or private schools has been shown to be detrimental for children.
I am a proponent of what is perhaps unfortunately called unschooling. But again, research has shown that formal schooling is antithetical to the way children learn best. Their brains are not developed enough until age 10 to hold on to information.
Wouldn’t the best way to raise our children in the Church be BY LIVING and DOING?
Maybe the best way to raise/educate Orthodox children is to simply keep them at home, observe a family rule of prayer, observe all of the fasts and feasts of the Church as part of family life, worship regularly, go to confession, regularly, etc.
Maybe this doesn’t need to be said?
Beauuutiful, and may your efforts bless many young families!! Even children sent away to school would be blessed by beginning their day with your curriculum. We homeschool and followed a similar rhythm as your curriculum with our little children, but I agree wholeheartedly with your bottom comment about a more comprehensive box set being needed for older children. I first heard that frustration from a Matushka friend who told me her older children needed more, but I didn’t understand until my elementary children were out of the dreamy stage. I have actually been inquiring of different Orthodox publishers and Orthodox online homeschool groups (who still use Protestant or Catholic history curriculum) and just submitted a question to World War Now for Dmitriy to review a Russian classical curriculum for world history *from an Orthodox perspective* that I’m hoping someone can translate into English.
This is wonderful! I homeschooled during the 1990’s and became Orthodox in the middle of it. I tried to incorporate Orthodoxy but being new it was hard. I hope newly Orthodox parents will be encouraged to used this curriculum – it will help the teacher also! Thank you for doing this.