Blissful E » catechism

Posts Tagged ‘catechism’

22 Feb, 2010

memorizing catechism

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

We just finished the fifth week of our homeschooling journey, which we have begun with catechism memorization. Nikki and Michael both enjoy it and I think the Catechism for Young Children in particular does a great job of (a) breaking down complex doctrine into understandable pieces and (b) satisfying the endless curiosity of preschoolers and toddlers. The question and answer format is a natural learning style for curious littlies.

We have our lessons during lunch or immediately after, with Vi on my back in a baby carrier most days.

To begin, I open Starr Meade's book, Training Hearts, Teaching Minds and ask each of the questions we've studied to date. Nikki knows the answers so this is a review. Here is a video of her answering the first four questions of the Shorter Catechism in Modern English:

I then read the current week's question and answer several times. After that, I read the paragraph for that day (there are six short lessons, one each for Monday through Saturday). If things are going well, I will read two day's worth of lessons, because we don't homeschool on Saturdays, and usually there will be one or two weekdays where Vi needs extra attention or something else comes up.

Each of the daily lessons contains several Bible references to look up. As I was searching for a verse today, Nikki asked me, "Mama, what will happen when I can read?" Then she answered her own question, "I will be able to look up verses in the Bible!"

Following the paragraph lesson, I read the current week's question and answer two or three more times. Then I pull out the Catechism for Young Children and start at the top. Nikki has it memorized up through question 21, and Michael knows the answers to the first three questions. You can hear him in this video:

Recently I have been able to answer some of Nikki's questions about God or sin with catechism answers that she already knows. It's fantastic to see her fit the pieces into place, and it makes my job easier to have answers ready to give.

6 Comments

Tags: catechism, homeschooling, preschooler, toddler, video

Posts Tagged ‘catechism’

memorizing catechism

Search

about

explore the archives