Today I want to address a question that's come our way several times and just share with you my perspective on it.

The question goes something like this.

Why do I need to include Bible lessons in my home school schedule?

We do family devotions, so I think I've got it covered.

It's a great question.

Let's talk about the difference between Bible lessons and family

devotions.

Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast. I'm Sonia Schaefer. When we talk about the difference between family devotions

and school Bible lessons, I realize we can't make any hard and fast divisions. Different people do

different things for their family devotions. So let me say up front that my goal is not to split hairs over certain study techniques

and when they happen.

The main thing I want to point out is to make sure that you are including both Bible

literacy and Bible application. Traditionally, family devotions focus on the application part. How does

this passage of scripture apply to our lives? How do we put it into practice? But it's

easy to neglect the Bible literacy aspect, and that's what can be accomplished by studying the Bible as a school subject.

Think of it this way. Bible literacy is about knowing what the Bible says. Application is about

doing what the Bible says. Both are important. I want to focus on Bible literacy in our discussion today,

because this is what I see as the main goal of school Bible lessons. Bible literacy

focuses on knowing the contents of each book of the Bible, understanding how it fits into the broad panorama of history.

Who wrote the book? The main themes and the truths that it teaches. It's about working your way

through the books of the Bible, reading and narrating it for yourself as you go, just as you would other history books.

In the Simply Charlotte Mason curriculum, you read and narrate the books of the Bible chronologically

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