Episode 103: Sunday Reading


Charlotte Mason included a category named “Sunday Reading” on her programmes and this week’s podcast discusses the purpose for this set-apart reading. In addition, there are plenty of suggestions for what to read, so listen for great titles and ideas for including them,
as well as check out the lists in the show notes.

Listen Now:

“I would suggest special books only to be given out on Sundays, and not kept in the same shelf with the other books read during the week, if possible, so as to have special associations for that day. … We want the children to have bright and happy associations with their Sunday, but at the same time we want to make the distinction between that and the other six days of the week.” (Our Children’s Play, Mrs. Hatchell)

“Novels are divisible into two classes––sensational, and, to coin a word, reflectional. Narrations of hairbreadth escapes and bold adventures need not be what I should call sensational novels; but those which appeal, with whatever apparent innocence, to those physical sensations which are the begetters of lust,––the ‘his lips met hers,’ ‘the touch of her hand thrilled him in every nerve’ sort of thing which abounds in goody-goody storybooks, set apart in many families for Sunday reading, but the complete absence of which distinguishes our best English novels.” (Vol. 5, pp. 374-75)

“What is proper food for the mind, has already been discussed but we may assume that education should make our boys and girls rich towards God.” (Vol. 6, p. 281)

Parables from Nature, Gatty

Child’s Book of Saints, Canton

Book of Golden Deeds, Yonge

Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan

The Holy War, Bunyan

The Christian Year, Keble

Cloud of Witness, Gell

Ecclesiastical History, Bede

Confessions of St. Augustine

Paradise Lost, Milton

The Valley of Vision

George Herbert Poetry

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Our Children’s Play: Their Toys and Books, Mrs. C. Hatchell (PR Article)

7 thoughts on “Episode 103: Sunday Reading

  1. Erika

    Hi! I was wondering if the church history readings would correspond to the time periods of the student’s other history stream(s) or if this was its own, separate, chronological study. Thank you!

    1. Admin Post author

      The clearest answer is no, it didn’t coordinate with the time period studied, but was it’s own separate track. That means that some terms there would have been overlap, but generally that was not the case. I did find that the saint book assigned in Form 2 generally did coordinate with the time period studied, but the systematic study of Church History did not.

    1. Admin Post author

      As there were no lessons given outside of school hours, the short answer is “no.”

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