Sundays

 I'm reading through the Charlotte Mason book School Education. I read it a few years ago and am re-reading it. Yesterday I came across a passage about Sundays. I love her ideas of Sundays- to have a break, to do something different. "Sunday stories, Sunday hymns, Sunday walks, Sunday talks, Sunday painting, Sunday knitting even, Sunday card games, should all be special to the day– quiet, glad, serene. The people who clamor for a Sunday that shall be as other days little know how healing to the jaded brain is the change of thought and occupation the seventh day brings with it." (Page 144). She also talked about kids in church during her time. "...in church, when they are old enough to attend" (Page 144). Churches were different in her time. Babies, toddlers, and young kids stayed home with their moms, a servant, or a governess during church and didn't go. Today, most churches have kids programs and Sunday Schools...from babies to toddlers and on down up. It's very different today. She continued: "In connection with children's behavior in church, the sentiment and forms of reference cannot be expected if they are taken to church too young, or to too long services, or are expected to maintain their attention throughout. If children must be taken to long services, they should be allowed the resources of a Sunday picture book, and told that the hymns and the "Our Father", for example, are the parts of the service for them." (Pages 141-142). On Page 143 she mentions that sometimes for children to look up where they are in the prayer book..."but perhaps it would be well to tell children, of even ten or eleven, that during the litany, for example, they might occupy themselves by saying over silently hymns that they know." (Pages 143-144)

Last fall I worked on putting together something for Sunday Schools for kids. It includes famous, old paintings from the Bible stories, cultural and historical backgrounds, nature study, poetry, and some hymns. One week is in the New Testament and the next in the old and it switches back and forth. It uses the Bible to tell back the story, instead of a re-telling...and includes a memory verse (or verses) that are meant to be learned over a whole month or longer so they really learn it and learn to recite it well. One of my goals is to make Sunday School interesting, alive, and something different than they have a school during the week. Instead of the take-home-throw-away coloring page, they have nature drawings, and other pages in a book that's kept at church and taken home as a keepsake at the end of the year. It also includes maps and ideas to inspire the children and know that these stories really did take place- they really happened. Looking up the stories in the Bible is also something included every few weeks. If you want to take a look at it, it's available at lulu.com (Look for "Through The Bible For Sunday Schools"). There are also free summer series and lessons for the holidays. 

Kids in Ancient China (Part 6): The Fake City Part 3

   The garden in the woods became one of the boys favorite places to hang out in. They saw the old man a few times and he would tell them stories about when he was a kid. 

“I remember when I was kid, just as old as you older boys are now. There was talk in the town that the emperor was going to come and visit. At the time not a lot of people liked Emperor Ling. The Emperor became emperor when he was 12 years old- just a little older than you older boys are. However, when he grew up everyone found out that he wasn’t the best leader this country has had. 

“By the time he came here, many people didn’t like him because he had the people pay a lot of taxes. He wasted a lot of money and the leaders that worked with him took money from the people. Actually, when he came here no one really wanted him to come because it cost so much money. They made a huge area with walls around it and houses inside of it. You kids might have seen it outside of the city.

‘I remember that he stayed for 3 weeks. My family worked here, in this garden, although at the time there were no walls around it like there are now. We had to give most of the apples we were growing to the emperor and the people with him. My parents hated it, but they didn’t have a choice. Other people that grew vegetables and fruit had to do the same thing- give away a lot of what they grew at that time to the emperor. 

“As a kid, I was excited to see how the emperor looked like. We had never had someone famous come to our town before, so it was a big deal. My friends and I talked about how we thought he would look like. My best friend thought that he would have long hair in a braid and a long beard. I thought he would have short hair and a long beard. However, none of us kids could really get a good view of him that day because the streets were small and there were too many people. 

“A few days later, my parents had to deliver some apples to where the emperor was staying. I went with my dad because I though I would see the emperor. I ended up being very disappointed because it was just one of the servants that opened the door.” 

“I did, however, get a glimpse of the emperor one day when he was walking down the street. This time there weren’t as many people with him so I was able to stand on one side of the street and see them walk by. Emperor Ling looked tired and worn out. He didn’t have a full beard, just a small one and a mustache. His mustache was big- the only thing I remember to this day about him.

“By the end of two weeks the emperor’s visit was boring and none of us liked it. I wasn’t allowed to eat any of the apples from our trees while he was here because “They all have to go to the emperor” as my dad would say. I wondered at how much one person can possibly eat! Then my parents reminded me that it wasn’t just him, but the whole group of people that always traveled with him.

“We were all glad to see the emperor leave after three weeks. Year later, after the emperor died, the whole country changed. People started fighting and groups of bad people went from town to town taking things that didn’t belong to them and hurting people. I’m assuming that’s why your families moved here- to be safe.”