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Orthodox Christian Homeschool Curriculum - Why I'm Not Impressed by Fairy Tales - Lives of the Saints

Updated: Aug 31

Now, don't get me wrong, we have certainly read a few classic fairy tales in our house. My children are very familiar with the classic children's fairy tales, such as "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and "The Three Little Pigs," but fairy tales play a much smaller role in our home than they likely do in other homes. (However, my favorite fairy tale book is by Cyndy Szekeres, whose book is currently only available at ebay. Szekeres' book is wholesome, charming and perfect for young children. I am grateful to own a copy as I see it is becoming hard to find.)


Overall though, we don't spend a ton of time on fairy tales in our house because we greatly prefer the real thing: The Lives of the Saints. I would hardly be surprised if many fairy tales are actually based on the real miracles and divine intervention by God in the early Christian Church. As an example, here is an excerpt from the Life of St. Spyridon from the Lives of the Saints published by Chysostomos Press:


"The poor farmer rushed to the merchant, who was delighted to see the gold and immediately issued the grain. After some time the famine came to an end. There was a good harvest, and the farmer repaid with interest the rich man's wheat, reclaiming his security; which he thankfully returned to Saint Spyridon. Accepting the gold, the saint took it to his garden, where he said to the farmer, "Come, brother, let us repay our loan to the kind Giver." The holy Bishop placed the coins next to the fence and lifting up his eyes to heaven, cried, "O my Lord Jesus Christ, Who created all things and hast power to alter them as Thou willest! O Thou Who didst transform Moses' staff into a serpent before the eyes of the King of Egypt, do Thou now also command this gold, which was once a living creature, to resume its original form, so that this man may know what concern Thou hast for us and may understand the truth of the words written in the divine Scripture: All that the Lord willed, He hath done." As soon as Spyridon completed the prayer, the pile of gold began to stir; then changed into a serpent, which slithered in a hole in the ground."


As you can see, the Lives of the Saints are actually great literature! They are incredibly well written and full of rich language. The stories in these books can compete with, or surpass, most of the literature available in any homeschool curriculum when it comes to language style, but definitely when it comes to importance and relevance. Some days, my boys and I might spend up to 30 minutes reading from the Synaxarion. It is true that gives us less time for other literature, but I don't think my boys are missing out at all! Lately, even my 6, soon-to-be 7, year old has been really following along with the lives and not wanting me to stop reading. He also comments during the reading about how much he is enjoying them.


After The Bible, I consider the Lives of the Saints by Chrysostomos Press the single most important purchase I have made for my homeschool, and just for my family in general. We obtained them in Spring 2020 upon a recommendation that I read in an online forum.


I hope that you will consider getting a set as well whether or not you decide to use the Orthodox Christian Morning Time Curriculum! (A good portion of the copywork is taken from these Lives of the Saints.)


Which segues into another point, sometimes we modern Americans have our priorities a bit off about what is important for a child to read. For example, a parent might be interested in Classical Christian education and end up on the Memoria Press website. What they would find is a curriculum that encourages the reading of long novels about American historical figures. In the third grade, the company suggests novels about Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. While this is not bad, if hours are limited in the day, shouldn't stories about the Christian Saints be prioritized? There are many ways to learn relevant, grade-level historical information about American history without spending nearly so much time on the topic. In third grade, Memoria Press also has children memorize the "Greek gods" using flashcards. While I agree that children should be familiar with "Zeus" and "Apollo", etc. as they relate to literature and history, I think using flashcards to study and memorize their "function" is taking up brain space unneccesarily. The early Christian saints thought of the Greeks gods as actual demons, and some of them were tortured for not worshipping or sacrificing to them. While some cultural literacy is important, I'm not sure an 8 year old quizzing themselves on the names of evil beings and their function is a very good idea. Maybe in a future post, I'll share some about why, as an Orthodox Christian, I have used so much Mennonite curriculum, as opposed to curriculum from Memoria Press.


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