Parables From Nature

Mrs. Alfred Gatty's superb book of stories for homeschooling children is as practical and useful today as when it appeared in the mid-19th century.

This book was published in response to a growing trend toward homeschooling as an method of education in the United States. The vast geographic expanse and speed of development in the nation at the time meant that municipal schools and formal education could not develop in time. Children either went with little education, or were taught at home or in small town classrooms - over decades, the homeschooling community formed, with Charlotte Mason's ideas among the most popularly used. 

Parables From Nature was conceived as a way for parents mindful of the importance of education and knowledge in children. It helps children visualize stories and narratives, develop their English language skills, and become moral and upstanding from a basis of traditional Christian principles, although the tales may be read and understood by those of any religion or none. The stories are reasonably easy to follow, and all have clear lessons and principles young children can learn. 

By stimulating the imaginations and allowing children to form ideas through these parables, parents have applied a tenet of Charlotte Mason's home schooling philosophy. Mason believed that children learn best when allowed to reason within their natural attention spans; thus, each of these tales is of a length perfect as a basis for a single lesson.