Tag: Teachable Moment

Wonderfully Made

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Isabella Alden was a teacher at heart. She learned at an early age that the best and most lasting lessons are often taught through real-life examples (read more about that here). It was a philosophy she shared frequently with other parents—whether she was speaking to mothers at church, during her summers spent at Chautauqua, or while traveling on her lecture circuit.

Isabella loved discussing the unique challenges of raising children with Biblical truths as their guide. In a 1901 article in American Mother magazine, she shared a bit of advice she had learned from a mother who found a brilliant way to do just that:

Teaching Self-Reverence.

I knew one mother who, before her son could speak the words plainly, taught him the Bible verse, “I will give thanks unto thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Then, every evening, during their half-hour of confidential talk, she gave him, in minute detail, some proof of the truth of this verse. He was interested in “chu-chu cars,” and had been allowed to stop and examine the great engines, and to ask numberless questions about them.

That evening, his mother told him of the engine in his body that worked day and night at its appointed task. He had a chance, one evening, to look through a small telescope and saw wonders; and was led to think of the two perfect telescopes that he carried about with him daily.

For days, for weeks, for months the marvels went on, given in serial chapters; the revelation of one small human being to his human self. Every night he repeated, with increasing reverence, the words, “I will give thanks unto thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Can you imagine Isabella nodding and smiling as she listened to this mother’s clever idea? Long before modern science had mapped out the intricate inner workings of the human body, this mother used a child’s natural curiosity over trains and telescopes to inspire a deep, foundational reverence for how God made him. It’s a reminder for us today that Isabella’s philosophy was right, and that the greatest truths can often be taught in the quietest moments of a daily routine.

Do you have a favorite way you’ve seen scripture or deep Biblical truths made simple for children?

New Free Read: Up in Mrs. Kelsey’s Attic

Published on by Isabella Alden2 Comments

One of Isabella’s fondest memories was from a time when she was very young and her father taught her about “due bills.” (You can read more about that here.) Isabella’s father used that unremarkable, every-day event to teach Isabella a lesson she would never forget about the power of prayer.

Isabella’s friend, Theodosia Toll Foster (a teacher by profession) also used common incidents to reinforce lessons. Her children’s short story “Up in Mrs. Kelsey’s Attic” (which she wrote under the pen name “Faye Huntington”) is an example of just such a teachable moment.

Book cover with a whimsical illustration of odds and ends tucked under the rafters of an attic, such as books, an old purse/satchel, a spinning wheel, doll, wooden boxes, an old wooden trunk.

When Carrie Kelsey helps her mother clean the attic, she discovers a treasure trove of interesting curiosities, including an old spinning wheel. Little does Carrie know that the history of the long-forgotten spinning wheel will teach her a valuable lesson.

YOU CAN READ “UP IN MRS. KELSEY’S ATTIC” FOR FREE!

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You can read the story on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic reading device. Just click here to download your preferred format from BookFunnel.com.

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