Lesson Plans and Resources
The Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Twelve Apostles
This Time In the Year of Grace
On the Sunday following the feast of Pentecost, the Orthodox Church commemorates the memory of all the saints, both those revealed to us and those known only to God. The Synaxis of All Saints is an ancient feast and its proximity to the great feast of Pentecost is no coincidence. The saints are those among us who have acquired the Holy Spirit. Their lives bear the fruit of Pentecost.
After celebrating the memory of the saints, Orthodox Christians enter into a period of increased spiritual labor commonly known as the Apostles' Fast. For fifty days we have rejoiced, having celebrated the feasts of the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Now we once again enter into a grace-filled time of preparation. During this period we make ready to walk in the footsteps of the Apostles who, after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, carried the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
The length of the Apostles' Fast is determined by the date of Pascha, which is a moveable feast. The Fast begins on the Monday after the Synaxis of All Saints (the Sunday following Pentecost) and ends with the celebration of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) and the Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles (June 30). On the revised Julian calendar, the Apostles' Fast can be as short as eight days or as long as forty-two.
Lesson Plans For this Time of Grace
During this time, as we increase our spiritual labors through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we will work on a lesson block focused on the lives of the Twelve Apostles. Because the Apostles' Fast begins on June 15 this year, its length is only fourteen days. In order to accommodate this shorter period of time, the planning notes in the Online Lesson Calendar have been adjusted to allow for the completion of the Paschal Lesson Block (which covers through the Synaxis of the Saints of North America) while making possible the conclusion of this lesson block before the beginning of the period of Dormition (the month of August). Because we will begin a new lesson block focused on the Theotokos commencing on August 1, it is important to finish these plans by July 31. This year we will spend five weeks learning about the lives of the Apostles (two to three Apostles each week) from June 29 through July 31.
Although I have provided many links to the Orthodox Church in America's online resources, one of the two primary texts used in this lesson block is The Prologue of Ohrid by St. Nikolai Velimirovic. One of the predominant reasons that I chose this text as our spine is that it is commonly found in many Orthodox homes. For those who have not invested in this treasure, there is also a free online version of the entire text of The Prologue. Most importantly, there is no better literary source of the lives of the saints than one written by a saint. St. Nikolai's Prologue offers us this grace-filled benefit. The entries of The Prologue are made up of a brief biography of the saints for each day of the year, along with hymns and homilies related to their feasts. The amount that you read with your children will depend on their ages.
The second book making up the spine of this lesson block is The Acts of the Apostles. The scripture readings have been evenly divided during the weekdays of this five week lesson block and added to the daily entries of the Online Lesson Calendar. (Double-click the daily entries to access the notes.) Our family will be reading from The Orthodox New Testament: Praxapostolos. I prefer this edition, not only for its literal translation from the Greek and the iconography within its pages, but also because the footnotes are laden with quotes from the Fathers, which are helpful for reference as well as further study. Since the schedule of readings only includes the chapter numbers of Acts, any Bible, study Bible or Bible commentary of your choice will work. Throughout this lesson block I have included readings covering stories from The Acts of the Apostles taken from The Children's Bible Reader. The assigned readings can be found on the online lesson calendar under the title Reading: Little Ones. (Please read this post regarding this particular children's Bible.)
There are also two optional books used in this lesson block that complement the primary texts. The first is meant to provide additional summer reading for the older children and teens (and adults). Translated from the Greek and Russian, The Lives of the Holy Apostles, published by Holy Apostles Convent, is a beautiful book offering just under 300 pages on the lives of the Twelve. (The daily reading assignments for The Lives of the Holy Apostles are only listed on the online calendar linked below. You will find them within the daily calendar entries, along with the readings for The Acts of the Apostles, under the title Reading: Older Ones.)
For the little ones who will benefit from a shorter text and beautiful artwork, readings from Mariana Mayer's The Twelve Apostles are included in the main lesson plans as well. Although this picture book is not an Orthodox book, it is filled with historical facts as well as stories from Tradition on the lives of the Apostles. Each page of text is accompanied by beautiful reprints of famous works of art. The only issue I have with the text is the referral to St. Thomas as "Doubting Thomas." You can review the lesson plan notes for Thomas Sunday regarding the difference between a doubting and believing Thomas. I view this discrepancy as a teaching opportunity and will clarify the difference with my young children as we reach this page of Mayer's book.
A Lesson Book For This Time of Grace
The children will be creating a main lesson book focused on the lives of the Twelve Apostles which will include the celebration of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. For an in-depth explanation of the main lesson book approach to learning, please review the Learning Through the Year of Grace curriculum overview. You can also find a photo tutorial on creating a lesson book entry in this post. For further examples, our family's Paschal Season main lesson book photo album can be viewed.
You will need to prepare a lesson book for each child who will be using these plans. There are many options available. Our family prefers bound lesson books, but a sketch book or binder filled with blank pages works as well. The blank lesson books that we use can be purchased from Paper, Scissors, Stone. You will need a blank book of at least 24 pages for this lesson block. Each Apostle studied will require a 2-page spread in order to record narrations, copywork/dictation and illustrations. For children working on dictation exercises, you will need lined paper as well. You can either paste written work onto the blank page of a lesson book, purchase a lesson book that alternates blank and lined pages, or fill a binder with alternating pages of drawing and writing paper. For children working on copywork, the blank lines are provided on each document (available below). These pages can either be pasted in the lesson book or hole-punched and added to a binder.
Along with the main lesson book we will be working on copywork and dictation exercises based on the troparia and kontakia of the Apostles. This will both assist the children in learning the hymns to the Apostles and offer a bit of writing practice during the lighter summer months. We will also concentrate on learning to identify the icons of the Apostles by using Montessori-inspired three-part cards for the little ones and printable icons for the older children and teens. All resources are available in the form of PDFs below. Keep in mind that it is best to print the icons on card stock. Optionally, the three-part cards can be laminated first before cutting and the larger icons of each Apostle can either be laminated or preserved in a plastic page-size sheet protector. Taking these extra steps will ensure that the documents are preserved for use in future years.
Resources For this Time of Grace
Online Lesson Calendar Subscription Link
This is an essential tool offering a daily listing of the readings and activities used within this lesson block. Double-click on the daily calendar entries to view lesson notes. (The page numbers of the reading assignments for The Acts of the Apostles and The Lives of the Holy Apostles are only listed on the online calendar. They are not listed in the overview below.)
Montessori Three-Part Icon Cards
Download Apostle Icons Three-Part Cards
Read this post for an explanation of using three-part cards.
I recommend introducing each Apostle's icon on the day that the life of the saint is studied, slowly building up to matching the entire set.
Icon of the Twelve Apostles
The Twelve Apostles Main Lesson Book Photo Album
Link forthcoming. Photos will not be uploaded until late June/early July.
+++
The Apostle Andrew
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume Two
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for November 30.
Select entry for November 30.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 6-7
Icon of St. Andrew
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Andrew.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Andrew.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Andrew.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Andrew.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Andrew.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Andrew.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Handwriting Without Tears
+++
The Apostle Bartholomew
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume One
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for June 11.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 16-17
Select entry for June 11.
Icon of St. Bartholomew
Download Apostle Bartholomew Icon
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Bartholomew.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Bartholomew.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Bartholomew.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Bartholomew.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Bartholomew.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Bartholomew.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Download Bartholomew.Dictation.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Bartholomew.Dictation.HWT
+++
The Apostle James
Son of Alphaeus
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume Two
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for October 9.
Select entry for October. 9.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 22-23
Icon of St. James
Download Apostle James (Alphaeus) Icon
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download James (Alphaeus).Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download James (Alphaeus).Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download James (Alphaeus).Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download James (Alphaeus).Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download James (Alphaeus).Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download James (Alphaeus).Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Download James (Alphaeus).Dictation.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download James (Alphaeus).Dictation.HWT
+++
The Apostle James
Son of Zebedee
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume One
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for April 30.
Select entry for April 30.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 8-9
Icon of St. James
Download Apostle James (Zebedee) Icon
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download James (Zebedee).Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download James (Zebedee).Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download James (Zebedee).Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download James (Zebedee).Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download James (Zebedee).Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download James (Zebedee).Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Download James (Zebedee).Dictation.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download James (Zebedee).Dictation.HWT
+++
The Apostle John
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume Two
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for September 26.
Select entry for September 26.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 10-11
Icon of St. John
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download John.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download John.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download John.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download John.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download John.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download John.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Handwriting Without Tears
+++
The Apostle Jude
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume One
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for June 19.
Select entry for June 19.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 18-19
Icon of St. Jude
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Jude.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Jude.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Jude.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Jude.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Jude.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Jude.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Handwriting Without Tears
+++
The Apostle Matthew
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume Two
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for November 16.
Select entry for November 16.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 12-13
Icon of St. Matthew
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Matthew.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Matthew.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Matthew.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Matthew.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Matthew.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Matthew.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Matthew.Dictation.HWT
+++
The Apostle Matthias
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume Two
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for August 9.
Select entry for August 9.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 26-27
Icon of St. Matthias
Download Apostle Matthias Icon
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Matthias.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Matthias.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Matthias.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Matthias.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Matthias.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Matthias.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Download Matthias.Dictation.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Matthias.Cursive Copywork.HWT
+++
The Apostles Peter and Paul
Online Resources
Homily on Saints Peter and Paul
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume Two
by St. Nikolai Velimorovic
Read entry for June 29.
Select entry for June 29.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 4-5
By A Monk of the Eastern Church
pp. 236-238
This book was one of the core books for the Paschal Season lesson block.
Icon of Saint Peter and Paul
Download Apostles Peter and Paul Icon
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Peter & Paul.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Peter & Paul.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Peter & Paul.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Peter & Paul.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Peter & Paul.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Peter & Paul.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Download Peter & Paul.Dictation.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Peter & Paul.Dictation.HWT
+++
The Apostle Philip
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume Two
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for November 14.
Select entry for November 14.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 14-15
Icon of St. Philip
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Philip.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Philip.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Philip.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Philip.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Philip.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Philip.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Handwriting Without Tears
+++
The Apostle Simon
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume One
Read entry for May 10.
Select entry for May 10.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 20-21
Icon of St. Simon
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Simon.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Simon.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Simon.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Simon.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Simon.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Simon.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Handwriting Without Tears
+++
The Apostle Thomas
Online Resources
Reading
The Prologue of Ohrid: Volume Two
by St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Read entry for October 6.
Select entry for October 6.
The Twelve Apostles
by Mariana Mayer
pp. 24-25
Icon of St. Thomas
Copywork and Dictation
Copywork For Beginners
Zaner Bloser
Download Thomas.Manuscript Outlines.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Thomas.Manuscript Outlines.HWT
Manuscript Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Thomas.Manuscript Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Thomas.Manuscript Copywork.HWT
Cursive Copywork
Zaner Bloser
Download Thomas.Cursive Copywork.ZB
Handwriting Without Tears
Download Thomas.Cursive Copywork.HWT
Dictation
Zaner Bloser
Handwriting Without Tears
+++
