The Method:

As your form I student progresses, and certainly with children in older forms, the process of icon study can be very similar in many ways to picture study as described in Charlotte Mason's volumes (primarily volume 6, but it is mentioned in volume 3 as well). There are many benefits to studying in this way, which are discussed here.

Step 1: Ask the child to recall what icon we studied last time and to tell what she remembers about it.

Step 2: Show the new icon. You may want to tell something about it, or you may just begin by asking the child(ren) to study it carefully without speaking for as long as their attention span is capable of doing so without wandering. 

Step 3: After this time of quiet study, take away or cover the icon and ask them to narrate what they noticed about the icon. 

Step 4: Show the icon again and let them tell anything they notice now that they did not share before. This is the time to explain the figures and language of the particular icon.

Step 5: If desired, have the students sketch the basic outlines of the icon. (Sometimes with a group I will tell them to instruct *me* what to draw on a whiteboard). The goal is appreciation, not perfect icon painting.

The Content:

As far as *which* icons to study, we recommend doing a year of studying the 12 major feasts. There is an excellent description of these on the Greek Archdiocese website. The book The Story of Icons by Mary P. Hallick (if you can find a copy of it) also covers the major feasts in the second half of the book, while the first half answers other questions about why icons look as they do.

For subsequent years, we have found it practical to purchase (or re-use) icon calendars such as the ones sold by Ancient Faith Publishing. This provides an open-and -go set of 12 icons to study throughout the year, often with themes such as "the miracles of Christ" or "saints and martyrs of the early church." Once you have established an understanding of the language of icons with the resources above, it will be easier to appreciate and understand them. Another resource for particular icons and their features is A Reader's Guide to Orthodox Icons.

Another approach is to compare the artwork you cover in artist study to icons on the same theme, for example, a painting of the crucifixion or of other Biblical events. Comparison questions tend to spark great narrations and deepen our understanding of and reflection on the pieces being compared.