His Story
God’s hand in the affairs of men; His plan carried out on earth
Purposes:
To recognize God’s hand in the affairs of men and to see His plan carried out.
To understand and gain a love of the eternal principles upon which happiness depends.
To gain a better understanding of our own identity and purpose.
To have greater compassion and understanding of our fellow man.
Curriculum:
A three year rotation of (1) Preparation for His First Coming (Ancient History), (2) Preparation for the Restoration (Fall of Rome to Constitution), (3) Preparation for His Second Coming (Modern History). Each year is divided into about 6 subtopics, with about 5 weeks to study each one.
Methods:
Read from living history books…Read stories! Read biographies, original documents, books about specific people and events of the time period. As Charlotte Mason says, no twaddle!
Daily “story time”, reading from a variety of history books from the sub-topic--including a fun novel about the period!.
Children daily do much of their reading time in books about the period. (all of our history books, novels, literature, etc are color coded to tell which of the three years they cover, and then numbered to tell which period. For example, right now we are learning about the colonization of America. Hence, a red sticker (year 2) with a number 4 on it. Sounds complicated, but ohhhh, it makes life simpler!!)
Children narrate aloud, taking turns, to tell back what they learn in story time. Then they also make notebook pages daily about what their learning in their own reading.
Okay, here's our favorite part: at the end of each 5 week period, we have our Prominent Person Party!!! This is a much anticipated event at our house. Through the 5 weeks each child chooses and prominent person from the period to learn about. They also choose a project to complete. Then at the party all those prominent people come and tell us about themselves. And we eat good food. Well, sometimes the food is a little interesting, but more about Prominent Person Parties in another post!
We hope, especially the older children, can ask and answer these questions as we go along:
What evidence did you see of God’s hand in the events or lives portrayed in this book?
How did God further His purposes in the events of this book?
What principles were demonstrated in this book, and how do they apply to you?
What thoughts did you have about your own identity and purpose?
At the conclusion of each subtopic, we update a time-line--a visual reminder of sequence and chronology, since learning of events will come from separate stories and books. The timeline isn't something to memorize, just something to use as a frame of reference.
By the way, obviously the whole family is studying the same topics, but on their own levels. This includes me too, and I'm getting such a great education--better everytime we go around. When I'm learning too, I have lots more enthusiasm to share! No, I don't have tons of spare time. I make it.
