Most of us are probably aware that one of the greatest gifts we can pass on to our children is a love of learning, through reading.  This happens by osmosis as we read TO them…and train them read to themselves.  Not just any old books.  Some folks think it is acceptable for their children to read pablum, as long as they are reading.  That’s missing the point.

Reading is one of the most important ways we learn about God (His Word), the world He created, human nature, and…HIS story. 

{***If you haven’t heard it yet, I highly recommend listening to this fascinating and FREE audio teaching by Andrew Pudewa: Nurturing Competent Communicators.***}

My History With History

Growing up, I hated history.  Actually, it was called “Social Studies”…and to me, it meant maps and dry textbooks with snippets of information that never really made sense in any cohesive way to me.

Until 10th grade.  Finally, I had a teacher who actually taught HISTORY…and made it come alive.  He would stand in front of the class weaving the most fascinating stories…and they were all true!  Unfortunately, he was an atheist who taught what he loved, but left the Author of history out of the picture.  However, God used him in my life to introduce me, for the first time, to the fact that history was a rich, interesting subject.

This Month at Visionary Womanhood

For the month of August, the writers at Visionary Womanhood are hoping to bless your socks off with some terrific articles to help home educators.  Whether you are new to home education or a seasoned veteran, you will be encouraged in your teaching role.

To kick off the month, I’d like to share a simple, visionary way to do history without a lot of bells and whistles.  It’s certainly not the only way, or necessarily the best way.  But I share it with you as merely one possible way to approach this God-glorifying subject.

Our Place in HIS Story

After using both Sonlight (1 year) and Tapestry of Grace (5 years), I decided that I really love the literature-based approach to history.  Sonlight introduced our family to some wonderful “living books” in a historical context, but while I loved all the reading, I found it hard, with my larger family and busy schedule, to have the children studying different time periods in history, separately from one another.  One child would be in American history, while another would be studying ancient history.  We felt “all over the place”, and I knew it wouldn’t work for us long term.

Tapestry offered the “living book” approach that kept the entire family studying the same time period in chronological order, something that enabled me, a history ignoramus, to acquire a basic, panoramic view of all of history.  For the first time in my life I could see the cycles that pervade all of history and recognize God’s hand over the rise and fall of nations.

Suddenly, my own place in history was put in proper perspective.  What a revelation to recognize my smallness while simultaneously seeing how God, over and over again, dramatically uses small people who are willing to place themselves at His disposal.

Could it be true that God had a significant role for me to play in HIS Story?  That my life mattered?  That I was a necessary piece in the puzzle?

Passing On Vision to Our Children Through HIS story

Once I grasped the importance of this subject, I enthusiastically embraced both learning and teaching history.  We are in the midst of cycling through history for the second time, moving this year into the middle ages, the reformation, and the early stages of the founding of America.  I want what we study in the coming months to marinate my children in the truth of God’s Providence in history so that they will trust His Providence in their own historical time period.

True vision is that which sees all of life from the Creator’s perspective.  God’s perspective gives us deliverance from the past, comfort for the present, and hope for the future.  This is the Gospel.  Christ’s redeeming work in the lives of men from the beginning of time to the present.  What greater gift could we pass on to our posterity?

Keep a Master Book List

I eventually had to give up using Tapestry of Grace.  It was a tool that God used to teach me how to study this subject, but with a growing family and children with more time-consuming learning needs, I had to step away from the intensity of this program and simplify our studies.

Over the years I’ve collected quite a few Living Books, but also, quite a list of books for each time period…some of which I don’t actually own, but they are on my “wish list.”  In addition, we have always used the library system to get our hands on books we couldn’t afford.

But where do we find out what to read?  There are so many different places to get great books lists.  Here are just a few of the places I go for ideas:

Bookshelf Central: Offers a list of books that Tapestry of Grace uses.  You can download lists according to age group, subject and historical time period.  I have found their prices to be comparable to Amazon too.

Robinson Curriculum Book List

Amy Lynn Andrew’s List

Ambleside Online

Sonlight

Veritas Press

I don’t always like everything we read.  For example, when I first started home educating, the Hillyer’s Child’s History of the World was very popular and highly recommended; however, it teaches history by leaving out the Author.  While I think older, high school level students can consume some materials that come from a false world-view perspective by using discernment and discussing the false premises, these same kinds of books have the potential to unnecessarily confuse younger children.

We’ve also “accidentally” purchased books that teach things from a feminist point of view.  (“Christian” books!)  Again, these can be great for discussion with older students, but I like to select other options for my younger children.

Here’s another idea: Gail Ledbetter, a former classroom teacher, veteran home schooling mother, and registered instructor with The Institute for Excellence in Writing (my favorite writing program), put together a resource to aid us in selecting books for each time period, for elementary, Jr. high, and Sr. high levels.

I recently ordered the eBook version for $16.95, downloaded it, printed it off and put it in a three ring binder.  She also has a CD version as well as a hard copy version.

A Sample Two Week Plan

So here’s what I am doing for this next year: I have “early elementary” age children (ages 4, 7, 9), and I also have “late elementary/early Jr. high” children (ages 11, 13), and I have a high school aged son (16).  I need to pull together Living Books for those three age categories that will take us from the advent of the Early Church to the birth of America.

I pulled out all the books that I own in this time period and put them in three piles, one for each age bracket.  Then I further categorized them into “literature” type reading and “history” type reading.  From there I broke it down one more time into “read alouds” and “read on your own”.

Each day of the week I read aloud a literature type book and a history type book, and the children are assigned a biography or literature type book and a history type book to read on their own.  Want to see how this looks, practically?  Here’s our reading schedule for the first two weeks of school:

Week One: Mom will read out loud to the 11 and 13 year old one chapter per day of Famous Men of the Middle Ages and one chapter per day of Adam of the Road, by Elizabeth Janet Grey.  On their own, they will read Stories of Beowulf and one chapter a day of The Story of Europe.

For the little ones ages 4-9, I will read Leif the Lucky by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire and a book about the Vikings.  In addition, we are reading through a chapter a day of my favorite set of church history books for children: God’s Care and Continuance of His Church by John Vreugdenhill. (This is for all the children ages 4-13)

Week Two: Mom will read out loud to the 11 and 13 year old The Byzantine Empire and a chapter a day of Adam of the Road.  On their own they will read The Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett as well as The Ancient Celts.

I will read the following books to the little ones that week: The Making of a Knight, The Kitchen Knight, and we’ll start reading The Minstrel in the Tower-one chapter a day.  And again, we will continue with our reading of church history.

Once our children are in high school, they read everything on their own.  Our son will be reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Life in Medieval Times, and begin working his way through The Church in History during week one.  Week two he will read a selection of the Canturbury Tales, a biography of John Calvin, and continue the Church in History.

We tie writing into our history and literature by using topics from our studies.  The Institute for Excellence in Writing is great for enabling you to do that.

But that is a topic for another time.