Category Archives: L.E.D. HisStory

Helps for teaching and learning history by LED

Another New HisStory Resource!!

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What could be better than our Book of Time, a comb bound color-coded timeline in a book, your personal journal to put all of history in context?

Our new PIPEline Book of Remembrance color-coded time line in a book (same book, but remade and renamed) that you download and print out yourself!

What’s better than buying a Book of Time for each of your children at $15 each?

Buying a PIPEline Book of Remembrance for $20 once and printing out a book for each member of your own family.

What’s better than paying $20 for the PIPEline Book of Remembrance masters to print a book for each family member?

Buying it this week for the old price of 1 Book of Time – $15! (Good through Aug. 10th only.)

Watch our L.E.D. Resources page for the addition of the PIPEline Book of Remembrance, coming in the next few days. But you can order now so you don’t miss out on the Special Price, if you’d like 🙂

P.S. The PIPEline Book of Remembrance makes a great companion to Freedom  & Simplicity in HisStory and PIPEline of HisStory.

Hymn Study

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For Hymn Study we love the living books by Douglas Bond in the Mr. Pipes series. There are currently 4 books in the series covering different time periods of hymn writers. The story is of 2 American children who go to England on vacation and meet an elderly church organist and hymn historian, who shares stories about hymn writers of old and the hymns they wrote. Besides reading and narrating these stories, we also copy and learn to sign the hymns, add them to our timelines, and do further research and writing on some of the authors and hymns.

The series is an ongoing story between Mr. Pipes and the children. But we didn’t start with the first book and we didn’t get lost. Obviously when we went back and read the first, it filled in some answers. But feel free to start where you like.

Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Writers is where the children first meet Mr. Pipes, so it is first even though it isn’t first in history chronology.
Mr. Pipes and Psalms and Hymns of the Reformation is next – this is where we started, because it was what we were studying in History.
Mr. Pipes Comes to America is next – we haven’t read it yet.
Mr. Pipes and the Accidental Voyage is the newest and about the Early Centuries of the Church – so the first in hymn chronology but last in story order.

We just got the new Accidental Voyage this week and my children are upset that we won’t be getting to it this year. I planned on just finishing the British one and taking a break for a while. They obviously really love them.

We also have and have used are 101 Hymn Stories.
I’ve seen and plan to get Hymns for a Kid’s Heart series by Joni Tada
too. See more about all these resources on our History: Music & Art webpage.

I just ran across a website yesterday that looks like it will be a good supplement for us. Songs and Hymns.org has information about the hymn itself, the lyric writer, the tune composer, (including pictures of many of them -which is how I stumbled upon this site, looking for pictures of the writers), Scripture the hymn is based on, the words and music to listen to and read, and a story about the writing of the hymn and a devotional about it. Their daily radio show, Adoration Songbook, can be heard on some radio stations or listened to online. It is 5 short episodes about the hymn of the week.

UPDATE: Here are a couple more links to websites we’ve used in our hymn studies. Timeless Truths and The Cyber Hymnal. And a couple of Psalms sites. Psalm Singing – we found it when looking for The Scottish Metrical Psalter, and a more recent find, Psalter.org.

 

Timeline Figures

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It’s been over a year since I’ve written anything about timelines, but I get asked alot about where to find timeline figures to go with my PIPEline of HisStory.

There are several options:

1) You can draw and write your own. A 3×5 index card cut in half works great. You can either just write the name and date or you can draw (and color) a picture of the person or event. You may want to draw a symbol of their contribution on the card, such as making a picture frame around artists, a treble clef with composers, a crown for government leaders, a cross for Christian leaders, etc. You can also cut them out in shapes if you’d like, either a basic “person” shape or a representative shape such as a crown for government leaders etc. If you choose to do shapes, you can reproduce the shape several times on a sheet of cardstock and copy/print to to have ready to write or draw on and cut out.

2) You can find free or cheap pictures to use. Some people buy old sets of encyclopedias to cut up. But now we have the internet! You could do your own searches, but that takes way too much time for me. I prefer to use  picture groups already put together from websites like Homeschooling with Notebooking. I’ve also found a few nice ones at Christian Hearts Homeschooling.

3) You can purchase sets of figures. We used to sell a timeline with pictures you color yourself. I just found it available online now – Drawing from the Past. Homeschool in the Woods produces the History through the Ages timeline figures you can color, but I’ve never used these.

Start by ordering the PIPEline of HisStory and get started creating your own unique timeline by any of the methods listed here.

 

History Lessons

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I am all for Simplicity. I also want my children to learn to think and reason Biblically and be able to recognize internal worldviews that drive external actions. Therefore we do a lot of reading and discussing together.

We are currently reading through a couple of books that have chapter long biographies of key figures God used in HisStory. They are: God’s Mighty Hand by Richard Wheeler from Mantle Ministries, and Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula.

After we read each chapter together as a family, I have one of the children orally narrate the story for us (or sometimes several of them narrate along the way). Narration sure beats typical tests in evaluating whether the child has been attentive to and understood what was read. After this re-telling, even the younger children should be able to understand the story, as it has been retold closer to their level.

Then we begin discussing the story, looking at key aspects and reasoning from the facts to the principles behind them. As we study these people we usually follow the format of a Key Individual sheet, looking at the influences in their life as well as their influences on others.

The first thing we look at is their history/background. This is pretty factual info. When and where did they live? What was it like? What was going on in the world and in their area? How was God preparing the world for their contribution?

Next we look at the influences in their life. What was their home life like? What role did church play? What education did they have? How did their friends, books, circumstances, and others influence them? We are having to start thinking about the facts we’ve read and reasoning from them.

Next we look at their character. This probably isn’t spelled out in the story. We will have to think about their attitudes, habits, disciplines, reputation, etc. to develop this area. This will take more thought and reasoning.

Last we look at their contribution to HisStory. Not only what did the person did, but again thinking it through. How did it serve, affect and influence others?

All these things can be easily discussed with children of all ages. Younger children will need more leading to reach conclusions, but that is what we are doing – teaching them to reason. Older children will be able to go into more depth. They can take these ideas we’ve discussed, do further research if desired, and write a composition on the person.

To close our study we add the person to our PIPEline of HisStory, both wall and notebook timelines.

For more on teaching HisStory, see our Freedom & Simplicity in HisStory guide.

Freedom & Simplicity™ in HisStory & PIPEline

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I cannot believe I didn’t post this here. I will get some testimonials up at my website later, when I get a few moments. This is a labor of my love of learning and teaching by Biblical principles.

My Freedom & Simplicity™ in HisStory guide has been completely revised and expanded. Also I have developed the PIPEline of HisStory™ pictorial timeline.
Click their names, if you are interested in learning more about them or ordering them.

The Freedom & Simplicity™ in HisStory guide is almost 100 pages on the foundations of history and how to teach by biblical principles. I’ve tried to include plenty of practical helps, and recommended resources.

The PIPEline is 10 pictures of the links of the PIPEline – that is, People, Ideas, Places, and Events, key reference points of God’s dealings with His people throughout time. (There are 2 optional links for those looking for something similar to the Chain of Christianity.) No work to make this one, just print it out and cut it out. You can see a list of my 10 links here:
PIPEline and a picture too.

 

History Lesson Planning

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Many people seem to get “lost” when transitioning from learning Biblical Principles education to teaching it. I hold to previous statements that GACE provides the best help in this. 🙂 Everything from seeing the Big Picture to how-to plan and teach lessons.

For those that don’t have GACE, or prefer to see a condensed version 🙂 I have posted on my website, my notes from GACE on teaching Elementary History by Ruth Smith.
GACE Elementary History

 

Timelines

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Timelines are a great visual resource for seeing how HisStory fits together. We have utilized many different types over our years of educating at home. Different types work best for different things. Here I’ll mention just a few that we are currently using – and one of of main timelines that we are NOT currently using.

Ruth Beechick says a Timeline should be easy enough to memorize, that is, your basic points of reference should be. These points of reference help you place everything else within a context. We call our points of reference the PIPEline of HisStory™.

A simplified PIPEline you could use for younger children and their Notebook divisions is: Creation (God-Adam), Covenant (Abraham-Moses), Cross (Jesus), Reformation (Reformers), Founding (Pilgrims), Forging (Patriots), Restoring (Me).

Our Expanded PIPEline (for older children) is: In the Beginning God/Creation, Adam/the Garden, Noah/the Rainbow, the Patriarchs/the Covenant, Moses/the Law, Daniel/Restoration, Jesus – God with us/the Center of HisStory, Paul/the Early Church, the Reformers/the Reformation, the Pilgrims/the New Land, the Patriots/One Nation Under God, Go Ye/Expansion, Me/Restoration, God/His Kingdom Come.

Because America is significant as the first Christian Republic, we also have a PIPEline for our One Nation Under God: Reserved/the Discovery, Founded/the Pilgrims and Self-Government, Forged/the Patriots Fight for Independence, Established/the Constitution, Expressed/the Westward Expansion, Eroded/the Falling Away, Restoring/Remembering and Returning.

[Update: see the links we use now in our PIPEline of HisStory™.

Our primary wall timeline has been down since we moved here (We were suppose to remodel the library first, but now 5 years later are just now doing it.) I look forward to putting it back up – but will probably do it a bit different. So, here’s what else we currently do.
1) I have a “board” timeline (corrugated poster type) that has our links on it. It is easy to pull out and will sit on our whiteboard tray, yet is big enough for all to see, and show where things are happening according to the PIPEline (chain). We don’t add to this one – just use it to illustrate.

2) but from showing on this one – we make our “Topical Timeline” which is one JUST on the study we are currently working on – i.e. currently Astronomy. It has the links listed down the left side, and the topical things are added down the right side, where they fit in. They show how what we are studying fits into the PIPEline. These are kept in their Notebooks, in the proper divider section. (For those that have Noah Plan materials, these are somewhat like the ones in the NP Curriculum Guides.) See more about this below***.

3) Our youth (teens) also make a Book of Time [now called PIPEline Book of Remembrance] which is a Notebook Timeline which integrates ALL the things from all the topics. It is roughly color coded to match the links on the PIPEline. (I designed it before giving much thought to the links, but it is close.)

Our old wall one pretty much matched the “Book” – but mainly the younger kids to added to. It was a huge “snake” winding across the wall with dates marked on it. The children added figures or 3×5 cards cut in half that have the dates and person/event/whatever on them.

In redesigning our wall timeline before putting it back up (when the library is finished,) I am considering just putting the PIPEline across the top of the wall, and then putting the people/events under the proper “link”, perhaps on ribbons hanging down from each link. [UPDATE: I did design the PIPEline for the wall, and individual additions are placed under each link on the wall.]

Another way we have tried, that may work for you:
3×5 cards and box – Use dividers for the PIPEline (or centuries) and file 3×5 cards with the dates and information in order behind the proper divider. This can be a problem if you have little ones that tend to dump your cards a lot. I had the same problem with the Side-Tracked Home Executives home management program years ago. I spent more time re-ordering my cards that had been dumped again than working.

Many people use a “Book of Centuries” – A Binder with 2-page spreads for each century on which students record events, names, pictures, quotes, whatever. They can also add “papers” about things that happened then- narrations, titles of books read, etc.

***Our PIPE Journal (Notebook) makes this unnecessary. And we believe the PIPEline is a better method than “centuries”. It sorts every thing by the “big picture” context, rather than just dates. It is important to know not just what was happening at the same time, but to see the big picture of the time period.

Our PIPE Journal (HisStory Notebook) is not just a timeline notebook, but it does put what we study into the context of the PIPEline. We have dividers according to the PIPEline (along with a few others, which I’ll explain in an “Our Notebooks” posts someday). In the beginning of the Notebook is our overall PIPEline, behind each divider is an overview of that link, then there are the “Topical Timelines” and individual Notebook pages that relate. It is not just information/facts, but also understanding (reasoning with ideas), and wisdom (the Biblical “big picture”).

 

Using Noah Plan Curriculum Guides

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The Noah Plan Curriculum Guides (NPCG) can be a great blessing to anyone wanting to teach by Biblical Principles. Even if you don’t plan to strictly follow the “Principle Approach” (PA), you will learn much that will be of great value to you.

The Noah Plan History & Geography Curriculum Guide is my favorite. I have spent much more time with it than the others. Also, history is the foundation for all studies (all “subjects” have a “history”) so it is a great place to start.

SOME PRACTICAL IDEAS for using NPCG – History —
I’d recommend reading the book through first. Not even worrying about taking notes – yet. Just read through, getting an idea of the “big picture” – the main gist of PA-style History. This will familiarize you (better) with the terms and components. [ My hesitantly given, not recommended, possibility: I suppose if someone is a really slow reader and has almost no time and is already somewhat familiar with NP and PA they could just very CAREFULLY, spending some time at it, go over the Table of Contents. BUT it will not produce the same effect.]

THEN go back to the beginning of the book, with paper and pen in hand and begin reading again – taking good notes, that make it make sense to you.

Chapter 1 – Skip the grade level curriculum charts for now!

Chapter 2 – Foundations for Teaching History will give you a good philosophy of History. Read it – 2-3 times before moving on, if you need to. Take good notes – or better yet, write a narration for each article, for which you’d probably have to go paragraph by paragraph – many times I just do this narration orally, in whatever I’m reading, to be sure I’ve understood. Then at the end of the chapter (several articles) try to write a summary of a Biblical philosophy of History in your own words, from your notes. This will prove very valuable to you when you go to teach your children the Biblical – Foundations of History. (This would be a great study for your Jr/Sr High student.)

Chapter 3 – Enlivening the History Curriculum will help you understand the components of PA history. Read it over until you have a good idea of what makes up a history course PA-style. They are: the Principles, the Leading Ideas (short explanations of both referenced to T&L*, and CHOC* for further understanding), the Chain of Christianity, and teaching History through Individuals – then, using primary sources, geography (as the “stage” for history), and enrichment methods (literature, arts, field trips, etc.). Get a good understanding of each component and why it is used (otherwise you won’t use it). Of course you can always CHOOSE not to use them, for your own purposes! It would be of great benefit to you if you would take each component and write an “informal essay” of it and its importance in the curriculum (for the ones you choose to include).

Chapter 4 – Teaching History will help you understand how to actually plan the lessons. (See how we’ve progressed from philosophy, to methodology, to now application?) This, I think for most people, is probably the hardest part to “catch” – the pulling it all together. This is where we need to be careful to not get caught up into bondage of “the letter of the law”. WHEN the first two parts are well internalized, this part should almost “flow”. The SPIRIT will come forth. This, of course, is where I do not believe a home needs to follow the pattern of a school. The HOME way is the “better” way, the institution has constraints that require it to not have the freedom that we do. Therefore, the school is in bondage to the “letter” much more so than the home. The lessons should flow in the lifestyle of the home. There still is much info in this chapter to help us learn – notebooking, 4 R-ing, distinctives of a PA lesson, the “art of learning”. Good things to internalize, so they can flow naturally, and not be “applied legalistically”.

This part does not make sense if the first 2 parts aren’t well understood and internalized. This frustrates parents, who feel the time-clock ticking away. They just want to teach history, and they can’t even understand how to plan a lesson. But most likely the frustration is there because they haven’t internalized, don’t have a good understanding of the philosophy and components. I’m not saying that every lesson idea will just spontaneously flow onto the paper – there’s more prep for that. I’m saying that HOW to plan a lesson will make sense.

OK —
NOW you can look at the grade level curriculum charts! They will make so much more sense now. Skim through the grade levels. You’ll notice many of the aspects are the same, grade to grade. Note the Principle Emphasized/area of history studied for each and look through the “set up” – scope and sequence. Note the progression through the grades.

Choose a “grade level” to study more closely.** Read through it carefully. Do you see how all the pieces come together? BUT you certainly don’t have to follow these curriculum charts. You now have all the tools to make your own! Well, to get a GREAT start on it anyhow. You can start teaching your children history the “PA way” now. Even if you don’t use these charts, they help you understand what a PA history course looks like.

WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE BOOK —
Chapters 5 and up take you into the Geography aspect. I wouldn’t even go there yet. Get the History internalized first. THEN, go for it – in the same way. It will “come together” much quicker once the history is internalized. The Geography will dovetail into your history, and there is much actual “teaching content” in the guide.

*NOTE: T&L = Teaching And Learning: America’s Christian History
CHOC = Christian History of the the Constitution: Volume 1

** NOTE: K really is a pretty good place to start, if you want to use these charts. It’s a good “foundation”. You can take it a little faster and move on, or integrate a couple of years together. Do you have young ones and older, teen aged ones? How about integrating K and 8?

 

Giving Thanks

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What are you doing on the computer, instead of spending time with your family? OK, perhaps like here, the guys are “bonding” in a quick round of golf and the kids are getting ready to go to Grandmas, so you’re just sneaking in a few moments.

I just wanted to send a quick note to encourage you all to, if you haven’t yet, spend a few minutes relating the Story of Thanksgiving to your children. Let them know this isn’t just turkey and football day. It isn’t a day of gorging themselves, or even just a day to be with relatives. It is a day set apart for expressing our thankfulness to God.

Tell them how the Pilgrims sought religious freedom to not only worship God as set forth in His Word, but to raise their children in an environment conducive to them developing their own rightful walk with the Lord – we must take a stand to follow God no matter where it leads and we must take our children there with us. How many lost their lives, but not their souls, in taking the risk to be trailblazers for those to come after (half of the people on the Mayflower died that first winter) – sometimes the costs are high to be the first one to do what is right, but someone must step out. How God’s provision came from the help of one “outside” (Squanto) – we can’t remain in the huddle of “us 4 and no more”; we must reach out to the world, to those different than us; perhaps God will use them as instrumental in our blessing. How they were thankful in lack as well as in plenty – whether we are abased or abound, God is there and to be praised. How in their preparations of their Feast, their own efforts proved “inadequate” (although God had brought a great harvest, their Feast would not provide for all the extra people that came,) but – God provides above and beyond what we can see, think, or even dream of. We must never trust in our own efforts but always trust in the One who alone is Trustworthy and Faithful.

Tell your children of a country founded on the belief and faith in Yahweh God the Creator and Redeemer, a country fought for and forged on those beliefs. Tell them how it was a President 240-some years later who proclaimed this memorial Feast day begun by those Pilgrims as a National annual Holiday. Tell them how we are Pilgrims sent by God to uphold His truth in this land that has largely forsaken Him.

Above all tell them to give thanks to the Lord for He is good. No matter what they feel they lack, they have so much to be thankful for. Give them each 5 kernals of corn, the daily provisions of the Pilgrims before that harvest came in, and tell them to “Count their blessings, name them one by one. Count their many blessings, see what God has done.” Give thanks to the Lord who satisfies your mouth with good things, as you enjoy the abundance He has provided for you today.

Give thanks to the Lord for the ability to educate our children at home without having to disobey man in order to obey God. Give thanks to our Lord for your husband, for each and every child He has blessed your union with, for extended family, for spiritual family, for friends and neighbors – for relationship is everything. People are the only thing that lasts forever. Cherish each of these and let them know today that you are thankful to God for them. Most of all for Salvation from our sin through the death and resurrection of His very own Son; for Reconciling us to Himself in the most awsome Relationship for Eternity. Halalu Yah!!! Praise Him!

 

HisStory

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We’ve talked about the younger children, now let’s move onto to an idea for our older children, ie. teens.

History is truly His Story, the story of God’s creation, mankind and his development or downfall as he lives out his time on earth, and of God’s Omniscient Sovereignty over all. To give the study of HisStory any meaning to our lives we must understand God’s purpose for, redemption of or judgement upon the people, ideas, places, and events we study. Without this underlying principle, History is, at best an interesting story that has no significance to me, and at worst nothing more than boring lists of names, dates, and places to memorize. Each chapter in HisStory is the ongoing saga of Dominion from Genesis to that place; it is the record of Covenant Keepers vs. Covenant Breakers.

Stories of Peoples and Places Past are what makes History interesting and memorable. But our older kids need more than just stories. They need some sort of framework of continuity and prevailing ideas of the Times. They need the background of the chain of Dominion.

Our Book of Time [update: now called PIPEline Book of Remembrance] will help the children put events into their relational time period, but it will take deeper study to reveal prevailing ideas and attitudes of a time period. For older children, I like to introduce topics with overview resources that not only introduce the facts but also the underlying principles. (For younger children, I generally just give a quick verbal overview of the Dominion leading up to the story. It is very important for THEM to know God’s Principles, too!)

Some overview resources we’ve enjoyed are:
History through the Eyes of Faith is an excellent short overview. How Should We Then Live? is a classic Christian Worldview of History. The tape series, What in the World’s Going on Here? is a narrative overview of history.

The overviews by themselves are NOT the study though. From there your child will go to the narratives and literature that bring HisStory alive. As your child documents these studies through Notebook Journaling he will gain a good understanding of God’s purpose in HisStory, and through that a greater understanding to the purpose of his own life as a part of God’s Story.

For complete instruction in how to conduct History studies with your children order our:
L.E.D. Lifestyle Curriculum Guide – Freedom and Simplicity in HisStory
For a timeline Document of your child’s HisStory study order our:
PIPEline Book of Remembrance.

[Other HisStory resources by us and much more recommended by us]