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]
