Opportunity for Critical Thinking
We are almost through Unit 1 of the Good and the Beautiful History Year 1 now, which focuses on ancient history: Egypt and Abraham through Moses.
I put science on the backburner and decided to focus on History every day, and then once finished a unit, we will switch over to a unit of Science. Everyone in my family seems to like to change things up every now and again, and I have already felt our studies are more fluent and consistent when we are only focusing on history rather than trying to both science and history. This kind of schedule actually works really well, as the units aren't overly long. Between 14-16 lessons. So if you are working on history or science four times a week, you can complete one a month.
After reading many different reviews on The Good and the Beautiful and previewing it myself, it doesn't bother me so much that it has been written by a mormon. Doctrine is not the program's focus, instead, we are discussing biblical character qualities. As well, we could be using a secular program if we are doing distance learning, or enrolled in a public system. Rather than shielding my children from every possible chance of being exposed to other worldviews and belief systems, we are using opportunities to discuss how we can discover the truth when faced with something that sounds false.
How do we know if something sounds false? By knowing the truth.
My oldest daughter and I just recently finished watching the Truth Project in our weekly small group my husband and I host. This was a fantastic time of digging into what the Bible (our ultimate guide measuring tool for knowing what's true) has to say about topics we're faced with in our daily lives.
This week, in our history studies, we came to the account of Jacob's son, Joseph. The Good and the Beautiful used this story to highlight character qualities such as integrity, long-suffering, patience, and forgiveness. I love that! We can certainly learn those lessons from reading about Joseph's experience of being wrongfully sold to Egypt, thrown into prison after he did nothing, and how he forgave his brothers. Included on the Grades 4-6 Student Explorer assignment for this lesson was a quote by a man named Joseph B. Wirthlin. Before giving the children their assignments, I read over the quote and decided I would remove it from their pages. However, I didn't keep it from them altogether. This was actually an opportunity to do some truth digging. To challenge my kids to think critically about what their read or hear.
After reading it one time, I asked for their thoughts. Immediately my oldest daughter said she felt the author believed Joseph to be perfect. And we know from Scripture that all men are born sinners. Nobody is righteous.
While we can certainly learn godly character qualities from heroes of the faith in the Bible, we cannot forget that they were human beings, just like us, fallen and requiring forgiveness for their sin against God as well.
The other change I made in this particular lesson in the curriculum was the actual reading of the story of Joseph. This is included in the Big Book of History Stories in the curriculum. But after a quick skim, I decided we would listen to the audible version from the Action Bible instead.
All that explained.... I am happy to move on with this curriculum, making it work for our family according to the truth we know from God's Word.
Once again, a choice from the bestseller list. I don't think I've ever read anything in the "thriller" genre.... but this was another recommendation from the Modern Mrs. Darcy. And it came available from my library first.
I put science on the backburner and decided to focus on History every day, and then once finished a unit, we will switch over to a unit of Science. Everyone in my family seems to like to change things up every now and again, and I have already felt our studies are more fluent and consistent when we are only focusing on history rather than trying to both science and history. This kind of schedule actually works really well, as the units aren't overly long. Between 14-16 lessons. So if you are working on history or science four times a week, you can complete one a month.After reading many different reviews on The Good and the Beautiful and previewing it myself, it doesn't bother me so much that it has been written by a mormon. Doctrine is not the program's focus, instead, we are discussing biblical character qualities. As well, we could be using a secular program if we are doing distance learning, or enrolled in a public system. Rather than shielding my children from every possible chance of being exposed to other worldviews and belief systems, we are using opportunities to discuss how we can discover the truth when faced with something that sounds false.
How do we know if something sounds false? By knowing the truth.
My oldest daughter and I just recently finished watching the Truth Project in our weekly small group my husband and I host. This was a fantastic time of digging into what the Bible (our ultimate guide measuring tool for knowing what's true) has to say about topics we're faced with in our daily lives.
This week, in our history studies, we came to the account of Jacob's son, Joseph. The Good and the Beautiful used this story to highlight character qualities such as integrity, long-suffering, patience, and forgiveness. I love that! We can certainly learn those lessons from reading about Joseph's experience of being wrongfully sold to Egypt, thrown into prison after he did nothing, and how he forgave his brothers. Included on the Grades 4-6 Student Explorer assignment for this lesson was a quote by a man named Joseph B. Wirthlin. Before giving the children their assignments, I read over the quote and decided I would remove it from their pages. However, I didn't keep it from them altogether. This was actually an opportunity to do some truth digging. To challenge my kids to think critically about what their read or hear.
"Joseph, the son of Jacob, was a model of integrity . . . He did what was right and good; he was trustworthy and incorruptible, self-disciplined never to violate a trust. Because of his integrity and righteousness, Joseph was favored and blessed of the Lord in every circumstance. His life is evidence that “all things work together for good to [those who] love God.” (Rom. 8:28.) The Lord expects us to live lives of integrity and to be obedient to his commandments. A little lying, a little cheating, or taking a little unfair advantage are not acceptable to the Lord."On the surface, perhaps this quote seems harmless. Perhaps even, it is. However, after we were finished with our assignments (minus the above quote), I explained to the kids that I wanted to read them something, and I wanted their opinions on it. Yes, I mentioned to them I had some problems with it, so in a way, they were prepared to know they were going to be fed something in which could be a mistake.
(Joseph B. Wirthlin, CR, April 1990)
After reading it one time, I asked for their thoughts. Immediately my oldest daughter said she felt the author believed Joseph to be perfect. And we know from Scripture that all men are born sinners. Nobody is righteous.
10 As it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless;there is no one who does good, not even one.”[a]Romans 3:10-12 NIV
While we can certainly learn godly character qualities from heroes of the faith in the Bible, we cannot forget that they were human beings, just like us, fallen and requiring forgiveness for their sin against God as well.
The other change I made in this particular lesson in the curriculum was the actual reading of the story of Joseph. This is included in the Big Book of History Stories in the curriculum. But after a quick skim, I decided we would listen to the audible version from the Action Bible instead.All that explained.... I am happy to move on with this curriculum, making it work for our family according to the truth we know from God's Word.
On My Side Table
Once again, a choice from the bestseller list. I don't think I've ever read anything in the "thriller" genre.... but this was another recommendation from the Modern Mrs. Darcy. And it came available from my library first.
Comments
Post a Comment