The Mystery of History Unfolding

Did you know that what you are seeing in the picture is a representation of the Tower of Babel crafted by Andrew? Alora's appears as the bottom of the article. Aren't these cool? When Joey and I began our search for History curriculum to use in our home school we originally picked out something different than what we actually chose in the end. I had researched curriculum many nights sometimes into the wee hours trying to find just the right thing for my kiddos and for myself. Joey and I attended a homeschool conference in Birmingham, Alabama and stumbled across a small bookstore in the curriculum fair. The Faithful Bookshop was its name and their advertised history curriculum was Veritas Press. The sales people were extremely informed about their product and we must have spent an hour discussing the curriculum. I was hooked and was totally convinced this was the history for us. Our entire family loves this classical curriculum that takes a chronological and hands on approach. It is biblically integrated and we are lovin' it. God's design and plan has unfolded before our eyes as we started from the beginning with creation. We are now learning about the unification of upper and lower Egypt by Pharoah Menes. This year in history we will continue looking at Egypt and learn 32 of the most important events that shaped our history from creation to the fall of Egypt to Rome. It is very fascinating! The article below is from Veritas Press' website about their material for all of those who want to check it out.

An excerpt taken from Veritas Press:


IT ALL STARTED WITH A BOOK

After reading Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Douglas Wilson we decided to start a Christian Classical School. Following the consideration of many history texts we were convinced that we wanted to teach history chronologically, integrating biblically recorded history with events not recorded in history. So we created a history card program that integrated the best books available on the topics discussed in the cards. Our commitment to providing christian educators in the home and school setting with quality tools for a quality education led us to develop a full curriculum company. We put together a modest catalog three years ago and have been pleasantly overwhelmed at its reception ever since. We continue now, more than ever, diligently creating new teaching materials and hunting out the best products of other companies to provide the most excellent overall christian classical curriculum.

RAISING THE BAR

The American education system is in a shambles with a cacophony of voices saying we must do this or we must do that. “Repairing the Ruins” that have been made of the great godly and educational heritage that once prevailed will require parents, first and foremost, to reassume and reassert that they and only they have the responsibility for the education of their children. In Ancient Rome failing to do so was a serious crime. Today, such thinking is foreign. We routinely hear that the pace and content of our curriculum are exceptionally demanding. In fact, many have as their first reaction the question whether children are capable of doing or reading at the levels advised herein. Experience tells us several things. First, we must be careful not to set our standards by organizations we have left--the government schools. Neither keeping pace with them nor slightly exceeding them while spending less time doing so is an appropriate measure of our success. Secondly, we can learn much from history, specifically that children did study and learn at levels comparable with what we now expect of them. With history as a teacher, we see that our pace is not a new one but rather a recovery of an old one. Third, and maybe most important, when children are challenged and succeed, they love it.