It is an honor to write a review of Douglas MacArthur: What Greater Honor by Geoff & Janet Benge from Benge Books. Like all of their other amazing biographies this couple has written, it is full of historical fact and inspirational wisdom. This book is a perfect addition to my homeschool. 

General MacArthur has always been a hero to me in a vague sort of way. I admired his "I'll be back!" when he was forced to leave the Philippines and he kept his word. I liked the way he handled the Korean War until he was let go suddenly by President Truman. 

However, to be honest, I didn't know much about his life, his values, and his families. That has all changed!

Douglas' parents were born on opposite sides of the War between the States. His father Arthur MacArthur was a highly decorated military man who had been thrilled to meet Abraham Lincoln when he was a young man. His mother Pinky idolized Robert E. Lee and reminded him every night, "You must grow up to be a great man like Robert E. Lee." Interesting that God brought his parents together from opposite sides of the Civil War. I think that gave General MacArthur an ability to see both sides of issues in a clear, calm way. 

​​Douglas grew up in the late 1800s riding horses, moving place to place wherever his father was stationed, and eventually ending up at West Point. His momma moved to be close to him for the four years he attended West Point and when he graduated, he left the podium to embrace both his mother and father. His love for his parents was deep and demonstrated by the inner call he felt to live up to the heritage his father had left him. 

I was fascinated by his love and concern for the people around him throughout his life. He had tremendous wisdom, especially in dealing with the Japanese people when he occupied Japan. He was truly a man who lived honorable in peace and war. 

When I finished the book, I realized that I had not just learned about Douglas MacArthur, but so much more about World War I, World War II, and the Japanese occupation than I even imagined. As a history lover, that is so exciting to me! 

One of the reasons I homeschool is to teach  my children from a Christian worldview. 

What does it mean to homeschooling from a Christian Worldview?

It means imparting life to my children, teaching them truth, and introducing them to the life-changing person of Jesus Christ. It means fulfilling the Great Commission by raising children who love Jesus with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

A Christian worldview acknowledges that there is a God who is involved in the affairs of mankind, that the Bible is true and speaks to all of life. We know that people live in a fallen state, they are not basically good, they need to be rescued from their sin. We know that the Lord intervenes in people's lives in answer to prayer or to fulfill His divine purpose for a person or a nation. 

Here are the ways I educate my children from a Christian worldview. I give them a biblical foundation, inspiring them to fulfill the Creation Mandate and Great Commission, using curricula that is written from a Christian worldview, and surrendering to Jesus. 

Biblical Foundation

A Christian worldview is based on the Word of God as it applies to all of life, including theology, philosophy, sociology, ethics, law, government, history, pyschology, economics, politics, family, child rearing, education. careers, medicine, health care, and relationships. 

We make the Bible the foundation for education in our home.

We read, study, and memorize Scripture so that the Word is living in our children’s hearts and lives. We obey the Word of God.

When it comes to conflict resolution, we follow Jesus’ plan in Matthew 18 to work in out between two and bring in a third person (parent) if it can’t be worked out.

Our children honor us as parents and respect our authority so that it will go well with them according to Ephesians 6:1-4.

The bottom line is that we use God’s Word as the measuring stick. If something doesn’t line up with Scripture, it is tossed out. The Bible is the standard of truth.

Creation Mandate

?fter 4 daughters, I had every book a girl could dream of. But, what about my son? I had to find books he would love. 

In my quest to introduce Jimmy to great books full of adventure, along with wholesomeness and Christian inspiration, I found R.M. Ballantyne. 

A Christian author on a quest to enchant and inspire children with amazing adventures, Robert Michael Ballantyne books are thrilling. My son loved them and I think yours will, too. 

Robert Michael Ballantyne was born in Edinburgh into a family of famous printers and publishers. At 16, he traveled to Canada to serve for six years with the Hudson's Bay Company, returning to to Scotland in 1847. During his time in Canada, he traded with the local Native Americans for furs, which required him to travel by canoe and sleigh to the areas occupied by the modern-day provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. He published his first book in 1848, Hudson's Bay: or Life in the Wilds of North America. He wrote a series of adventure stories for children with a strong Christian message.

Homeschooling Moms, they also contain tons of history, geography, and science information. 

In 1866, Robert married Jane Grant. God blessed them with 3 sons and 3 daughters. This father of six has left a legacy of adventure books for boys, though girls will enjoy them, too!

Home School in the Woods is one of my favorite go-to places for history fun! I was so excited to review Project Passport World History Studies: Middle Ages, a digital product that comes with hours and hours of learning fun!

Since I had done another Project Passport (you can read my review of Project Passport World History Studies: Renaissance and Reformation here), I knew what to expect. 

We made our scrapbook, started the luggage folder, and put our Scrapbook of sights together to fill later. That's how I will start all the Passport Projects we do in the future too. It just helps me to feel organized and ready to work. 

I always like to start with reading a few good books aloud. Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle and A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by by EL Konigsburg would be perfect to read aloud while we worked on the project. 

Since this is a digital product, we printed what we needed and read lots of information right on the laptop. 

While we listened to the audios, we did all our coloring projects. After we listened to the audio, we worked on creative writing projects, played games, and put projects together. This routine worked really well for us. 

​Let me give you an example. 

Stop #4 is Called Everyday Life--The Family
We learn about Feudalism in the Text Stop #4
We listen to the Audio Tour: "Interview Among the Classes
While we listened to the audios we colored for our project
After listening, we wrote up 2 newspaper articles: "Arranged Marriage Announcements" and "A New Castle is Erected" 
We also put the Medieval Structure of Classes together

The whole thing took us about an hour. 

What I love best about this Passport Project: 

• It goes beyond the basics of the Middle Ages to things I consider very important like classical education, trades, pilgrimages, icon art, mystery plays, Gregorian chants, monasteries, panel painting, Alfred the Great, tapestries, Battle of Hastings, the Magna Charta, and cathedrals
• Making the Robin Hood Cap and Wreath/Dressing Medieval
• Building a Castle out of Sugar Cubes
• The Little Jousting Paper Game
• The Trade Goods Activity so we could learn who traded what 
• Stained Glass Art Activity
• Creating an Illumination Activity
• Making a Catapult
• Journey thru the Middle Ages Game
• Stop #19

Stop #19 is my favorite stop with the Code of Chivalry, Steps from being a Page to a Knight project, and making a Coat of Arms. Hey, I'm just a romantic at heart. Knights, castles, fair maidens, dragon slayers...

Worldview is the set of ideas, values, and presuppositions through which you view the world.

What?

Well, it’s like putting on a pair of sunglasses that color everything you see.

What kind of sunglasses do you wear?

Everyone in the world wears a pair of sunglasses through which they view life, people, and ideas.

Many people collect little pieces of their worldview over time through parents, school, movies, and friends.

Biblical Worldview

A Christian worldview is based on the Bible. The Bible reveals God’s heart and thoughts—the way He views the world. A wise person will try to line up his worldview with what the Bible has to say.

Sometimes Christians don’t realize that their worldview is based more on secular ideas and morality instead of the Bible.

The Bible speaks to all of life. The Bible speaks to every subject. 

Theology/ Who is God?

What do you believe about God? 

Let me share with you what the Bible has to say. 
​
God Is. He exists. He has always existed. God is One and exists in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God created everything that exists, seen and unseen, out of nothing. He spoke and it came to be. He is personally involved in His creation. His creation is accountable to Him. God is Holy. God is Love.

Life is more than what we can see in the natural world. There is a supernatural realm that is unseen. Angels and demons wage war in that supernatural realm. Christians are seated with Christ in this heavenly realm.

We please God with faith. We access grace through faith. Faith is a gift from God.

Ethics/Morality

"Let's see subs, tunnels..." I began.

"You mean trenches," Jimmy interrupted.

"Yes, trenchs. Let's do subs and a trench sundae for lunch," I decided. That would be fun!

​We were studying World War I, as part of our ​HIS Story of the 20th Century ​world history course.

I didn't think the kids would enjoying eating rations, so we decided to be symbolic.

We would eat subs because submarines, or subs, played a big part in World War I. Remember the sinking of the Lusitania? 

​The kids loved the subs, but the real hit was the Trench Sundae!

Would you like to make your own Trench Sundae?

​Here's how we did it!

The Puritans wanted to purify their nation's church, the Anglican Church, or Church of England. 

To the Puritans of the 17th Century, the new Church of England was too much like the Roman Catholic Church they had broken away from during the Reformation. They also saw corruption in the leadership and immoral living. To the Puritans, obedience to the Lord Jesus was the most important thing. Their ideas of freedom would fuel the independent spirit and love of liberty in America. 

​John Winthrop (1588-1649), a devoted Puritan, left England in 1630 to create a godly commonwealth in the New World. John had a beautiful vision of a colony completely centered around Jesus and His Word, a City on a Hill.
 
A wealthy Puritan lawyer, he was creative in his financing and founding of the colony. First of all, the New England Company was granted land between the Charles and Merrimack Rivers. A year later, this company received a royal charter and a name change: Massachusetts Bay Company. The group of Puritans who were moving to the New World became stockholders and bought up all the stock. You had to be going to the New World to own stock. So the Massachusetts Bay Colony was the only colony in the New World that was not subject to a board of trustees or governors back in England. Isn’t that neat? In 1630, John led a group of settlers to the mouth of the Charles River—Boston was born!

Before boarding the ships, Puritan Pastor John Cotton preached to the departing folks. His sermon, "God's Promise to His Plantation," urged the departing Puritans to be a shining light in the New World, preach the Gospel to the Native Americans, obey the Lord, make the Lord their strong tower, and enjoy the blessings of God who has sovereignly led them to settle in a new land. 

Eleven ships sailed from England with their flagship Arabella in the lead. These ships carried almost 1,000 Puritans along with livestock, possessions, supplies, and food. 

The pilgrims gave us Thanksgiving and the Mayflower Compact. That in itself is enough, but they also modeled for us courage to stand on our convictions, no matter the price. Risking life and limb, they traveled to the New World and, as they say, the rest is history. Did you know that the pilgrims on the Mayflower were actually a local church from Scrooby, England?

I am writing this in November with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Planning Thanksgiving menus, trying out some new recipes, and pulling out the special Thanksgiving tablecloth are all things that will happen this week. It's the time of year where everyone talks about pilgrims. 

Most people don't even know who the pilgrims are and some people think that know who they are, but have their facts confused. 

I thought it would be fun to talk about the pilgrims today. Maybe you have never heard their whole story.  I hope I will whet your appetite today to learn more about the pilgrims. 

In 1517, when Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis on the Whittenburg Door, the truth of salvation by grace through faith, not works, was rediscovered. The Reformation had begun! These old truths spread like wildfire through northern Europe and made their way to England. As some people studied the Word of God now available to read in English, they felt conviction to worship God in a more simple way, to elect their church leaders, and to live a simple, pure life. This group of people were know as Separatists because they felt they could not worship in the Church of England because of the pomp, ceremony, and fallen lifestyle of some of the church leaders and members so they separated. They formed their own congregation, meeting in Scrooby Manor, the home of William Brewster. 

Captain John Smith looked dashing in a white shirt, maroon tunic, and purple cape. Pocahontas was lovely herself in a deer skin dress. Okay, it wasn't real deer skin. 

It was American History Homeschool Co-op day. We had finished reviewing the Renaissance and Reformation. We had finished learning about the Native Americans and the Spanish explorers. Now, it is was time to learn about Jamestown. 

We decided to add some drama to the day by acting out the story of Princess Pocahontas saving Captain John Smith's life. 

The week before, we had made Native American vests and headdresses. The children put them on to become members of Powhatan's tribe. 

​The director, homeschool Mom Molly, read up on the story an reminded the children of the story before they started planning the drama. 

What is great way to eat popcorn, curl up with a pillow, and do school at the same time? 

Right! 

Watch a movie. Movies can enrich our homeschooling experience! Movies are fun! 

Our first experience with using movies for school was Gidget Goes Hawaiian when we did a unit study on Hawaii. Since then, we have expanded to including monthly movies for history and geography. 

Different scenes come to my mind from movies I've seen over the years. My idea of the Sahara desert comes from watching movies where the hero is trekking across the Sahara. The image I have of a Middle Eastern Bazaar comes from watching Indiana Jones. So many movies I've seen are set in New York City that I feel like I know that city though I've only been there three times in my life. Likewise, the Anne movies make me feel that Prince Edward Island is my second home. Movies draw you in and if they do a good job of making ancient, or more modern times, come alive, they will benefit your children. ​

In our house, we often start our study of a time period by working on a timeline while we watch a movie. When we studied the 20th Century decade by decade, we would work on a timeline and watch a movie.

As we pasted photos of President Wilson, Russia's Stalin, and Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm, we watched the exciting story of Sergeant York, a godly hero of World War I. Our next step was to learn about the Balkans, the step-by-step unfolding of World War I, the War to End All Wars, heroes like Nurse Cavell, and dog fighting.  For us, it's been a fun way to introduce a new season of study. 

Other times, we have used movies as a treat when we finish a unit study. 

Whether we watch movies in the beginning, middle, or end of a history study, movies are a hit in our house! 

Here are some of our favorites. 

Pike's Peak is one tall mountain! 

My daughter Julianna was taking a semester off work to attend Ellerslie, a Bible college out in Colorado. I decided to fly out with her a few days early so we could see a little of Colorado. 

"Let's go to Pike's Peak!" she suggested. 

"Hiking?" I asked, shuddering inside. People do hike up and down Pike's Peak, you know. 

"No, not hiking," she laughed. "They have a little railroad." 

Little railroad, as in tiny railroad, tiny tracks, and big tall mountain? 

I was nervous, so I went online to research and discovered: 

• The Mountain is Over 14,000 Feet Above Sea Level
• It is Located in Pike's National Forest, West of Colorado Springs
• Was Named about Zebulon Montgomery Pike who Explored the Southwest United States
• When Gold Was Discovered in Denver, it was called Pike's Peak
• The Denver Gold Rush's Slogan was "Pike's Peak or Bust!"
• In 1893, Katharine Lee Bates wrote the poem "America the Beautiful from a Summit near the Top of Pike's Peak
• You can see Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wyoming from the Top
• You Can Bike, Hike, Drive, or Ride the Cogs Railroad to the Top​

The 20th Century is an exciting time in history to study! As a family, we decided to dig in and learn about this fabulous century and we had a blast doing it!

At the Turn of the Century, the automobile was brand-new and man was learning to fly a simple plane. By the end of the century man had stepped on the moon and had stations in space. 

So many new inventions changed life as we know it: insulin, rockets, radar, lasers, GPS, computers, plastic, and vaccinations are just a few. Can you imagine life with out plastic?

Most people lived on farms in the early 1900s, but by the end of the century, most people lived in cities and there were hundreds of cities around the world with over 1 million people in them. 

At the beginning of the century, vast empires ruled over large portions of the world including the Ottoman Empire, Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Russia, British Empire, and the Dutch Empire. After World War I, two of those empires fell and many new nations were created like Poland, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Estonia, and Finland.  The Middle East, once part of the Ottoman Empire, was divided into territories and later into nations: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine (later divided into Jordan and Israel). So many changes. 

There are so many exciting people to learn about from political leaders like Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill to authors like G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis, from missionaries like Gladys Aylward and Jim Elliot to heroes like Douglas MacArthur and Edith Cavell, and from businessmen like Henry Ford and Sam Walton to athletes like Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson. 

When we decided to study 20th Century World History, I went searching for the stories. You can read those stories all together in HIS Story of the 20th Century. But, we didn't want to stop with the stories, we wanted to dig into the culture of the 20th Century.  

"So what differences do you notice in these TV shows?" I asked my children. 

We had just watch six TV shows back to back: Make Room for Daddy, Leave it to Beaver, Dick Van Dyke, Brady Bunch, Family Ties, and Home Improvement. 

"In the older shows, they were so polite to each other, but as time went on they became rude to each other." 

I was shocked. I was expecting them to notice rebellion to parents or fashion or hair styles. Out of the mouth of babes. 

We were studying the 20th Century and watching TV shows back to back from different decades in chronological order as our history lab for the week. 

While I wanted to show something to the children, I learned a valuable lesson myself: TV shows can be a great way to travel back in time in history class! 

Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy made their debut in 1915 and three years later starred in their own book. Created to look like an old-fashioned rag doll, the toy was an instant success, a reminder of the good old days when the world was turned upside-down by World War I. 

Barbie was introduced to the world in 1959, named after the daughter of Ruth and Elliot Handler. She was tall and glamorous, fascinating little girls' hearts everywhere who bought clothes, houses, and campers. Ken, named about Ruth's son, joined Barbie in 1961. I remember playing Barbies with the neighborhood girls in the 1960's. 

When we studied the 20th Century, we played with Raggedy Ann during our 1910's study and Barbie and Ken for the 1960's. For boys, G.I. Joe Action Figures were marketed in 1964. I often used friend's brother's G.I. Joe as an extra Ken doll. G.I. Joe is a soldier with very cool weapons and vehicles. Boys love to play with them, but don't call them dolls--they are action figures.

One thing that's fun with Barbie dolls is to see how fashions changed during the second half of the 20th Century. 

Even today, 100 years later, you can still purchase Raggedy Ann dolls and Barbies for little girls. 

Dolls go all the way back to the beginning of history. Adam probably made dolls for his daughters. Paddle Dolls were found in Ancient Egypt archaeological digs. The Ancient Romans used clay, wood, ivory, or rags to create dolls for their children to play with. 

Pioneers and Native Americans made dolls from dried apples or corn husks. During the nineteenth century porcelain dolls became popular. Paper dolls made a comeback too in the Victorian Age. Paper dolls have been popular at various times in history.

In our house we believe history should be fun! 

One way we love to learn about the past is by playing games together. Historical games, that is. 

Chess is a great way to learn about the Middle Ages. The knights role in the game of chess is to protect the more important pieces on the board like the king and queen. That's the way it was in the Middle Ages. Back in the days of knights and castles, the knights protected royalty and high church officials. 

How many of you remember a beloved Teddy Bear from your childhood? What's the history behind the cuddly stuffed animal? Well, it all started back in the first decade of the 20th Century. President Teddy Roosevelt was out hunting and happened upon a cute bear cub which he refused to shoot. It was a popular story at the time! Everyone loved that bold, courageous Teddy Roosevelt refused to kill a little bear. Soon, there were little Teddy's Bear Cubs being sold to children. We know them today as teddy bears. 

The game we call checkers ("Draughts" in Europe) can be traced all the way back to the Fertile Crescent in Ur where archaeologists unearthed a similar game in one of their digs. Of course, we play checkers when we are studying American history, too.