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

So much of what we know about Ancient History comes from our understanding of archaeology. So, we always dig into archaeology when we study Ancient History. 

However, Archaeology is a blast to study by itself! 

My favorite thing is to learn about archaeological sites that are mentioned in the Bible. Archaeologists have uncovered ancient cities like Shiloh, Niveveh, Ur, Shechem, Joppa, Ephesus, and Dan. There is so much to learn about discoveries and how they confirm the biblical record. 

When we study archaeology, we talk about tells, dig sites, and tools used to unearth artifacts. We have enjoyed creating our own dig site and unearthing treasures. First, we create artifacts from different civilizations. We dig a large hole and layer the artifacts from oldest to newest. You can learn all about our archaeological digs in Let's Have Our Own Archaeological Dig. 

Our favorite archaeologist: David Down. He is amazing and we have read his books and watched his videos over and over. 

Anyway, I am sharing our family's favorite archaeology resources below. Please share your favorites in the comments. 

Until next time, Happy Homeschooling! 
​Meredith Curtis 

The Archaeology Book By David Down is a great read aloud for the whole family fully of glossy photographs and all kinds of neat information. This is a book we go back to over and over. This covers the basics of archaeology from a Christian worldview. 

Our family loves ancient history. We like to learn about Creation and the early years before the flood. We enjoy learning about Sumer, Ancient Israel, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Ancient Egypt, Crete, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome. 

Over the years, we have discovered some amazing resources that make learning ancient history fun and meaningful. 

We've also discovered some amazing, and some very funny, historians like Dave Stotts, Diana Waring, Linda Hobar, and Don Landis. The have enlivened our studies of ancient history. 

I'd like to share those resources with you. 

We found some incredible books, audios, DVDs, and living textbooks. 

We also created some of our own resources slowly over time. We created a timeline, timeline figures, cookbooks, and enjoyed several archaeology digs. 

Well, here are are favorite ancient history resources. I highly recommend them for your homeschool. 

Please share your favorite Ancient History Resources in the comments below. 

Until next time, Happy Homeschooling, 
​Meredith Curtis

We started listening to Diana Waring when my oldest children were in elementary. We loved her! She is funny, loves Jesus, and truly makes history come alive. What in the World? I: Ancient Civilizations & The Bible comes with four Audios on CD and takes you from Creation to the time of Jesus. I have listened to these CDs so many times and never grow tired of learning more about world history from someone who truly loves history! 

?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...

We love to watch movies while we work on our timelines in our house. So, when we decided to study the 20th Century for a year, the first thing we did was look for movies. 
​
​There are so many good movies to choose from. It was hard to narrow it down. 

We looked at ​HIS Story of the 20th Century​ to choose movies that would dovetail nicely with the material covered in each decade. 

The great thing about movies is that they bring another place and time alive for the whole family. We can enjoy Prince Edward Island with Anne or experience the danger of World War I with Sergeant York. We can cheer Eric Liddell on in Chariots of Fire and hope racial tensions will be overcome in Remember the Titans. 

When it comes to World War II movies, there are so many to choose from. Over the years, we have watched so many good movies about World War II. I just couldn't include them all. 

​Anyway, here are the movies we chose. 

​​Tap the picture to learn more about each movie. 

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. 

We are studying American history this year in homeschool co-op. 

The week we learned about Jamestown, we decided to build the settlement out of pretzels and cereal. 

Would you like to see what we did? 

I will take you step by step through our process. 

But first, true confessions. Our fort walls looked awesome but they didn't stand up on their own. Next time, Laura and I decided that we will bake a dense cake to stick the fort walls into so that we have a nice sturdy perimeter. 

Aside from that, everything was perfect. We had such a great time creating the buildings and the fort. 

We used pretzel sticks to make the log buildings, pretzel logs to make the walls, cheese crackers for windows and doors, and frosted mini-wheats for the ceilings. We used royal icing for glue, making everything edible.

Ready for a whirlwind tour? Here we go. 

Remember that history can we fun! We certainly experienced that fun making our edible Jamestown fort. 

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. 

I thought I'd have to rent a pickup and drive out into the Texas desert to see the Alamo. But no. The little Spanish mission was surrounded by big city buildings. The Alamo is smack dab in the middle of San Antonio, Texas. 

Shine and I were in Texas for a Christian Film Festival and we had a day to sightsee. We both decided to spend the morning at the Alamo and lunch at a restaurant on the San Antonio River Walk. 

Though we arrived at the Alamo early in the morning before 8 a.m., there was already a long line of visitors who wanted to explore the eighteenth century Spanish fort and museum. 

It was an emotional experience for both of us, visiting the church and touring the grounds. We were amazed by the bravery of those soldiers who defended the fort down to the very end and saddened by the young lives that were lost: Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Travis. So many brave men and women, so many heroic tales. 

The Alamo is not only the setting of an inspirational story from the past, it is also a lovely little church with gardens. It is a beautiful example of Spanish mission architecture.

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​