How Our Programs are Structured & How the Different Parts of the Programs Relate to Each Other
Each of our basic programs has several different aspects: history or science books, pleasure reading, activities, research resources, Bible study, additional resource suggestions, map work, timeline building, and notebooking. We have incorporated all of these aspects so that there are plenty of learning avenues for the different learning styles your family represents. The variety means there is plenty to do, and some to discard if it is not working for you. So how do they relate to each other?
Living History or Science Books form the backbone of the program. They are living, wonderful books that share the things your student needs to know in an interesting, engaging way. All of our books are chosen because they will capture your student’s interest and get them thinking and interacting as you read them together.
Discussion & Interaction are key to our programs. We encourage not only Charlotte Mason’s “narration” (where students discuss and tell you back what they learned) but we also encourage full discussions and lively relational learning. There are so many opportunities for learning when good questions lead to more discussion and more good questions!
Adventure Reading Books are optional pleasure books that are read aloud as a family. Ideal for any family time, they will draw your student into real-life adventures or fictional journeys and help cement the things they are learning in their history or science studies.
Activity Ideas are included to help your family make memories. Each program has books devoted to bringing you activity ideas, while some have kits or art books that also help along the fun! Many activities require supplies that would be found in any well-stocked homeschool art cupboard, and recommendations are made to guide you toward the activities that bring you the most fun for the least amount of preparation. Additional ideas are included in your guidebook, too!
Research Resources become more common in levels designed for older students. One of our goals is to teach your student to make educated guesses, use research tools, make judgments and summarize important facts. As your student progresses to higher grades, they will be able to formulate answers to the open-ended questions they’ll find in college classes, analyze ideas and philosophies, and take and defend a position on important issues.
Bible Study Resources build Bible knowledge in lower grades, add memorization and application in the middle grades, and get students researching Biblical history and geography in high school.
Additional Resources Suggestions pull together other reinforcement tools in your guidebook. These include DVD suggestions, website links, field trip suggestions, and a variety of other media reinforcement. From listening to the Rebel Yell to taking a tour of the Seven Wonders of the World — your student will have the globe at his fingertips.
Map Work gets students’ fingers trotting all over the world. Lists of places to locate are sprinkled through books and resources scheduled for you.
Timeline Building helps your student grasp how time and human history are woven together, how pivotal events changed the world, and how one happening, discovery, or development led to a change in history or the human experience. We offer timeline figures in each of our history programs and timeline dates suggestions in each of our guidebooks. These figures and other dates are designed to be placed in our “Timelines in History” timeline book. This book includes a blank timeline with dates on each page, as well as headings on each page that describe major civilizations, wars, or developments to keep students mindful of what is going on in the world. This timeline book is hole-punched so that student work and our own notebooking resources, the “Make-Your-Own History” series, can be filed within it. Students will collect their art, reports, timeline figures, and notebooking pages to literally “make their own” history book with it!
Notebooking is one of the most desirable ways to help your student remember day-to-day learning. Our “Make- Your-Own” series are informative and interactive! Our pages aren’t like some resources where each page is the same — no, we’ve done the work to offer you many different pages that offer students chances to illustrate pages, write “newspaper” entries, create period placard signs, solve codes, and so much more. It’s a great way to reinforce daily work and a creative outlet for art-happy (and even not so art-happy) students.
