Introduction to Biblical History

We began our study of Biblical History this past week with a quick introduction. Using Robin Sampson's Adam to Messiah as our guide, we followed the 4Mat Model which consists of 4 instructional goals or basic steps that are followed after Charlotte Mason's unique methods:

1. Motivation: Step 1 is to "Excite" or create a reason or motivation by making the lesson meaningful - CM says to motivate by making the lesson interesting on his/her level - not "dumbed down".
2. Concept Development: Step 2 is to "Examine" or give the facts - CM says give the facts from living books, nature and humanities.
3. Practice: Step 3 is to Expand or let them try it out - CM says do something with what you have learned. Copy work, dictation, adding to a nature notebook or time line.
4. Application: Step 4 is to Excel or let them teach it to themselves or others - CM says narration - tell back what you have learned; share with others.

Not sure how I will do all of this yet, but I am hoping to incorporate notebooking into this some how.

For our introduction, we began by writing key events on index cards and then tried to put them in order.

It was fun watching them discuss which event took place first. We used the "Amazing Bible Timeline" World History Chart to help us (see my review on this product).

With the help of the World History Chart, this is what we came up with for our first unit's order of events from Creation to Abraham:

1. Creation
2. Adam
3. Cain
4. Abel
5. Seth
6. Enoch
7. Methuselah
8. Noah
9. Japeth
10. Ham and Shem
11. The Flood
12. Tower of Babel
13. Abraham

We are also using Ancient Civilizations and the Bible (ACB), by Diana Warring. This text has a unique approach as well and it will be fun gleaning from both resources. The foundation of ACB, is built upon three approaches to learning:

1. Four Learning Styles (The Feeler, The Intuitor, The Thinker, The Sensor)
2. Three Learning Modalities (Visual, Auditory, Tactile/Kinesthetic)
3. Eight Intelligences (Intrapersonal, naturalist, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, musical, interpersonal, math/logical, linguistic)

I love that I will be able to choose a weekly schedule for each child based on their learning style. It will be fun figuring out how to use both curriculums and finding out what works best for our family.

The rest of our introduction looked like this: We listened to: What in the World? by Diana Waring - "Welcome to World History" True Tales 1 - "Introduction" We also read the intro in the Holman Bible atlas and discussed why we want to study geography with biblical history. We learned that ancient societies were linked much more closely to the land than we are today, so we are looking forward to studying ancient geography along with ancient history. During this study it is my goal to:

1. instruct my children in ways that will be retained and comprehended
2. encourage active participation, discussion and creative problem solving
3. give opportunities for my children to demonstrate what they have learned and encourage them
4. help them choose quality projects and resources that will enhance their learning

It is my hope that my children will:

1. understand and trust God's faithfulness
2. view other cultures and peoples from His perspective
3. gain a solid foundation in apologetics, using the Bible as literal history
4. understand the chronology, as well as cause and effect of world history
5. have a critical in-depth understanding of each of these cultures though various disciplines (art, science, literature, geography, music, agriculture, family life, government, economics, communications, etc.)
6. understand these civilizations' unique impact on other cultures
7. learn how to approach, appreciate and apply the study of history

(Goals adapted from Ancient Civilizations and the Bible Teacher's Guide) Most of the resources we will be using for our study are listed in my sidebar under "Our Curriculum" or in the book widgets. *Note: I am still deciding if I want to post a weekly update, or post as I finish a unit. My posts do tend to get long when I do the latter, but I am not sure. If you will be following along in our journey and have a preference, I would love to know what you think. My purpose for blogging is to document what we do in our homeschool. But, it also gives me a source of accountability to keep plugging away.

Also in this series:

1. Introduction to Biblical History
2. The First Week of History
3. Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and the Fall