TruthQuest History

I am a wee bit jealous of all you younger moms out there who are homeschooling elementary aged children, because my time is running out to use this amazing history course! I wish I had known about TruthQuest History several years ago.

Author Michelle Miller takes a very unique approach to the study of history. First and foremost, her philosophy on teaching history is rare. It stems from her belief that "mankind is not the prime force in the universe . . . God is. He initiates; we respond." Another quote from Michelle: "The exploration of history should reveal God and His truth, not glorify the achievement of mankind." Finally, "Your children will realize the only source of freedom is God's laws and the only source of human worth is God's love for us." Reading through her Web site and introduction to her study guides found me jotting down many thought-provoking quotes from Michelle and saying "Yes!" under my breath.

The other refreshing aspect to this curriculum is that there are no fill-in-the-blank, true-false types of questions and no tests. TruthQuest takes the student (and teacher) on a journey through history. Michelle begins each historical time period with a brief commentary that the teacher reads to the student, meant to reflect the main points of the period and guide students in their reading. The student then has opportunity to read living books that the parent chooses from an extensive reading list, fiction and non-fiction, on this time period. Throughout the study guides, there are thought-provoking questions called ThinkWrites. These help the student internalize and express the concepts for the time period being studied. For example, when studying the pilgrims, a ThinkWrite asks, "Why did God use the Pilgrims? Why can we be proud they founded our country?" An older student studying the Middle Ages would be asked, "What kind of man was Charlemagne? What about the contradictions in his life? What was his impact on history?" (Charlotte Mason fans will especially love this curriculum!)

Michelle believes in giving the student time to think and digest what he is reading and opportunity for discussion and reflection. I have seen firsthand that this approach to learning causes the student to retain information and get pleasure out of his or her studies.

TruthQuest has three chronological American History guides for young students (grades 1-5) and six guides for Ancient & World history for older students (grades 5-12). The extensive reading lists given also note the grade levels for the suggested books. This course is very adaptable for use with a variety of grade levels, which saves you money and time.

If you're looking for something new in teaching history, be sure to check out TruthQuest!