History in Elementary School

"Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall laud thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." Psalm 145: 3, 4.

The reason we teach history is that we are commanded to, and should delight in, rehearsing the mighty acts of our God to the next generation. The glory and praise of God should always be formost in our minds as we teach history. This will affect the way in which stories are told.

In Deuteronomy 6, the young son asks his father, "What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you?" the father replies by giving the history of the Israelites deliverance from the Egyptians (notice how understanding God's Law and understand God's Providence go hand in hand). In telling this history, the father places the emphasis on God's power, providence and purpose, not on the actions of men. The Epyptians were important to the history only because of their intersection with the people of God. We should strive to teach history in this way. Our focus should be upon the mighty works of the Lord, which necessarily means that our focus will be on His Church. We study non-Christian civilizations, men, movements, and trends because they interacted with the Church, not because of any innate greatness in them; they are deemphisized and the Church is emphasized.

Speaking of a wicked man, the psalmist prays, "Let his posterity be cut off; in the generation following let their name be blotted out. ... Let them be before Jehovah continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth." Psalm 109: 13, 15. We are to honor what God honors, so why would we want to spend a lot of time studying wicked men (and cultures) that the psalmist prays would be not be remembered anymore?

The curriculum that I was planning on using before I read Rushdoony's Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum has a faithful survey of Old Testament History. It uses the Bible as the main narrative, adding supplemental books at certain points. These supplemental books discuss the Creation, Joseph, the Exodus and Esther, and also the Egyptians, Sumerians, Phoenicians, Babylonians and Persians. However, it is always clear, that learning about ungodly civilizations is for the purpose of understanding more fully God's mighty acts with respect to His people.

Unfortunately, this curriculum's second year leaves much to be desired. It focuses on the Greeks and Romans, spending significant time on Homer, Aesop and Greek myths. During this year there are only two books that focus on the early church, one of which is the Bible. In her second year curriculum this sister in Christ demonstrates a significantly skewed perspective. We do need to study Ancient Greece and Rome, since the Lord Christ was incarnate in a small town in the Roman Empire (which was heavily influenced by the Greeks), and the early church grew within the Roman Empire, despite every effort by the Romans to suppress it. However, the focus should be on the early church, not on the Greeks and Romans. The Roman Empire was only the feet of clay, but the Church, with Christ as its Head, is the mountain to which all the nations of the earth shall stream (Daniel 6).

The classical curriculm spends much time studying ancient mythology, saying that one cannot be culturally literate without knowing these things. I admit that this argument was quite persuasive to me, until I read Rushdoony. I now realize that it is foolish to try to make our children literate in a culture that hates God. We must be about building a Christian culture, a Christendom, and part of any culture is its heroes and classics. We must choose godly heroes and God-honoring classics of literature, music and art, and make our children literate in those things. Once they are steeped in truth and surrounded by a cloud of witnesses to God's faithfulness, they will have no trouble counteracting falsehood in this culture. The one who spots counterfeits, does not so much need an understanding of the history of counterfeiting or an in-depth knowledge of counterfeiting technology, as he needs a flawless knowledge of the real thing. With such a thorough knowledge of what is right, it is easy to spot even the subtlest deviation from that standard.

So, with a prayer that I would glorify God, I would like to propose a new outline of history.

This is the outline of history that I learned in state school:

1. Ancient history, meaning before Egypt, was barely mentioned, except to say that people lived a hunter-gatherer, uncivilized, near-animal existence.

2. Egypt is slightly empasized, mostly their pyramids and mummies, and then we move on to Greece and Rome. Much is made of these great empires. They are portrayed as lands where freedom and rationality reigned, and where great art, literature, and technology were created.

3. The time after the fall of Rome is know as the Dark Ages or Middle Ages. This time is not studied in terms of events, but rather a picture of life during that time is given. It is all cold, dark castles, hidden monks, savage Vikings, ignorant, squalid peasants, hunger, disease and superstition. The only light ever mentioned during this time is the Muslims, who are described as having cities full of light, art and learning.

4. Out of the dark, Europe proceeds to the Renaissance, a rediscovery of the glory of the Greeks and Romans. Much is made of the flourishing of arts and learning when Europe returned to the ways of these Ancients. Very little is said about the Reformation. The motivation for the split is not given. I was taught in one class that the main reason that England is Protestant and not Catholic is that Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife and the pope wouldn't let him. The effects of the Reformation, except the printing press, are largely ignored. Human spirit and ingenuity are showcased in the explorers

5. In describing colonial America, history classes are double-minded; the founding fathers are simultaneously portrayed as men seeking human freedom and equality, and slave-owners, indian-killers and oppressors of women. The Enlightenment is praised as a time when men threw off the shackles of religion and set people free. The bloody, horrible French Revolution is equated with the American Revolution. The North winning the Civil War is shown as another example of freedom overcoming oppression.

6. Except for Hitler and the Holocaust, World Wars I and II are largely ignored. Instead Women's Suffrage and the Industrial Revolution are highlighted. The war in Vietnam is decried, as is the development of nuclear technology, and the Civil Rights and Women's movements are praised. The Hippie culture is explored, but almost nothing is said about the rise of Communism.

Now, the classical curriculm is more God-honoring than my state-school curriculum, but it still follows the humanist timeline of the state school. It lumps the Reformation in with the Middle Ages, but spends a long time on the Enlightenment. And then there is that whole year on the Greeks and the Romans.

I would like to propose the following outline instead:

1.) Creation to the close of the Old Testament: The time when the church was confined mostly to ethnic Israel. This will studied directly from the Bible, with a few supplemental books and a lot of illustrations (since it will be for first grade).

2.) History of the Early Church: Study the Greeks and Romans only to set the stage. Study the life of Jesus and the lives of the apostles. Describe the persecution of the church by the Romans and the lives of great martyrs. Learn about Augustine and the early church councils. Describe the fall of Rome.

3.) The Church before the Reformation: Starting after the fall of Rome, learn about the development of the Eastern and Western churches, the rise of monasticism and scholasticism. Civilization in Europe during this time was largely Christian. It was not perfect, and not every individual was Christian, but the countries acknowledged the lordship of Christ. Because of this Christian basis, there are many heroes of the faith to study. Learn about the Vikings and the Muslims only in order to better understand how the Christian Europeans interacted with them. Include in this study the Renaissance. Although the Renaissance overlapped with the Reformation in time, it was the outflow of the ideas of medieval scholasticism, which attempted to mix Christianity with Greek philosophy. Thus, the Renaissance can be logically studied at this time.

4.) The Reformation and its initial effects: The Reformation is the greatest event in the history of the world since the Ressurection of Christ and the fall of Jerusalem. It is an example of God's rich grace and mighty hand reviving his church from the apostasy that it fell into through its love of pagan Greece and Rome. It is full of thrilling stories and inspiring heroes. It also was the impetus for the Age of Exploration and the founding of this country. The explorers were self-conciously attempting to fulfill the Great Commission, and the founders of this country were largely reformed Puritans, trying to build a Christian civilization. The colonists will be saved for next year, but the explorers will be covered this year.

5.) Early America: This year will cover Jamestown and the Pilgrims, the causes of the American War for Independence, the events of that War, the founding documents of this country. The War of 1812. The westward expansion. The Gold Rush. The rise of humanism and unitarianism in the US, and its effects on the country. The "Endarkenment" in Europe will be studied mainly to show its spread to and effect on the United States. The Great Awakenings, when God sent revival to this country, will be studied, as well as the Industrial Revolution.

6.) The War Between the States and the Rise of Tyranny: Before the War Between the States, we were the United StateS, a group of united, but distinct states. After the Civil War we have become a large country under an increasingly tyrannical civil government. We will learn the causes of the War Between the States (not slavery) and the major events thereof. We will follow the decline of the church in the U.S. and the subsequent effects on the policy and culture of this country. The World Wars, Cold War, and Muslim terrorist will be studied. The Civil Rights and Womens Movements, the rise of Communism, Socialism and Imperialism will be studied, always with an eye to their theological foundations.

This is a very broad outline. I hope to flesh it out and refine it as I learn more about history, myself, and collect materials to teach history to my children.

Stay tuned. :-)