2nd Year History Curriculum - I

I am finally ready to write down my plans for 2nd Year History. I have spent the last few months reading a lot of potential texts and ranking them according to priority as well as timing how long it takes to read them. Then I tried to create a curriculum of the correct length with the best texts I could find. For my curriculum I assumed 36 weeks of school, with history taught 4 out of 5 days per week (the 5th day is for geography). That makes a total of 144 lessons. I tried to make each lesson between 25 and 35 minutes, but I also tried to stop at places in the texts that made for a reasonable flow of information. Finally, I assumed that the teacher would be reading the texts to the student. Most of these texts were written for older children. I do not think the 2nd grade student should have trouble understanding them, but he may not be able to read them fast enough, so they should be read to him. After each lesson, the main facts that you want your student to remember should be written on cards. These cards should be drilled for about 5 minutes before each lesson. Cards the student has learned can be retired until it is time for review. These drills will be especially important if your child has an exceptional reading ability and is reading the lessons himself.

The year is divided into 4 units. The first is Ancient Greece:

Ancient Greece by Anton Powell has many useful maps which can be used throughout this unit.

1. Explain that now we are going to study the Greeks, the civilization that conquered the Persians, the civilization of brass that Daniel mentions in his prophecy to Nebuchadnezzar. The Greeks were descended from Japheth, who they worshipped as Iapetos (Jupiter). Japheth's son Javan was the father of the Ionian Greeks. Elishah, the first son of Javan was the ancestor of an ancient Greek tribe the Elysians. The Pelasgians were likely descended from Ham. Nearby civilizations include the Phrygians and the Lydians, descendents of Lud, a son of Shem. Also the Thracians (Balkans) Etruscan (Italy) and Trojans descendents of Tiras, a son of Japheth. Also the Scythians were descendents of Magog, the second son of Japheth. (You can use the Wall Chart of World History (ISBN = 9780880292399) to illustrate the above). Read The Story of the Greeks by H. A Guerber (SG) chapters 1 – 4. skip the second two paragraphs on pg. 17; since we are not going to be reading most of the myths. On pg. 18, in the second full paragraph: change "long known" to "not lost" and change "further advanced" to "more learned". These changes correct Ms. Guerber's evolutionary view of the development of mankind. The Bible tells us that Noah could make fire, thus all his descendants that couldn't, had lost that ability. On page 22, cut out the section "It was under the reign on Deucalion ... owed its birth to this great miracle." since it is obviously untrue, and we are trying to deemphasize the Greek myths. Explain that ancient Greek myths arose from a confused half-remembrance of true history. Bits of true history became mixed with false stories; which false stories came from willful rebellion at Babel, and in time degenerated even further. The Greeks, the descendants of Noah through Javan, forgot their true history and the true God, and all they had left of it was bits embedded in their mythology. We are going to read a few Greek myths to illustrate this. If you are looking to shorten your curriculum, I suggest taking out this part about the myths. It is interesting to confirm the Babel dispersion in this way, but it is certainly less important than other aspects of the history. Read D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire ( ISBN: 0440406943)(DBGM) pg. 10. Explain to the student that the story of the separation of Father Sky and Mother Earth mirrors many ancient cultures who have heaven-earth separation myths, from their single place of origin at Babel, all of which are perversions of Genesis 1:6 – 7.

2. 2) Read DBGM pg. 14 – 20. Point out the similarity between this account and the flood (mountains destroyed, the first volcanoes, only a few people left alive on the earth, and a rainbow). Read pg. 22 – 23. Read pg. 35 – 37 (skipping the story of Arachne). Read pg. 70 – 77, noting God’s sovereignty (the Fates) and justice (Nemesis), and noting that men are made in the image of God. Note how the smell of burnt offerings appeased Zeus. Explain that Deucalion is the Greeks’ confused remembering of their ancestor Noah through his son Japtheth (Greek “Iapetos”, Roman “Jupiter”) and his grandson Javan (Greek “Ion”, from whence “Ionian” is derived). The Pandora's Box myth contains clear elements of the true history of the entrance of sin, death, and everything evil into a perfect world: the first woman receives a gift which she is not to open (the first woman has access to fruit of which she is not to eat), and the result of her disobedience allows evil to enter the world. The Pandora's Box myth even has Hope remaining in the box, which the woman especially cherishes, mirroring the promise of the woman's Seed in Genesis 3:15. Read pg. 112 – 113. Read pg. 178 – 180. Explain that another manifestation of the promised hero based in Genesis 3:15 in Greek mythology is found in Achilles, the invincible warrior who could only be wounded in the heel. Read pg. 181 – 187.

3. Read SG chapters 5 – 7. Read In Search of Knossos by Giovanni Caselli. (ISBN: 0872265447) This book includes pictures and details about an excavation of the Minoan civilization. I like to include books like this, since they help the student picture the time period under study.

4. Read SG chapters 13 – 16. I skip chapters 8 - 12, since they are the story of Oedipus, which is neither true nor appropriate for children. The next section is about the siege of Troy. Troy has been excavated, and it has been shown that at least part of Homer's story is true. On pg. 39 remove the section "She first carried Achilles, ... Styx had not touched" and the word "good" from before mother. This part of Achilles story is false and not necessary to learn. On pg. 40 remove the section "but unfortunately there was no favorable wind ... The deer was killed." Since there is no such thing as Diana, this story cannot be true. On pg. 41: insert "They say" before the sentence "The god heard and granted this prayer..." since obviously Apollo did nothing. Explain that the story about Apollo striking them with a plague is obviously false, but I read it because it may have been true that Agamemnon stole Achilles slave and that is why he wouldn’t fight against the Trojans. Read SG chapters 17 – 19. On pg. 43: take the phrase "guided by one of the gods" out of the first sentence of the third paragraph. On pg. 45: remove "The Greeks said, however, that their gods were very angry with" and "on account of the cruelty they showed on that dreadful night and that many of them" .

5. Read SG chapters 20 – 25. On pg. 47, last paragraph: change the word "chance" to "providence". On pg. 48 remove "the most" and "the world has ever known" from the sentence that begins "This was quite easy to do, because Homer had put..." and on pg. 49 remove "The native land of the grandest poet the world has ever known" David was the best poet the world has ever known. On pg. 50, third paragraph: remove "thoroughly good and". Being a pagan, that cannot be true of him. For the same reason, remove "As he was one of the wisest men who ever lived" from the last full paragraph. On pg. 51: remove the word "beautiful" to describe the Greek legends and "good and wise" to describe the Trojan women, since Greek legends are full of debauchery and Trojan women were pagans. On pg. 53: and the phrase "but stupid" after "how cruelly he had torn the brave" And remove "Ever since then, ...memory of this lad." Since there is nothing to admire in that boy's conduct. In the next paragraph, change "behave well" to "obey immediately". On pg. 55: remove "And good" from the third paragraph of chapter 25, since Lycurgus was not concerned with having his people obey God's laws, which is what it is to be good. Also, in the next paragraph, change "knowing" to "thinking" since there is nothing wrong with great wealth, if God blesses you with that and you get it honorably (i.e. Job was restored to even greater wealth). On pg. 56, first full paragraph: remove "to make them a great people" because they weren't great measured by God's standards. And "and as long as they remembered this promise...happy people". Discuss how the Spartans may have possessed some admirable qualities, like bravery, respect for elders, and lack of complaining, but they were slaves that lived a harsh, servile life. Their own lives were unimportant, if only the state of Sparta had a good army. We can see this in that the boys who died by beating or hiding foxes were praised and honored, not mourned or censured for wasting the life God had given them. This civilization was an abomination to God, since human life was not valued. Point out that slavery is the inevitable result of giving up our God-given responsibility to train up our children and instead letting the state raise them. Explain that this is one reason why we choose to homeschool. Read SG chapter 26. On pg. 57, second-to-last paragraph: change "the child he loved so well" to "his child". Since love is to obey the commands of God, he could not love a child whom he killed. In the next paragraph remove "his generosity, and by" his actions were sinful, and thus selfish, not generous. Note how false gods do not save, and how cultures that worship the state are cruel to others as well as their own people. Read SG chapters 27 – 28 .

6. Read SG chapters 29. Skip ch. 30, since it is likely not true, and has no bearing on anything else. Read SG chapters 32 – 41. On. pg. 65: remove "and it must have been...foot-race course was called". No big reason...just trying to cool the tone of enthusiasm. On pg. 69: remove "so that the bright sun god....dying for his misdeeds". On pg. 71: change "When you learn Greek" to "If you learn Greek". On pg. 72, last full paragraph: remove "and ruled them very wisely" since one who does not worship and obey God cannot be very wise. Take note of how easily democracies are swayed.

7. Read Darius the Great by Jacob Abbott (DG) (ISBN: 1590161521) pg. 13 – 49. This book is about the Darius mentioned in Scripture. This book gives a detailed history of his life, mostly taken from Herodotus. Thus book was first written in the middle of the 19th century and has a great vocabulary.

8. Read DG pg. 49 – 81. On pg. 80, last paragraph: replace "in all countries are" with "was". A thoroughly Christian populace would not be easily swayed by sensational arguments.

9. Read DG pg. 82 – 113. On pg. 103: remove "instinctive" and add "due to the law of God written on his heart" after the phrase "in man". This is perhaps being overly picky, but the word "instinctive" is too charged with evolutionary though, in my opinion. I break in the middle of pg. 113 due to time restrictions. The chapters in this book are so long that it is difficult to always break with a chapter.

10. Read DG pg. 113 – 143. On pg. 124, remove "as such characters generally do at the present day". This phrase shows the text's age. Teenage malcontents no longer become sailors.

11. Read DG pg. 144 – 182. On pg. 157: remove "If they had risen....brave his power". This is an unfounded assumption on the author's part. He can't read Darius' mind. On pg. 58: remove "but all this is now changed....artillery another way". This paragraph is quite dated. On pg. 168: remove "as, in fact, the accounts....But we must return to the Scythians"(pg. 171) In this passage the author takes a detour to theorize about the nature of savages. I don't think that his thoughts are correct or useful for this narrative. I break after the last full paragraph on pg. 182.

12. Read DG pg. 182 – 184. Discuss the law of God written on our hearts. Read DG pg. 184 – 209. On pg. 189: remove "The attempts of a stronger...But he had no such design." (pg. 190). In this passage the author argues that a more advanced civilization has a right to invade and conquer a less advanced civilization for the good of that less-advanced people. Besides the error of ranking cultures by their degree of civilization (cities, technology, arts, etc) as opposed to by their degree of godliness, this idea is certainly unbiblical. I don't claim to know all the instances in which war is just, but civilizing your neighbors is certainly not a reason. On pg. 191, bottom: remove "and so, as the historian absurdly states...other evil passion" (pg. 192) If it is absurd, why mention it?

13. Read DG pg. 210 – 243. On pg. 243: remove "It ought, however, to be related...reigned in their stead" (pg. 246). This story is supposed to show that the tyrants sometimes acted kindly, but I think it fails in that objective.

14. Read DG pg. 246 – 286. On pg. 251: add "they believed" before "warned them that they were provoking". On pg. 262: remove "They who visit it ... myself a slave." No one can really get strength and encouragement apart from Christ. On pg. 278: remove "supernatural" from before "remorse and terror". On pg. 280: remove "This sentence as well ... condemnation and destruction" (pg. 281). This paragraph, which seems to contradict the author's earlier statements about invading the less-civilized, implies that there is no just war. This claim is also untrue. If nothing else, wars of self-defense are just.

15. Read SG chapters 42 – 49. On pg. 83: remove "not only a good man, but also" Let's not fling the word good at someone who did not keep the law of God. On pg. 85: remove "the greatest sculptor the world has ever known" This is pretty high praise and shouldn't be thrown around. Take note of how easily democracies are swayed. Also note how proud Xerxes looked upon himself as a god. Discuss the ways in which God preserved the Greeks from the mighty Persians, since He prophesied that the Greeks would eventually conquer the Persians.
16) Read SG chapters 50 – 58. On pg. 102: remove "upright and" from the 1st paragraph of chapter 56. and on pg. 103: remove "great" from before "man was marked by a temple". This praise is too excessive. On pg. 104, third paragraph: remove "good and". Once again, I don't like to use the word good with reference to pagans, so freely. On pg. 107, second-to-last paragraph: remove "which have never been surpassed". I don't think that the Greek art can be called the best ever. That is pretty high praise. Discuss the ways in which God preserved the Greeks from the mighty Persians, since He prophesied that the Greeks would eventually conquer the Persians.
17) Read Ancient Greece by Peter Connolly (AGPC) (ISBN: 0199108102) pg. 6 – 39. I will be suggesting many Peter Connolly books. He has interesting and detailed illustrations of actual ancient artifacts, as well as landscapes and reconstructions. He does include nudity in his pictures, however, for instance in his drawings of the Olympic games, the Roman baths, or Greek art. Most of the nudes are small and could be easily covered up, if you wanted to, and owned the book. This particular book has a lot of Greek art in it, and thus a lot of nudes. So, if you need to cut something from the curriculum, this is a good candidate.
18) Read AGPC pg. 40 – 61.
19) Read SG chapter 59. On pg. 108, replace "he was so wise and so thoughtful" with "by God's common grace". No one knows anything about God without his revelation. Read Science in Ancient Greece by Kathlyn Gay (from the library).
20) Read SG chapters 60 – 67. On pg. 113: remove "a truly wise and good man" and "however". Being a pagan who did not know, reverence or submit to God's Word he could not have been "truly wise and good". Also remove the last sentence "this belief was very ... return evil for evil". This was not true of Ancient Israel, at least if they obeyed the laws of God,which never change. On pg. 120: remove "who was generous and kind-hearted" again with the excessive praise. During the part about Socrates and the one God, discuss God’s common grace and the fact that no one is without excuse.
21) Read SG chapters 68 –70. On pg. 122: remove "though he was the greatest philosopher the world has ever known." which is not a title to be given to a pagan. This should be given to Solomon. Also, remove "good" from before "citizens whom these cruel rulers..." On pg. 123: replace "as you know, was one of the best and gentlest of men, yet he" with "though he was gentle" and remove "Although Socrates was so wise.... could prove it to be true" because it is far too high praise for this man. On pg. 125: remove "Socrates, as you have seen, ...Do good to them that hate you" This comparison of Socrates to Christ is appalling! On pg. 126, second to last paragraph: remove "beautiful and" Since Socrates theology was a lie, it could not be beautiful. On pg. 127: remove "beautiful" from the first paragraph, "good and" from the third, "beautiful" from the fifth, and "virtues" and "and all who know his name both love and honor him" from the seventh. Discuss common grace in Socrates acknowledgment of one god. Mention that he put human reason as the ultimate though, and explain how people have been lulled by the many correct things in Socrates philosophy into treating human reason as a discoverer of truth and on par with Revelation (or higher). Read SG chapters 71 – 75. On pg. 129, first full paragraph: remove "He was a good and brave man."
22) Read SG chapters 76 – 84. On pg. 141: remove "their greatest citizen and general" and add "supposedly" before "sprung". This tones down the praise and delineates what is myth. On pg. 144: remove "goodness and" from the last paragraph. Again, throwing around the word goodness. On pg. 148: remove "beautiful" from the description of Plato's talk.
23) Read SG chapters 85 – 92. On pg. 155: remove "As Demosthenes was such a great man." On pg. 156: remove "he was bound to succeed and" and "as it always is". Success is no guaranteed. On pg. 161: remove "Alexander's remarkable coolness, ... have been truly great." Aristotle, as a pagan, was not truly great. And, since he was not preaching God's Word, his preaching could not make others great either.
24) Read SG chapters 93 – 103. On pg. 161: rcplace "had one great fault" with "had a great fault". I am sure that he had more than one fault. On pg. 164: remove "pious" from the description of Alexander's pilgrimage.
25) Read Alexander the Great by John Gunther (AtG) ( ISBN: 1402745192) chapters 1, 3 – 7. Go through beforehand to do some editing; this book is far too complimentary. I can't tell you exactly what to edit, since I borrowed this book from the library, and I didn't write down the parts that need editing.
26) Read AtG chapters 8 – 14
27) Read AtG chapters15 – 20.
28) Read SG chapters 104 – 115. On pg. 194: remove "the country from which later nations learned their best lessons in art, philosophy, and literature." Since, once again, the Greeks were not the greatest civilization.
29) Review and that evening cook a meal from Classical Cookbook by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger ( ISBN: 0892363940) I haven't actually read this book, but it intrigues me. I love to cook, and it would be really fun to try food from the culture we are studying. The meal is obviously optional.
30) Test: Ancient Greece I choose to test for two reasons. First, it gives the child something to work toward, an opportunity to gauge his progress. Secondly, it gives me some feedback on how well I am doing as a teacher. Right now I have no idea what form or what questions I will use for the test.