Welcome to the board, Nancy! We're glad to have you here!
I'll answer your questions, and I'm sure some of the other moms will chime in to welcome you as well.
For the Bible portion of our programs, we go right to the Bible as the source for all teaching and deeper analysis, so we do not represent a certain denomination in that area of study. We do use several Christian Liberty Press books for the history portion of "Little Hearts..." and "Beyond...", which do have somewhat of a Reformed Protestant slant. Our devotionals used in our early programs have also been chosen to be very Biblically based, rather than doctrinally-based. The Eggleston texts used in "Bigger..." were written by a Methodist minister.
Our own family background is from a small-town Reformed Church upbringing in quite a Dutch community. So, we have very conservative roots! My husband and I actively participated in a more contemporary Reformed Church in the city where we lived for 13 years before recently moving to a more conservative Evangelical Free church. So, our background is Protestant with Calvinistic leanings.
The reason we chose Hillyer for "Preparing Hearts...", is because it a very living retelling of world history, written by a Christian man. It is important to note that at the time Hillyer wrote CHOW, Christians of the time believed that evolution was a way of explaining the Biblical story of creation. Charlotte Mason herself believed the same as Hillyer, and she was an avid Christian.
Since the overall tone of "A Child's History of the World" is from a Christian worldview, we do not mind skipping the opening chapters which contain evolutionary content by today's standards. But, that is because the error is due to the time period is which Hillyer lived and wrote, rather than because he was seeking to disagree with the Scriptures. We feel that is much different than choosing a modern evolutionary book and skipping the evolutionary portions, because the modern book is working to undermine what is put forth in Scripture. You will see Hillyer's Christian belief system shows through much of his writing.
We have also read "A Child's History of the World" through out loud more than once to our boys and have really enjoyed it. From a Charlotte Mason perspective, it is a wonderful living book told in narrative form by a single author who is passionate about his subject matter. In our opinion it is unequaled in its presentation of world history as a story told in a way that children can understand.
We have also enjoyed Hillyer's other books "A Child's Story of Art" and "A Child's Geography". Though out of print, they are written in the same living, narrative style.
In "Preparing Hearts...." we do weave in a large dose of Biblical history, directly from the Bible and using "Grandpa's Box" which is an overview of Biblical history. We also add in "Life in the Great Ice Age" to explain that period of time from a Christian perspective, and "Hero Tales" to link evangelism with the reading about pagan cultures. Our storytime read-alouds in Preparing are almost all from a Christian viewpoint as well.
We know the study of world history can bring up many controversial topics, and feel that the selection of books is one of the most important choices we will make in each curriculum that we write. So, it is not without MUCH thought and prayer that we bring our selections to you knowing many families will be impacted by our choices. You, ultimately know best, whether this philosophy lines up with your family belief system, but I hope this has shed some light on why we do what we do!
You will see a book or two that mention pagan gods in "Preparing Hearts...." such as Leif the Lucky, but that book also contrasts the paganism with his later conversion to Christianity. Even Aesop's fables which mention greek gods are discussed in light of the Bible.
It is also important to note that before entering any study of history that talks about pagan gods and cultures, we have laid an excellent foundation in Bible knowledge and study through "Little Hands...", "Little Hearts...", "Beyond..." and "Bigger....". We feel that by laying a strong foundation in the Bible prior to teaching world history, we will have that foundation in place when it comes time to know more about the pagan cultures that surround us. Then, the paganism can be seen in a correct light and not glorified to be just something fascinating to learn.
Blessings,
Carrie (who you'll note had to edit this to more clearly say what she meant!)
