Ladies,
I am so glad to be able to share these sneak peeks with all of you! What a blessing to be encouraged and uplifted by such wonderful ladies like each of you!
The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to get to know you through this board, and I am so grateful!
The question about the Sundar Singh book got me thinking of a few things I wanted to share as to the design of the high school level guides.
In looking at the upcoming new World Geography guide, it is so important that we strive for the right balance among the various subjects that the students are studying in order to find the right mix of difficulty and interest. This is a true balancing act, as the 3R's and the sciences really begin to rise in rigor and difficulty as we head into high school and these subjects begin taking large chunks of a child's day. This also means that the subject matter overall in high school is much harder and voluminous, requiring more mental exercise and time to complete!
So, as we look at the geography portion and the electives portion of the guide, we need to make sure that these areas are time-conscious and serve a unique purpose in the guide's overall design. We need to offer something different experience-wise in these areas in order to balance out the rest of the guide. Additionally, as always, these areas remain as a wonderful way to bring in the living aspect of the guide!
So, as we look at using living books in the world religions area, we must consider our goals and in what areas we are looking for the world religions course to really stretch students.
With the goals of the world religions elective in mind, we can then begin choosing books that meet the goals. Books used in the course can vary widely reading-level wise if they seek to help students better understand a certain world religion in the context of the culture surrounding that religion.
Often when trying to wade through very difficult subject matter, like the belief systems of the major religions of the world,
it is better if the student doesn't have to work so hard to actually read the material (or he/she will be too exhausted from the rigor of simply reading the words on the page that there is no opportunity to ruminate on what was read)!
This is not to say that there aren't challenging books in the World Religions and Cultures course, however if we keep to the model that only those books that require a higher reading level are worthy, then we would end up missing many great books (that require a mature and discerning reader) simply because they don't have the right reading level. Reading level is just one consideration in assessing whether a book is high school worthy, however there are many other considerations that go far beyond reading level.
With this in mind, books like the Sundar Singh book (while certainly not a difficult reading level) do deal with very mature concepts as far as the topic of world religions go. Singh was a sadhu by choice, converted from his Sikh upbringing, who had some very unique experiences with getting to know Christ and spreading the Gospel. He interacted with all sorts of religions, from Sikhism to Hinduism to Buddhism, and spent much time in Tibet (which is a country that has a whole different type of Buddhism based on much mysticism).
The book does a wonderful job of illustrating how these various belief systems compare and differ from Christianity and of sharing an inside look at the religious culture in India and Tibet and the surrounding area. So, while the reading level of the Singh book is not difficult, the concepts in the book require a more mature audience with a strong Biblical Worldview to process.
The book makes so much more sense once you have a better understanding of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism, which is what we will sharing within the World Religions course. I know I had much to ponder as I read this particular selection! After reading 3 different Sundar Singh books, this is the one that fit our goals best.
There is so much to weigh as each book is chosen for the guide. Each book has a specific role to play as I look at the bigger picture and the goals of each part of the guide. It is so hard to share this type of overview in a post, so you'll just have to bear with me as to the small glimpses I can share!
Each piece of the guide is designed to work together to create a year that we pray will uplift, enlighten, inspire, and encourage your child as he/she grows into adulthood. Yet, our first goal always remains to glorify our Savior in heaven!
Blessings,
Carrie
I've read a couple of these books and they are AMAZING! I Dared to Call Him Father is one of my favorites.