As promised, here is our next sneak peek!
For this sneak peek, I thought you'd love to know what we're planning on using as the "spines" for our history portion of our plans for Missions to Modern Marvels. I must admit that finding the books to get the right mix and balance for this year of plans was not easy. We looked at everything available, and also pondered everything we'd used in the past with our oldest son. We were searching for a good mix of American history and world history that was told narratively. We wanted students to come away with a good feel for what it would be like to live in this time period, but to also have Christian history and heroes interwoven with the more commonly told secular history.
We deeply desired for students to see the rise of modern heroes of the faith and modern missions during this time period and to be inspired by stories of those who kept the faith even through persecution and trials. This particular time period is full of war, depression, racial prejudice, famine, starvation, persecution, natural disasters, broken families, disease, financial crises, and many reminders that we live in a fallen world. To study this time period without focusing on the world's desperate need for a Savior could leave the strudents in despair. Yes, the state of the world cries out for its need for a Savior. What better time than the present to show our children how much they need Him! With this in mind, here is the combination we have decided upon for the history portion of our guide (link to peek inside the books are included further below the listings): All American History Vol. II: The Civil War to the 21st Century (Student Reader only) by Celeste W. Rakes
Story of the World Volume IV: The Modern Age by Susan Wise Bauer
Hero Tales Vol. II by Dave and Neta Jackson
Hero Tales Vol. III by Dave and Neta Jackson
Rescue and Redeem Vol. 5: Chronicles of the Modern Church by Brandon and Mindy Withrow
Great Events in American History by Rebecca Price Janney
Book of Great American Speeches for Young People Edited by Suzanne McIntire
Note: Since we have already covered the Civil War era and the first part of All American History Vol. II, we will not use the beginning chunk of this book. The same is true for Story of the World Vol. IV and Great Events in American History. We have always made a point to use all, or almost all, of every book that we schedule in an HOD guide.
However, in this guide we are making an exception. 
This is because we feel like All American History, Story of the World, and Great Events in American History are wonderful in combination with each other and the other resources mentioned above that will be interspersed with them in Missions to Modern Marvels. Yet, we had other resources we felt were better for the Civil War era, and we used those resources within Revival to Revolution instead of All American History, Story of the World, and Great Events in American History. We also love to have students read about history from varying authors perspectives each year that they use HOD. This variety allows us to choose the "best" combination of book(s) for each time period and to use each author in his/her area of expertise (when compared to the other books available for the time period.)
However, in this particular case, the time period didn't neatly coincide with the starting points in these books, so we decided to use the best combination of resources even if it meant we couldn't start at the beginning of each book as we usually do. Sample and Table of Contents All American History Vol. II: http://brightideaspress.com/wp-content/ ... Sample.pdf
Sample and Table of Contents of Story of the World IV: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/me ... sample.pdf
Description of Great Events in American History: http://greateventsinamericanhistory.com/
Table of Contents and Preview of Great American Speeches: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37142145/Amer ... ung-People
Note 2: While the Hero Tales volumes are written in a larger font and give the appearance of being appropriate for a young audience, we find that the stories in Volumes II and III are often filled with persecution and difficult issues that are much better suited for an older, more mature audience. The tales are often inspiring in spite of hardships suffered and are faith building.
When interwoven within the chronology of the thread of history, they will provide students with true heroes as seen in God's eyes. We will use many of the stories, but not all, of both volumes of Hero Tales (with the exception of some stories from time periods that we have already covered in previous guides). Hero Tales Vol. III will be reprinted for HOD, as it is currently out of print. Volume II may also be going out of print, so this may also need to be reprinted for HOD. These volumes are too good to be missed and are great for rereading, time and time again. Plus, any unused stories will fit well in the Biography genre of DITHR, so none will be wasted.To give you an idea about the people that the students will be reading about through these tales, I'll include the following list: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jim Elliot, Festo Kivengere, Eric Liddell, Watchman Nee, John Perkins, Amanda Smith, Corrie Ten Boom, Cameron Townsend, Mary McLeod Bethune, Brother Andrew, George Washington Carver, Jonathan & Rosalind Goforth, Billy Graham, Betty Greene, Clarence Jones, Gordon McLean, Lottie Moon, Luis Palau, Rochunga Pudaite, Mother Teresa, and Charles Albert Tindley.
Rescue and Redeem also includes stories about Christians who lived out the gospel in many different cultures including those like Niijima Jo, Hudson and Maria Taylor, Dwight Moody, Robert Thomas, John Ross, Samuel Moffett, Pandita Ramabai, Princess Ka'iulani, Marianna Slocum, C.S. Lewis and Janini Luwum. Within the Hero Tales volumes, an introduction followed by 3 stories is typically told for each person. In Rescue and Redeem, one longer story of a key episode from a person's life is told. All are narrative and unforgettable. It is our prayer and hope that these stories will challenge your students to live out their Christian faith in their everyday lives beginning right where they are planted. Link to sample Hero Tale: http://www.daveneta.com/jump/hero-tales ... oStory.htm
Contents of Volume II: http://www.daveneta.com/jump/hero-tales ... -Vol-2.htm
Contents of Volume III: http://www.daveneta.com/jump/hero-tales ... -Vol-3.htm
Contents and Sample of Rescue and Redeem: http://www.wtsbooks.com/pdf_files/9781845504335.pdf
Note 3: We will be using the Book of Great American Speeches in a primary source document sort of way. Again, not all speeches within the book will be used (as it includes over 100 speeches), however we will be using a good chunk of the book. The speeches will be matched to the day's history reading to be read in their historical context.
We look forward to sharing more with you as the weeks pass! We're excited about Missions to Modern Marvels and pray it will richly bless our family and those families who use it.
Just in case you missed our first sneak peek, here is a link to it! Link: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10600
Blessings,
Carrie
Thanks for the sneak peeks!!
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