heartofdakota.com

Ladies,

After a bout of colds at our house (that even got me down for the count), we are on the mend and ready to move forward. My third sneak peek is one that I am thrilled to share, as it such a wonderful addition to our World History guide.

We will be including Answers in Genesis' All-in-One Curriculum for Pilgrim's Progress. I am very excited about this particular curriculum as the provided questions will lead to deeper thinking and wonderful discussions, adding so much to the reading of Pilgrim's Progress. Next to the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress is the most read book of all time. With a distinction like this and it's allegorical focus on a Christian's journey through this world toward heaven, it is definitely a book that should be read by our children.

While Pilgrim's Progress could simply be read (or listened to), there is much to be gained from thinking deeply about it and discussing it as it is read. My oldest son read Pilgrim's Progress at a young age and in all honesty I think he would have benefited from it more had I waited for him to read it when he was in high school. While Pilgrim's Progress is a truly great piece of literature, I believe that the meaning within it becomes richer as you become older. This is because maturity in one's faith (and experience with life's trials) makes Pilgrim's Progress even more meaningful. (Not to mention that some of the allegorical aspects of Pilgrims' Progress are just difficult to understand if the child is too young.) I also think that Pilgrim's Progress can be kind of vivid and scary and its message misconstrued by listeners that are too young to really appreciate the story in its fullest measure.

It's good to remember that Bunyan was writing for an audience that was under intense persecution for its faith in a time when even young children were suffering. To our children today, who are unused to persecution and often not much exposed to suffering, the story can seem overwhelming making kiddos think they cannot possibly endure the trials that a Christian will face along life's way. For all of these reasons, I am thankful that we have saved this study for high school and am glad for the guided study that Answers in Genesis has provided in its All-in-One Curriculum for The Pilgrim's Progress.

We will schedule this AIG resource to be used once weekly with both parent and child partnering in the study. There will be the option of listening along with the audio of the unabridged text if desired. The audio will be an additional separate purchase. The full unabridged text of Pilgrim's Progress is included in the curriculum (and is illustrated with well-drawn black and white drawings). The curriculum includes provided questions, charts, and Scripture references that complement each chapter. We will use mostly the "Digging Deeper" higher level questions with our high school students. The curriculum comes with a CD that allows printing of the questions for additional students. There will also be the option of purchasing additional student copies of Pilgrim's Progress (that match the curriculum) for each student to have his/her own copy of the book if desired.

While you may be tempted to have the rest of the younger students in your family join in with this study (and I know that Answers in Genesis recommends this as an option), I wouldn't be too quick to do so. As a child I was exposed to Pilgrim's Progress at a young age and found that some of the more traumatic scenes have never left my memory. I happen to be a very visual learner, which probably accounts for some for this. However, I am not one who is terribly sensitive, and I often like the boy's action stories as much as the girl books. With my older son, who is rarely troubled by very much as in the violence department as he reads, I also had a similar experience after allowing him to read Pilgrim's Progress early (as encouraged by a CM-style curriculum we were using at that time - since I didn't have the HOD guides written then). With both my experience and my older son's in mind, this is one instance in which I believe that reading this particular story later rather than earlier is a good idea. Reading it later and discussing it personally with a parent, rather than reading it younger in a group setting and discussing it with younger ears around can also make a big difference in the level of discussion and of personal sharing.

I think that if done at the right time, with the right audience, this story can be life-changing. I also think that any opportunity where we can have our teens have a time of personal sharing with us one-on-one is an opportunity worth seizing. With this in mind, we will be seizing this opportunity in the new World History Guide!

Link to see inside Answers in Genesis All-in-One Curriculum for Pilgrim's Progress. http://www.answersingenesis.org/store/p ... u=10-1-246&

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie this looks great. I do have a question though. What type of credit will this go towards. Will this go towards a literature credit or a bible credit or something different?

Lynn,

Good question! Actually, it could count toward either. For our purposes, we will wrap it into our Bible credit. However, it should also be listed on the one-page classical literature list that can be attached to a high school transcript for college admission purposes. It fits well under our World Literature focus for this coming guide too which makes it a doubly wonderful choice for our World History guide.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,

Thank you so much for the thoughtfulness you put into planning not only what goes in a guide, but how resources are most appropriately used. Your hard work and dedication is greatly appreciated and makes my job so much easier.

This is a little off topic, but I was wondering how the scenes in the Little Pilgrim's Progress (from DITHOR 4/5) compare to the original, which you will be using in the new World History guide. Having never read Pilgrim's Progress myself, I was not aware of the traumatic nature of some parts of the book. My 11yo ds is very sensitive, so I need to be cautious about what he reads. I was soon going to have him read Little Pilgrim's Progress, but I'd rather wait if it, too, might be more than he can handle right now. Thank you in advance for any thoughts you might have on this.

daybreaking,

This is a good question too. For me, the most traumatic part of the unabridged version was Vanity Fair and the burning at the stake of the fellow traveler of Christian. There were other parts too that were difficult to be exposed to at too young of an age to fully understand what was represented allegorically by the scene, the names of the character's, the settings, and the various evils encountered along the way.

As far as Little Pilgrim's Progress goes, I typically don't believe in reading abridgments, however this particular abridgment allows children to be exposed to the wonders of Pilgrim's Progress in a more age appropriate way. Since Pilgrim's Progress is often shown in movie form in many churches, it helps if your child has a fuller understanding of it before seeing the story visually. If you have a particularly sensitive child, you would want to have that child read Christiana's journey (which is Part II of the book). Her journey is gentler and less violent. Both Christian and Christiana's journeys are included in Little Pilgrim's Progress.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie wrote:daybreaking,

This is a good question too. For me, the most traumatic part of the unabridged version was Vanity Fair and the burning at the stake of the fellow traveler of Christian. There were other parts too that were difficult to be exposed to at too young of an age to fully understand what was represented allegorically by the scene, the names of the character's, the settings, and the various evils encountered along the way.

As far as Little Pilgrim's Progress goes, I typically don't believe in reading abridgments, however this particular abridgment allows children to be exposed to the wonders of Pilgrim's Progress in a more age appropriate way. Since Pilgrim's Progress is often shown in movie form in many churches, it helps if your child has a fuller understanding of it before seeing the story visually. If you have a particularly sensitive child, you would want to have that child read Christiana's journey (which is Part II of the book). Her journey is gentler and less violent. Both Christian and Christiana's journeys are included in Little Pilgrim's Progress.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks, Carrie, for both the quick response and the helpful information.

I'm excited about this. I purchased the Pilgrims Progress AIO curriculum years ago but never used it because I never had time to fit it in. I don't even know if I still own this or not but it's amazing how God has put this in our path. I love it.

This same thing happened this year with the high school geo. guide. I had been wanting to use Mapping the World With Art but again, never found the time to fit it in and the thank the Lord God took care of that as well. Not to mention The Elements (science) in MTMM too . I was really excited to see that one. My dd is using it this year and enjoying it.

Thank you Carrie, your work with writing these guides is truly a blessings!!!!