This year families from Mn, Ca, Ok, Tx, and Fl have told me:
"Other curriculums teach facts, yours changes lives!"
World View Podcasts - Weekly Helps
"to stand firm in her beliefs ... to stand alone ..."
"Thank you so very much for your ministry, and indeed it is a ministry! My daughter has undergone persecution in her 'religion' course at TCU this semester, but thankfully your curriculum (and a lot of prayer) has enabled her to stand firm in her beliefs. The professor told the students at the beginning of the course that his goal was to deprogram them of their Christian beliefs! My daughter has had to stand alone in a classroom with atheists, moral relativists, and Hindus as she defends her faith. I cannot imagine sending any child of mine into the world (culture) without having completed your WORLD VIEWS curriculum first."
God's Blessings! K. S. Homeschool Mom from Texas
Comparing World Views of the Western World, The Well Trained Mind and Veritas' Omnibus Program
Recently a home school mom wrote the following:
I am very familiar with The Well Trained Mind (I've read and studied it three times) and have read and studied modern classical education for about ten years. (We've homeschooled for 20 years). My 21yo girl got a Great Books education in high school and is now graduating from Patrick Henry College, receiving a Christian classical education, and we've had many discussions about all the curricula available!
WELL TRAINED MIND
The WTM includes the study of primary sources and Great Books, but it lacks any kind of religious or Biblical analysis for the ideas presented in literature, history, or sciences. (It always bothered me that she only included two slim pages for a chapter on religious instruction--even when her publisher let her expand it.) But Biblical analysis is left up to the parent to develop. Since most of us had a secular government education, we don't have the tools to do this!
As well, there is no fully developed WTM curriculum yet for the high school levels except Well Educated Mind (I have that one, too) which shows basic literary analysis a la Adler but again, no Biblical analysis of the works. Her new high school world history book appears to be a developed summary of her earlier works, but excludes Biblical analysis (I have only read parts).
She has a strong emphasis on a multi-cultural perspective—that all cultures have value (I agree) and are equally valid (which I strongly disagree with). At the least, she lets the family interpret the validity. On the other hand, history study, based on Western Civilization, will study world cultures and religions always from a Judeo-Christian rather than a multi-cultural base. She seems to write with a politically correct and slightly feminist perspective which shows her modern thinking as a product of our society (one minor point is that she alternates “he” with “she” in paragraphs).
The main WTM program follows the Greek model of education (the one we all were raised with) where each subject is separated and compartmentalized. It requires content, a teacher who chooses content and knows the subject, and students who perform by gathering and using the information. The WVWW, however, integrates all the subjects, a Hebrew educational model, and has an emphasis on student-initiated study and discussions with a mentor. Medieval classical models actually required a mentor to challenge and engage a student with discussions; this is the heart of WVWW.
VERITAS' OMNIBUS
Veritas' Omnibus program, with its strong Reformed perspective, is written at "dialectic" level for middle schoolers. (We are currently using it with our sixth grader and eighth grader.) Veritas doesn't have their high school series fully developed and available yet, either, so many high schoolers use the middle school 3-volume series. Overall, I don't find it "rhetoric-level" enough, with analytical questions and comparative, integrated thinking, so our son will begin WVWW this fall.
The Omnibus program includes Bible, literature, and history credits, but again, the subjects are separated. Students read Genesis one week followed by Exodus (their "primary" or required books) simultaneously with Chosen by God (a "secondary" or optional level of study) in year 1. The Bible book's summaries and questions are written for that particular book. They do not relate one book with the other but do relate one part with other Bible passages. Some families do only the primary book studies while others choose some from primary and secondary levels. Some families replace or skip whole works. Those who don't have a Reformed perspective might replace Chosen by God with another work. So the study of each book is self-contained. For the first volume, there are 12 complete Bible books to read while for Omnibus 2 there aren’t any! (Instead, it emphasizes church history.)
The pace of the Omnibus program is daunting!
WORLD VIEWS OF THE WESTERN WORLD
What I have observed so far in WVWW is that it is based on a Hebrew model of education, beginning with scriptural principles, and then it studies great works from that perspective. In that sense, it is totally different than any other programs available. It emphasizes discipleship and mentoring based on scripture and family values to analyze and interpret the literature. Since I believe that a “book” becomes my child’s teacher, and since the great works are worth reading, I want my children to first have a Biblical perspective to carry with them to analyze and interpret the values espoused in the books. Then they will know how to think about them!
I want to thank this home school mom for her thoughtful comparison. I hope it helps to clarify some of the differences in the three programs.
AN INTEGRATED BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW APPROACH
The subjects are not taught as separate parts as in a traditional school; rather, they are shown to interconnect. Ideas shape what an author, painter, or musician compose. Ideas shape the thoughts and explorations of scientists. It is ideas that shape the policy of politicians and economists. World Views of the Western World is a study of ideas and their implications and consequences in society. World Views of the Western World is a historical study in which ideas are followed through time. Dr. Francis Schaeffer explains that "there is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people. Most people catch their [world view] from their family and surounding society the way a child catches measles. But people with more understanding realize that their presuppositions should be chosen after a careful consideration of what world view is true."
World Views of the Western World is a biblical world view approach to history. This means that the biblical world view is the gauge against which all ideas are evaluated. World Views of the Western World directs your children to such an evaluation. This study is not optional in the Post-Modern world in which we live.
Properly equipping our children to stand firm in Christ in the 21st Century is our responsibility as parents. There is no better preparation than World Views of the Western World. This study is for those "living as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation" (Phillipians 2). Don't shrink back. Stand firm. Give your children all they need to live for Christ in the 21st Century. Give them World Views of the Western World.
EQUPPING your children to stand firm against the thoughts and ideas of the secular culture.
PREPARING your children to make a defense for the hope they have within them.
TEACHING your children to take the truth of Christianity into the various desciplines of life. |
"We should be consciously
preparing the next generation
for the new battles it will face."
Dr. Francis Schaeffer
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World Views of the Western World
a multi-sensory educational experience
a life changing study!
by David Quine
SEVEN AREAS OF INTEGRATED STUDY
PHILOSOPHY/THEOLOGY — The major views of God, the universe, human nature and morality are examined. Because ideas have consequences, philosophy and theology serve as the basis on which all other disciplines derive their thought and are therefore expressions of philosophy and theology.
LITERATURE — Selections from the great books of the western world to be studied include the Bible, works by Homer, Virgil, Augustine, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Hemingway, Camus, and C. S. Lewis.
ART — A survey of the development of art from the Early Christian period to the modern.
MUSIC — A survey of the development of music from the Gregorian chant to classical music.
GOVERNMENT — An examination of the political, social, economic, religious, and cultural forces which have shaped American ideals and institutions. Contrasts are made between the French, American, and Russian Revolutions.
ECONOMICS — An evaluation of man's ideas about economic theory from Smith to Keynes as compared with the Biblical world view of economics.
SCIENCE — A critical assessment of science from Plato to Post-Darwin, tracing man's attempt to explain the order, structure, and origin of the universe. Man's ideas of origins will be contrasted with the Judeo-Christian view.
TRANSCRIPT for World Views of the Western World: 18 Credits
