Tuesday, April 10, 2012

TruthQuest History

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And you will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH will set you free. John 8:32

JESUS told him, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.  No one can come to the FATHER except through ME." John 14:6

Do you know what I love about these two verses?  I LOVE that JESUS has a plan for me to freely get to my DADDY and that HE is all over that plan.  John 8:32 says that if I know the TRUTH, I will be free and John 14:6 tells me that JESUS is THE TRUTH.  It says that THE ONLY WAY I can get to GOD is through the love of JESUS who took my place on a cross on Calvary.   JESUS doesn't say that HE is "a" way or "a" truth or "a" life.  HE says that HE is THE WAY and THE TRUTH and THE LIFE.  And not only is HE THE WAY -- HE is the ONLY WAY!

When I was just 12 years old I took that TRUTH to heart and asked JESUS to be in complete and total control of my life.  I will never forget the night that I knelt and asked HIM to be my KING of KINGS.  I will never forget and I will always be totally and completely indebted to those who loved this little girl enough to show me how very much JESUS loves me.

That's the TRUTH and it is my daily QUEST!


It is because of my trust and faith in HIM that I desire to share the TRUTH with my children on a daily basis in our home -- through both schoolwork and leisure time.  I want my children to KNOW that they KNOW that they KNOW the TRUTH even though the world will inundate you with half-truths and outright lies.  In all aspects of our time together and especially in our studies together, I strive to put CHRIST front and center.  I choose our curriculums based on the emphasis placed on the BIG PICTURE of GOD.

Because of the importance I place on how GOD is portrayed through the words of men, I am picky about what we study at Long Leaf Academy.  I was thrilled to be chosen to review TruthQuest History and excited that we would be looking at America and Europe during the Age of Revolution.  I truly want my children to seek "GOD's truth . . . embedded in the flow of history."  More than anything else, I want them to realize that "GOD initiates, people respond and history happens."

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The conversational tone of the TruthQuest History readings was perfect for my family.  I have found that my children much prefer a conversational flow over a stuffy textbook any day of the week.   Picking up right where we have been in our most recent history studies, it was easy to introduce this text to our homeschooling day.  Not only did my children enjoy the readings, but they learned pieces of history while feeling GOD tugging at their hearts.  And how do I know this?  Because GOD was tugging at my heart right along with theirs as I read to them.    We've been studying the Renaissance and Reformation and GOD was all over our readings from TruthQuest.  Listen to this excerpt:

What people believe abut GOD and themselves is the very heartbeat of history because it shapes their views on everything else! {How TRUE is that?  How awesome?!?}


The Renaissance base for human power and potential was humanity itself!  The Reformation base, however, was God's love for and pursuit of mankind . . . and the Bible's powerful confirmation of it. {Bold emphasis added mine.  Can you feel me jumping up and down over here?  YES, LORD, please pursue ME!}


Someone has to know the truth and be gutsy enough to shout it from the housetops for the sake of the dear souls whose lives -- temporal and eternal -- depend on it!  {I pray that I am preparing my children to be this someone! I want them to be gutsy for GOD!}


And in my opinion, here's the key:

Don't ever think spiritual matters are insignificant and only personal or you'll miss the very hand of God in history!  You'll be blind to the deep beliefs which drive human action and you'll think history is merely a boring record of famous people, deeds, and dates.  . . . History is really about what God is doing in the earth and that's the most compelling story of all!  History is about His truth, which is so powerful that it changes government, law, science, art, economics, literature, and the quality of life for people and their descendants . . . including us!


Amen and Amen!  Now THAT is why I teach history?  What about you?  TruthQuest History is a literature-based history curriculum that is steeped in GOD's big picture and plan.  As you read through the pages of the different time periods, you will read the story of GOD's love that IS who we are.  As you explore the story of us, you'll find it is interwoven with HIS story throughout.  Our GOD is awesome and HE cares for us.  We are truly in the palm of HIS hand.

A Christian homeschooling mom, Michelle Miller has a gift for making history relevant.  Written for students in grades 5 - 12, TruthQuest History makes sure that historical figures step off the page and into your life .  One of the advantages of TruthQuest History is that you can teach multiple aged children from the same book at the same time.    The text is easy to understand and both the Princess and the Boy Scout (5th and 7th graders) enjoyed our study.  They even make it easy for you to decide where to start.

TruthQuest History is available in print and PDF formats.  There are 11 different choices from Creation to Age of Revolution III (which encompasses America and Europe from 1865 - 2000) and there are companion resources for notebooking and creating timelines as well as American History for Young Readers.  You can see individual prices and samples of all of these HERE.

The Age of Revolution I PDF that I reviewed can be purchased for $24.95 and the hard copy can be purchased for $29.95.  I would recommend that you take a while to check out the Sample and Table of Contents.  TruthQuest is a stand-alone curriculum, but you'll notice that each topic has a list of additional books or resources included.  They are provided so that your student can begin to dig deeper into any of the topics that intrigue him/her and are designated by grade level.  I was pleasantly surprised to find I had many of these on hand already.  {Yes, I confess!  I'm a book junkie.  All for the love of learning!} Also scattered periodically throughout the text are writing opportunities and activities to further aid in student comprehension.

More and more I am finding myself drawn to this living history approach.   How wonderful to know that GOD is alive and working. I'm thrilled to be a part of HIS story!

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~~Disclaimer:  I was given the opportunity to review TruthQuest History:  Age of Revolution I as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  The opinions stated are mine and mine alone.  I was not paid to share my thoughts and feelings with you.  I received a PDF download of the curriculum in exchange for my honest review. You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the TOS Homeschool Crew thought of TruthQuest History HERE.~~

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