Curriculum Review: Worldview {BrimWood Press}

Before beginning my daughter's 8th grade school year, I really had not thought much of 'worldview'. Our chosen homeschool curriculum however does have it as a subject area and so I've looked at it more than I possibly would have. 

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The past few months my 14-year-old son and I have had the opportunity to learn more about worldview. There is the belief by some that in order to know the truth, you only need to study the truth intensely so you can determine a falsehood easy. While I do not think there is anything necessarily wrong with that line of reasoning, I do see the benefit of at least getting a basic idea of the concepts of the false to be able to better argue for the truth. Does that make sense?

Through BrimWood Press we've been going through Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism, along with the book Secret of the Scribe and A Young Historian's Introduction to Worldview. The set we received is Volume 1. Our package came with the three books above as well as hands-on activity supplies. Included were a pair of 3D glasses {you'll see those in a photo further down}.

     Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism (CTAP) is a nine month program that compares and contrasts Near Eastern myths with Old Testament stories to teach and discuss Christian theology. While comparing two worldviews, CTAP teaches the Bible's narrative theologically rather than apologetically, since children need a deeply rooted faith before they can proceed to defend it. This in-depth study of the ancient struggle with idolatry provides a compelling view of the uniqueness, coherence, and beauty of the Christian faith. The student is engaged in a journey that reveals just where the ideas of ancient polytheism and Christian monotheism lead. Along the way, they will discover that the misconceptions and temptations of the ancients have profound relevance for youth of the twenty-first century.
     CTAP enables young people to grasp the grand narrative of God's Word and to recognize its central plot, characters and themes. This literary approach combined with the method of compare and contrast cultivates higher level thinking skills and gives students a rudder to navigate the churning sea of competing ideas. -from the back cover of CTAP, emphasis mine

This program is designed for ages 10 and up.
The bundle of CTAP and Secret of the Scribe is available for $40.
A Young Historian's Introduction to Worldview can be purchased for $35 (see website for current prices and samples).

I was super excited when the opportunity came up to be in on the review for this curriculum. I feel like I've mostly just dumped my daughter into the 'worldview' arena, without much background. I don't want to do the same with my son. This program gives a good basis for what a worldview is, and why it matters. The age suggestion of "10 and up" did give me hesitation, wondering if it would be too juvenile for my 9th grader. I needn't have worried.

The book, Secret of the Scibe, is small and my son read through it in an hour. There are references back to the book in just about every lesson we've gone through in the CTAP book, with some excerpts included in the lesson or directions to read from the book. I like that it brings the story into the lesson. It also includes the Bible in each lesson. This program also incorporates theme, character and plot study of the Bible.

The two larger books, CTAP and A Young Historian's Introduction to Worldview (AYHIW), aren't really connected that I can tell. I didn't know which to do first or if they were to be done concurrently. Looking back I would have done a lesson in AYHIW first then a lesson or two in CTAP. But we started with CTAP, through lesson three then did two lessons in AYHIW. The lessons in AYHIW are much faster for us than in CTAP. It has taken up to three days to finish one lesson in CTAP.

Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism includes

• 25 lessons
• Parent/Teacher & Student Introductions
• Appendix, including
• Jacob Journal
• Parent/Teacher Charts
• Student Charts

A Young Historian's Introduction to Worldview includes:

• 4 lessons
• Lesson Preparation and Supply List
• Hands-On Activities
• Literature selections

The worldviews presented in this study:

• Polytheism, Monotheism, Naturalism, Pantheism

and more specifically (but just briefly):

• Agnosticism, Ancient Egyptian, Atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Humanism, Islam, Judaism, New Age, Shinto, Taoism

I like the discussions that result from the lessons. My son didn't understand every question that was in the discussion portion of the lessons in CTAP, and there are no answer keys anywhere that I'm aware of, but it helped him {and I!} to stretch our minds and think differently than we may usually. When I asked my son if he was enjoying the program he said it wasn't something that was really interesting to him- as in it didn't have a lot of 'fun' things. But this is one subject that when it is time to do, he is the one to initiate it! He actually thinks about what has been read and gives thoughtful responses. The least enjoyable task for him was writing in the charts at the end of the book. The charts do have 'answer keys'.

So far we have only completed the first hands-on activity in the AYHIW book. If my son had his way we would work through that book first, completely, before doing any more of the lessons in CTAP. I find it is good to alternate.

Bottom line:
I really am enjoying this study. I much prefer the CTAP book over the AYHIW, but it seems I get more in-depth discussion from my son when we do the lessons in CTAP. He seems to feel AYHIW is more 'fun' and doesn't require as much effort. I am sure it's just a personality thing.

I think this will take us majority of our school year to get through. We started it a few weeks after school had already started and it seems that some lessons are taking us longer than perhaps is usual. We did not use Jacob's Journal but looking back I do think it would be a good idea. There is still time to start!

The way all the books are written is easy to read as well as understand. It isn't 'preachy' but it is very evident that this was written from a Christian viewpoint. Each of the different worldviews are touched on to the point that they can be identified. They are not studied in-depth. I am interested in reading the other books in the Historical Novels for Engaging Thinkers series offered by BrimWood Press.

There are some typos in the book but they are in regards to the charts that the student works in the lessons. I was able to figure out which charts were meant by the mislabeled instructions so it isn't too much of an issue.

I would definitely recommend this to others for a worldview study because it is well-done, includes relevant information, presents it clearly and uses literary means for studying this subject.

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***Disclaimer: I received the above items for free for the purpose of this review. No compensation was given. All opinions stated are my own. This post does contain affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.***