jessie410 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 As I go about my journey to choose a curriculum, I learn more and more about what I want in specific areas. I have been trying to get a feel for all of the history in programs like MFW, SL, HOD, WP, etc. but some of them don't really give their stance on their approach to history. I want history to be delivered first and foremost from a Godly/biblical perspective, and beyond that I don't want one country favored above another and make one country seem like a good guy and another country seem like a bad guy. Growing up in public school I know I was taught history from a U.S.A. is best and always right stance. While I love our country and am grateful to be an American, I want my children to have a world view and not America-centric. Does that make sense? Sonlight spells out their approach really well in their catalog and it sounds great, but how does that compare to the others? Is there anyone who has used multiple Christian curriculums and wants to share exactly what stance each one's history takes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelise24 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 To get a truly unbiased approach, I would suggest using timelines of history to guide you through subjects. Then, create a book list that takes you through the timeline/subjects. Find books from various authors and points of view. I know that is vague, but it is almost impossible to not have bias in your resources. You try to find resources with minimal bias while utilizing several sources to balance the biases out. You get a balanced approach this way, in my opinion. Bias will always be there somewhere... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Story of the World, definitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I have used MFW and I think it fits the category you are looking for. It does have some books from some publishers that are more USA bias, but those books get balanced with other books. So it's not just one perspective. And that helps. One example is with a book called Exploring American History. I find that I have to remove the "we" and "us" from the story and just say "America" or the "US". so I tweak that way.... but at the same time that we're reading from that book in EX1850, we're reading George Washington's World - which has more world history perspective, and reading SOTW. I don't know if this is on MFW's FAQ or not.. but it's on their message board David Hazell once answered about MFW goal on this stuff.. here's that archived thread that had similar posts added to it.. but reading david's answer... http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1362&p=6901p6901 I don't know how other programs do it as I haven't used all of them. -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Story of the World, definitely. Yes, this is what I was thinking. Story of the World with the Activity Guide and done alongside a good Bible storybook has worked out very nicely for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Story of the World and All American History. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosesinsummer Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I think it's virtually impossible to have a completely biased free history curriculum. A Protestant curriculum will always view history through that lens when discussing and presenting historical fact etc. Even Story of the World has a bit of a Protestant Christian flavor to it. Here's a link to a Christian curriculum that is being produced through the Catholic Schools Textbook Project that I know a lot of Catholic homeschoolers have been pleased with: http://cstp.myshopify.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessie410 Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) Thanks everyone! I was thinking I had seen a thread somewhere about MFW's stance on this, so thank you for the link, Crystal. rosesinsummer, I WANT the Christian/protestant view. :) When I say unbiased, I am referring to how different sides are presented in conflicts and how heroic certain people (Columbus, Robert E. Lee) are portrayed when they also did some pretty crappy stuff. My thinking is that with a Christian perspective, you shouldn't get much bias because God is no respector of persons and as Christians, we ought to look at the whole story because God has a hand in everything and loves everyone, not just the "good side". Can anyone compare SL/MFW/HOD/SOW/WP/etc. in this area for me? Edited January 18, 2012 by jessie410 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I just ended out using encyclopedias with one of my sons for awhile, who would ramble on and on and on, whenever he encountered bias. I got tired. He took a liking to encyclopedias and settled down with them. My ears got a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Sonlight really does do a great job of presenting different sides of a conflict, from each point of view, and of balancing what's written in a book with their notes. I am seeing this especially in core 100 this year (since I really didn't use the notes in younger levels, I can't speak to those), but I saw the "differing views" in earlier cores by the book selection and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 HOD doesn't do a USA is best/always right/#1 approach, or any other county. I've found it to be very much from a Christian perspective and they point out the good and bad about historical figures that are oftentimes given the "three cheers" treatment. In fact, they have your kids compare and contrast these figures to those of the Bible and how they showed/lacked certain character qualities. I'm really impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 We use Sonlight & it presents a Biblical, yet unbiased, view of history. We've enjoyed great debates and discussion of historical issues this year. I am very pleased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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