What do you think of these world view books?

[Kfamily]

These are the world view books from Ambleside Online. I haven't read any of them and thought I should start thinking about that. My dd is 6th this year but I am trying to sort out which books are important to cover and which are not. There are SO MANY!!:001_smile:

 

What do you think of these world view books and which do you consider important to include? Also, I was planning on having dd read these later in highschool (like 10th and up).

 

Thanks to all for your opinions and advice.

 

Books to consider are:

 

War of the Worldviews by Gary DeMar

Postmodern Times by Gene Edward Veith

How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer

The Deadliest Monster by Jeff Baldwin

Seven People Who Rule the World from the Grave by David Breese

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

[MommyThrice]

from the Grave. It's not a difficult read, but I would definately save it for high school because of the content. The ideas of these men are a little difficult to understand. I love the Schaeffer book, it's probably and early high school level. I am covering The Deadliest Monster this year with my 8th grader. It compares the worldviews in Frankensten to Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and will be the easiest of the three - very straightforward.

 

I love this kind of stuff because, for me, this is the whole reason why we chose to homeschool - to discuss ideas and worldviews!

[Kfamily]

Thanks for responding. I was wondering if we should read Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde before reading The Deadliest Monster or along with it? My dd has already expressed extreme distaste for the idea of reading Frankenstein and I am hoping she might be swayed to read it later. Either that or let it go. I have heard good things about How Should We then Live.

I might save 7 Men Who Rule From the Grave for 12th then.

 

Thanks again.

[MommyThrice]

but isn't completely necessary. It compares the two worldviews..

 

"I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous,"

versus

"It was the curse of mankind that these incongruous <personalities - the good and the bad> were thus bound together, that in the agonised womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling."

 

..and then uses them to examine the various philosophies and religions of today. The two books are just his examples that he keeps returning to. You could get a great deal from the Deadliest Monster without reading the other two books, but they really illustrate the two ways of looking at the world.

[dtsmamtj]

I am not sure what to suggest for a 6th grader. We have read The Deadliest Monster and I have Postmodern Times and How Should We then Live. I have skimmed Postmodern Times and will use How Should We then Live in September (our oldest is going into 9th grade). I won't be much help because I plan on reading them all. Have you read Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde? If I remember correctly (from 2 years ago)those are the two books discussed in Jeff Baldwin's book (our daughter did David Quine's worldview Starting Points in 7th grade). I held off on having our daughter read War of the Worldviews because I wasn't sure she could handle the subject matter, but she will most likely read it now that she is in high school and we are running across these matters more often. You might try Jeff Baldwin's site, I think he has a list of books he suggests students read and I believe there is one called "How to be a your own Selfish Pig" or something like that - it is a primer maybe (oh, I hope my memory is correct). I love this subject and truly enjoy learning along with our children. Another site you might try is the Worldview Academy. We are using How to Think Like a Christian this fall, listening to How Should We then Live, and reading Gary DeMar's book "Living Straight in a Crooked World" in the spring. HTH

 

T

[Lori D.]

For a 6th/7th grader, I think I'd start even more simply/specifically with Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox -- to help your student begin to think more logically/critically and to be able to make comparisons and understand consequences. Perhaps use the upcoming election campaign speeches to begin talking about fallacies in the speeches, and where these statements/policies would lead -- consequences of choices, and what the beliefs must be for the candidate to propose those policies.

 

 

A very gentle intro into worldview and Christian faith is "How To Be Your Own Selfish Pig" by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (daughter of Francis Schaeffer). Through a series of questions and answers she tackles complex Christian concepts and the way various worldviews think about these topics. Don't know if I would try even this one before a student has really developed some good logic and critical thinking/analysis skills -- say, 8th grade??

 

Here's a link to a Cathy Duffy review of a full-year worldview program for 7th-9th grade students put out by Summit Ministries. How to be Your Own Selfish Pig is part of the program. See it at: http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/worldview/lightbearers.htm

 

 

As for the titles you listed, I think the most accessible one would be Deadliest Monster, and I don't think I'd try that before 9th-10th grade. The others I definitely think are 11th-12th grade, as well as this interesting title put out by Summit: "Understanding the Times: The Religious Worldviews of Our Day and the Search for Truth." Each of the books has a bit of a different scope under the very broad topic of worldview; I suggest doing an online search of the books you're interested in and comparing the table of contents of each to see which book(s) matches up with what you'd like to see covered in that broad subject of worldview.

 

Good idea to begin thinking about this subject now, and best of luck in researching and finding the materials that will work best for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.