Anyone use David Quine's History Program?

[SonshineLearner]

http://www.cornerstonecurriculum.com/Curriculum/wvww/wvww.htm#

 

 

Just curious if anyone has used his history program. I know that some are using his Making Math Meaningful program.

 

Thanks!

Carrie:)

[Carol in Cal.]

I really, really like it, but it's not a substitute for mainstream history.

 

I purchased "Never Before in History", which is an extremely Providential view of American history, and read it last year. I don't think that it is completely accurate, particularly in its treatment of the Lutheran Reformation, which I have studied extensively. This made me wonder whether the American history portion of the book was completely accurate as well.

 

I was impressed with how well documented it seemed, but I don't completely trust it--I wondered what they are leaving out.

 

Bottom line--I was very glad that I read that particular book, but I wouldn't want to use it as a primary spine or even close to that.

 

I really like the way that SP seems to encourage kids to develop a Biblical worldview, but I'm not sure that I would want to do this with Frankenstein and Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde at age 12.

 

Bottom line--I would tweak this curriculum to death, and it is too expensive for that kind of treatment.

 

What I decided to do instead is Concordia Voyages Church History and Social Issues semesters, and Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings. I may get back to Starting Points one of these days, but not for 7th grade.

 

I had a similar impression of your curriculum--that it's good in places but so biased in others that I don't want it to comprise so much of my DD's education. I want her exposure to be a bit more well-rounded than that.

[Miss Marple]

I've used all 3 years of WVWW as well as Starting Points. You didn't ask anything specific, so I'm not sure what you are interested in knowing, but I'll try to summarize it as best I can.

 

The series relies heavily on the great books. It requires writing (and gives some limited instruction) as well as reading. The "syllabus" is more than just a schedule. It is a study guide in workbook format. There are no answer keys (a plus IMO) but a lot of help is available at the yahoo group. This program is definitely from a protestant perspective and has a calvinist bent. I do not subscribe to Calvin's theology, but found that the program could be used without that (I am also not Arminian). Francis Schaeffer is featured heavily throughout the program.

 

While the student will glean some history, that, IMO, isn't the main focus of the program. Year 2 does have a large American history component that relies heavily on original source documents. This program is more typical of a great books literature program from a worldview perspective. I also have issues with the amount of credits that Quine proposes for the program.

 

While I really like Quine's program, I do tweak it - quite a lot. I also don't require that the workbook be filled out but students must be ready to discuss the readings. If they want to refer to their notes, fine, if not, that's fine, too. I add in a lot of literature study (as literature) and other historical information. I don't like the heavy use of the audio tapes and have moved to substitute reading materials or have provided lectures to the students for those subjects. We used The Teaching Company courses to supplement as well.

 

So why do I use it when I have issues with it? Because Quine does a great job in literature choice as well as providing challenging issues for the student to think through. My first year students have all graduated and gone on to college. Two of the 8 are national merit students. My oldest son took a concurrent philosophy course at our local university (professor is also logic instructor) and the professor told him that the kids who had taken my worldview courses were his best students. They had read most of the materials he required, could converse on a higher level than the other students, were able to dissect the literature and worldview/philosophy questions within the context of the world today, etc.

 

Looking back to when I first started, I appreciate that the program was laid out so succinctly for me. Now that I have taught this for 6 years, I'm confident and comfortable with tweaking, adding, omitting, etc. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you may have about the programs. You can also ask questions at the yahoo group.