What if I Don't Live in the United States

I recently received a letter from a family in Australia asking if Principle Approach would be an appropriate choice for their family. What follows is my first reply to them. I do hope we'll have an ongoing dialogue.

Wow…I’ve never received a letter from Australia! How exciting.

The Noah Plan Principle Approach Curriculum is a curriculum that was written in response to requests, mainly by homeschooling parents, for examples on how to teach the Principle Approach. The Principle Approach is a method of instruction that incorporates biblical reasoning into all subjects: math, science, reading, history,… For that reason I would say, ‘Yes, it would be suitable for children in Australia.’

The history emphasis is, however, on the westward movement of the gospel starting with the Macedonian call, then moving into the Reformation,… The ‘whole’ of history is taught with a bit of this emphasis as well. There are 10 key links on the American Christian History timeline: Creation, Moses and the Law, Jesus the Focal Point of History, Paul and the Christian Church, The Bible in English, Columbus, Christian Founding, American Christian Republic, Westward Expansion and Erosion, and Reformation/21st Century. As you can see, it does have a decidedly American focus. However, because of the method it is still beneficial, and I would even recommend it in other countries.

As it is important for children to understand their Christian heritage, the expansion of the gospel to Australia would be an important study and the history curriculum would need to be adjusted for that. The curriculum and method does come out of the United States, so it makes sense that the focus would be there. But with that said, it has been brought to my attention [recently as a matter of fact; maybe God was preparing me to share with you] that a study of this particular pathway of the gospel is useful for all Christians to study around the globe because God did something a bit unique here. The United States was founded on Biblical principle. The Bible was the political and governmental text for the writing of the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. Sadly, we seem to be struggling as much as everyone else these days, but to have a country whose founding documents established Federalism that came out of the dual governmental principle of the New Testament, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and the great commandment. And the second is like unto this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” The principle of the dual nature of government is to love God and to love others. There is a much larger study on this, but I don’t want to belabor the point. If a family, not from America, was to choose to study the westward movement of the Gospel to the Americas it would be because of the unique aspect of its founding.

However, Australia has its way of receiving the gospel as well. In studying that you might want to tweek [is that an American expression? I mean ‘adjust’] the links a bit. You could use through say…”The Bible in English” and then make adjustments for its journey to Australia. It is important to teach Christian history from this perspective because of the very nature of history. History is God’s plan of redemption for us. It started in the Garden and will end with our presence with God. It is his rescue plan for us. So when an event in history is studied it is studied in relation to that plan which is represented on a timeline. My children have one page for each of those key links in their notebooks. When we study an event, we study it in relation to those links and then place it on the appropriate corresponding link page in the timeline section of their notebook for the appropriate subject. For example, we may be studying Martin Luther. He was one of the Reformers and even though his Bible was written in German we place him on The Bible in English page. In this way they can see that the smaller events are a part of God’s plan.

There is an Australian who currently lives in the United States as a missionary [thank you so much for sending him]. You may be familiar with him. His name is Ken Ham. He also has a timeline that could be used in this way. You can get more information at http://www.answersingenesis.org/. This is his timeline:

[This image could not be uploaded here. You can view it at: http://www.answersingenesis.org/museum/docs/7cs.asp]

It could be used in this way as well, but it does lack a few links between the cross and consummation. I don’t think it would be difficult to add them in though. I would have to know more about Australian Christian History to help you.

I spend so much time on this particular subject because if you have any problem with the method at all, it would be right here. In the beginning it does seem to be a method that forgets there are other parts of the world. But it must be remembered that it was a method developed in the United States and thereby focuses on United States history.

I would encourage you, though, not to give up on it because of this. For Randy and me, our decision really didn’t have that much to do with the way the history was approached. It had to do with the fact that when you teach children to see each individual subject through the eyes of God, they end up seeing everything through his eyes. That is what we wanted for our children.

The Dictionary you purchased will be a tremendous blessing to your family. Noah Webster wrote this dictionary from a biblical worldview and when you see how it defines the words: heart, marriage, education, … as compared with our modern dictionaries, know that this is the kind of thinking that will become a part of you your husband and your children through this method.

If you want to know more, let me know. I feel like I’ve dumped on you a bit and maybe you need some time to absorb this. I can give you more practical information if you would like to converse more. You can also take a look at my blog site: www.principleapproachplanning.blogspot.com.

Blessings to you and your family. I am at your service.