G.A.C.E. Notes & Quotes

Elementary History
by Ruth Smith

See more Lifestyle Education through Discipleship resources by Me and My House here.

For a complete guide on teaching and learning History, see our downloadable L.E.D. resource Freedom & Simplicity in HisStory. Ordering info is here.

These notes & quotes are from the chapter on "Elementary History" by Ruth Smith in A Guide to American Christian Education.

See more Lifestyle Education through Discipleship resources by Me and My House here.

Elementary History

God commands us to remember all He has done for us as individuals and nations.  The more intimately the individual connects his knowledge with himself, the better will it be remembered.

We must understand the cause of history and the individual’s importance in His Story.  Determining the cause and effect of events gives life to the subject.  The Christian must determine what the cause of all events is in his own personal history and his nation’s history.  History is the autobiography of him ‘who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,’ and who is graciously timing all events. 

God has a plan for each individual and nation. Recognizing God is the cause of events and in control will make our study of history truly Christian. Christianity, through God’s divine direction has moved westward with its effecting civil liberty.  This produced American, the world’s first Christian Republic.

Teaching social studies, instead of history, produces an individual with a  philosophy based upon man as causative, with the emphasis on societies rather than the individual.  The failure to teach history produces an irreligious people who attribute all advancement to man’s efforts.  History studied from original source documents enables individuals to see God’s Hand moving to fulfill His plan and purpose and to therefore give God, not man, the glory.

America is the direct result of Christianity and its relationship to all areas of life. We must recognize the link between internal Christian liberty and internal Christian liberty and external religious and civil liberty.

God’s use of individual men and nations to move Christianity westward, produced America and her Christian form of government.  The links on the Chain of Christianity are the individual men and nations used by God to move the Gospel westward and the effect of Christianity in the civil sphere.

History Course Objectives

To recognize the Providential Hand of God in all events, past, present, and future.

To recognize the importance of each individual in God’s plan of history.

To teach the major links on the Chain of Christianity.

To teach the Biblical principles of government which formed our Christian Constitutional Republic.

To learn to reason from cause to effect in historic events.

To recognize the stewardship responsibility of the American Christian for our nation.

Developing the Elementary History Program

The Principle Approach® requires the parent/teacher to prepare himself internally to teach, through his development of a Biblical philosophy of history and government.  Such preparation comes by reasoning, relating, and recording the explicit evidence of those Biblical principles and key links advanced by the Hand of God on the Chain of Christianity.  The parent/teacher’s own notebook will reflect his mastery of America’s Christian history.

Understanding the following will enable the parent/teacher to use the charts and contents provided in this book to teach elementary History.

• Each year should begin with the Rudiments
• Definitions of history, government, Providence, Chain of Christianity.
• Biblical and historic examples of Providential approach
• Explanation and overview of Chain of Christianity (COC)
• The nine (ten) major links of the COC are studied every year.
• The seed of each link is expanded through the elementary grades.  This expansion assures that the student will have been introduced to the major events of history in the context of one major theme – the COC.
• Develop an overview of major points of emphasis for each year.
• Prepare an overview of one year to determine the number of days spent on each link and its expansion.  Spend one or two weeks on most links but six to eight weeks on just one.
• Develop and record a mastery of the individual links.
• Prepare daily lesson plans
• Goals – embrace one or more of the course objectives.
• Content – identify the principle an didea to be taught with supporting facts.
• Principles – Identify one or more of the 7 governmental principles to be taught.
• Methodology – notes to be recoded by the student, materials to be read, etc.
• Assignments to be given.
• Teaching
• COC should be placed as a timeline for the children to view.
• Make each day or individual link a complete and separate lesson, which teaches at least one principle or idea that is related to the whole COC.
• History prior to Christ should not be simply a narrative of Bible stories without identifying the cause and effect in individual liberty and civil government.  [this is what JBC helps you do]

Chain of Christianity Charts

Each link on the COC is studied each year and expanded through the elementary years, so the teacher should review the materials learned in previous year and build upon that foundation. This way we can teach the same links each year without being repetitious. (see T&L* pp. 108 and 112)

All begin with the first year. You can expand more quickly to the appropriate level with older children.

As the student masters these nine links that are selected as the central points of emphasis, be will be adequately prepared to interpret the cause and effect of events which surround these major links and many current events.  The parent/teacher may desire to add other specific links to the overview. [Note: L.E.D. has links and representation for them as a timeline.] Additional leading ideas, teaching suggestions, resources available, and suggested student materials are given on pages 208-211, in the Overview of Nine Links.

Developing A Lesson Plan

After researching and recording his mastery of the nine links, the teacher must develop specific lesson plans.  Each should include the goals, principles and ideas w/ supporting facts, methodology, and assignments.

The teacher should use techniques with best allow for developing the leading ideas and principles being emphasized, and give variety and interest.  Each unit of study (link on COC) should embrace 4 R-ing for both teacher and student.

Teacher's Prep

• Learn the history through primary sourcebooks, noting chronological events w/ cause and effect, Providence, character, and Biblical principles of gov.
• Use 4 R’s to organize your study of the Principles. 
• Research each principle in the Bible.
• Reason from the principles to the story/topic
• Relate the principles to your own life
• Record the fruit of your study
• From this study determine the essential elements to teach.

Presentation

• Intro
• Present first principles
• Introduce individuals
• Present leading ideas
• Present an overview
• Begin Study - Research
• Tell or read story – teacher, all, or individually. Emphasize main points.
• Organize info – Relating
• ID Principles
• Relate leading ideas
• Recall facts supporting Principles/Leading Ideas
• Make the story your own property – Recording
• Write from dictation
• Highlight God’s Hand in the story
• Describe individuals
• Summarize facts
• Tell why it’s important to us

Activities – expand knowledge

• Mapwork – class and/or individual
• Art & Construction – color, draw, model, etc.
• Dramatization & Memorization – poems or passages - events, individuals.
• Composition – write – story, play, diary

Day by Day  - example of teaching a principle

• Define goal and background
• Vocab definitions: 1828 and Biblical – Biblical examples – Record and Relate
• Tell story – reason to ID principle from story, relate to principle from examples
• Reason to their own lives & relate to the nation
• Record notes throughout

Application and examples from the Pilgrim Story - pp 211-225

*T&L = Teaching & Learning America's Christian History: The Principle Approach®

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