Many of our Compass Classroom families want recommendations on how to include younger students in history courses. Dave Raymond recommends Story of the World. We are happy to introduce you to a family who has not only included younger students in history courses, but also created interesting Script-n-Scribe curricula.
Meet Gary & Brandy Ferrell creators of Script-n-Scribe
As children, we did not learn to value poetry, penmanship, or art. Even as adults, it’s taken us a long time to understand the value of poetry, penmanship, and art. We spent the majority of our lives believing these things to be unnecessary extras – only for the artsy families who already enjoyed such things. It was not until we came across a family who did value these “unnecessary extras” that we realized there was something significant in their home that was lacking in ours.
This led us to a point of self-examination. If our family is to love truth, goodness, and beauty, how can we do so if we seldom expose our children to truth, goodness, and beauty? Learning to love lovely things cultivates an appreciation for lovely things. As we considered the words of Paul in his epistle to the Philippians, we realized that in order to “think about these things,” they needed to be in our minds in the first place. We cannot bring to remembrance things that we’ve never really pondered to begin with.
Why poetry, picture study, and penmanship?
But no matter our intentions, reality would often result in a return to the default mode. How could we pursue the lovely when it is so often lost amidst our more pressing core academic goals of reading, writing, and arithmetic? After wrestling with this for some time, we realized that by incorporating art and poetry study into the basic skill of handwriting, we could easily integrate the study of beautiful things so that it would become an integral part of the overall school routine. And with that, the Script-n-Scribe™ cursive program was born.
One-Room Schoolhouse Approach
It was not long ago that our family was introduced to Dave Raymond’s History via Compass Classroom. Imagine our delight when, after studying poetry and art with our younger children in Script-n-Scribe™ Americana, our teenagers came across many of the same references in Dave Raymond’s American History!
Dave Raymond’s history curriculum has become a treasured resource in our home as it teaches the historical narrative from an unabashedly Christian worldview while also incorporating art and poetry into the engaging video lessons. What’s more, our younger children, who continue to practice their penmanship and picture study, have become part of the high school history lessons as they see the artwork and poetry/historical references they’re studying show up on the screen. With our family’s desire to embrace a one-room schoolhouse atmosphere, the two programs have merged into the education we ourselves have been seeking for so long.
Include Younger Students in History Courses
If you’re asking… “How can I easily fit poetry and picture study into our school day? Which poems and art should I start with? How can we connect our family together into a unified learning experience?” Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood offers a line of cursive copybooks that not only encourage poetry and picture study while practicing penmanship, but these books also incorporate a gentle introduction/application of basic English grammar concepts.
When studying Dave Raymond’s American History, take a moment to grab this free lesson “Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers,” from Script-n-Scribe™ Americana. Also available are Script-n-Scribe™ Truth Traveler which corresponds with Ancient/World History and Script-n-Scribe™ Hymns in History, which corresponds to Middle Ages/Christendom through the 20th Century.
One of our greatest lessons learned throughout the past decade of homeschooling is that the most important things are often the things that don’t have check-boxes. This perplexing and humbling experience of home-centered education is a chance to discover more about God, his creation, and his redemption of mankind. Our family’s mission – fostering a personal relationship with God and making Him known to the world around us – is the only thing that matters for eternity.
Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood
Gary and Brandy are a husband and wife team who met on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Setting aside their experience in engineering and operations, they embarked on the homeschool journey together with their children and now enjoy serving other homeschool families through their support and resources at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood, including the Script-n-Scribe Cursive Program and the Mission: Great Commission Curriculum series.
