book review – Page 17

My daughters, especially Rose, love history and science. They love it to the point of wanting to read and study things on their own outside of our curriculum. Since homeschooling seems to be an indefinite path for our family at the moment my husband and I decided it would be good to make sure we had resources available for our girls which were quality and in accordance with our beliefs for science. Companies like Master Books (a division of New Leaf Publishing) fit that criteria. We purchased a handful of science books published by this company last summer because I knew I wanted books with creation at the center. What I didn’t know was I would be learning some things.

I received an excellent public-school education by a wonderful group of Bible-believing teachers. Many even told our class they didn’t believe in evolution but were required to teach it. I knew I believed the Bible’s authority of the account and I just brushed the text-book accounts of where we all came from off as nonsense, not thinking much more about it. As I began to read through the resources we purchased for our girls last summer I had a sudden realization that all the things I had been taught concerning science (geology, chemistry, biology) and history had been first soaked in an evolutionary belief-system without my even knowing it. I began to dig deeper and search out resources so I would be fulled educated and equipped with an accurate understanding of history, not simply the one taught to me from text books who created the Bible as historical fiction and the beliefs of Christianity as outdated. When the opportunity came up to read and review Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of our Ancestors I jumped at the chance to embark on my own new study of history, and I was not disappointed.

This historical study of what happened at the Tower of Babel written by Bodie Hodge covers an incredibly wide range of information from how to actually pronounce the name to what happened to all the people groups. I plan to reread this again over the summer simply because there was so much good stuff in here and I don’t want to miss any of it!

While it is a history book, the majority of it is not difficult to read. The references to the Scriptural account are abundant, but equally so are other historical documents which help to uncover a deeper understanding of the history. I was taught that Babel was just a myth which people used to explain away the variety of languages found all over the world. I didn’t believe this, but what I didn’t realize what how this impacted other teaching like when writing first began, how language developed over time, and even why some languages are clearly related. I was told that the reason other groups had similar “stories” in their cultures was because other had taken the story as they traveled toward people groups and the biblical account was probably not the original source.

As I read I felt as if I were myself digging in the desert to uncover the truth of ancient history. I learned why the biblical account is clearly the source of all the other accounts found in other cultures. I already knew this was true, but now I’m equipped with the reasons why it is true beyond simply my understanding of the truth of Scripture. Now I can answer the questions of unbelievers who care nothing about the Bible in an informed way.

The only chapter difficult for me to get through was chapter 17 which explained where each of the family groups traveled to as they dispersed. It was fascinating, but the amount of information and variety of names started to all run together. I would have preferred to see a separate chapter for each family group, but I understand the reasoning behind putting it all in one chapter. This is one I would like to revisit so I can better understand the dispersion.

I had two favorite parts as I studied. One was learning of how the names in various cultures related back to Noah and his sons. Even accounts of the flood in China have similar names. The other was learning how people would have been able to disperse more quickly than I was taught. When you have been taught history from a millions-of-years-old perspective these thing are taught very differently.

Now, I want to clarify that I do believe in a young-earth, but I don’t believe that Christians who don’t hold to this view are not saved. I have studied the evidence for myself because I was taught that evolution and the biblical account of creations, the flood, and the tower of babel could all co-exist. I no longer believe this and I’m so thankful for companies like New Leaf Publishing who provide resources which give extra-biblical proof and reasoning for that which I know to be true.

Take a look at this preview of the book and then go buy it! I think you’ll enjoy this enlightening read as much as I did.

You can read more reviews by clicking here!

Disclaimer

I received The Tower of Babel in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

Rose has done a great job transitioning to cursive as a 7-year-old second grader. This is a little earlier than most schools teach it. She began learning some cursive last year and has continued to do very well this year. Her only big issue is being able to think about both how to spell the words correctly and form each letter correctly as well. When I mentioned this problem to a more experienced homeschool mom she said this is typical and explained how copywork helps this issue. Draw and Write Through History has given her the opportunity to combine her love of drawing alongside cursive practice.

There are many things I like about how this enhances history studies. The first is its biblical worldview. It is a privilege to teach my daughter the Bible is 100% true and I strive to make sure all of our curriculum reflects that.

It is also independent. There may be times when she needed a little guidance with perspective at first, but this is meant to be done independently which is helpful when teaching multiple children.

I also really liked that it used traditional handwriting paper for the cursive copywork. This made it much easier for Rose, still in the learning stages of cursive, to copy correctly. I did have to remind her to proofread because she sometimes forgets to cross and dot letters, but overall this was a much better way for her to practice handwriting than merely requiring her to write in cursive for her schoolwork.

Rose didn’t complain once about doing this work! I can’t say that is always true about our usual handwriting program. Coupling this with whatever history you are studying gives double purpose to the assignments. All of the copywork is related to history so students are learning at the same time that they are practicing handwriting.

Here is one of her assignments. She has been learning cursive for a little over a year and is now 7 1/2 years old to give you perspective. I was pleased that both the issues of letter form and spelling seemed to clear up almost completely! This is a part of the recommended Heart of Dakota curriculum so I’m excited to see it incorporated more fully next year into our days!

Are you ready for the giveaway now?

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Tag: book review

Tower of Babel from New Leaf Publishing: Book Review

Draw and Write Through History: Review and Giveaway