Generations Homeschool Curriculum Review
For years, I have been part of Classical Conversations and used the resources suggested by Classical Conversations even when I left the community.
This year, we decided to try something different.
With a focus on discipleship, not merely academics, Generations Homeschool Curriculum caught my attention. In fact, they advertise themselves as Christian Discipleship Curriculum.
With the spiritual battle in our world for our children’s hearts, academics is just not enough nor should academics be our end goal. It is up to God to change our children’s hearts, but should we not take every opportunity to teach them about Christ and disciple them? Should we not use the great works of authors of faith for literature, history and every subject?
I have had a wakeup call as I have seen multiple children of Christian, homeschooling families and missionary families walk away from the faith and embrace the world’s values, such as gender confusion. Again, this is a spiritual battle…
Overview
Generations is a Christian homeschool curriculum designed to help parents follow the method of education which God designed – discipleship. While education is a process for preparing our children intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and emotionally for life, discipleship is God’s method of doing this.
The philosophy behind Generations is that education must be Christian, not secular. Every curriculum pushes a worldview and bias, and as Christian parents, it is our privilege and duty to give our children the truth and perspective of God’s Word. Thus, the best books and teachers hold a biblical worldview.
Also, since glorifying God and enjoying Him forever are man’s chief purpose (Westminster Shorter Catechism #1), bringing in God’s presence in all subjects and discussions helps our children to worship Him better and apply their education to their lives.
Generations curriculum is based on this 4-pillar strategy of Christian education:
1. Family Discipleship
2. Biblical Worldview
3. Best Teachers, Best Books
4. Worship and Live Application
Core Subjects
Generations offers full grade level curriculum (minus math at this point) for grades 1-12. The five core areas of the curriculum are:
1. Bible and Family Discipleship
2. History
3. Literature
4. Worldview and Science
5. Christian Character
Our Experience
We purchased the all-in-one package for 8th grade this year for our son. This includes:
- A Bible study Genesis: In the Beginning by Kevin Swanson for the Bible Track
- American Faith: 27 Sketches from Winthrop to Wilkerson and an accompanying Student Workbook for the History Track
- Great Christian Stories: Essential Literature for Christian Students with an accompanying Student Workbook for the Literature Track
- Introduction to Logic by Jason Lisle for the Worldview and Culture Track
- Created for Work by Bob Schultz (for boys) or Virtuous by Nancy Wilson (for girls) for the Character Track
We have also been using The Book of Proverbs: God’s Book of Wisdom Bible study by Kevin Swanson for our family devotions.
Bible Track
The Bible studies in Genesis and Proverbs have been such a blessing for guiding my son’s devotions and our family devotions. We read a short Scripture passage, there is a short lesson to read related to the Scripture passage, and there are also questions to think through how to apply the Scripture passage. Our family devotions are more guided with the Proverbs study.
History Track
For history, American Faith: 27 Sketches from Winthrop to Wilkerson is no boring history textbook. These 27 short biographies tell the stories of important Christian influencers of American history, including John Winthrop, William Bradford, David Brainerd, Jonathan Edwards, Patrick Henry, Phyllis Wheatley, Noah Webster, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, George Washington Carver, Dwight L. Moody, J. Gresham Machen, Elisabeth Elliot, and David Wilkerson.
The 27 Sketches are divided into five units:
Unit 1: Spiritual Roots (1600-1760)
Unit 2: Foundations of Faith (1760-1800)
Unit 3: Prideful Expansion and Internal Turmoil (1800-1865)
Unit 4: National Prosperity and Secularism (1865-1920)
Unit 5: Remnant Revivals and Spiritual Decline (1920 to present)
The Student Workbook for American Faith: 27 Sketches from Winthrop to Wilkerson provides a Course Introduction and Course Schedule for covering the 27 Sketches in 36 weeks or four 9-week quarters. For each chapter or biographical sketch, the workbook guides the student in thinking more deeply about what he or she has read with a Key Passage from Scripture, Timeline Review, Discussion Questions, and a section on Meditation, Application and Prayer. Each unit also ends with an exam and a project, such as writing an essay on one of the historical figures or events or creating a timeline of the major events of the unit. We found the workbook questions and projects especially helpful to make sure our son was remembering and applying what he read and learned about each person.
Literature Track
Great Christian Stories: Essential Literature for Christian Students is the Student Workbook to guide students in the reading of three great works of Christian literature: a classic novel, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, a classic allegory, The Holy War by John Bunyan, and a classic modern biography, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.
The Student Workbook, Great Christian Stories: Essential Literature for Christian Students, includes a Course Introduction and Course Schedule for covering the three books in 36 weeks or four 9-week quarters. For each chapter of each book, the workbook includes Vocabulary Exercises, Study Questions, and Meditation and Application. Once a student has completed a book, he or she takes a Final Exam and completes an Essay Assignment as well as is encouraged to spend time in prayer over what he or she has learned.
We are pleased to have our son reading foundational quality literature, and we appreciated the Student Workbook for increasing his vocabulary and reading comprehension.
Logic Track
We did not purchase the recommended logic curriculum as our son has already done a course in logic.
Character Track
However, we did have our son read Created for Work and are having him read it a second time so we can discuss it with him. We are thankful for high quality books to also teach character.
Generations does not currently include a math curriculum at any level, so we use Saxon with our children. Generations also only includes science in grades 1 through 6 at this time, so we are using a physics with Legos course from another curriculum provider.
Recommendation
Overall, the 8th grade curriculum from Generations has been a blessing. With a focus on reading and studying the Bible, high quality literature, and historical biographies, we have ample opportunities to guide and disciple our son, just as Generations has promised.
If you are looking for a curriculum that offers family discipleship, a biblical worldview, high quality books, and a foundation for worship and live application, Generations is just what you need!
