Teaching the Classics Worldview Detective Booklist

Teaching the Classics teaches parents how to guide their children in the ability to understand literature; Teaching the Classics: Worldview Supplement goes further by showing families how to compare that literature to the Christian worldview. Adam Andrews provides the tools for analysis in a DVD seminar along with a teacher syllabus, engaging real audience members in discussions of classic stories to demonstrate his techniques.

Techniques, it may be said, which are quite old. Andrews employs the Socratic method, asking leading questions and providing some commentary to guide students' thinking rather than simply offering facts or pre-packaged ideas for them to memorize and regurgitate. The approach originated with the Greek philosopher Socrates, and forms the basis of true Classical education.

While there are products available to turn Andrews' two main programs into a curriculum of sorts, the benefits of Teaching the Classics: Worldview Supplement extend far beyond those of a mere school subject. Kids are expected to compare everything they read to the Bible and Christian thought, turning reading into much more than a rainy-day activity or source of entertainment.

Because Andrews follows the Classical model, he describes Teaching the Classics: Worldview Supplement as part of the Rhetoric Stage, and therefore oriented for older students. Elementary and middle school kids should learn the principles of finding the meaning in a text, while older kids are more prepared to evaluate it from a particular perspective.

The books listed below are those included at the back of the Teaching the Classics: Worldview Supplement teacher syllabus. All of them are for older and more mature readers, and are arranged by time period (for instance, Ivanhoe is included in the Romantic Literature section). Instead of describing theworks themselves, Andrews provides overviews of five main historical periods, with lists of works by key authors from each era.

Like the booklist in Teaching the Classics, this one isn't intended to be required reading, but a starting place for families wanting to explore the world's great literature. Space is provided to compile your own list of books and authors; because this is a tool rather than a curriculum, users enjoy a high degree of latitude. This is one of our favorite products, and we highly recommend these books and guide.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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Teaching the Classics Worldview Detective Booklist
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Captains Courageous
Signet Classics
by Rudyard Kipling
from Living Book Press
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Emma
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$12.99
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
from Living Book Press
Horror for 7th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Great Gatsby and Winter Dreams
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.95
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Frank E. Schoonover
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, Illustrated by F. H. Townsend
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$13.99
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Persuasion
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.95
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane & Ambrose Bierce
from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.45
Utopia
by Sir Thomas More
from Cricket House Books
Utopian/Dystopian Literature for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Utopia
Penguin Classics
by Thomas More, based on the translation by Ralph Robinson and illustrated by S. Langford Jones
from Living Book Press
Utopian/Dystopian literature for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
White Fang
by Jack London, illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull
from Living Book Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)