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History CurriculumHistory Resources

As with most things, C.S. Lewis had a unique view of history. For him, the really important bits were the stories—he makes a distinction between actual historical realities and the idealized versions of them handed down which make heroes and villains of mere men and women. It's not that the stories are completely false, but their value is for character-building, not as factual data.

The tales of George Washington's bravery in battle, coolness under pressure, rigorous truthfulness, and unflagging piety may accurately preserve the essence of his temperament and nobility, but not all of them are strictly historical. The point of these stories isn't to impart facts, however, it's to offer an example of goodness for the rest of us to emulate.

Getting the facts right is still important, though. As Christians, we can't afford to have a false understanding of "the old days." Mankind is fallen, and the story of his sojourn on Earth is filled with war, suffering, disease, unfaithfulness, pride and envy; a study of history that omits those elements is both false and useless. False, because it is incomplete, and useless, because it tells us nothing of the human condition or our current situation.

It's a bit of a mystery to us why non-Christians are motivated to study the past. For believers, the end goal isn't just acquisition of facts about events and cultures, it's the instillation of a thoroughly Christian worldview, an understanding of the course of the human endeavour as decreed and guided by God Himself.

The story of Jesus Christ is central. It is the only history story that fulfills the character-building element Lewis looked for, while remaining absolutely true in every detail. Man is fallen and he does struggle against God, but through Christ there is hope of redemption, a chance to connect heaven and earth through the Atonement. Christ is the ultimate example of God's providence.

In the Reformed tradition, God's sovereignty is a very big deal. According to the doctrine of divine decree, God has ordered all things that were, are and will come to be for His own good pleasure and glory. His hand is thus present everywhere, in the privatest private life and the most public and widespread crisis. God is in control, providentially guiding nations, men, and the entire cosmos.

This very doctrine is perhaps what best explains the humanist's interest in history (whether he be atheist, agnostic, pagan). Man's natural bent is to make himself the hero of the story, to show how people can sway the trajectory of all things. God's version is quite different, and the two are naturally in conflict. Resolution may only be found in Christ.

For, while God decrees and guides all things, He has also (paradoxically) decreed man's free will and personal responsibility. Men do change the course of kingdoms, but it is only through God's agency. A proper Christian study of history takes both truths into account, and tells the stories of good guys and bad guys through the light of everything God's Word says about human nature and divine control.

We encourage you to take great comfort and joy in your study of history. Read books, watch movies (carefully noting that a lot of the story is likely to be inaccurate in detail), go on fieldtrips to forts and battlefields and birthplaces. Most of all, talk about these things. The end goal, after all, isn't to know a bunch of trivia, but to understand what God has done and continues to do.

No one knows for sure what the end of history will look like, except that every knee in heaven and on earth will bow to the returned glorious Christ, who comes to judge the living and the dead. What we believe about Him will determine whether that culmination will be filled with joy or loathing (everyone will be terrified). He is the author of history, and its centerpiece; honor Him in your study of it.

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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1, 2, 3, Go!
by Huy Voun Lee
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in China (Location: HISMC-CHI)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
14 Cows for America
by Carmen Agra Deedy, in collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah
Reprint from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
18 Penny Goose
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Sally M. Walker
from HarperCollins
Realistic fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
1812: The War and the World
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
20th Century in America Lap-Pak
from Home School in the Woods
for 3rd-8th grade
in Hands-On History Activity-Paks (Location: HISRF-HOH)
3-D Engineering
from Nomad Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
5,000-Year-Old Puzzle
by Claudia Logan, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$21.99 $9.50 (1 in stock)
7 Continents: Africa
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
7 Continents: Asia
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
$21.99 $12.00 (1 in stock)
7 Continents: Australia & Oceania
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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7 Continents: Europe
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
7 Continents: South America
by Rachel Lynette
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
A Christmas Carol Audio Drama - 2 CD set
by Charles Dickens
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-Adult
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
A is for Africa
by Ifeoma Onyefulu
Reprint from Puffin Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys
by Patricia Lee Gauch, illustrated by Margot Tomes
from Betterway Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
ABC Book of Early Americana - Coloring Book
by Eric Sloane
2012 Dover from Dover Publications
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Alphabet Coloring Books (Location: COL-ALPH)
$10.95
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abigail Adams
A Discovery Book
by Helen Stone Peterson, illustrated by Betty Fraser
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
About Our Flag
by Elinor Rees; illustrated by Jerome W. Bowen
from Melmont Publishers
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Above the Trenches
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$15.99
Abraham Lincoln
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Civil War
by Susan Dye Lee, illustrated by Ralph Canaday
from Children's Press
for 3rd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
A Discovery Book
by Anne Colver
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Abraham Lincoln
Initial Biography
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Abraham Lincoln & His Family - Paper Dolls
by Tom Tierney
from Dover Publications
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Dover Paper Dolls (Location: COL-DOLL)
$9.99
Abraham Lincoln (hardcover)
by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire; edited by Rea Berg
75th Anniversary from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 1st-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$21.95
Abraham Lincoln - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
Abuela's Weave
by Omar S. Castaneda
Revised ed. from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Acadia National Park
Road Trip: National Parks
by Kathleen Connors
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Across the Wide & Lonesome Prairie
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Adam of the Road
by Elizabeth Janet Gray, illustrated by Robert Lawson
1962 Printing from Viking Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Adam of the Road
Puffin Modern Classics
by Elizabeth Gray
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1943 Newbery Medal winner
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
Adèle & Simon in America
by Barbara McClintock
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Adoniram Judson: A Grand Purpose
by Renee Meloche
from YWAM Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Heroes for Young Readers (Location: BIO-HERO)
Adventure to Home
by Robert Wells, illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
Adventures of Hercules - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bob Blaisdell & John Green
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$3.99
Adventures of King Arthur - Coloring Book
by Arkady Roytman
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$3.99
Adventures of Lewis and Clark
by Ormonde de Kay, Jr.
from Random House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Adventures of Lewis and Clark
North Star Books #29
by John Bakeless
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
by Jamie Aramini
from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Robert Fulton
by Jamie Aramini
Fir from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Geography Matters products (Location: GEO-GEOM)
Adventures of Munford: The American Revolution
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Adventures of Munford: The Klondike Gold Rush
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
Adventures of Perrine
Windermere Readers #10
by Hector Malot, translated by Gil Meynier, adapted by Edith Heal
1954 edition from Rand McNally
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Perrine
Windermere Series 4
by Hector Malot, translated by Gil Meynier, adapted by Edith Heal
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Richard Wagner
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Adventures of Ulysses - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$3.99
Adventures with the Santa Fe Trail
by Dave Webb, illustrated by Phillip R. Buntin
Revised from Kansas Heritage Center
for 3rd-6th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
Puffin Classics
by Aesop
Reprint from Puffin Books
Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99
Africa Is Not A Country
by Margy Burns Knight
unknown from Millbrook Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
Africa Is Not a Country
by Margy Burns Knight
from Millbrook Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
African Critters
by Robert Haas
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
African Plains - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Diane Gaspas-Ettl
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Habitat Coloring Books (Location: COL-HAB)
$4.99
African Traveler
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
African-Americans in the Thirteen Colonies
by Deborah Kent
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear
by Hans de Beer
Fir from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #01
by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #02
by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #03
by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #04
by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #05
by Brock Eastman & Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #06
by Marianne Hering & Marshal Younger
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #07
by Marianne Hering & Marshal Younger
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #09
by Marianne Hering, Marshal Younger
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #10
by Marianne Hering, Wayne Thomas Batson
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #11
by Marianne Hering, Wayne Thomas Batson
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #12
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #13
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #14
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #15
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #16
by Marianne Hering, Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #17
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #19
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
AIO Imagination Station Book #20
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
AIO Imagination Station Book #21
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #22
by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
Aircraft - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$3.95
Airplanes of the Second World War - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Carlo Demand
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99 $2.50 (1 in stock)
Airplanes of World War I - Coloring Book
by Carlo Demand
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99
Akavak
by James Houston
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Akiak: A Tale From the Iditarod
by Robert J. Blake
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights
Puffin Classics
by N.J. Dawood, illustrated by William Harvey
from Puffin Books
Fairy Tales for 2nd-6th grade
$7.99
Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Alaskan Wildlife - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Jan Sovak
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Habitat Coloring Books (Location: COL-HAB)
$3.99
Albert Einstein: Young Thinker
by Marie Hammontree
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Alexander Calder
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 1st-5th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Alexander Hamilton - Coloring Book
by Steven James Petruccio
Clr Csm from Dover Publications
for 2nd-Adult
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
Alexander the Great
by Andrew Langley
Reissue from Oxford University
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Alexander the Great
by Demi
from Marshall Cavendish Education
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Alexander the Great Coloring Book
by John K. Anderson
from Bellerophon Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Alia's Mission
by Mark Alan Stamaty
from Dragonfly Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution
by Diane Stanley
from Simon and Schuster
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
All About Aviation
All About Books #51
by Robert D. Loomis
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Famous Inventors and Their Inventions
All About Books #18
by Fletcher Pratt
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Niagara Falls
by Linda Granfield
from Morrow Junior Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
All About Rockets and Jets
All About Books #13
by Fletcher Pratt
2nd edition from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
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