- Do you need to teach advanced writing and speaking skills?
- Do you want to equip your students to discern the truth about the ungodly messages that bombard them every day?
- Do you wonder about how you can possibly cover what they need academically as well as practically?
With Philosophy Adventure, your student (or you!) will take a trip back in time, studying the lives of 8 pre-Socratic thinkers, learning about the time and place in which they lived and what they believed. Some of these philosophers include: Thales, Pythagoras, and Heraclitus. Lesson assignments explore how to contrast the beliefs of each philosopher against a biblical worldview and how to express these contrasting views in writing, thought and speech.
Primary source materials are used whenever possible — written by the philosophers — or a secondary source if no primary source has survived, giving an authentic look at what each philosopher believed.
Included is a schedule for either a 4- or 5-day week, as well as the ability to give high school credit in English Composition, World History/Geography, Speech/Communications, and Logic/Critical Thinking (up to 0.5 credit).
Because Ben is at the younger end of the age recommendations for this curriculum, we focused much more on reading about the philosophers and discussing orally how their beliefs compared and contrasted our Christian beliefs, as well as completing the timeline and mapping activities. But I don’t want you to think for a moment that these discussions were lost on Ben or were not thought-provoking.
For example, when were learning about Pythagoras, we were told that he was basically a “cult” leader and that he told his followers “never to touch a white rooster or allow a swallow to settle on your roof.” While these instructions seemed silly to us, it opened up discussion about where we look for instructions on how to live our lives (the Bible), and how when someone is not basing the rules they follow on Scripture, then really, they can be made to do most anything.
In this portion of the book, there was discussion of how hundreds of followers of Jim Jones committed suicide by drinking (and giving to their children) poisoned Koolaid, simply because their cult leader told them to. This more modern example of playing “follow the leader” helped Ben understand how powerful some people can be over the minds of others who are not governed by the laws of Christ. And that just because someone says they are a follower of Christ doesn’t mean they are. We must look for their fruit of the Spirit.
There were many more discussions of this kind as we read through the book. It has been a great way to spark discussions with Ben that I might not otherwise have had. I am grateful for this opportunity to take a look at this curriculum. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. It has definitely been one of those “you didn’t know you needed it until you had it” kinds of experiences for me.
Whether you use Philosophy Adventure as a core subject for your high school student or as a jumping off point for interesting discussion in developing and defending a worldview with your middle schoolers, I believe you will be impressed with the depth and breadth of this curriculum.
Included is the following:
Reader: a spiral bound, 8.5 x 11″, colorful text filled with relevant images, philosopher stories, writing lessons, critical thinking lessons, public speaking lessons, historical geography, primary sources, and a biblical worldview analysis. It also contains detailed writing checklists and delightful creative writing prompts.
Student Workbook: includes philosopher notebook pages, mapping assignments, quizzes, tests, and more.
Teacher Resources CD: includes keys to the quizzes, tests, and mapping assignments, timelines, and “at-a-glance” instructions designed to simplify your role as instructor.
Click here to purchase Philosophy Adventure for $89.95 with free shipping.
Take a peek at sample pages.