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TruthQuest History

Publisher: TruthQuest History
Author: Michelle Miller
Review last updated: September 2011
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TruthQuest History

I was talking with a group of parents about curriculum choices one evening, and there was a broad consensus in favor of using real books for history among the parents. However, many parents were insecure about using real books without some sort of guidance. One mom spoke up to recommend TruthQuest as the solution. That piqued my interest enough to check it out.

TruthQuest History is a series of eleven volumes that serve as guides for a “real books” approach to history. Each guide is divided into many chronologically-organized topical sections rather than the typical chapter arrangement. Michelle Miller introduces each of these topics with background information written in a lively, informal, conversational style.

After reading the background information for context, you and your children read from real books to learn more information about the topic. Michelle recommends books, and sometimes chapters or pages within books, for each topic. She recommends a few “spine books”—books that are broad overviews of history such as Hillyer’s A Child’s History of the World, Wise Bauer’s Story of the World, and Guerber’s history series. Then she lists many other books that cover specific topics. You can use spine (or overview) books, topical books, or both. However, using at least some spine books will save you time. Video recommendations are generally added after the book lists.

Michelle recommends some out-of-print books that you might still be able to find at a library, but she also includes many that are in print and available if you choose to purchase them. There are far more book recommendations than you will ever be able to use!

A unique aspect of TruthQuest is a primary focus on the central questions of life: Who is God, and who is man in relation to God? How different people and civilizations answer these questions is reflected in the way they live and the choices they make. So these questions are the underlying focus of background information that Michelle Miller writes as she introduces each topic of study. This is probably most apparent in the Beginnings: Creation / Old Testament / Ancients / Egypt guide. You will be reading most of the Old Testament to your children through this study. The Bible might serve as your only spine book! This book probably has more of Michelle’s commentary than do the other guides, especially in the first section dealing with Genesis. Michelle does a fine balancing act of presenting the key truths while leaving doctrinal interpretations up to parents. She does stress biblical truths that undermine evolutionary presuppositions, and she recommends many resources that support a creationist viewpoint. It will be up to parents how far to investigate that topic. Note that Egypt and some other ancient civilizations used to be covered in TruthQuest’s Egypt and Greece, but study of Egypt and other ancient civilizations was shifted and expanded into the Beginnings guide since it correlates historically with the story of the Bible.

TruthQuest very much reflects a Francis Schaeffer approach to history, from his book How Should We Then Live? (In his book Schaeffer examines religious beliefs and philosophies, showing how historical events, scientific discoveries, artistic endeavors, literary pursuits, etc., were all shaped by beliefs and philosophies.) In addition, Michelle supports a limited government perspective along the lines Richard Maybury presents in his Uncle Eric series (e.g., Whatever Happened to Justice?) from Bluestocking Press. Although Michelle writes from her own Protestant perspective, from time to time she discusses conflicting Protestant and Catholic viewpoints on history, acknowledging right and wrong on both sides. I was pleasantly surprised to see this respectful balance, especially in the Renaissance, Reformation volume.

As you might have gathered by now, there is a very definite philosophy to these books. However, if you disagree with some of Michelle’s philosophy, you can still use these guides by skimming through the introductory material, sharing whichever parts of it you wish with your children, then moving on to the recommended reading and occasional video viewing. Some of the recommended books, particularly some of the spine books, reflect the philosophy described above. For example, The Light and the Glory for Children (providential view of history) and How Should We Then Live? (described above) are recommended spine books with a strong philosophical orientation. On the other hand, some of Guerber’s history books and Famous Men of Rome are among others that are more neutral in their presentation. Since recommended spine books reflect a number of different philosophies, your choices of spine books will be particularly important in determining the “tone” of your study.

Enough on the philosophy of TruthQuest. Let’s get back to how they are structured. Topical sections are further divided into subsections that address important people or events within a time period. For example, the section on The Roaring 20s has an introduction with a list of general resources. This is followed by subsections with their own resource recommendations on topics such as the Scopes Trial; Eric Liddell and the 1924 Olympics; Prohibition, bootleggers, gangsters; Women’s suffrage; Baseball and Babe Ruth; Charles Lindbergh; Bessie Coleman; Literary authors; Scientists; Music; and Sports. You won’t have time to cover every topic with real books, so it makes sense to either use a spine book for broad coverage along with a few narrower topic books OR use as many topic books as you can reasonably get through and forgo efforts to cover very many topics.

Scattered throughout each book are a number of “ThinkWrite” exercises. These are writing assignments that require students to analyze the historical information they have learned from a worldview perspective. For example, ThinkWrite 5 in American History for Young Students says: “Please tell us your thoughts about America winning the Revolutionary War. How did Amerca’s Big 2 Beliefs shape the war? Do you think you can see God’s hand in it?” (p. 91). ThinkWrite 6 in the Renaissance volume asks: “What do you think Henry VIII’s actions reveal about his Big 2 Beliefs? What would it have been like to live under a king who held those beliefs?”

These questions are not intended to solicit only objective information. They require children to make spiritual and practical connections. However, they also tend to support the philosophy of these guides. As long as you are aware of this and agree with Michelle’s philosophy, this is not a problem. If you disagree, then you might want to come up with your own ThinkWrite questions. Suggested responses to the ThinkWrites at the end of each book should help parents evaluate student work.

You will have to watch the level of difficulty in these guides. The three American History books are suggested as starting places for children in the primary grades. That does not mean they are only good for the primary grades since recommended books within these guides are for all levels up through grade 12. However, all the other guides shift to a higher level in their ideas and presentation. The publisher’s website suggests all the other guides as ideal for grades 5 through 12. However, these guides also include book recommendations for all grade levels. The TruthQuest website has an extensive discussion about how you might select the appropriate guide(s) to use at www.truthquesthistory.com/howtochoose.php. Note that you would probably not want to substitute the American History guides for The Age of Revolution guides since the latter cover the same time spans as the American History guides (including the same book recommendations) while also adding the study of Europe.

My impression is that all except the American History guides will work across the entire span of grade levels as long as parents are judicious about how much information they give to each child—don’t overwhelm the young ones, and do give the older ones plenty to work with. Ultimately, parents need to decide which assignments as well as which books to use with each child.

Guides recommended for grades 1-5 are:

American History for Young Students, Volume I
American History for Young Students, Volume II
American History for Young Students, Volume III

Guides recommended for grades 5-12 are:

Beginnings: Creation/Old Testament/Ancients/Egypt
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Middle Ages
Renaissance, Reformation, and Age of Exploration
Age of Revolution I (America/Europe, 1600-1800)
Age of Revolution II (America/Europe, 1800-1865)
Age of Revolution III (America/Europe, 1865-2000)

Pricing

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    • TruthQuest History Guide- Beginnings: Creation / Old Testament / Ancients / Egypt

    TruthQuest History Guide- Beginnings: Creation / Old Testament / Ancients / Egypt

    Michelle Miller

      Instant Key

      • Suitable for: group/family or one-on-one learning with independent reading for older students
        Audience: grades 1-12
        Need for parent/teacher instruction: moderate to high
        Prep time needed: for choosing books for each child will vary in time required
        Teacher's manual: these books are your manuals
        Religious perspective:  Protestant -strong worldview viewpoint

      Publisher's Info

      • TruthQuest History

        PO Box 2128
        Traverse City, MI 49685-2128

        email: info@TruthQuestHistory.com
        www.TruthQuestHistory.com