Dayspring Christian Academy {Schoolhouse Review Crew}

We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.~The Review and Herald, October 12, 1905, by E.G. White.

History is one of our favorite subjects to study around here. I want my children to see how God has led His people in the past, and how He continues to lead them still today.

The Pilgrims are one such group of people who were led by God, because they chose to worship and serve Him, and to follow where He led. There is much more to the story of the Pilgrims than just a Thanksgiving meal!

Thanks to being on the Schoolhouse Review Crew, we have been given the opportunity to learn about the Pilgrims in a unique way, from Dayspring Christian Academy.

Dayspring Christian Academy provides a classical, Biblical education, based on the Principle Approach, and is located in Mountville, Pennsylvania.

The Pilgrim Story is an online, self-paced class, which Dayspring Christian Academy recently launched. Your third through sixth grader will learn the story about the Pilgrims, using an audio-visual slide presentation, along with student note sheets, vocabulary lists, crafts, and map-making activities.

The Pilgrim Story teaches children about one of the most important times in our nation’s history. It is America’s foundation. This self-guided, interactive history course teaches students the true history of the Pilgrims from original sources. The Principle Approach method of education is used, which holds a providential view of history. Students are taught the importance of Christian character and other biblical principles, such as self governance, hard work, and perseverance. Students also learn the biblical principles of Christian liberty.

The course consists of five units, with a total of seventeen lessons, covering such topics as: King Henry, the Geneva Bible, Life in Scrooby, Liberty of Conscience, Leaving England, Life in Leiden, Conditions on the Mayflower, The Mayflower Compact, The Wampanoag People. There are quizzes throughout, and reasoning questions to answer. The course culminates in a virtual field study of  Plymouth, Massachusetts!

Even though the website says this course is designed for grades 3-6, the introduction of the course states grades 2-8, so I had my 3rd and 7th graders working on this together.

I found it well written and very engaging. I found the graphics to be quite attractively done, as well. Although they could work on this independently, most of the time I sat with them, to go through the information together.

Our biggest frustration, to be honest, was all the writing involved. The study sheets are fill-in-the-blanks, which was not a problem in and of itself, because the portions required for filling in the blanks, were highlighted on the screen! It was also all narrated for them, so they didn't have to read it themselves!

The problem was that sometimes the space to fill in was not long enough for all the words we had to fit in. Other times, there were way to few words for the space allowed. At first I was having Botanist Boy (my 7th grader) fill in the spaces on the note sheets, but he just got so frustrated. I didn't understand why, until I began filling things in myself! 

When we did the quizzes, I was quite pleased to see how well the boys were retaining what we were learning, even Little Bit (with his learning delays/disabilities).

I plan for us to continue the course; hopefully we'll be done by Thanksgiving! It will give the boys a whole new perspective on what Thanksgiving is really all about. I doubt I'll continue with filling in the note sheets, though, although they would be great to have on hand for future reference.

If you want to learn more about the Pilgrims, the Puritans, the Separatists, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Colony, this is a wonderful resource, and a great way for you and your students to study together!

Cost: Six month course, for the price of $99.00.

Contact Information:
Website
Email
Address:
Dayspring Christian Academy
120 College Avenue
Mountville, PA 17554
Phone: 717-285-2000
Facebook

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Crew has to say about The Pilgrim Story.

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Disclaimer: As a Schoolhouse Review Crew blogger, I am provided a free copy of the book, curriculum or product to test and use in order to write an honest review. I receive no other compensation and the opinions I share are my own and not influenced by the company in question.

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