Foundations: Christian Apologetic Course

Project 365 – #242

I think I’ve mentioned a time or two (or ten) that we had the privilege of listening to Ken Ham at our state homeschool convention in July.  While we were there, we ordered the brand new Foundations curriculum from Answers in Genesis.  The idea was for us to go through this 12-week study as a family, and from there, we would develop it into a Christian Apologetic Course for Munchkin (for high school credit).

Last week, the curriculum set arrived.  Foundations is actually set up in an adult, group study format.  The curriculum set comes with 6 dvds which each contain 2 presentations for a total of 12 study sessions, a leader’s guide, a participant guide, and some posters to advertise for the study.  Obviously, since we’re doing it as a family, the posters are not necessary.  D likes the leader’s guide as it helps him with some of the topics being covered.  For the participant guide, I’m using it as a base to make some handouts for each of us.  Not everything covered is applicable to Munchkin, but overall, it will work for pre-teens/teens.

On Sunday, we sat down as a family to watch the first video.  After watching the video, we started doing the discussion questions.  Little did we know when we started that our study that day would last over 3 hours.  We just kept talking and discussing the materials.  We had to answer a few tough questions based on some of the information covered, but we’re thrilled that we’re able to do that in the comfort of our own home.  Plus, the fact that Munchkin is comfortable enough to ask these questions is wonderful.

Munchkin is still wrapping up her New Testament Overview class, so she won’t be starting the homeschool portion of this course until she finishes up with that.  Currently, I plan on using some of the listed resources as the spine for the class and allow her to go through them during her independent studies.  We’ll be using the New Answers Books (Volumes 1-3) and the study guides, How Do We Know the Bible is True? as well as some other books.  Now that I actually have the Foundations set in my hands, it will be easier to put the class together.  The books and resources can only supplement the true core curriculum – the Word of God, so I’m still trying to determine how to best utilize all resources available while continuing to focus on the Word.

I’d love to hear about any resources that you’ve used for Apologetics in your home.  While I love the freedom of putting together my own class for Munchkin, I admit that I’m sometimes a little intimidated by the whole process even though I’ve done it several times before.  Maybe it’s more intimidating because we’re now dealing with high school level classes?  I don’t know.  Our goal in all of this is to help Munchkin to really understand her faith and for her to be able to claim it as her own not just because Mom and Dad or the church said so.  She needs to know the whys, so she can stand strong in her core beliefs.

This post contains Answers in Genesis affiliate links. You can also purchase the books through my Amazon affiliate link on my sidebar. We receive a small portion of the sale which allows us to purchase more items for our homeschool. Thanks!