Our Study Guide is an adventure, not a task; it’s compelling, not compulsory.

We want students to ponder... to question... to consider... to discover, not to simply turn to the back of the book for predigested learning.

Here are some principles to consider when you look at the questions:

• Some questions are unknowable, but help to draw in the student as they ponder the possibilities. For instance, “What did Adam name the dog?” is an unknowable answer this side of heaven, but it can cause students to really consider the reality of what it was like for the first man to have the opportunity to name all of the animals. Both wonder and reality are involved in answering this question.

This kind of question also teaches our students that some things are impossible to know for certain. Discernment will be one of the results of understanding this principle.

• Some questions are open-ended, and allow the student to think “outside the box.” For instance, “Why do you think God made flies?” gives the student a chance to speak out of their own imagination, out of their own life experience, and will also draw the student’s interest into the subject.

This type of question has no right or wrong answer, but allows a creative approach to a question or problem. Give plenty of space for wildly imaginative and creative answers without stomping on them!

• Some questions require study, but will provide an opportunity for the student to use higher level thinking skills in order to formulate a reasonable answer. For instance, the question, “What impact did Napoleon have on Europe?” would open the door for students to consider all they had heard and read on this subject, and then articulate an answer which could stand up to cross-examination. “Napoleon changed the political structure, the military structure, even the religious structure of much of Europe because he ...”

There is an obvious difference in the nature and level of difficulty of these questions. Use the appropriate ones with your own students. The main idea is to have them begin to consider, to wonder, to think.

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