Students in grades seven through nine, most of whom are too young most other worldview courses, can be introduced to the study of worldviews through Summit's junior-high-level, DVD-based program. This is either a semester or full-year course that incorporates Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig as the primary student textbook. Lightbearers follows the order of the Understanding the Times book, working through the areas of theology, philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, politics, economics, and history, all from a biblical Christian perspective.
The Teacher Manual contains detailed instructional guidelines. There's also a Student Manual that has some reading assignments as well as pages for fill-in-the-blanks notetaking as students watch each video.
The course itself uses a variety of DVD presentations such as short films, media clips, lectures, and documentaries as students discuss, write, role play, read, and research each topic. To keep the cost low for homeschoolers, summit has put some of the video content online. That means students will need internet access with the ability to watch videos. I was surprised to find that you can actually watch these online videos without registration or cost at summit.org/curriculum/middle-school/home-school/videos/. This might be a great way to get an idea of what the course is like before buying.
The variety of activities should make the course appealing to most junior high students, although it is challenging and requires a good deal of work. Scripture memory is also integrated throughout the course. Field trips to see or apply worldviews in action are encouraged throughout the school year. Each section ends with a quiz, and answers are provided in the teacher manual.
The entire course consists of the DVDs, the Teacher Manual, a Student Manual, How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig, and a supplemental CD with tests and assignments. DVDs in this course that are not online include Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution, seven award-winning short films, a DVD with short media clips, a presentation by Dr. James Dobson on Relativism, Mind over Media (with Stan Campbell and Randy Southern), and Who Is This Jesus? (with D. James Kennedy and Dean Jones). The course must be taught and requires teacher planning and preparation. It works best in a group but you can use it one-on-one if that's your only option.
