Class: Apologetics and Worldview
Grade Level: 9-12
Credits: 10 (if students are working between 4-5 hours a week - parents determine)
Instructor: Anita Schneider
Email: schneiderab@verizon.net
Assistant 1: TBD
Course Description: This class is a collaborative effort of students and adults to gain a deeper understanding of Apologetics and the Worldviews of the 21st Century. It focuses on a way of life, defending the faith and preparing students, specially the seniors, for a possible secular college environment. Intended for high school students, "Thinking like a Christian", the first study, lays the groundwork for a clear understanding of the Bible as a total world and life view that speaks to all disciplines and areas of life: ethics, psychology, sociology, science, law, politics, economics, and history. It encourages Christians to engage their culture by thinking biblically. We will also touch on the differences between Christianity and the other prominent worldviews vying for allegiance in Western culture: Islam, Postmodernism, Secular Humanism, Marxism, and New Age. The goal is to prepare students to defend the Christian worldview in a loving way against all its competitors. The class is divided into several sections:
8 classes: Building and examining worldview (1 Thessalonians 5:21: Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good)
4 classes: Examining literature and media with worldview in mind
4 classes: 21st century issues (abortion, homosexuality, spreading the gospel, introduction to other religions and its influences on Western Culture,...)
This class is being taught by several guest speakers and the main facilitator. This class is recommended for mature students due to some of the issues; parents are welcome to review the material prior to class.
Course Standards: Participation in class discussion, comprehension and thinking about the questions;
1. 1 essay per semester;
2. Journal entries,
3. Read and finish the book on your own by the end of March 2012 I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist Norman L. Geilser, Frank Turek
Textbook: check comments below and course standards above
Homework: yes (reading with analytical thinking), journal entries, essays, watch DVD's that you rent
Materials:
1. Bible
2. Countering Culture/Thinking like a Christian - David Noebel & Summit Ministries http://www.summit.org/curriculum/sunday-school/thinking-like-a-christian/ .
3. Starting Points - David Quine www.CornerstoneCurriculum.com
4. Making Abortion Unthinkable - Greg Koukl & Scott Klusendorf https://secure2.convio.net/str/site/Ecommerce?VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=3161&store_id=1161
5. Various other resources provided by the guest speakers
Comments: Rent the following video/DVD's on your own: Wizard of OZ (F. Bauer); It's a Wonderful Life (F. Kappa); FREE Campus: Magazine published 3 times per year - NO CHARGE for students and faculty 1-800-526- 7022;
Teaching Experience: I have homeschooled my four children for 4 years. I have a teaching degree in Special Education in Austria/Europe. I have taught Apologetics/World View, Modern US & World History Class to Jr. High and High School Students at Group Solutions and assisted in a Middle Ages Class. My favorite subjects are history and bible. At the Lighthouse Church I have volunteered in the Children's Ministry for 12 years and have taught Sunday school and Vacation Bible School. These past years I have taught/coordinated several Science Co-Op Classes - General Science, Biology, and Chemistry using Apologia Curriculum - to 4-8 students at various homes.
MATERIALS FEE: $16 COLLECTED ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS
MISSION TRIP: Optional, but highly suggested 4 days Mission's trip to UC Berkley (open to the Apologetics Class students and their parents, all 11th & 12th grade Group Solutions students as well as parents as well as graduates who are now in college) with the goal: "To expose Christian young people to secular thought in order to help them cultivate a Christian worldview. Rather than isolate students in a "Christian Ghetto" we want to inoculate them from false views. What better place than Berkley to give them a taste of the people who are waiting for them once they leave the safety of a Christian home, church or youth group" (Brett Kunkle - Stand to Reason, www.str.org ) - training will be provided for ALL participants - possible mission's trip date February or March 2012 (Cost around $300.00 incl. Gas, Food, Lodging - suggest to put $50.00 per month aside starting Sept. 2011 - based on a group of 20 paying attendees). PLEASE INDICATE YOUR participation at the beginning of the school year with a non-refundable deposit $75.00. Click on this link to learn more details: http://www.str.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PL_landing_trip
