Can YOUR Child Defend Their Faith Against Science? Thanks to Northwest Treasures They CAN! (review)

I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.  All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.



History and Geology pretty much run neck and neck in our house, and one of Miss Grace's dance friends, recently came back from volunteering at the Ark in Kentucky, so Apologetics is a new hot topic as well. So Miss Grace and I were thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to checkout some of the great online curriculum from Northwest Treasures recently!

Northwest Treasures offers many different curriculum for homeschoolers- from books, to kits, to online courses, to tools for your own geology digs! We were able to both watch their introductory video Taking the Mystery Out of Geology and then both of us take their Geology and Apologetics course! While this course is more aimed at high school students, as Miss Grace is on Junior High level for science, and asking a LOT of questions about science versus faith, I thought is was a better course for her, versus their Dinosaurs and the Bible course, which is for upper elementary students and up. Let me tell you about each course, and then I'll give you my overview of Northwest Treasures!

Taking the Mystery out of Geology is a short, 20-minute class from Patrick Nurre, to help you understand geology, from a Biblical perspective. Patrick teaches you 13 terms that clarify what is the science and philosophy of geology, as well as the Biblical Framework for understanding how the various pieces of the Flood, and the Ice Age, come together.Whether you are just starting your geology study or wanting to sort out some of the geologic issues raised because of evolutionary thinking, this study is a great place to begin. 
Miss Grace and I watched the video together,as I thought it might be a great way to give her a quick understanding, before she started the second course. Quick might have been the wrong word! LOL. Miss Grace was SO into the video, that I had to stop it after each new concept was introduced, so we could have a discusssion! That 20 minutes turned into 90! But as both her parent, and teacher, I was thrilled with the questions she was asking, and how she was making relevant connections. By the time we finished, I knew she would be quite capable of handling the second class! As her teacher, the class was good for me, to know what she would be studying, and to have an idea of what questions I would need to be asking of her, after each video of the second class. I woudl suggest that ytake it before your kids take either of the online courses, so you can 'speaking' the same language, when talking about the classes.

We both took the second class as well, but I had Miss Grace watch it independent from me, and that way, I knew what was coming in each of the 6 videos, and I knew what to discuss with her for each one. Geology and Apologetics looks at how secular geology has very subtly undermined many of the orthodox views of Christianity, creating conflicts for tudents and scientists alike. But are they correct? The course takes on these conflicts, individually in each video, and studies them from both Biblical AND geological points of view, to help the student become confident in defending their faith, with no apologies necessary for believing the Scriptures!
Lessons include:

Lesson One: Knowing the Scriptures in the Secular Geological Age

Lesson Two: Clarifying the Conflict Between Science and the Bible

Lesson Three: The Genealogies and Chronologies of Genesis. Are they Accurate and Reliable?

Lesson Four: Evolutionary Gaps in the Fossil Record, How Serious are They?

Lesson Five: Dinosaur-to-Bird Evolution, the Story that Never Seems to Die

Lesson Six: Time and Chronology in the Secular Geological Age

Check out a trailer about the class, before I share my thoughts:

  Geology and Apologetics from Patrick Nurre on Vimeo.

Both Miss Grace and I were both quite impressed with how well each topic was discussed and treated. Patrick presents the secular view or concept, and then shows where they veared away from Christian belief, and why. But then he shows were there is a question to whether there was actually fact, or if the secular view is based on interpretation, and whether it was a valid one or not. Having FACTS makes such a difference, when you are trying to defend Christianity! Patrick is addressing the camera, so it feels like he is talking TO your student, giving them the feeling of having a one-on-one class!

I was quite thrilled with the lesson on Apologetics, enjoying Miss Grace understanding that she wasn't learning to 'apologize', but to answer back with KNOWLEDGE arguments brought to her questioning her faith! She had never had it explained so well, and in a way where she can now explain it to others! I did print out different graphics from the videos, to make it easier for Miss Grace to follow along with, especialy the genealogies and geology time column. Miss Grace was really surprised with Lesson 5, where Patrick showed how National Geographic (!!) printed an article with false info on the evolution of dinosaurs, and then used the same info in a book! It was quite an eyeopener for her to realize just HOW much info is misused and then presented as fact! It was a great lesson for her to learn, to CHECK info, and not to take anything seen as fact! 

For the parent/teacher, each of the six lessons has questions at the end, for students to answer, or for discussion. You could quite easily make the 6 videos (which add up to about 90 minutes total) into a semester course, by adding in essay questions and research topics after each video lesson. For youth group leaders, each video would be great for starting discussion and delving into bible passages, mentioned in each video. 

Overall, I really can not recommend BOTH courses enough! If you do have younger children, who are enthralled with dinosaurs, then I would start them with the Dinosarus and the Bible course first, and then add the Geology and Apologetics course, as they get older. As online courses, the Introduction class is yours for 3 months, the other 2 for 6 months, giving you plenty of time to go back and review them, or to use them for a second child. Right NOW, the Geology and Apologetics class is HALF off!

To get more info on the Dinosaurs course click the banner below, and see what my fellow reviewers thought about that class!

In addition to the online classes, Northwest Treasures also offers physical courses such as the high school level Northwest Treasures Curriculum Project or for younger students the Geology for "Little Eyes" series. Miss Grace is already trying to figure out how much money she needs to save up to take their Dinosaurs and Agate field trip next year, which takes you to Glendive, MT, to an actual dinosaur dig for fossils! They also have Summer camps, that she's trying to con me into (mom's not so much into rough camping, LOL)! In fact, watching the nline courses has only INCREASED her love for all things geological, not disminished it! Maybe she'll be a Christian Paleontologist instead of a Veterinarian! LOL
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