I’m a firm believer in teaching history through the use of good literature.My oldest is 14, and so far all we’ve used for History and Social Studies are “living” books.
Our family really enjoys the Heroes of History and Christian Heroes: Then and Now biographies published by YWAM Publishing.So far we have every one published. Beginning in 5th or 6th grade, my children start reading these wonderful stories for their history.They’re reading about real people of character who changed the world.Many of the Christian biographies are about people that most textbooks wouldn’t mention, but they are important in contemporary Christian history.
My 14 year old daughter, Emily, likes YWAM biographies “because they don’t just tell about the person’s greatest accomplishments.They actually tell about their lives and that makes you care about the characters more.” They are interesting enough to keep the attention of children young and old alike.They’re easy to read yet are interesting even for teens or adults.Check out the books yourself at YWAM publishing.YWAM PublishingBTW, they also have Unit Study guides for many of these biographies.They also have some of them written and illustrated for younger children.
As my children get older, I’m being stretched and my convictions are being tested. It’s very tempting for me to turn to a textbook to teach history. So far, I have resisted.As Emily loves history, I don’t want to do anything to turn her away from it, and I’m sure that a textbook focused on getting in all the facts and dates and major events would do that.While I’m looking for that “perfect” book that is interesting, complete,and Christian in worldview, I will continue to let her get her history in by way of biographies and historical fiction.Since my daughter and son have both read all 46 Heroes biographies that YWAM offers, we will next be purchasing their International Adventures biographies, such as Bruchko and Dayuma and Peace Child which are for teens through adults.Again, you can check these out at YWAM Publishing .
Okay, I know I’m totally on the YWAM bandwagon here.I’ve bought a lot of our best books from them and I just have to give them a plug.I’ll tell you that on the books they carry, they have the best price of anyone.I’m one to shop around to get the best price and I know it’s true.So let me tell about some other books we’ve gotten from them and that they offer, many of which we’ve used for History as well.
My daughter has enjoyed The Daughters of Faith series and she and my son both like The Guardian series, The Reel Kids Adventures series, Wally McDoogle series, Jim Elliot DVD, William Tyndale DVD, and others.Other books we’ve gotten for our homeschooling through YWAM are Annals of the World, Exploring the World Around You, It Couldn’t Just Happen, Men of Science-Men of God, and the Wonders of Creation series.The Wonders of Creation series is a good series which I would recommend for 5th through 7th or 8th grades.
I know there are other books we’ve gotten through YWAM. Guess I’ll tell about those another time.I hope this has helped someone.I’ve spent so much time scouring the internet, catalogs and bookstores for good books for my children, that I’m glad when I can let others know of my discoveries.
http://www.monergism.com/free_online_books.php Online Christian books. (Luther, Calvin, Matthew Henry’s commentary, Foxes Book of Martyrs, Jonathon Edwards, Pilgrim’s Progress and others.)
http://www.blackmask.com/index.php Many online books in various formats. You don’t have to be a member to download books, though it looks like you do.
Once again I’m coming to you with lists of lists. I’ll say it again. I love lists! Several sites and books offer book lists which can be helpful in homeschooling.My children have become avid readers and it takes a long time to scour library bookshelves searching for good quality literature for your children and teens (especially teens!).So many books out there I find either offensive or lifeless or sugary-sweet—what I call candy for the brain.I find book lists to be a big help, then, in steering my children toward good books.
Let me say that these lists can be quite daunting.Some lists recommend books much younger than I think is appropriate, so I use the reading or age levels offered only as a guideline.I’ve tried out some books too early and have found my kids resistant, so I generally don’t force it.I’ve stopped reading the book, leaving it for another year—or month in some cases.Often, when they’re ready, they’ll find the book on their own and read it and enjoy it, or I can trust that they will one day if they want to.I’m realizing that there is a lot of quality literature and my children only need a sampling of it in their youth.They have their whole lives to discover and enjoy great literature.My goal is to not cause them to hate it because I force it on them.I want to lead them to the streams of living books to taste and enjoy.I want to foster their God-given thirst to learn, to read, to understand, to enjoy, to experience, and to relate.I have felt in the past that they needed to be knowledgeable in everything in order for me to have done a good job in educating them.I continually remind myself that my job is to lead them to the river and to show them how to get there on their own.
Well, more on all that another day.Here are some book lists I’ve found online.It must be that a lot of folks out there love lists.Some are specifically homeschool book lists, and some are meant to be used by librarians.Enjoy!
http://www.bartleby.com/hc/The Harvard Classicsthe Shelf of Fiction--One nice thing is that many of the works are on the website.Bartleby states about the Harvard Classics:“The most comprehensive and well-researched anthology of all time comprises both the 50-volume ‘5-foot shelf of books’ and the 20-volume Shelf of Fiction. Together they cover every major literary figure, philosopher, religion, folklore and historical subject through the twentieth century.”
http://www.bartleby.com/nonfiction/ This includes many anthologies of literature, historical documents, speeches, historical scientific documents and essays.All of barleby.com is worth checking.
http://classkc.org/goodbooks.phpCitizens for Literary Standards in Schools See also:http://classkc.org/best.phpThis is an interesting site.This site lists great quality books and points out that most are not on the reading lists for students in their school district.
http://www.lib.muohio.edu/pictbks/ If you’re putting a unit study together or if your younger child is interested in a certain subject, you can search for picture books by subject here.
