In May of 2009, I received copies of America: The Last Best Hope from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I had been interested in reviewing these books because despite years of researching history curriculum for my children as we have homeschooled them, I had never seen information regarding these books in any of the typical homeschool curricula offerings.
I was very thankful that the publisher's representative was willing to allow me to review the books.
Unfortunately, the hard drive on my computer failed in July - in the midst of switching from one older hard drive to a brand new one. I lost the contact information for TeamHOPE, of Thomas Nelson Publishers.
I had also determined that I was not the best person to provide an educated review of these books. My father, Gary, has been a complete history nut from his earliest recollection; I merely endured history textbooks during my school years. I love history now, but we are still continuing on in our chronological studies of world history, and have recently studied Christopher Columbus' exploration of the New World. Thus, I felt inadequate to review these books in their entirety except to read through them enough to know that this is a far more interesting way of reading about American historical events than just rushing through a chapter in a traditional textbook, answering the questions at the end of the chapter, and taking a test.
Below is the publisher's explanation of the three books and the website resources and materials available to be used in conjunction with America: The Last Best Hope. Following this will be my father's guest review.
Textbooks and Online Supplements for Social Studies and History Education Including Advanced Placement U.S. History
To support and supplement America: The Last Best Hope, Volumes I and II, Team HOPE developed innovative companion materials for students and teachers, called the Roadmap. This curriculum package is truly unique; the story told by eminent scholar and historian Dr. William J. Bennett, and curricular applications developed by exemplary educators who are noted American History experts.
More than unique, the curriculum package is also usable and relevant. As students of this generation increasingly disconnect from traditional textbooks, the Roadmap meets them where they already are—in cyberspace. The key student component of the Roadmap is a password-protected, interactive website including interactive maps and thematic audio Podcasts from Dr. Bennett himself, introducing the chapters and telling stories that extend beyond the chapter information.
Additionally, there are study aids that will assist students in organizing and learning the material and for assisting them in preparation for state and Advanced Placement examinations.
Also included are:
*key terms and topics
*major historical events
*timelines
*pre-screened hyperlinks
*biographies of major figures
*and much more.
For teachers, there is their own site with resources and instructional support of how to most effectively teach the content and use the curriculum materials, which include essays, debate topics, graphical timelines, PowerPoint presentations, plays, and lesson plans.
Volume I: 1492 - 1914
In this sweeping tale of human initiative, struggle and victory, Dr. Bennett captures what is unique about America. With riveting stories about presidents, senators, first ladies and inventors, this is no ordinary textbook. From tales about a presidential pardon for over two hundred Sioux warriors to an ex-president's race to complete his best-selling memoirs, Dr. Bennett doesn't just report history, he puts readers right in the middle of the action.
Do you know who quelled a coup d'etat by putting on a pair of reading glasses?
How about the famous inventor who was called to help find the assassin's bullet in President Garfield's back?
Which U.S. senator was nearly caned to death on the Senate floor?
And what of the president who spared over 200 condemned Sioux warriors from the hangman's noose?
This is our history told through the compelling narratives which relate the facts through people and places.
Now....drumroll, please...here is the review of America: The Last Best Hope provided by my astute father, or "master encyclopedia" as my children call him!
GUEST REVIEW by Dr. Gary Underhill
AMERICA, The Last Best Hope, Volume 1
From the Age of Discovery to a World at War
[That is, Columbus to World War I---Reviewer]
Author: William J. Bennett
William J. Bennett chose to start his history of the United States with a relatively short review of the times and voyages of Christopher Columbus, of the scramble of Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, and England for “Empire” or settlements in the New World, and of the Rise of England to become a sea power (after the defeat of the Spanish Armada). These background chapters identify the driving forces which came to bear on the establishment of the English North American colonies---religion (primarily Protestantism), English culture (including English law and legislature traditions), and sea-borne commerce. With this introduction, Bennett discusses the political, religious, and commercial forces---in England, France, and Spain---which forged the basis for English settlements in Virginia and in New England.
Bennett describes the dichotomy which the founding of Virginia (1610) and the founding of Massachusetts Bay (1620) colonies exposed---investment for great rewards by adventurers from the landed classes in England (in the former) and seeking refuge from religious persecution by educated and pious Protestants (in the latter). Although Bennett does not identify these two forces in English North America as forging a serious division between “north” and “south” right from the beginning of settlement, Virginia led to growing tobacco, a slave system, and a few large land ownerships (plantations) while Massachusetts Bay led to many land-owning small farmers, fishermen, and shop owners. From the early days of both colonies, the parliamentary system of government (as found in England) became established, but in both Virginia and in Massachusetts Bay (as in all of the other, later colonies), a “constitution” or charter or compact defined the colonial government, the powers of its legislature, and the rights of participation (men who were land owners and businessmen) in elections---unlike in England where no formal “constitution” existed.
AMERICA, The Last Best Hope, describes the religious foundations of the Massachusetts Bay colony and the intensity that religious belief played in this colony. Later, at the time of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution of the United States, the deep religious foundations of New England and Pennsylvania would both clash with and compliment the more worldly, humanitarian view of the Virginians, especially Jefferson (a great believer in the enlightenment).
Bennett carefully portrays the writing of the Constitution, the Presidencies of Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. He illustrates the restraint and precedent-setting acts of Washington, the stormy presidency of John Adams, and the territorial-expansive presidency of Thomas Jefferson, noting the contributions made during each in establishing not only the legal direction of the federal government, but also the “traditions” which grew during each.
With respect to the causes of the Civil War, Bennett makes the mistake of most historians---there were other serious causal issues than just slavery. Economic issues (import duties and demands of northern industrialists for protection within southern markets, for instance), religious issues (a religious awakening of the 1830s and 1840s impacted the South much more than the North; splits in denominations as the Baptists [American/Southern-1845], Methodists [North/South, 1844/45], and Presbyterians [North/South, 1861] because of “modernism” in the mostly northern seminaries, attitudes toward inerrancy of “scripture”, and the view of “missions”), growing Northern industrialization while the South remained primarily agricultural, the growth of the federal government, and the “observed” federal intrusion into the constitutional area of “states’ rights” (“...powers not granted to the federal government or prohibited to the states were retained by the states or by the people”, the Tenth Amendment) . Bennett also fails to point out that all of the South’s complaints became intensified because of, and after, the Civil War---government became bigger, the federal government impacted “states’ rights” more, the North industrialized rapidly during the War, and slavery was abolished, further impacting the already war-devastated southern economy.
AMERICA, The Last Best Hope, is written in a “novel” style---an attempt to step away from the dates, wars, and events---the dull scenario---of most history books and to give pleasure, to educate, and to entertain the reader with respect to his country’s story, greatness, and exceptionalism. Further, Bennett sets out to allow the reader to take pleasure and pride in his country’s past, people, founders, and leaders. Bennett certainly achieves the results which he sets out to accomplish. AMERICA, The Last Best Hope, is very worthy of consideration as a High School text book. It certainly excels in comparison to those texts the reviewer (a history buff) had in High School, read in college, and has added to his library over time.
College success does begin at home, whether your children are homeschooled or attend public or private school. A parent's involvement in homework, being interested in the education of his children, getting to know the classroom teachers and helping out occasionally, or homeschooling your children at home all tell your child that you value education and you believe it is important.
Our oldest begins junior high this fall. We are so excited! Even though a lot of what we will be doing for school will be similar curriculum as last year's, we are bumping it up a bit in skill level and challenge so that she can continue to advance academically.
When my husband and I first felt led to begin homeschooling our children, we decided that we'd take one year at a time and evaluate our options for our children's education.
However, after I had been teaching the girls at home for several years, I began to think, "If the girls end up going to high school away from home, it will be like taking the fruits of our labor and throwing it to the wind, where we won't get to see the daily academic successes of our teens. Instead, other teachers would be viewing what was going on, and we'd be 'out of the picture.'"
Some day, this will happen, after they have graduated from high school. And I'm okay with that. Our goal is to raise godly women who will go out into the world and have a biblical impact wherever the Lord may take them. Sure, it won't be easy for me. But that is our goal, and I'm okay with it.
I had hinted to my husband a couple of times in years past about maybe homeschooling the girls through high school. He hadn't said much but didn't seem very favorable toward it. Instead of bringing it up anymore, I decided to let the Lord take care of it: either change the desire of my heart to homeschool them through high school, or change my husband's heart so that he strongly wanted them home for their high school years.
In August 2006, Elmer and I were attending our annual statewide Christian homeschooling conference. During one of the keynote speaker's presentations, Elmer leaned over and whispered into my ear, "We ARE going to be homeschooling them through high school, aren't we?" I think I have shared this before on my blog here; I nodded my head "yes" and tried to stifle a huge grin. "Oh, thank you, Lord!" I thought inside as I did pray silently and praise the Lord for changing the desire of my husband's heart. It was so rewarding to turn this over to the Lord several years before, not say anything to my husband about it, and be at peace with whatever the Lord would bring our way.
The Old Schoolhouse magazine has just released a new e-book designed to show families that they CAN have success in homeschooling their children through the high school years.
College Success Begins at Home: Seasoned Homeschoolers Share Their Experiences ($12.45) was sent to me as an e-book to read and review for TOS. I was hoping that it would outline important steps to take before and during high school to prepare our children for either attending college, or being involved in ministry or another job after high school.
However, this particular e-book is different than what I thought it would be. Instead, numerous stories from a wide variety of homeschooling families told about basic elements of how they homeschooled their teens and prepared them for the world, and working with their talents and skills.
At first, I was disappointed. I wanted a step-by-step plan! But then, I realized that this e-book will provide great encouragement to the many homeschooling families who are so stressed out about the future of homeschooling high schoolers, that it will give them confidence and hope.
I know that I can teach the girls through high school. What I personally don't know myself, we'll learn together. It's worked in the past, and it will work again. I have confidence that what the Lord has begun in our family, He will finish. He is a God of finishers, not giver-uppers!
But for those of you who see the high school years coming and are very afraid, College Success Begins at Home: Seasoned Homeschoolers Share Their Experiences will provide you with the peace and confidence that you need. It will also, most importantly, show you that your child's high school years at home can be made to fit your child's needs, desires, and future plans in a way that public and private schooling will never be able to accomplish.
Then, you can buy the book that I want to buy, by Lee Binz, about how to homeschool well through the high school years, and feel confident in what you are doing!
Homeschooling moms especially need a lot of encouragement and support in their ministry to their children that sometimes seems daunting.
Even if all of your relatives, friends, neighbors, and church family support your decision to homeschool your own children, the daily work of patiently guiding your children to adulthood is difficult.
Of course, I realize that many of you don't have the support of relatives, friends, neighbors, and church family in your homeschooling efforts. That makes things even tougher.
The Old Schoolhouse magazine has recently published a new e-book with homeschooling moms and dads in mind.
Many families have contributed to this 120+ page e-book. Over and over again, I was impressed with the stories of each family who has come to rely fully on the grace of God and His strength in order to press on with the ministry of teaching children at home.
Lest you think that this e-book is only for those who are currently teaching high school curricula to their children, I should mention that many of the families' stories show God's direction in their lives clear back when their children were first graders!
Some of the challenges mentioned in this particular e-book include learning disabilities, unmotivated students, rebellion, lack of ability to focus on much of anything, physical and medical conditions,children who were extremely talented academically or creatively, and more.
With each family, you will read about the method God used to help them survive and thrive through the high school years (and elem./junior high years, too), and how they have now graduated successful adults who are doing well academically, socially, and occupationally.
I enjoyed reading this ebook, receiving encouragement and advice on homeschooling through the high school years. I don't want to give up and quit before the girls graduate; I've put so much of myself into this thing we call homeschooling that I don't want to lose what we have started! And, the Lord still continues to convict my husband and I that this is what we should be doing. God is rewarding us for our decision, and that is encouraging, too.
If you are in the mood for some encouragement and support in your homeschooling choices, please consider taking a look at this e-book for $12.45 at The Old Schoolhouse Store:
When my children were very young, we had very little extra money in our budget. We stayed home a lot, kept things simple, enjoyed friendships with other families and our church members, rarely traveled, and just enjoyed bonding as a family.
We began homeschooling when our oldest was four. Technically, we began homeschooling the day she was born, but that just shows our view of what homeschooling really is...a lifelong love of learning and discipleship with your children!
I wanted to do preschool types of things with my children, but didn't have much money. My mom suggested some ideas we could do at home together, and I also gleaned ideas from my friends. I bought a couple of books that had a lot of ideas, and we did some things from that. Several times, I asked my girls' Sunday School teachers how the girls were doing. They were surprised to learn that our girls weren't attending a local preschool, because they were social, obedient (for the most part!), had preschool skills, etc.
I firmly believe that if a parent is able to stay at home with their children, attending preschool is not a necessary part of childhood. Learning a lot of preschool-types of skills IS necessary, but they are so easily taught by Mom or Dad. I only knew one other gal who had children my daughter's age - when they were babies - so she and I began meeting together once a week for a playdate. Not only did I enjoy the time to visit with another mom who shared similar beliefs and values as me, our daughters grew up together and learned so much from each other. As time went on, we made friends with other families who had young children, and our circle of friendships grew.
Because I have always loved learning, I wanted my children to love learning, too. I made it a big priority in our family to have plenty of story times, arts and crafts, practice with letters and numbers, colors, days of the week, and so many fun little skills like that in our daily life. But it was still very casual and lots of fun and games - plus, I spent very little during the day doing this with the girls. No need for 2-4 hours per day, that's for sure!
What happened because of all of this? Well, when our oldest had reached the age to attend kindergarten in our state (she was 5-3/4 by the day school started), we realized that even with working casually with her over the last couple of years, she was advanced in her skills, and would have been bored to tears in kindergarten. This led to our journey in homeschooling, and it has been such a blessed adventure.
While many families think to themselves, "Wow - my child is far advanced beyond her peers - she is going to be at the top of her class!" when their children start kindergarten, I think this attitude is actually harmful to our children. Why be prideful about our children, and then use that pride to actually harm our children by not allowing them to flourish and grow academically at their own pace and in so many other ways?
Our attitude instead was, "Wow - my child is advanced beyond her peers - what can we do to teach and nurture her at her level now, so she won't be held back academically and emotionally?" After years of teaching in the public school system and working with children voluntarily, I can't imagine placing an advanced child into a kindergarten program where 95% of the classmates don't know their seasons, days of the week, letters, numbers, colors, etc. And lest you think that things improve all that much in the first grade, you would probably be dismayed to learn that almost all first grades spend 26 weeks of the school year (out of 36) learning the letters of the alphabet and all of the other things I've already mentioned. (The reading/spelling curriculum we use taught all 26 letters in 5-7 days, easy. Why drag this out over six months, unless a child has learning disabilities? I just don't get it.)
Now, I know that the masses need to be educated, but why should we hold children back who are reading and understanding at a higher level? And for the average boy? Why, quite a few of them would often be better off not even starting school until they are around 7, unless they are the type who really loves to sit still and learn! Public school organization is so feminized, anyway - why should boys be spending most of their young lives sitting squarely in a desk, doing pencil and paper work, and cutting with scissors? Let them be boys and learn in a mode that meets their needs, without all the sitting time when they are younger...
Okay, I'll get off of my soapbox.
Today, I just finished reading a new e-book called, Dreams and Designs—Homemade Supplies to Complement Your Homeschool that will be offered in the future by The Schoolhouse Store, part of The Old Schoolhouse magazine.
Even though I haven't used preschool activities for a lot of years now, it was so much fun to read through this 54-page ebook!
I would have really enjoyed using Dreams and Designs—Homemade Supplies to Complement Your Homeschool in our preschool and early elementary years.
Donna Campos, the author of this e-book, offers so many creative ideas of activity centers, learning stations, preschool activities, and skill development. What impressed me the most is that she provides very cheap and inexpensive methods and ways of doing this in your own home.
I used to receive those colorful, flashy catalogs in the mail when the girls were younger. After all, I was still on a lot of "teacher" mailing lists, right? I would see so many things that looked so wonderful to have in our home, but the price tag kept me from ordering much at all. If I had a copy of Dreams and Designs—Homemade Supplies to Complement Your Homeschool, I would have thrown out the catalogs and just enjoyed using the ideas in this e-book instead!
Donna teaches us how to make and use calendars that are large and hands-on, how to design puppet theaters and scrolling stories, and how to design personal partitions that give children their own little space to work on school projects or activities. She also provides many ideas of how to design activity stations and centers, something that started to become very popular in the public schools in the 1990s, but hardly anyone had the extra time or money to use them in their classrooms.
Donna also provides us with photos and directions on how to design different types of storage containers and rolling carts, plus a lot more, with household items. For those who like having everything "in place" in their homes, this would be a dream come true!
Just when you think this e-book couldn't provide any more for your family and learning, she also discusses many ways to use file folders to enhance learning. I was impressed with the detailed directions to make file folder timelines for history studies.
She also includes a section on some great ways to use cheap and inexpensive index cards for lots of learning activities, including for those children who have learning challenges or are on the autism spectrum.
I really appreciate Donna Campos' heart for the family and how to educate children frugally as well as having a lot of fun with them.
The next time you are tempted to plop your children into public school, or keep them at home with a boring stack of workbooks, consider bringing this e-book into your home for $12.45:
Dreams and Designs—Homemade Supplies to Complement Your Homeschool
This summer, I’ve been privileged to read and write a review for one of the first “When I Grow Up, I Want to Be...” e-books that “The Old Schoolhouse” began to offer in June 2009. When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Chef was an excellent study of many aspects of being a chef. I was surprised at all of the work that went into making this e-book a full unit study for families.
A husband and wife who met in medical school, married, and started their families before becoming physicians take the time to introduce us to a little about their lives and how they became doctors. They candidly discuss the joys and strains of being physicians; Dr. Celina Atwi describes how much she loved being a doctor and treating her patients until God showed her how much her own children needed her at home. She eventually put her medical career on hold and began homeschooling her children as well as some relatives’ children. Mr. Jibran Atwi describes many of his tasks during a typical day at his extremely busy practice, including overseeing eight other physicians who work for him.
Suggestions and tips for homeschooled students who are wanting to gain entry to medical school are discussed. How wonderful to see information like this written specifically to homeschooled graduates! It is rare to see that focus these days in career studies materials.
This e-book includes numerous pages and activities that are well-designed for a unit study in the home. Reading comprehension, graphing and following charts, creative writing and storytelling, and science activities and experiments that focus on the biology of the human eye enhance this unit. Math word problems revolving around the theme of doctors and eyesight are included, as well as vocabulary activities, puzzles, and numerous copywork pages in both print and cursive handwriting.
Two coloring pages are added to this unit, although I found the style of art to be more appropriate for the younger aged children. My 9- and 11-year old children prefer fine line drawings to color, similar to the Dover coloring books, instead of thick black line simple drawings.
A book and video list is included to extend your family’s studies of the human eye and eyesight.
ASL sign language is included for a few medical-themed words. Bible memory verses, and pages of activities and projects to have fun as a family are helpful. A “Teacher’s Guide” of answers are added in the back of the study to help parents as needed.
Finally, a list of resources and websites, as well as links to related occupations, concludes this fun unit study!
I appreciate the heart of this study as I read through it. Dr. Celina Atwi clearly states that while she knew she was led to becoming a physician as a woman, she also knows that for Christian women who want to go into medicine as a career, it is far better suited to those women who are called to singleness or are married and are unable to have children.
While many women will cry “foul” at this statement, it is practical and based on the considerations of attempting to raise a family while being on-call 24 hours a day. Raising children with a godly, biblical plan and passing our faith on to our children is a 24-hour-per-day ministry in itself, one that would be extremely difficult to accomplish through the Holy Spirit if we are working outside of the home many hours each week, away from our precious gifts.
