Homeschooling in Illinois

Jul. 7, 2007

History?

I cannot for the life of me, decide what to do for history next year. D will be in 4th grade. I want to start at creation and move up from there. I want something that will teach ALL of history including the Bible, side by side. I thought for sure I would go with Tapestry of Grace, until I looked and the price tag. I looked over the free sample they give and it seems nice, but I am worried that it will require way to much planning on my part. I'm a night before or morning of kinda gal. Any one have any suggestions? I don't want a textbook. I want to be able to read "living" books and do copy work and narrations, not worksheets and test. Please help!! What works for you?

� Post A Comment! � Send to a Friend!

Comments

Jul. 7, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by HomeForHeavensSake

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for or not, but we've been using Konos curriculum and have joined their online co-op. Starting in September, we'll be covering a lot of American history, using Konos Volume II. So if you were looking for a unit study/hands on type of curriculum, that would definitely be something to consider.

Come check out my blog if you're interested in learning more about Konos. :)

~Bev~

� Permanent Link

Jul. 7, 2007 - Have you looked at

Posted by andijeane

Heart of Wisdom (HOW): http://homeschool-books.com/xcart/pages.php?pageid=26
or Truthquest?:
http://www.truthquesthistory.com/

Heart of Wisdom offers their Ancient History study in an eBook that is less expensive:
http://homeschool-books.com/xcart/book/ancient-history-adam-to-messiah-ebook.html

HOW and Truthquest are both similar to TOG in that they are guides - you would have to purchase or borrow books. I have a friend who uses Truthquest. Here is her blog if you want to get in touch with her:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sawickis/

I use TOG and love it, but it does take some prep time. I have looked into HOW, but I haven't used it because I am happy with TOG. I have begun to implement some of the HOW ideas though. There is a lot of info at their website.

I've heard good things about The Mystery of History, but I haven't personally used it:
http://www.themysteryofhistory.com/index.shtml

Another option would be to get an inexpensive history "spine" like "Story of the World" and supplement with living history books. There are also a lot of public domain books you could use for ancient history spines. You could add in the copywork yourself. Here is a booklist of books to supplement history:
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/history.htm

Wow, this was long! I hope this helps and I didn't overwhelm you. I just happened upon this post in the last 100 on the front page of HSB, and I LOVE history!

~Andrea :-)

� Permanent Link

Jul. 7, 2007 - Well...

Posted by PeakmoreAcademy

I use TOG and am quite happy with it. But, given what you said you "want" from a history program have you looked into the reading recommendations from the Ambleside Online website? They are living books. Combine that with the copywork (there are AO email lists just FOR copywork as well) and narrations and you're on your way! Might be an idea for you. No schedules to work out yourself as there are "readymade" schedules on the AO website as well as other email lists. Might be something to consider.

http://www.amblesideonline.org/New.shtml

edited to say: Well i just looked further down your sidebar, LOL, and see you are already familiar with AO. Perhaps you're only using some of AO and haven't considered their history portion yet. Check it out.

Edited by PeakmoreAcademy on Jul. 7, 2007 at 12:50 PM

� Permanent Link

Jul. 7, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by ArrowsInOurQuiver

Hey girl! I was just dropping by to catch up a little. It's good to hear that you are all doing well. We have been out for the most part over this past month and are just getting back into the swing of things. Hope to see you at my blog soon! Talk to you later!

Charity

� Permanent Link

Jul. 7, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

I think I'm going to start using Mystery of History this year, along with Beautiful Feet books for some American history. My children are going in 2nd and K (and preschooler) and I want something we can all read together. I've heard nothing but good things about MOS...but then I've also heard good about Story of the World, so in a way I'm not completely decided. It's so hard trying to find something to fit just right!
Jamie
www.princessruby.blogspot.com

� Permanent Link

Jul. 8, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by writmm

we just started with Story of the World this year and we really like it. There are tests, but you don't have to do them. The information is available in short bits and is combined with lots of suggestions for books you can read from the library as well as activities to bring history to life. And everything is laid out for you. Also, the curriculum is divided into four sections, so you can buy a section a year if that suits your budget best.

� Permanent Link

Jul. 10, 2007 - from Maria

Posted by Anonymous

I am so late in offering my two cents!

I'd go with "Story of the World" and just supplement with library books. It is so, so easy. And if you buy the activity book, you don't even have to look up coloring pages and, well, activities. We do this, so, of course, we like it. : )

The way we tied it in with Biblical history was easy. For first grade, we read through the kids' bible. All the history is right there in the Old Testament! Well, not all, but I mean, when we'd read history and it was about the tribe of Israel, well, hey! We just read it in the Bible. The Old Testament and "Story of the World" tie in nicely together.

When we get to the birth of Jesus, we'll just do a unit study on the time of Jesus. : D

I like the idea of using a base or spine for history and supplementing with other books. The kids can read about the historical time at their own level. There are tons of beautiful picture books. And, well, it's cheap.

OK. nuff said.

� Permanent Link

Jul. 10, 2007 - from pixilated momma/maria

Posted by Anonymous

To answer your question on my blog:
Is SotW Biblical? Well, it does touch upon stories of the Old Testament and also Jesus. It presents bits of Gospel to discuss the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But it's not very in-depth. It's a few pages, but it's as much as the goddesses and gods are represented in the other sections.

I do think it's a good spine book, and one that is good if a parent takes an active role in teaching history. For example, SotW says: "The Greeks believed in a whole family of Gods. They thought these gods lived up on the top of Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece ... Sometimes, the Greek gods were kind and helpful to men. But at other times, they were cruel ..." (p. 169)

There's nothing technically wrong in the first part. Yes, the Greeks believed in a whole family of gods. But, as a Christian, I've got to read with my brain on and be careful of certain statements. For example, the sentence: "Sometimes, the Greek gods were kind and helpful to men." As a Christian parent, I have to pause in the reading of that to remind my children that the gods were mythological beings, not real. It's a small pause in my reading, but a pause that needs to be made.

The history is written-well, it's very engaging.

It does mention a lot of gods and goddesses and the teachings of Confucius and Buddha. HOWEVER, they only get small mentions, whereas Jesus Christ gets more pages. : )

For us, SotW is good when read along with a Bible.

� Permanent Link

Jul. 11, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by sherrydhoneycutt

We are going to use Story of the World as a spine book this year as well. I have tied it together with Ambleside's suggestions. My history curriculum is totally eclectic this year, but I think it will encompass everything that I want to teach -- not to mention I got nearly everything for close to free!

Sherry

� Permanent Link

About Me

Oh, the crazy things that happen in my house.... I am the wife of M for 8 years now. I am the mother of a 10 yo boy - D, 6 1/2 yo boy - N, 4 yo girl - Princess C, 2 1/2 yo boy -Toddler B, and girl Lil' L born May 18. I've been homeschooling since 2003. I lean towards a Charlotte Mason approach, but more often than not, it's "whatever works".