calihil Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 (edited) So I'm trying to navigate the Veritas Press website and I'm just a bit confused. If I click on History, then 3rd Grade, I see 80+ items. What is the core of their history? The self paced course? What are the other books listed for? And what are the other "core" like books for, like Famous Men of Rome, GF Caesar Augustus World, Streams of Civ, Pages of History, etc? How do I know what I would need? And are there lesson plans? Edited October 25, 2016 by calihil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 The core of their program is their cards. Each year has 32 people/events that serve as the spine for the studies. All of those books are materials you can use with the cards. Each card has specific assignments from a selection of those materials if you want something spelled out. The TEacher's manual helps guide the learning as well and provides activities and worksheets. Or you can do the self-paced history which does the same thing, following the cards, but does all the fleshing out and teaching for you as well as the memory work of memorizing the cards in order. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Bingo. If you request a catalog, it starts to make sense. VP functions up and down grade levels, sorta like TOG, only VP is more streamlined. I'm having a non-math moment. Your oldest is 5, yes? So officially K5? VP has a resource section with their suggested progression. They do NOT encourage people to do their history sequence with kids that young. VP wants you to do community helpers, local history, beginning geography, etc. They have some nifty products they sell for the lower grades (Bede and Me, etc.). Personally I haven't used them. We used the regular VP history back before a lot of that stuff was even around, lol. For your mix, I'd be looking at TOG Primer if you actually want to do history. I'm not saying you even should "do history." It really depends on your kids, their reading level and precociousness, what they love... My dd was a history fanatic then and still is. Like she would CRY if we took history off. Did I mention I hate history? :D If you want to read CHOW together, they're a charming age to do that. Kids this age don't have a lot of sense of time, so everything just muddles together. You can do community helpers, US geography (Galloping the Globe and Cantoring the Country!), that kind of thing. Last year I had a birds of the states book I was reading ds. We got these adorable maps that are super colorful. You can read FIAR books and then map where things happen. That's stuff that is age-appropriate. It's true I started VP's history when my dd was in 1st. She was just super, super into history. She was a strong reader, so we used books from VP's lists and um, wow the name slips me, the green guides. Heather would know. :) Lots of books, some activities. The new self-paced courses are great if your dc can do them. My ds has a bunch of SLDs, and they just weren't appropriate for him this fall when they were on sale. They go on terrific sales. Ok, I'll say this. VP has a tendency to like the driest spines and sources known to mankind. I kid you not. They just have this whole "eat your broccoli" approach to education, and some kids are fine with that and some NOT. With my dd, I never required her to read VP's spines. I just didn't. I would hand her a pile 2-3' high of amazing resources to go with the card, and I'd walk away. But to say here, read Streams (gag), fill out this worksheet (gag), narrate onto this little cheesy form (gag), that wasn't us. But the STRUCTURE of VP helped me. It was something I could understand and quantify to know I was doing a good enough job. But it tends to be very dry, as printed. Excellent teachers bring it to life. I'm NOT an excellent teacher. If you listen to talks by the Detweilers, they got burnt by approaches that said to do zillions of activities that led to no retention. That's why they have this approach that is trim and focused on retention. It IS as dry as it looks if you let it be. So have fun, flex it, USE it (not having it run you), and do it in ways that fit your kids. That's just my two cents. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLife Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) My oldest started VP history in the first grade this year, since it is mostly Old Testament. However, it is recommended for 2nd grade. The cards are the spine and honestly the information on the back of the card is enough for a first grader. However, reading the back of the card day after day would be a huge bore. He and I both really like the Vos Bible that VP recommends, and I add in some age appropriate picture books and chapter books as read alouds. I use the chapter worksheets and tests in the TM to help us with narrations. My son also uses some of the pictures and "crafts" in the TM to make an interactive notebook. My youngest listens and participates when he feels like it. I'm not trying to keep my kids on the same history cycle, so the youngest will officially start VP history when he is 7. I can not see your signature, as I am on my phone, so I can not see how old your kids are. Edited October 26, 2016 by MyLife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) . Edited September 5, 2023 by SilverMoon 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) . Edited September 5, 2023 by SilverMoon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLife Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) Ehh... Edited October 26, 2016 by MyLife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLife Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) Silvermoon, I love your description that it is an "unscheduled buffet." ETA: I tried to quote you, but didn't do it correctly. I am NOT a techie person. Edited October 26, 2016 by MyLife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calihil Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Oops, yes, my oldest is 2nd grade now. If we did VP History it wouldn't be until my girls are 3rd and 1st grade. Thanks for explaining everything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Mine started VP self-paced online courses when he was 6.5, but he was reading 5th grade level books at that point. He is really into history as well as other subjects, so I am feeding the beast when when I tossed this into the mix. It's one of his favorite programs to study. In the past year and a half, he has finished NT/Greek & Romans, Middle Ages/Reformation, and has started the the Explorers to 1815. This is while running other history programs. He is that into VP SP. Pretty sure, he is going to be upset when we loop back through to pick up Ancients after 1815 to Present and realizes there are no more courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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