Some interesting info about the KJV: https://margmowczko.com/7-things-about-the-king-james-bible/ Based on how the KJV was made and the manuscripts they used, I wouldn't use it for study. But I probably will have my kids read some passages in KJV when we cover that section of history. I'm more concerned with my kids knowing the big picture of scripture and I think that's easier with a modern translation. I grew up with NKJV and even that was a bit difficult for me to understand as a kid.

To the quoted: That is how I feel about it, too! Thank you, HomeAgain! Your method really resonates with me, and I like how you laid it all out. That is what I want to do with my kids, but I just haven't known exactly how to go about it. Plus, I haven't had the time or energy to put into planning it all out for this year. I'll check out SOTW from the library and see what I think. I know this initial run thru of history is just for "exposure" but I want to do that in a way that values truth, and leaves things open for further information and investigation later down the road. Thank you all for your responses.

I started Mystery of History volume 1 with my 1st grader. I only intended to read the stories and maybe use some library books in addition. I'm having a baby this year so I'm trying to keep it easy for myself. Here's my problem: I really don't like how the author treats things that happened "in the beginning". I am a Christian and I believe that God did create the world, the flood really happened, etc. and I was raised a "young earth creationist" but I REALLY don't like the certainty that the author uses when describing things that happened. instead of presenting them as theories or possibilities, she just says "this is what happened and how it happened". No one was there! We can't know with certainty how it all went down. A lot of scientists who are a lot smarter than me have a lot of different theories about these things, and I don't trust my own knowledge of the topic enough to even be able to recognize when something is "off" regarding that topic. It makes me question how MOH will treat the rest of history (a topic that I personally don't know well). Makes me nervous that she'll just throw in a bunch of her opinions but present them as straight up fact. I don't want to present history to my kids that way (even if they are only 6 & 4, and probably won't retain all that much from this year). I know history is all colored by bias and you have to take a lot of what happened with a grain of salt, depending on who tells the story, so maybe history won't be an "easy" subject to teach because of that (I'm willing to accept that). I guess my question goes a little deeper than one curriculum. How do you teach history? Do you just pick a curriculum that best fits your own values & ideas and teach that?! Do we value truth, or are we just looking to validate our own opinions? Any thoughts? Does MOH get better as it goes along? I really want to do Ancient history this year, and I like that Biblical events and people are included in MOH, but I'm just not sure if this is the author's bias is the one I want to teach.

Hi! I've lurked here for years, but I finally decided to post. 🙂 So far, a relaxed (and super inconsistent) approach has worked fine and my kids (6 & 4) have learned a lot, & they're doing great. They're little, so they've had lots of play time, and some short lessons on math, reading, and handwriting (not every day... not even every week). However, I just started working part time. So now I have fewer hours with my kids and I have to plan better if I'm going to get anything done this school year. I want to use Mystery of History Vol. 1 for 1st grade history but it's SUCH A BIG BOOK and it has a full 36 weeks worth of lessons. The other subjects are a little more flexible and/or they have fewer lessons so I'm less worried about those. We'll do math, language arts, etc. on Mon-Thurs, so Fridays will have more time for history. I'm thinking of reading the lessons/stories on M/W/F during breakfast, and doing the timeline and looking at maps on Friday... skipping the quizzes, and most of the activities. I want to get some kind of narration going for the 1st grader, but definitely not for every subject. Here are my questions: Can you make Mystery of History work with lighter schedule than the book suggests? Is Mystery of History suitable for narration, or would it be better to have him narrate a fun read-aloud (e.g. My Father's Dragon series)? Is it worth it to do MOH1 this year, just to get the history cycle started? I love the idea of chronological history and the timeline, but I don't want to get stuck on the idea of starting this year if it's going to stress us out & add too much pressure. I have read so many history reviews and while I'm not in love with MOH, I think it fits what I want better than any others. Thanks for any thoughts you can offer!