Have you used All American History from Bright Ideas Press

[MamaSheep]

I had planned on doing SL Core 4 this coming year, after using WP All American I this past year. I'm running into budgetary issues, though, what with the economy doing its thing, so I'm pondering other options, just in case. I'd especially like to hear from those who have used the All American History from Bright Ideas Press. How did you use it? How did it go?

 

It looks like a pretty flexible program. I am a little concerned about using it with my writing-phobic Aspie, but I can adjust how much writing I require from him and just do big chunks of it orally if necessary. Were the recommended supplementary books generally pretty easy to find in the library? Did you end up spending as much money on books as you would have spent on a SL core? (One of the big appeals SL has for me this year is that it all comes in a box and I wouldn't have to go hunting...sigh.) How about the hands-on activities, did they seem reasonable and use easy to acquire materials? (We probably won't do a lot of them, but I'd still like to know.)

 

I'm also wondering about religious content/bias. I notice that the web site states that it is "distinctly Christian". What does this mean for this product? Is it preachy, or does it just reflect an undercurrent of Christian values etc.? Does it seem to favor any particular denomination or movement of Christianity over others?

 

TIA!

[Granny_Weatherwax]

from the For Sale forum. I haven't received it yet but will be happy to share my thoughts with you once it arrives.

 

Hopefully someone who has used it will reply.:lurk5:

[mazakaal]

I've ordered it as well. I won't be getting it until August, so I'm not much help in answering your question, but if you don't get much response here, you may want to try asking on the All American History Yahoo group.

[MamaSheep]

Thanks. I'd love to hear from both of you once you've seen the materials. :)

[jg_puppy]

I am interested in learning more about this as well.

 

Jan

[jensway]

I was looking to at this also. MamaSheep I too have a writing-phobic Aspie. :001_smile: From what I've seen there is too much writing for my ds and the material seems a little dry to keep his interest.

 

I'm now looking at the Joy Hakim history books. Don't know much about them yet, just starting to check them out.

[MamaSheep]

I've thought about the Hakim books too. My library even has them so that could be a cheap option, but I'm concerned that we wouldn't be able to get them when we needed them, and I'd probably want to purchase them.

 

I also know it would be good for me to get a program that really holds my hand as far as scheduling this year, since up to now I've only had ds to homeschool, but this year we're adding dd for 2nd grade as well. What with the age split and their very different styles of learning and behaving, it's going to be a challenge and the more of it that's planned out for me the better. I see that All American is divided into lessons, which would make it easy to schedule. I don't get the impression that this is the case with the Hakim books. Do you happen to know if the teacher guide for the Hakim books includes a book list for other recommended reading? I'm also wondering if they include discussion questions of any sort. Definitely an option, though.

[BizyPenguin]

We couldn't make it work for us. It's an excellent program that is put together very nicely, but the main text is not very engaging. I much prefer Hakim. The big differences: Hakim doesn't have a schedule and covers Am History in depth with 10 volumes. It also not from a Christian worldview. AAH is from a Christian worldview and is more of a condensed coverage of Am. history. It is also broken down into lessons to keep you on track. Does this help?

[jg_puppy]

Would All American History work as a reference/refresher course on American History for an adult? It has been many years since I have studied American History and I was wondering if this would make a good refresher course for myself. I would also read other books recommended in Truthquest, WTM etc.

 

Jan

[momtotkbb]

DD and I just looked through the All Am history 2 book at our local hs bookstore ---we read through the first two sections and then flipped through it and dd said it was too boring. We went with Hakim. Since we've already covered the first several books/time periods bec we used SL Core 3 and WP AAI this year, we only purchased Hakim's vols 5-11 --we probably could have started with 6 but dd was interested in something in vol 5. We are going to use the schedule/tests that are avail through Rainbow Resource that are put out by Johns Hopkins Middle school talent program. DD wants more of a prog that has questions/tests but more than a traditional textbook.

 

If you go with Hakim Hewitt's hs has a syllabus and there is a mom on this board I think her name is Christine that has a schedule made up with Hist of US and some SL/WP type books added to it. I'll try to find the link if you're interested. I had it saved on my laptop but my laptop crashed and I'm using dh's.

[MamaSheep]

We couldn't make it work for us. It's an excellent program that is put together very nicely, but the main text is not very engaging. I much prefer Hakim. The big differences: Hakim doesn't have a schedule and covers Am History in depth with 10 volumes. It also not from a Christian worldview. AAH is from a Christian worldview and is more of a condensed coverage of Am. history. It is also broken down into lessons to keep you on track. Does this help?

 

Would you be willing to elaborate on what exactly a "Christian worldview" means in relation to AAH? It seems like sometimes people mean different things when they say this about a product. I'm not sure whether it means that it's a bit preachy and tries to tie everything back in to a specific "flavor" of Christian belief, or if it just means that it acknowledges God's hand in history and generally promotes values that people identify with Christianity. Do you think, for example, that Lutherans, Baptists, and Catholics (just to pull some diverse groups randomly from a hat) would all be equally comfortable with the text, or do you feel that it has a more narrow range of appeal among the Christian community?

 

DD and I just looked through the All Am history 2 book at our local hs bookstore ---we read through the first two sections and then flipped through it and dd said it was too boring. We went with Hakim. Since we've already covered the first several books/time periods bec we used SL Core 3 and WP AAI this year, we only purchased Hakim's vols 5-11 --we probably could have started with 6 but dd was interested in something in vol 5. We are going to use the schedule/tests that are avail through Rainbow Resource that are put out by Johns Hopkins Middle school talent program. DD wants more of a prog that has questions/tests but more than a traditional textbook.

 

If you go with Hakim Hewitt's hs has a syllabus and there is a mom on this board I think her name is Christine that has a schedule made up with Hist of US and some SL/WP type books added to it. I'll try to find the link if you're interested. I had it saved on my laptop but my laptop crashed and I'm using dh's.

 

I was kind of thinking that the Hakim set would be pricier, but we've done the first "half" of American history with Winter Promise this past year, and if I just got the second half of the set it might not be as bad cost-wise. And if there are schedules available that would help too. I'll have to look into it some more. I would DEFINITELY be interested in any links you could share. (Though I also totally understand being on the wrong computer--I'm currently using dh's "spare" office computer because I'm avoiding my kids, who are in by the couch where my laptop is all set up...lol. I want to be able to finish a thought, and they're berzonkers today.)

 

I was kind of thinking along the lines of using AAH as a spine and then adding in a pretty fair amount of historical fiction and some non-fiction on the period. Ds enjoys reading those kinds of books, but I think he needs a good spine to tie it all together and it seemed like AAH might do that job admirably at a reasonably low price. I also kind of like the idea of the more condensed text because, being an Aspie, ds has wide fluctuations in things like emotional control, ability to focus, sensory tolerance levels, etc. ad nauseum, which contribute to us having some days where we can zip through a week's worth of stuff in a few hours with total comprehension, and other days where we're lucky to make it through one lesson in one subject and still remember ANYTHING we talked about. I'm kind of thinking a more condensed spine would allow us to shift gears gracefully so that on the "autistic days", as I call them, it'll be enough if we can just read the textbook, but during periods of more clarity and control we can expand the study with additional reading and/or projects. I figured between the suggested reading in the AAH teacher book, the lists in All Through The Ages, which I already own, and the SL reading lists, I should be able to find SOMETHING from the library that will coordinate most of the time, and I can also buy a few things that seem particularly worthwhile. The Hakim books seem like they might be a bit overwhelming volume-wise, and harder to "keep up" if we have a hard week or two at a time. But the planning/coordinating aspect of all this makes me want to tuck tail and tell dh that we'll just have to find a way to swing the SL bill...lol. It's all good, though, it'll work out.

[momtotkbb]

This is the link to the schedule I had looked at previously --

http://corefoundations.wordpress.com/scheds-english-and-history/

 

You scroll down to the Am Hist schedule.

[MamaSheep]

This is the link to the schedule I had looked at previously --

http://corefoundations.wordpress.com/scheds-english-and-history/

 

You scroll down to the Am Hist schedule.

 

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[BizyPenguin]

To be fair, I only got through a few of the chapters of AAH before throwing in the towel, so I cannot honestly say what the author's Christian worldview was like throughout the book. What I *can* say is that from what I read, there was absolutely nothing preachy at all and I think, perhaps, a Christian from any denomination would be comfortable with the book. Some Christian texts also over do it with weaving the whole Christian thing in just about every single paragraph of the text. AAH is not like that. I hope someone else who has used the entire book will chime in with their two cents. I suggest that you visit the "AllAmericanHistory" yahoogroup, which is public (so you don't have to join to access the posts). Search around there and you'll find a wealth of info about AAH. Again, it didn't work for us, but it is very good. HTH!

 

Would you be willing to elaborate on what exactly a "Christian worldview" means in relation to AAH? It seems like sometimes people mean different things when they say this about a product. I'm not sure whether it means that it's a bit preachy and tries to tie everything back in to a specific "flavor" of Christian belief, or if it just means that it acknowledges God's hand in history and generally promotes values that people identify with Christianity. Do you think, for example, that Lutherans, Baptists, and Catholics (just to pull some diverse groups randomly from a hat) would all be equally comfortable with the text, or do you feel that it has a more narrow range of appeal among the Christian community?

[MamaSheep]

To be fair, I only got through a few of the chapters of AAH before throwing in the towel, so I cannot honestly say what the author's Christian worldview was like throughout the book. What I *can* say is that from what I read, there was absolutely nothing preachy at all and I think, perhaps, a Christian from any denomination would be comfortable with the book. Some Christian texts also over do it with weaving the whole Christian thing in just about every single paragraph of the text. AAH is not like that. I hope someone else who has used the entire book will chime in with their two cents. I suggest that you visit the "AllAmericanHistory" yahoogroup, which is public (so you don't have to join to access the posts). Search around there and you'll find a wealth of info about AAH. Again, it didn't work for us, but it is very good. HTH!

 

Thank you. Yes, that is very helpful. Usually if an author is going to be obnoxious in the religion department (which I object to even if it's my own religion, btw) it's fairly apparent early on. This gives me more confidence.

[HiddenJewel]

Would All American History work as a reference/refresher course on American History for an adult? It has been many years since I have studied American History and I was wondering if this would make a good refresher course for myself. I would also read other books recommended in Truthquest, WTM etc.

 

Jan

 

My dd was 11 when she did AAH1 and she really liked reading it. So the reader and extra books could be an option for an adult. But I would probably take a look at Notgrass American History if I was going to do it myself.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I checked out the Yahoo group and found the threads to be very helpful. I am awaiting approval of membership so I can view the files. Evidently there are leeson plans on file as well as other wonderful information that would help a newbie plan the curric.

 

Thank you for suggesting the link.