Rhondabee Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) Has anybody used (or considered using) all of the Ancient Greenleaf History Guides with a high schooler? (Old Testament, Egypt, Greece, and Rome) Or, even just all in one year with a middle schooler? On their website, it mentions that Rob uses these to teach 9th grade history. It *doesn't* say how much he tweaks it. I honestly don't even know *why* I went to their website, but I listened to their download about "Twaddle-Free History", which is very similar to WTM. And, I was struck at how deeply they were able to intertwine history and the Bible. (For example, how an understanding of the Greeks' view of their city-state system is the context of and so deepens the meaning of Paul's statement that our citizenship is in heaven. Having almost finished studying Greece to prepare for next year, I *knew* intellectually that a Greek's allegience was first to his own city. But - I wouldn't have made that jump to applying that to Paul in a million years. Yet, *That's* the sort of thing that I'm yearning for in our next go-round of history - especially for my 9th grader.) I'm curious how the guides all fit together. I found *one* snippet in a catalogue that hinted that you moved back and forth between the Old Testament and Egypt guides in a more chronological fashion. But, I am having a real hard time finding *any* real user reviews. Do you hard-core WTM'ers think this is something that will *really* be worth my time to investigate? I'm not even sure if the Guides would point out the connection between a Greek's allegience to his city and Paul's statement - or if that was just something that got included in their talk, you know? Well, thanks for listening! If you have any comments (good, bad, ugly, whatever!), please, please post!! Thanks for all your help!! Edited July 11, 2009 by Rhondabee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 bump! =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate in seattle Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 i don't think you are going to find what you want in the guides. Especially not for the high school level. I have the guides and they are mostly about reading "the famous men of" and some vocabulary, make a map, really not anything you couldn't probably think of on your own. Yes, I too long for some Bible/history 'thing' with the insights you mention. We will have to write it after we figure it out I am afraid. I can't remember who mentioned the Holman Bible Atlas but I am going to buy it. All of the Bible in chronological order with great MAPS and charts and bringing in what was going on in the surrounding area. (So now you have TWO 'bits' - the citizenship thing and the Joshua/Achilles thing. Are we writing these down somewhere? And here's another one - 3500 years of history and Egypt made no significant contributions to Western Civilization. They did nothing that became part of the 'great conversation' in ideas, or art, or literature. I think that God kept them a static civilization so there would always be an handy refuge/opressor for Israel. The Nile flooded, they grew wheat (interesting point I read somewhere, the bread made in Greece probably came from Egyptian wheat, Greece could not grow enough), exported it and stayed the same for THOUSANDS of years. I can't think of another civilization that has done that. But think how many times God used that stability as a refuge (and, at times, a stick) for His people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 I had a feeling....;) I am *very slowly* getting a to-do list for history/lit with lots of "if we have time" and "would this interest you" notes attached to it. And, I *really* dislike not knowing what we'll have time to do! Probably why there is a huge part of me that would be very happy to do Smarr for lit *if* I could find a comparable history program. I haven't given it any true thought yet, but I did think (very late) last night of comparing Achilles and Samson. Both are blessed by God/gods with super-human strength/protection, and lose it (basically). But, for Samson that isn't the end of the story. Thinking about Samson was actually fairly encouraging to me - someone who grew up in church, always wanting to be a great "church leader", and who failed to become that. Knowing that God humbles us so that he can make us truly great gives me just a little hope - LOL. Another thought about Egypt is that Israel turned to Egypt for "protection" against the word of the prophets. Kind of like Israel's "tree in the midst of the garden". I haven't seen the Atlas you mentioned. But, I've thought about just reading the Zondervon Study Bible as part of our history/lit reading. (We would concentrate on just the history sections - very similar to what Greenleaf was describing.) Again, I just really don't know how long that would take - and I guess I'm worried about transcripts and being sure we "cover enough". Thanks for the help! (Just knowing I'm not alone right now is really helpful!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtsmamtj Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Altough I have them and use them, most are for supplemental purposes. The only two we did stand alone was the OT and Egypt in about 6th grade. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SusanAR Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 The guides you mentioned are for lower grades. They do; however, have guides for high school. You can view the one for Ancient history here: http://www.greenleafpress.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=496 and the Medieval Guide here: http://www.greenleafpress.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&cPath=56&products_id=1485 SusanAR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 The guides you mentioned are for lower grades. They do; however, have guides for high school. You can view the one for Ancient history here: http://www.greenleafpress.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=496 and the Medieval Guide here: http://www.greenleafpress.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&cPath=56&products_id=1485 SusanAR Do these cover history as well as literature? (I seem to be in a completely different boat from most here. I really don't mind the literature studies so much; the history is what is really throwing me for a loop.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I have used both the Greenleaf and Beautiful Feet guides. We used Greenleaf in elementary school and Beautiful Feet in Jr. and Sr. High. Beautiful Feet Ancient History Study Guide has a high school part to it and my son really enjoyed it. bfbooks.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Have you considered using the TRISMS program ? http://www.trisms.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 I have looked at Trisms - I just don't really like their literature. (I know, I'm too picky!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in IL Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Ds was in ps until 7th and the history they taught was pretty much all U.S. with a 3 weeks of Rome and Greece in 6th grade. I used them (and many other things) as a supplement to Spielvogel's Human Odyssey in high school. Spread HO out over 2 years and added them where appropriate. They were ok for my purpose but I afterschooled the younger with them in 4th-5th grade. Hope this helps a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate in seattle Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 The "Famous Men" books are logic stage adaptations (for the most part) of Plutarch's lives. I highly recommend them for the logic stage, read-aloud for grammar stage and summer review for rhetoric stage students. DD is reading many of the logic stage re-tellings this summer to have the story/plot stuck in her head before going on to the originals in the fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.