All Through The Ages? Worth owning?

[Prairie~Phlox]

I try and follow CM style of teaching. Just wondering if this is worth owning, or do any of you find lists of books online anywhere else besides AO?

[Guest aquiverfull]

I bought the ebook. I love it and now wish I would have bought the printed copy. It has a timeline running throughout the book (uses young earth viewpoint). Each section is divided up and she lists books by biographies, historical fiction, resources for all ages, etc. That is further divided by age range, grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-9th, and 10-12th. There is also a geography and science section. There is also some commentary.

 

The books are compiled from various places like SL, VP, etc. So you may find that you don't need this if you look through various catalogs for ideas. She also listed some resources she found on her own or recommended to her by others that are not part of SL, VP, etc. Hope that helps.

[AngelBee]

Hmm....may have to add that to my list :)

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

You can find free book lists for CM methods on

http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/scmguide/

and

http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com/category/Grade.html

[jewel7123]

"All Through the Ages" is on my wishlist too!

[Annabel Lee]

Consider my reply a "Big, Fat, Hearty YES!".

I got the print copy used & use it w/ my library card & timeline planning ALL. THE. TIME. because my library system doesn't always have all the rec's from other programs we've used in their system.

[MomsintheGarden]

I've had it for years, and it's been very helpful in picking out literature to go with our WTM history cycles. That said, I don't consult it much anymore because I've built up our library for history.

 

If you're in the planning stage, I'd get it!

 

GardenMom

[Jen the RD]

I love this resource and consider it one of the best homeschool purchases I've made. I have been using it for 6 years now. I plan my own history so I consult this resource quite often!

 

HTH,

Jennifer

[jewel7123]

I love this resource and consider it one of the best homeschool purchases I've made. I have been using it for 6 years now. I plan my own history so I consult this resource quite often!

 

HTH,

Jennifer

 

I'd love to hear more about planning your own history using this book. Is this the primary resource you use? How does it help you with the planning process?

[Delighted3]

Definitely worth it.

Joy

[Tohru]

I bought it years ago and sold it, only to buy it again. :tongue_smilie:

 

It is a good book list, divided by grade level, time period and has a geography section. There is a single sentence description about each book title.

 

One could read a 2 page spread in any history encyclopedia and then refer to the book list to supplement the history era being studied. You could actually do that in lieu of a history curriculum or you could use the list to add to your curriculum.

[2squared]

I'm curious about this book too. Does it come from a Protestant viewpoint and does it include Catholic history books? Is it complete enough that I wouldn't be annoyed at having to search out my own Catholic history?

[dsacco]

I have the eBook and now am saving money up for the printed version so I can take it with me to the used book store etc.

[Jen the RD]

I'm curious about this book too. Does it come from a Protestant viewpoint and does it include Catholic history books? Is it complete enough that I wouldn't be annoyed at having to search out my own Catholic history?

 

Since ATA is a booklist, there is no commentary. Each book has a very brief description of its contents (10 words or less). I'm not familiar enough with Catholic history to know what are the best books to use. I do know that Christine Miller, the author, edited the Guerber history books and states on her website that her writing tries to have a balanced view of both the Protestant and Catholic views. I've read posts on this board of Catholics who have used her books very successfully.

 

Now, I realize that still doesn't really answer your question fully regarding whether you will have to seek out your own resources; but to be honest, I'm not sure you'll find another resource like this that is so comprehensive in its coverage of literature for history, geography, science, art, and math.

 

Just as an aside, have you looked at Cathy Duffy's site. She's Catholic and has a wealth of info for Catholic homeschoolers. Here's a link:

 

http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/catholic-curriculum/catholic-index.htm

 

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

God bless,

Jennifer

[Jen the RD]

I'd love to hear more about planning your own history using this book. Is this the primary resource you use? How does it help you with the planning process?

 

I'll do my best to tell you how I use this resource. I hope I'm not going overboard with details that you're not interested in!

 

When I plan history, I generally use ATA, Kathryn Stout's Guidelines to History Plus (GTHP), whatever spine we're using, and my library's database.

 

I aim to have around 25-30 books per child for readers and around 20 books for family read alouds.

 

First, I go through the period of history to be studied in (GTHP). Her book gives a list of people, places, and events that should be included in each period of history. WTM does this too, if you prefer it. My spine book also helps me plan by date.

 

Second, I go to the period of history to be studied and start marking books with a dot for each child within their grade levels. I try to choose books that will expound on events and people mentioned in GTHP and our spine. I'll choose upper grade levels for read alouds.

 

At this point, I count up how many books I have so far. Most of the time it is way more than I need. I don't sweat this because now I'm ready to check the library database to see if they carry the books locally or through interlibrary loan. My experience thus far shows that about 1/4 of what I select will not be available via the library. That's OK for me because there will still be plenty to choose from.

 

As I find out if books are available, I change my marks in my ATA to the following: * means available, NA means NA. This gives me a reference for books I am unable to obtain, so that I don't do double work later. As I locate a book in the library's database, I place it in a "bookbag". Our library system allows you to make bookbags for assigning books to different subjects. For instance, I have a bookbag entitled 2009-2010 History (2nd & 6th grade.) The only disadvantage is that you can't put them in order of need, so that's why I move to the next step.

 

Last, I print this list and then make a spreadsheet with the following columns: Week#, Dates Needed, Date Put on Hold, DC initials, Title, Author, Comments about book. Then I enter the books arranging them by week & date needed. This becomes my booklist for the year and I check it weekly so that I can easily go to my bookbag and order the book.

 

It does take time, but for me, it's been a very cost-effective way to do history these past 6 years. Plus, we have found some real jewels in ATA that I never would have known about otherwise.

 

Let me know if I can answer other questions.

 

HTH,

Jennifer

[jewel7123]

I'll do my best to tell you how I use this resource. I hope I'm not going overboard with details that you're not interested in!

 

HTH,

Jennifer

 

No, it's not too many details! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!

[Jen the RD]

No, it's not too many details! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!

 

You're welcome!

[anewday]

I'll do my best to tell you how I use this resource. I hope I'm not going overboard with details that you're not interested in!

 

When I plan history, I generally use ATA, Kathryn Stout's Guidelines to History Plus (GTHP), whatever spine we're using, and my library's database.

 

I aim to have around 25-30 books per child for readers and around 20 books for family read alouds.

 

First, I go through the period of history to be studied in (GTHP). Her book gives a list of people, places, and events that should be included in each period of history. WTM does this too, if you prefer it. My spine book also helps me plan by date.

 

Second, I go to the period of history to be studied and start marking books with a dot for each child within their grade levels. I try to choose books that will expound on events and people mentioned in GTHP and our spine. I'll choose upper grade levels for read alouds.

 

At this point, I count up how many books I have so far. Most of the time it is way more than I need. I don't sweat this because now I'm ready to check the library database to see if they carry the books locally or through interlibrary loan. My experience thus far shows that about 1/4 of what I select will not be available via the library. That's OK for me because there will still be plenty to choose from.

 

As I find out if books are available, I change my marks in my ATA to the following: * means available, NA means NA. This gives me a reference for books I am unable to obtain, so that I don't do double work later. As I locate a book in the library's database, I place it in a "bookbag". Our library system allows you to make bookbags for assigning books to different subjects. For instance, I have a bookbag entitled 2009-2010 History (2nd & 6th grade.) The only disadvantage is that you can't put them in order of need, so that's why I move to the next step.

 

Last, I print this list and then make a spreadsheet with the following columns: Week#, Dates Needed, Date Put on Hold, DC initials, Title, Author, Comments about book. Then I enter the books arranging them by week & date needed. This becomes my booklist for the year and I check it weekly so that I can easily go to my bookbag and order the book.

 

It does take time, but for me, it's been a very cost-effective way to do history these past 6 years. Plus, we have found some real jewels in ATA that I never would have known about otherwise.

 

Let me know if I can answer other questions.

 

HTH,

Jennifer

 

Very helpful - thanks for sharing!

 

Do you add in mapping, narrating or a timeline? I would love to hear how you implement those if so.:)

[Jen the RD]

Do you add in mapping, narrating or a timeline? I would love to hear how you implement those if so.:)

 

Yes, we do all three.

 

Narration:

I usually choose one topic per week in history for dc to narrate/outline from our reading. Ds dictates to me and I write. Dd either writes an outline or a summary (2-3 paragraphs). She also does this for science on another day. More or less, I follow SWB's writing recs.

 

Mapping:

This year our spine has been MOH I and we've used some of the map assignments. More often than not I've made up our mapping assignments and used the black line maps in MOH along with other resources for mapping such as Holman Bible Atlas, encyclopedia, or books from ATA.

 

Timeline:

I typed a template for our timeline. At the beginning of the year, I run multiple copies on cardstock, whole punch them and have each child place them in a binder. They write the dates that the page will cover on the top left (i.e. 100 BC - 50 BC). Then they write in the dates across the line. Under each date, they write or draw a picture of the event, person, or place. I've used pre-made figures before, but my kids seem to retain the info better when they write it themselves. SWB expresses this same sentiment in WTM.

 

Let me know if you have more questions.

HTH,

Jennifer

[Tohru]

I aim to have around 25-30 books per child for readers and around 20 books for family read alouds.

 

 

:lol:

 

When I read, this I thought it said 20 pounds of books for family read alouds and I was trying to figure out if you used pounds of books because it had a certain number of pages and how you weighed them. :lol:

[anewday]

Thank you, Jennifer!

 

I have been considering Ambleside for our history next year (year 4 on our first run through - I've used SOTW with Biblioplan up till now). I have the WTM and ATTA as resources and will probably follow AO for books to read, use the WTM for how to carry out the process and use ATTA to help find supplementary books and family read alouds. I think it'll be a good year in our history cycle to try that approach out.

 

Roughly how much planning/prep time does this take you? It sounds like most of it is done before you start your year which is how I'd like to do it too.

[Miss Sherry]

I try and follow CM style of teaching. Just wondering if this is worth owning, or do any of you find lists of books online anywhere else besides AO?

I have this book. It lists over 5600 books arranged by chronological era, geographical region, and reading level.......

 

It does not give a review of the books listed.

What I do if I find a book in "All Through the Ages" for a time period we are interested in, is I get online and see what else I can find out about that book. But there is not enough information in "All Through the Ages" to decide if you really want to read any book in particular. But it is a very helpful resource by giving you many titles to choose from that you can find out more information about from other resources.