AimeeM Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Can these books (with their study books) really be considered a full history curriculum as MP sells it, or do they only speak of the men of the time(s)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 It depends. They are just fine for me, but I'm not history-centric. I'm Latin/nature/literature-centric. If you base your year around history you would want to supplement. They are mini-biographies of famous men - but they still teach about the times/cultures the men lived in. Also, the Highland's Latin School (where MP uses / draws its materials) assigns the SOTW series as summer reading from grades 4th to 7th (I might be a grade off). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medieval Mom Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 :iagree: We're using them this year. That said, I also have ds read for 2 hours in the afternoon: 1 hour nonfiction, 1 hour literature/poetry. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he spends that nonfiction reading time reading history books. So, in our case, we use the Famous Men series as a "spine" or as our memory work, basically, and our silent reading time to really explore the era (and learn about more than... famous MEN. :D ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I haven't used the study books that MP sells with these to know how they make them into a full curriculum. We really like these books though and use them alongside Mystery of History. They are a great complement and round out our studies. I think I'd want more than just the books, but maybe the study book that MP sells provides that. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medieval Mom Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 (edited) The study guides do really help get a lot out of these books. I could take or leave the vocabulary studies, but the famous quotes and facts to know are WONDERFUL for memory work. :) Famous Men of Rome has Drill questions (for memory work). Famous Men of Greece does not, but the chapter tests or review lessons could work for that purpose. FWIW, we bought the Greenleaf version on FMOG so we'd have the correct Greek names for the gods, instead of the Latin names. Haaren wrote Jupiter for Zeus and such all through FMOG. The Greenleaf version corrects that. We still use the MP guide, which works just fine with the Greenleaf book. (It's just the page number that don't match up. Not a big deal.) We did, however, buy the MP version of FMOR for the lovely color pictures. :D Edited July 28, 2012 by Medieval Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Yes, I love the color pics! Good to know that the MP guide adds a lot :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Is there a reason MP recommends Rome before Greece? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Here you go: http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/July08/historynotchronological.html http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/Spring09/teach-history-chronologically.html http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/Winter%2009/Two-TrackHistory.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom2011 Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 We use them alongside Biblioplan as scheduled. They don't cover the books entirely, but dd enjoys them as a supplement. I'm not sure if I would use them exclusively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I thought I should mention that Greenleaf has a guide to this series as well. In their guides (going by the samples from Amazon - I haven't ordered yet) they list additional books to read from. I'm thinking now of using both MP's guides (recitation, vocabulary & review) and Greenleaf's (discussion). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knittinfarmgirl Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I thought I should mention that Greenleaf has a guide to this series as well. In their guides (going by the samples from Amazon - I haven't ordered yet) they list additional books to read from. I'm thinking now of using both MP's guides (recitation, vocabulary & review) and Greenleaf's (discussion). :iagree: This is my plan as well. (Great minds think alike, Amy! ;)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 :iagree: This is my plan as well. (Great minds think alike, Amy! ;)) I've heard that the Greenleaf books have a protestant slant - can anyone tell me "yay" or "nay" on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbakos Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) Can these books (with their study books) really be considered a full history curriculum as MP sells it, or do they only speak of the men of the time(s)? This is my question too. I don't own any of the FM series but from looking at the samples online it appears that they are precisely as their titles imply. I'm sure there are various historical facts thrown in here and there but to be honest, these books are what is keeping me back from purchasing MP packages. And I'm not even history-centered. Now, I've observed that most MP users praise these books and love the program. And considering that these materials are what they use at HLS I would say that they are doing something right (as far as testing goes) but I just hesitate to use these books over say SOTW or CHOW or VP as a stand alone history course. Edited July 29, 2012 by lbakos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 @lbakos - If you are wondering about the text, you can read it here for free. MP added color pictures, and I think Greenleaf added a few chapters. (These are the texts, not the guides.) I think some of this comes down to your personal philosophy. I'd rather my kids get to know history with biographies in the elementary grades (pegs to hang later information on), and save the more detailed history from when they are older. (MP does this by using Mills books in 7th & 8th grades, plus Guerber's US history in 6th). I checked SOTW1 out of the library and thought "you're supposed to read this in ONE year?" - to a 6/7 year old? LOL. I have CHOW but I think I'll assign it as independent reading around 4th/5th grade. Events just don't seem to stick as well as people do for my kids at this time. I'm not saying one way is right or wrong, I just believe every family/person has to find what works for them. FYI, Highlands Latin School assigns the SOTW series as summer reading for rising 4th to 7th graders. @Aimee - I've heard some of the Greenleaf books have a protestant slant too, especially the Renaissance and Reformation one (which is not part of the original Famous Men series). I'm not sure if the Greece, Rome or Middle Ages ones do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 This is my question too. I don't own any of the FM series but from looking at the samples online it appears that they are precisely as their titles imply. I'm sure there are various historical facts thrown in here and there but to be honest, these books are what is keeping me back from purchasing MP packages. And I'm not even history-centered. Now, I've observed that most MP users praise these books and love the program. And considering that these materials are what they use at HLS I would say that they are doing something right (as far as testing goes) but I just hesitate to use these books over say SOTW or CHOW or VP as a stand alone history course. I know. From my perspective, these books (if they did offer a full history program) would be preferable - Autumn needs a study guide. Outlining is difficult for her, to say the least (dyslexic - these things come slowly, lol), so the accompanying guides with the FM series is very attractive to me; otherwise we plan to use this year Human Odyssey Volume 1 (it looks and reads very interesting)... but it doesn't have a study guide... which means I will spend considerable time and energy making one myself (blah). Part of me wonders if I can use the FM series and fill in the gaps with the Kingfisher Encyclopedia sitting on my shelf :D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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