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Going away from boxed curriculum and need to choose history program...


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I could really use your help, just by sharing your experiences and opinions on the different programs out there. What do you use? How do you use it? What do you like or not like about it? If you don't, what do you want to use next?

 

I'm really considering using Mystery of History but I keep getting stuck on the fact that the series is not finished. I don't know how to deal with that and reconcile it with our needs. What do you do after Mystery of History's first three books?

 

I just found Diana Waring's History Revealed products and it sounded interesting. Any comparisions or reviews of Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries?

 

I've looked at other programs like Story of the World (which sounds good but seems young for my 6th grader) and K12's Human Odyssey. Just can't seem to make a decision on this...and could really use your help just by sharing your experiences. Thanks!

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We are using K12 Human Odyssey and I also get the World in Ancient Times books from the library if I can. Honestly, I like the World in Ancient Times series a lot, but I can't afford to buy all of those books! K12 is good. We just do a lot of reading, historical fiction, a timeline, and occasional maps. My daughter is enjoying it. Hope that helps a little bit!

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Also, I agree that SOTW would be too young. That's mainly why I decided against it. Diana Waring looks good though, but I ultimately decided against that because it seemed too activity based for me, and I knew that stuff wouldn't get done.

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Hi Julie! I will be listening in on your post. I took the plunge and decided to give ECC a try for next year. I'm excited to use it, but am not sure of our future with MFW. I'm curious about MOH if I decide to no longer go with a boxed curriculum in the future. Blessings to you as you pray through finding the right curriculum for your family! :001_smile:

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We are using K12 Human Odyssey this year (5th) for the ancients and we both really love the book. It's well written and an extremely interesting read. It's not dull like a lot of textbooks and has lots of visuals. There are also fictionalized versions of many popular myths and stories peppered throughout the book. This year we're using it in conjunction with History Odyssey, but next year (6th-Middle Ages), I'll just use it on its own and do our own thing. You can usually find it fairly inexpensive on Amazon. My version was used, but looked almost brand new when it arrived.

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Hi Ladies, Human Odyssey intrigues me but I wonder of the lack of Biblical Integration--that's important to me. That's why Diana Waring and MOH pull me. But I was looking at Diana Waring's stuff and I agree with you, Anna, that it would not get done because of all the projects and hands-on. That's the reason I'm leaving MFW for next year. That and the fact that Diana Waring's History Revealed is for older kids (11+) and I'll have a 3rd grader to consider for next year. So, I think that's out. MOH is written for all ages, though specifically pointed toward the mid-range (4th-8th). But my concern with that is that it is not a complete series. And it would take two years to go through Middle Ages and Renaissance and Reformation and I don't have that time. I need to do those two time periods in one year.

 

I'm leaving MFW, not because I have problems with the curriculum, but because it won't meet my needs for next year while we're on furlough back in the states and traveling a lot. I need something that will just get done, simply, without a couple hours of my involvement every day. I can do the read-aloud of the text and then assign work to the kids according to their grade-levels.

 

Any more thoughts, everyone? Any ideas?

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Here are a list of chapters on Christianity in HO:

 

Part 2 Ch 6: A Chosen People (includes the story of Joseph)

 

Part 3 Ch 8: Judea and the Rise Of Christianity (includes the parable of the Good Samaritan)

 

Part 3 Ch 9: The Spread of Christianity (includes story of St. Valentine)

 

Part 3 ConclusionL The Enduring Legacy of the Classical World-includes section on Christianity

 

There are also several other mentions of it, such as when talking about Constantine.

 

Much of the ancient world though had little to do with Christianity until around 2000BC.

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Mom in High Heels, thanks for showing me that. I'm afraid I wasn't clear. I wasn't thinking it wouldn't have mention of Christianity, but I don't believe it's written from a biblical perspective, am I wrong? I just think it would be cool, very uplifting besides being what I want to teach my children, to see history from a Biblical perspective.

 

But it seems to be impossible to find something that:

1. Covers Medieval through Reformation in one year (would be cool if it did Rome too, but that might be asking too much).

2. Is a simple program, not requiring too much hands-on, switching books constantly. I can't be carrying tons of books and have time-intensive history program while we're traveling next year.

3. And teaches history from a Biblical perspective

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Would Biblioplan work? We used it one year. They offer several choices for a spine, and maps/timeline are scheduled. There are historical fiction books suggested from K through grade 8+. Looks like it would cover much of the time frame you're looking for: Fall of Rome through Renaissance. I enjoyed the maps the best, and Biblioplan was simple enough to use that my kids and I spent most of our time discussing history. History class could be as short/simple or as long/involved as I needed it to be.

 

I've read where many really love BP....It really had its pros, yet I did struggle with a couple of things:

 

The lesson plans didn't schedule out readers as explicitly as Sonlight did (we used SL before BP-just used to the completely planned out schedule in SL.) Even with the included lesson plans, I still had to make them fit our daily schedule. I REALLY think others might not struggle with this.... for some reason, I did.

 

The Parent Companion got too long for us to read through..... the kids got bored with it. (If you used it for personal prep, though, that would not be an issue.)

 

Here's a link:

http://www.biblioplan.net/2011/04/introduction-to-year-two.html

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Julie, you're right that Human Odyssey is secular... it doesn't teach from a Biblical perspective.

 

Regarding the concern about MOH not being finished... I had looked at it before, and emailed the company to see where they stood in finishing the series. I was told they were pretty far along with the last volume. We were looking at starting it this year or next, and they had said the last would certainly be done by the time I needed it. That may have changed, I don't know... but you might want to email and see if they're still on track, you may be reassured!!

 

http://brightideaspr...s-contact-form/

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I wouldn't pass up MOH, especially if you are starting year 1 now. As a PP mentioned, they are pretty far along with book 4. I know Linda mentioned on the FB MOH page last spring that the writing is done, so I would imagine that it is in the editing and coming up with activities stage.

 

My sons will being doing Year 2 nwxr year and my dd in 8th will be doing 3 and 4 if it is out by the 2nd semester otherwise I am considering NotgrassL America the Beautiful with SOTW 4 - otherwisw undecided.

 

Just my 2 cents.

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I did chose to use SOTW vol 4 with my 6th-7th grader. I actually spread the book over 2 years and added a ton of resources. We read a bunch of literature, did several research papers, studied art, music and poetry of the time period, and watched various dvds. It was a good study.

 

Some other ideas I haven't seen mentioned yet would be Beautiful Feet and Truthquest. I've not used Truthquest but I have used Beautiful Feet. Have you looked at Veritas Press offerings?

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