This is my all time favorite history text. It introduced me, at the advanced age of 35, to world history. Sure, I had had world history in high school...in 6th period...with the football coach as teacher. And he probably knew his stuff, but it couldn't get through the mid afternoon sleepies.

By the time I finished reading through A Child's History of the World with my oldest child in 4th grade Calvert, I finally had a clue. It really turned me on to history. Now it is available as a separate package from Calvert which I think is really neat.

This is a secular history that was written by a Catholic, V.M. Hillyer, that includes Biblical stories. Did you get all that ?! It starts with prehistoric man so it is from an evolutionary perspective. It treats historical stories from the Bible as history, as, indeed, they are. And every once in a while, you may get a whiff of a Catholic perspective. The stories seem simple one by one; however, taken as a whole, this book provides a memorable framework for further studies to fill out.

New Year at History at Our House

If you happen to be looking for a secular history curriculum spanning all age levels and provided by an experienced history teacher, take a look at History at Our House. For the 2008/2009 school year, they have simplified their tier structure. You pay by level so this may be good for those with more than one student studying at the same level. I have not used this curriculum; however, I would suggest listening to the free seminars to see if you like the way that Mr. Powell teaches.

Great List of Historical Documentaries

Check out this wonderful list of historical documentaries on my friend's blog! Stay and look around her blog. Lisa is a second generation homeschooler and has a lovely family that includes natural and adopted children.

A trip to our state archives

My son and I had a fascinating morning at the North Carolina State Archives Friday. He was there to do research for his National History Day project on World War I. This was a new experience for us both and we loved digging through the primary sources to be found there.

First you have to search through a finding aid. We looked through a volume on their military collections and a volume on private collections. Our first selection was a private collection of a college professor, Dr. Daniel Hill. It was mostly letters. As we read through, we began to form a picture of parts of this man's life. It turned out that the letters relating to WWI were about his son who was initially rejected because of his physical size. As we continued to dig further, we saw the trail of his father writing to people he knew and persons of influence to find a place for his son in the war effort. It did not lead to information pertinent to my son's project, but we certainly enjoyed the discoveries we made.

We did eventually find several items that he wanted photocopied or scanned including a booklet on the specific activities of two units in the war and two aerial maps of France. He will need to turn to the internet to look for other primary resources for his project but I look forward to future trips to the archive.

National History Day - Get Involved!

I just learned about a drive to get students involved in real history study disguised as a contest. The tagline at National History Day reads It's Not just a Day, It's an Experience! In this event, the contest is downplayed in favor of the process and the learning which suits me just fine.

The initial information came through a local homeschool list and I immediately got excited about it. I have bribed my history loving son into doing a project by promising it would also count for part of his english credit this year since there is a 500 word process paper involved. Advanced homeschool mom tactics in action.

My son's project will naturally include some aspect of military history which won't be difficult to fit into this year's theme of Conflict and Compromise in History. He is already scheming to use this as an excuse to build a diorama of trench warfare in WWI.

You can get involved as a student, a parent or a teacher so check it out! It is open to all students, public, private or homeschooled, in grades 6-12. You can get more information from your state coordinator. Projects can be started by teams or individuals and the final presentation can be in a variety of forms as shown in this introductory video.

In Their Own Words: George, John, and Abe

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. Like these new resources I found at Rob Shearer's blog, Contending With the Culture. Imagine learning about George Washington, John Adams and Abraham Lincoln completely from their own words! Along with some photographs, prints, and artifacts. I can't wait to see these books with my own eyes. In the meantime, look at what Rob has to say about them...

Wrath of the Tsar

As part of my research for my current book project, I ordered a National Geographic dvd through interlibrary loan. It is called Wrath of the Tsar and is part of their Icons of Power series.

The 90 minute program is accurate and entertaining, if a little melodramatic at times. The life of Peter the Great needs no special effort at all to add color, action, and conflict! I think that some of the overblown feeling came from the repetition that occurs at the places where there were breaks for commercials. The producers also use the conflict between Peter and his son, Alexei, as the central defining relationship throughout the story. It works okay but sometimes it seems a little stretched, as if adding too much modern analysis to this late 17th/early 18th century tale.

The relationship between Peter and his son is one of the aspects of his life that is open to much interpretation and the actual cause of death of Alexei is shrouded in some mystery. Some materials will claim out and out that Peter had him murdered, while others attempt to document that Alexei was punished severely for traitorous acts and died as a result of the floggings.

There is an interactive history timeline that is basically a summary of the program. All in all, I found the casting and settings, as well as the use of art being interspersed, rather effective and the end result quite interesting. Keep in mind that any portrayal of Peter the Great has to include beheadings, battles, tortures, inquisitions and other unpleasantries so that needs to be considered for age appropriateness.

A History of US

This year I will going through 5th grade Calvert for the third time. It is not my favorite Calvert grade and one reason is the tediously dull American History text. At least, it was tediously dull - perhaps they have upgraded to a less dull text but history textbooks seem to have dull as part of their definition.

But Calvert has other strengths and I know an excellent way to supplement middle school American history. About 6 years ago, I read through Joy Hakim's A History of US with my two older children. It was a delightful experience. I remember the writing being crisp and entertaining and the stories enthralling. The only downside, for me, was a strong liberal bent to both the selection and presentation of the material. However, I never mind getting more than one side of a story and this is no exception. I find my understanding of history to be greatly enriched by viewpoints that challenge my own.

I am quite looking forward to making the journey with Ms. Hakim again...

A Little History of the World

Farm School Review of A Little History of the World

Wonderful review of a little book that I cannot wait to get for my family! It sounds as if it may be very similar to A Child's History of the World which I use to introduce my children to world history in 4th grade (or there abouts). Using the Calvert curriculum taught me the concept of starting with world history and proceeding "inward" - the opposite of our school system's method of starting with the neighborhood and proceeding outward. American history makes so much more sense in the context of world history. I will post my own review of A Little History of the World once I have the chance to read it!

History Resource Finds

In doing my research, I come across some great history resources. I have a links section but here are a few from the last couple of weeks.

History at our House offers online history lectures/classes. While I do not agree with all of Scott's assertions in his parental workshop, the class lecture that I listened to was excellent. This may grow into a valuable resource. Here is how he describes what he is working on:

Mr. Powell is now concurrently working on the development of an accessible, integrated history program for professional adults and the new homeschooling history curriculum History At Our House.

Another interesting resource that I came across is HyperHistory. There is a online resource and what looks like a fabulous world history timeline. I want one!! The online portion is interactive and covers a lot of ground.

Serendipity Books and More has a huge history selection. I bookmarked it to go back later and browse the offerings. My husband will be delighted...more books!