And I thought dot-to-dot was for little ones!
My older (4th grade and up) children LOVE these Extreme Dot to Dot Animals books! They take them in car rides and ask to do them to unwind from regular school work. They are so fun because, unlike simpler Read more
Macbeth - Graphic Shakespeare Graphic Novel
As a literature major in college, I developed quite the affinity for The Bard. However, I have never agreed with the notion that Shakespeare plays should be read as they were written to be performed. But managing to take Read more
I loved this book! I read it aloud to my 7 year old daughter and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Don’t be put off by the mention of ‘Latin’ in the description, as there is only knowledge of the English language required to read and enjoy this novel. This is really a fascinating look at a slice of Roman/Celtic/Christian history.
Alice Oregon City Mother of 4, homeschooling for 11 years now.
I appreciate that this history curriculum(All American History) was more detailed than the text I used when I was a young boy, thus I learned things while teachings my children that I did not know. At the same time some of the details were about things that were too trivial and thus should have been omitted. I bought the curriculum because I was told that it had a Christian perspective and on that point I felt it was weak. A Christian curriculum should also focus on the spiritual leaders, their thoughts and words that shaped the American people’s thinking, faith, lives and culture. This curriculum did little of that and focused almost exclusively on the political and military leaders.
The Mystery of History
We are in our first year of homeschooling. We tried another History curriculum, and hated it. We heard many good things about The Mystery of History Volume 1 and decided to give it a try. We love it! Very well laid out, interesting to read. The kids love it as much as I do. The only thing I don’t like about this is a few mentions (so far) of a religious view we do not take. The author believes in a sinners prayer, and as I read the Bible I find no such plan of salvation. Although the author does not seem to embrace baptism, I would much rather have a curriculum that has a Godly view than a secular one. Excellent product!
My 2nd Grade son LOVES these books (Graphic Novels – Disasters) ! I have nothing negative to say about them. He reads them over and over and tells me fun facts all the time. He might not realize he’s learning, but I do!!
Alicia
This course (All American History) is very easy to use and works well with middle school to early high school students. I like the lay out, the illustrations and the activities in the student activity book. I would like to see more details included in the text, especially for high school students. However, the extra activities suggested do fill in some of those details. I definitely would recommend All American History for a good overview of U. S. history. If you have a history loving student, just require more extra credit!
The kids are enjoying this audio history so much! We are blessed in that we are preparing for an upcoming trip to England (a gift). This holds their interest and helps make them connect wth British history studied elsewhere. It is music to my ears to have them ask, ‘Just one more chapter, please!’ It reminds me somewhat of listening to Story of the World, but specific to British history. I’d buy it again in a heartbeat. They will even willingly listen while we fold laundry!
Over my many years of homeschooling, Timberdoodle has become one of my favorite catalogues, mainly because they have lead me to so many unique, quality materials. But the one that stands out to me as the best of all is this Young Historian’s Introduction to World View. In my over 20 years of homeschooling this is the first curriculum that I have been inspired to recommend whole-heartily. It is a clear presentation of ideas, simple enough for middle school students to grasp with ease, but not ‘simple’ in its content. I learned much doing this with my 12 year-old son, and I have studied world view on an adult level. This curriculum would work well as a first introduction at the middle school level, but it would also be a great start to a world view course on the high school leve. The hands on projects are not just a ‘add-on craft,’ but an important part of making the topics clear. The stories are engaging and helpful in explaining the concepts clearly. All in all, I found this to be a vary valuable addition to our homeschool. I recommend it to anyone interested in adding a world view class into their curriculum at any middle school or high school age. I also recommend the history curriculum produced by the same author, An Overview of Western Civilization, as continuing the great work started in A Young Historians Introduction to World View.
Catherine
Perkasie, PA
I am the mother of four boys and have been homeschooling since 1989. I only have one left at home at this time, my other three having already been launched into the world and doing well.
We have loved The Story of the World history books. I love the idea of studying history chronologically around the world. It makes so much more sense doing it this way. While the material is not presented as HISstory, I don’t have any problem adding this myself. In the early years, we loved the activities, especially the recipes and feast ideas. We also love the recommended reading lists, especially for the living books. We are now in the 4th book in the series, The Modern Age. Actually, Volume 4 packs so much history into it that we split it up into two years. In this book, outlines and writing from outlines are introduced. Sometimes, instead of writing from the outlines, we give ‘speeches’ from them. My children have loved the mapwork in all the books. As a military family, we have had lots of opportunities to see the places we have learned about. My children LOVE history, and I think The Story of the World has had a lot to do with their love of history.
The Mystery of History Volume III
We have used this series from Mystery of History Vol 1 through Mystery of HistoryVol 3 and love the content. I love being able to teach my girls history, not only with a godly perspective, but also chronologically. I love the author’s efforts to show us how each item studied was part of God’s plan and how each person was prepared and used by God. I also love that she has laid out all the plans for extra activities, extra reading, and also has maps and timelines to make history even more tangible. I do like the format of Vol 1 and 2 better than 3, though. The 3-ring binder was much easier for me to use in the earlier volumes. The newer hardcover book isn’t as easy for us as we move about our church and community or even as we write summaries at the computer. (Timberdoodle doesn’t have anything to do with that, though, that was the publisher’s choice.) Overall, I really love it and can’t wait to see Vol 4!
Theresa
Irvine, CA
Browse the entire Bright Ideas Press line.
Stories From History – Set of 11 Graphic Novels
We had the opportunity to review a set of 11 historical graphic novels from Timberdoodle over the last couple weeks. When I opened the box, both boys (ages 7 & 9) were eager to check them out. Colin (9yo) immediately sat down with “The Discovery of T. Rex” and devoured the book. Nate (7yo) has been interested in Leonardo DaVinci for a long time, so that was the first one he grabbed.
These graphic novels are well-drawn and full of interesting information. My boys enjoy graphic novels, but I often struggle finding ones that are appropriate. I like that these can be incorporated into our lessons, as well as provide them with reading material that interests them. Nate prefers reading non-fiction, so these are even more up his alley!
Colin has been learning about early colonial times, so the book about Christopher Columbus dovetailed nicely into our lessons. While these books sit on our homeschooling shelves, I know they will be pulled down and read outside of lessons as well.
The books are geared for 8 – 14 year olds (3rd – 8th grade), and Colin found that he had no trouble reading them. Nate needed some help with some of the words, but they weren’t overly difficult for him to read either.
Each book is 48 pages long, and I liked the fact that each book included a timeline, extra facts, glossary and an index. The glossary is a wonderful supplement for both spelling and vocabulary units. These are great addition to our other learning materials. The set of 11 we reviewed is available for the amazing price of only $16.95 — making each book cost only $1.54!
This set includes the following 11 titles:
Pizarro and the Incas
The Life of Anne Frank
The Building of the Great Pyramid
The Life of Julius Caesar
The Life of Christopher Columbus
The Race to the South Pole
Gladiators and the Story of the Colosseum
The Life of Alexander the Great
Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada
The Life of Leonardo Da Vinci
The Discovery of T. Rex
Timberdoodle is one of the first homeschooling companies I purchased products from years ago when we started our homeschooling journey. I have always appreciated the wide variety of products, good prices and great customer service.
The preceding review is reposted from the My Little Patch of Sunshine blog.
