Back to Homeschool 2014-2015: History Curriculum (Back to Homeschool Blog Hop)

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History--a favorite topic in our house. This year we are taking a little a different direction for Destini and Chantry, who have done history together since they have started school. In the past I have relied solely on Ambleside Online's history selections and this year we were due for Year 6 which covered one term of modern history and two terms of ancient history.

Years ago when I went through Year 6 with Caleb I felt there was a lot of ancient history (the Bible) that was missing. Yes, it is covered a little in AO, but I want my kids to see the big picture. I think it is very easy to just treat the Bible as its own history (which isn't bad), but I want them to see what else was going on in history at the same time Bible events were happening. So we will be using a different history book for our spine, Mystery of History Volume 1

 

I will probably be using Mystery of History as a spine only and not as it is written. Destini and Chantry will be doing written narrations and I am mulling over a time line or Book of Centuries. If I do a Book of Centuries I may have Destini start it now (this is one option I'm seriously considering) and wait until Chantry is older. Decisions, decisions! 

 

You may ask what I did with the modern history covered in Term 1, well, we have slowly been working our way Story of the World Volume 4 over the summer. I also left all of the suggested free read books that cover modern times on their list to read through, along with books that cover the ancients. My kids won't mind since many of the free reads are set during World War II and honestly, we could study that period all of the time, everyday.

 Genevieve Foster's Augustus Caesar's World  is a book that we will read during the year for history, since her books are favorites in our house. 

In an earlier post I mentioned that my focus with Delani will be reading, writing, and math. I don't have a specific history book for her, except a Bible story book. I'm sure in the course of the year she will be exposed to many history tales.

 

Geography will included finishing up A Child's Geography of the World by V.M. Hillyer. We started this last year and it didn't get finished due to moving. I have really enjoyed this book though it is outdated, but with Google at my fingertips it is easy to look these places up and find out the updated information. It is also a book that is easy to map.

After finishing A Child's Geography we will then head into Complete Book Of Marvels by Richard Halliburton. I'm not sure exactly how I will have them fill out a map for this yet, but I think we will do notebooking with composition books. My main map resources will come from Map Trek and WonderMaps.

Mystery of History Volume 1 also has a geography component with it, which I will use in some way. I don't want to overload us in this area and will start out tentatively until I strike the right balance.

Head on over and visit these other Review Crew Blogs as they share different topics on homeschooling.

Jennifer @ Chestnut Grove Academy 

Crystal @ Tidbits of Experience 

Rebecca @ Raventhreads 

Jennifer @ Milk & Honey 

Mommy Dawn @ Guiding Light 

Homeschool Monique @ Living Life and Learning 

Erin @ For Him and My Family 
Lisa @ A Rup Life