When it comes to homeschool curriculum, there is so much to choose from! Over my 10 years as a homeschooler and 6 years as a homeschool product reviewer I have seen so much great curriculum. My favorite history curriculum continues to be The Mystery of History from Bright Ideas Press and I wanted to talk a little bit about it today.
Why do I love The Mystery of History? There are several reasons. It can be used to teach all of your children k-12, it is chronological starting with creation, it is creation based, and it shows what is happening in history during that time period all over the world, rather than just focusing on one part of the world at a time. It has a lot of hands on activities plus timeline activities, and mapping activities. The author writes in a very conversational manner that is interesting to read. I have learned so much about history reading through these books with my children! It is also complete. Everything you NEED to teach your children is in the book.
The Mystery of History is split up into 4 different volumes:
Creation to the Resurrection
The Early Church and the Middle Ages
The Renaissance Reformation and Growth of Nations
Wars of Independence to Modern Times
Recently I was talking to a friend about The Mystery of History (that talk actually inspired this post) and she was concerned because she wanted worksheets to go along with it. She does not do hands on activities very much and didn't feel like doing the reading would be enough. There are worksheets that go along with The Mystery of History and I am VERY excited about using them this year!
First, there are mapping assignments and the maps and answer keys are included. These are already in the companion guide or the book depending on which volume you are using.
But, if you want other worksheets, you can purchase coloring pages, notebooking sheets, and challenge cards for each of the volumes.
The coloring pages have a small section for each of the three section that is read that week on one page. These are great for younger children to do while you are reading.
The notebooking pages are awesome!! Why? They have designed them so you can choose to allow your child to put down what they consider relevant information or they come with questions already on the sheet for your children to answer. They even have larger lined paper for smaller children and an option to type your answers right in to the computer! An answer key is included if you choose the sheets that have pre-printed questions on them.
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| these are the ones we will be using |
There are also challenge cards that you can use to go over the information you have studied, or to play different games with and folderbooks to make a memorable reminder of what you have learned.
These options are available as downloads. I know myself and that I do not make the time to print things out during the school year. I actually spent the day yesterday printing out the papers I needed for The Mystery of History Vol IV and putting them in notebooks for the boys to use this year.They are all set and ready to go.
There are plenty of options for your family to use with The Mystery of History! In addition to the items I listed above you can also purchase the audiobooks, timeline figures, and other suggested supplements. It is a great history curriculum and products to meet the needs of homeschooling families.
*links in this post are my affiliate links. I only form affiliate relationships with companies whose products I actually use and can recommend!
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