Going crazy trying to pick a history curriculum for next year. I have CHOW (Hillyer)

[urban_mom]

but now I hear of all theses MOH and TOG, etc that are more Biblical. Then there are the Veritas Press timeline cards that I think are cool, but I can't figure it all out! Also, it's hard from the various websites to figure out which ones are more "interesting" or "thorough", you know? Please give me your opinion on what you use and what you combine...MOH with VP flashcards? Etc....

[Another Lynn]

We have used Hillyer's and enjoyed it even though we tried to do history from a more Biblical perspective. The year I did ancients (with a first grader) I tried MOH because I appreciated its Biblical approach. I eventually abandoned it because with a first grader I was skipping all the written work (we did do a few of the projects for younger ages) and because I wanted more literary read alouds. (Also, during the divided kingdom period of Israel, MOH really focuses on prophets and I thought it made more sense to a young boy to focus on their kings, so I ultimately made use of Greenleaf's Guide to the OT to guide us, which I already had). So we followed Greenleaf's Guide, added in Hillyer (skipping the first 6 chapters or so that are evolutionary in perspective), and I added in An Island Story (and other Ambleside Online read alouds) which we really enjoyed. We also listened to Diana Waring's CDs for a Biblical perspective of world history. My ds has always loved these.

I have never tried TOG, but suspect we might end up using it for our next time through the history cycle.

I wasn't sure what part of the history cycle you were in or what ages your dc are, so I just shared our experience. It's definitely not what planned originally, but sort of where we ended up as I found things I liked and things I didn't.

So, the short answer is that you can teach history from a Biblical perspective even if you use Hillyer's. (I think using VP's cards as a "spine" is a good idea too!)

There are lots of great options out there for history. Have fun!

[Chris in VA]

Relax. Remember a good goal is not thorough coverage, but gentle introduction to the enjoyment of seeing how history (Biblical and secular, in your case) fits together. You have years to cover everything.
I'd read the Bible alongside CHOW or SOTW, adding in activities from the AG. You can also stick in a few things from Old Testament Days, if you want some more Bible-based activities.

Don't overthink it--you'll be fine!

[OhElizabeth]

For what age?? We use the VP cards, which I REALLY like as a structure. As you say, they integrate the biblical events and chronology and are crazy easy to teach from. MOH is more than I wanted for the early grades (1st and 2nd, when we covered ancients), though some people take it slowly and do it. I think it would be better starting in say 3rd, personally. CHOW is great. We read it and did parts of the workbook too, which I thought was well worth our time. As a 2nd grader my dd easily did the fill-in-the-blank outlining of the workbook and enjoyed the readings. VP also cites CHOW. In fact, VP is rather a broad thing: you can use the cards and song as memory work that you tack onto another program. You can do VP using the tm but skip the worksheets. You can use the cards and do the worksheets and every single thing, with options for upper and lower grades. There are so many ways to use it! My dd is a crazy history buff, so I use it a little more flexibly, discussing the card together and then giving her piles of books to read. That's why it works for us, because it provides a structure I can wrap my brain around with a format that lets her do what she likes best (read history and then do activities with it). But every dc is different as far as what they want to do with history, whether you're reading it to them or they read tons for themselves or a mix, whether they like paper crafts or absolutely no crafts or only sewing/building/time-intensive crafts.

If I could suggest, don't make history too hard if your dc is little. In K, 1st, and even 2nd, they have such a small sense of time. Pick something YOU can handle or that is practical for you to implement. Find an add-on that provides something that makes it fun for them. Try to make sure they're doing a little bit of writing in the process to work toward WTM goals (pictures with sentence illustrations moving on to oral then written narrations). Keep it simple and fun. Littles don't usually care about all the connections, implications, timelines and mapping that interest us. They just like history as STORIES, so read it as interesting stories, do something fun with it if they like activities, and move on. You'll draw all those connections the NEXT time around.

[Cornerstone Classical]

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They just like history as STORIES, so read it as interesting stories, do something fun with it if they like activities, and move on. You'll draw all those connections the NEXT time around.
:iagree:
I'm hem-hawing over bible/history curriculum for next year. And the above quote is what I have to keep reminding myself.......

[Ohio12]

you are going to be just fine. Love, you big sister!:lol: