anyone here using Galore Park's so you really want to learn History?

[Nicole M]

Based on a suggestion from someone on the HS board, I took a peek at the sample chapter of their history book -- I was looking specifically for an overview of British history. I was very impressed with what I saw.

I know many here have an aversion to text books, but what I really liked was that the review questions actually helped the child learn to write cohesively. US texts tend to have questions like "pretend you're on Magellan's ship and write a journal entry." You know, first person woo-woo type of stuff. Or very vague questions. Because I'm not a natural teacher, I like very much to have good questions available to me. I'm not adept at starting conversations or coming up with writing assignments.

If you're curious about this book, check it out here:
http://www.galorepark.co.uk/product/home_schoolers/130/so-you-really-want-to-learn-history-book-1.html
There's a link there for the sample chapter.

Anyhoo, my actual question for any of you with experience with these books is, where can I find a table of contents? I emailed Ray at Horrible Books and haven't heard back. Should I just go ahead and email Galore Park? I'm trying to get a sense of how many chapters there are that are similar in length to the sample chapter.

Thanks, all!
Nicole

[Mama Lynx]

... and love it.

I'm dying to buy and use history prep, but 1) we're already reading Our Island Story, and 2) I don't know if it would be overkill to pile it on what we're already doing.

I might decide to buy it, leave it around and hope it sparks an interest in a child.

I love British history, and am quite happy for my kids to study as much of it as possible.

[Mama Lynx]

Kings and Things is FANTASTIC!

See? Overkill. I've got OIS, Kings and Things, *and* Britannia. And I plan for them to read Churchill in high school.

[Melissa B]

There is a yahoo group - galore_park_user_support

Laura in China is the moderator.

Nick Oulton from Galore Park is also a member and answers questions posted to the group. You can also email them directly. They are very good about answering emails and will likely provide you with a table of contents or answer any questions.

[Nicole M]

I did join the group and Nick answered my question in a matter of minutes!

This does look great. I'm rethinking our middle ages next year....

[Lorna]

Hello Nicole,
My daughter (aged 12) is using SYRWTL History 1 and really enjoying it. She only used a literature based history approach before. Like you, I like that it has lots of clearly defined activities and that it ensures she is learning concrete facts.
I know it is a text book but with the addition of historic fiction and other literature from the time I think it makes a great curriculum.
If you have any more questions (I see from the Galore Park group you got the chapter headings), just ask away!

[Nicole M]

Lorna,

Thank you. I just found out that Ray at Horrible Books, who I think is the main distributor in the US for GP, won't be placing an order until April. So, pooh. The suspense is killing me.

Are you covering European medieval history using other sources, or is this your primary text? I'm wondering how to integrate what was going on in other parts of the world into our studies.

How much do you cover in a week? How did you plan out your pace? Or do you just plod along?!

My boys are 5 years apart, so it's been a long while (it seems!) since the last time I traveled through the middle ages with a middle schooler. What I used with my oldest did not work very well, so I'm thinking long and hard about how I want to proceed this time. I have a variety of different sources, but none seems just right. I have a standard US text, which covers very little European history (!), Van Loon's Story of Mankind (which I love, but don't quite know what to do with) and of course SotW, with tests. Oh, and I own a battered old copy of the Kingfisher encyclopedia, which never satisfies me. The idea of outlining from that just horrifies me, for some reason.

But yes, the primary attraction (besides, for my son, that whole business of the "murder holes" in the castles!) is the very precise writing assignments and comprehension questions. I have never seen anything like that in any US source.

I feel like I'm babbling a bit (it's only just 5am here), so I'm sorry if this is not coherent. I'd love to hear how you do your work and if you're using other sources.

Your blog is just beautiful.

Nicole

[Laura Corin]

You could always order through www.bookdepository.co.uk. They discount the books and ship them to the US for free. I've ordered from them several times and they have always been efficient and swift.

Best wishes

Laura

[Lorna]

Hi Nicole,
My daughter does an exercise a day three times a week. The exercises are really varied however and she can be doing an essay, evaluating primary sources, drawing or something completely different. I am using it really as a spine and bringing in historical fiction some days too. She generally takes off and reads selected literature in her own time (because she loves to read). I have used suggestions from various sources for this.
I have ordered Lightning Literature 'Medieval English Literature' to compliment her studies too. She has read the Canterbury Tales abridged and Beowulf but I think she is ready to try 'Piers Plowman' and more original texts (and these are looked at in SYRWTL History 1) This seems like good timing since History Prep 1 covers this period. I hope History Prep 2 will be out in time for her to shadow her studies with in depth Shakespearian study (with she has read and watched just for pleasure up till now).
I am looking forward to the answer book being available too. Nick at Galore Park said it should have sample essays; I like my daughter to be able to see what is expected of her. It may even have a bibliography/suggested reading list. That would make it perfect in my mind.
My daughter really enjoys the way it is written and it has been very much self-teaching.
She also does the Bellerophon Books (because she loves to make things and re-enact historical scenes on her own).

[Nicole M]

My oldest is just this week beginning the Lightning Lit British Medieval Literature course. He is 16, though, so your daughter must be a very sophisticated 12yo. I read Piers the Ploughman is graduate school, and am re-reading the text ahead of my son. It is fascinating to see my notes in the margins (for example, about Lady Fee, "the Imelda Marcos of the medieval world"). It is much easier to get through this story with the guide questions than it is just bulldozing through solo.

I do like the Lightning Lit guide, and wish I'd had something like this when I was younger. I will warn you that there are many typos in that guide, though. I just had an email from Hewitt yesterday about this. Apparently they had 3 proof readers and had sold hundreds of copies and no one had contacted them until I did about a pretty glaring error (a missing example). Nutty!

I thought the answer guide to syrwtl history was already available? Hmm. I'll check that out.

Thanks for sharing how you are using this. I always think in terms of how much text to cover in a session, not how many excercises! So that's helpful to me.

[Lorna]

I suppose my daughter is a rather unusual mixture of sophisticated reader but still loves to play imaginary games. She loves what original Chaucer and Beowulf she has read and revels in Shakespearean language. It was actually her choice to do Medieval Literature (I tried to put her off!). She didn't want to do the other courses because she has read all the books in them. It will be good for her to have something to guide through reading them (well, actually,perhaps for me).
I hope we cope with the spelling errors. We are a family of pedants, especially dd!

[Jenny in Atl]

I think you all will really enjoy LL Medieval Literature. We are currently reading Piers the Ploughman. DD12 has enjoyed reading all the bks/poems in the unit. I plan on using more of their guides for both girls.

[Lorna]

Thanks for the reassurance! It was a bit of a leap of faith ordering it but dd was really set on it. Now we just have to wait until it floats its slow way here across the Atlantic Ocean...