Summary
With these wonderful living books your family will study recent history—both World and American—and get to know the people and events of Modern Times (1850 to 2012). Geography will focus on Asia. Bible lessons will include several epistles. Older students will work on a six-year project of looking for doctrinal truths as they read through the Bible; if they have completed the other five years of reading and study, they will summarize their findings by writing a personal doctrinal statement.
- Daily lesson plans are available in the corresponding book, Modern Times, Epistles & Revelation.
- See our suggestions for where to find the books.
- You can also view all the books below in the CM Bookfinder for easy scheduling in our CM Organizer.
Book List for History, Geography, Bible
Read the books listed under Family to all the students together. Add the grade-level books as individual reads for any children you have in those grades. For example, if you have students in grades 9 and 11, you will want to get the books under Family, Grades 7–9, and Grades 10–12.
(AH) = American History book, so if you are in a different country you can easily identify and substitute books as desired.
Family
- Bible
- (AH) Billy Graham: God’s Ambassador by Russ Busby OR Billy Graham: Just Get Up Out of Your Seat by Catherine Mackenzie
- (AH) The Brooklyn Bridge by Elizabeth Mann
- (AH) Empire State Building by Elizabeth Mann
- Gandhi: The Young Protester Who Founded a Nation by Philip Wilkinson
- George Mueller by Faith Coxe Bailey
- (AH) The Hoover Dam by Elizabeth Mann
- Mandela: The Rebel Who Led His Nation to Freedom by Ann Kramer
- Material World and Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel
- (AH) Our Country’s Presidents by Ann Bausum (reference book)
- (AH) Stories of America, Volume 2, by Charles Morris, et al.
- Stories of the Nations, Volume 2, by Lorene Lambert and Charles Morris
- (AH) The Story of Thomas A. Edison by Frances M. Perry
- The Stuff They Left Behind: From the Days of Modern Times portfolio
- Visits to Asia notebook by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
Plus . . .
Grades 1–3
- (AH) A Boy Named FDR by Kathleen Krull
- (AH) I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King by Margaret Davidson
- The Journey That Saved Curious George by Louise Borden
- (AH) Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
- Only a Dog: A Story of the Great War by Bertha Whitridge Smith
- (AH) The Unbreakable Code by Sara Hoagland Hunter
Grades 4–6
- (AH) Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House by Sterling North
- (AH) Always Inventing: A Photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell by Tom L. Matthew
- (AH) I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King by Margaret Davidson
- A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Parker
- The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy
- Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
- (AH) Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh
Grades 7–9
- Across America on an Emigrant Train by Jim Murphy
- (AH) Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Book of Centuries (one for each student)
- (AH) Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt by Jean Fritz
- Discovering Doctrine by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
- The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig
- (AH) Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
- A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Parker
- Louis Pasteur: Founder of Modern Medicine by John Hudson Tiner
- Rescue and Redeem: Volume 5, Chronicles of the Modern Church by Mindy and Brandon Withrow
- (AH) Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
- Strong in the Word by Sonya Shafer
- (AH) Victory in the Pacific by Albert Marrin
- (AH) The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman
- (AH) The Yanks Are Coming by Albert Marrin
Grades 10–12
- (AH) America: The Last Best Hope, Volume 1: From the Age of Discovery to a World at War by William Bennett
- (AH) America: The Last Best Hope, Volume 2: From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom by William Bennett
- (AH; optional) America: The Last Best Hope, Volume 3: From the Collapse of Communism to the Rise of Radical Islam by William Bennett
- (AH) American Voices: A Collection of Documents, Speeches, Essays, Hymns, Poems, and Short Stories from American History edited by Ray Notgrass
- Book of Centuries (one for each student)
- Discovering Doctrine by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
- Hitler by Albert Marrin
- How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer OR 7 Men Who Rule the World from the Grave by Dave Breese
- Rescue and Redeem: Volume 5, Chronicles of the Modern Church by Mindy and Brandon Withrow
- Stalin by Albert Marrin
- Strong in the Word by Sonya Shafer
- The War to End All Wars by Russell Freedman
- (AH) The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman
Note: We recommend that grades 10–12 students add an American Government course either during the Early Modern or the Modern Times study, or complete half of it each of the two years. One possibility might be Exploring Government from Notgrass Publishing, taken at a slower pace.
We also recommend that grades 9–12 students read about and discuss current events. Selected articles from World magazine or website work well.
