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Mystery of History
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I don’t think of Mystery of History as a Charlotte Mason type product or living book, and what I’ve seen of books 1 and 2 confirmed that for me. However, I see that a CM-style curriculum has scheduled MOH 3 in one of their guides. Has anyone used this book? Would it lend itself to a CM, living book type education, or is it as text-bookish as the first two?
Thanks for any input.
The third book is much different. It is basically a book of readings, no activities and such. It has beautiful illustrations and the text is well-written and rather engaging. I borrowed it from a friend and it’s now on my wish list for junior high/high school. I won’t use the first two, but really like the second. I know that missingtheshire (here on the forum) has used it and, if I remember correctly, she likes it. Hopefully she’ll jump in soon.
Which guide is it scheduled in?? I tried looking in the Bookfinder and didn’t see it.
Thanks.
ETA: I see that the OP said “In a CM curriculum” not referring to a SCM guide, sorry.
We are loving MOH! I used Vol. 1 off and on. This year, I’m reading aloud Vol. 2 as our history spine. We started with the Guerber books, but kids didn’t care for them. We also don’t care for Famous Men of…. from Greenleaf. We don’t do any of the worksheets, tests or projects from MOH. I just read the narrative and supplement with living books.
Also, I just bought Vol. 3 for next year and have been hovering over the mailbox every day waiting for it to arrive 😉 As mentioned above, I just bought the student reader and will use it as a spine, not the companion.
MOH is wonderful!! We love the narrative format. I’ve learned a great deal from reading it. And, I really appreciate the way the author incorporated Bible with history. I highly recommend it!!!
Blessings,
Melissa
Thanks, I appreciate your sharing. I will have to see if I can get a look at a copy; I do know someone who has one. It’s interesting, my kids LOVED the Guerber books once they got used to the challenging language, but my book-loving 14-year-old didn’t like the Famous Men’s Middle Ages book – said it used no compound sentences and hated the way it was written (how funny is that from a teenaged boy?). We’ll check this out and see what we think. Another option I keep toying with is using those Guerber books for the corresponding time period – they just liked them so much.
I just wanted to share, we were loaned a copy of MOH 3 and after spending some time perusing it, I don’t think it’ll work for us. I had two of my kids read a chapter and narrate, and I read a few chapters as well. One of my boys was able to give a detailed narration, and said the text was “alright.” The other read a little and said, “Mom, it’s not a story.” He finished reading and was able to tell me about it, but told me it really wasn’t interesting and was just a bunch of information told “like she’s talking to me.”
This was interesting, because this is the kid who seemed to be tuned out during history for years, but this year, with The Story of the Ancient World and other old living books, has become so enthralled with history and gives long, detailed narrations. So for this boy, the living book, story element is going to be vitally important in choosing materials.
On the other hand, the author’s chatty tone may be precisely the reason others love this text, and it’s great that we all have so many choices!
Yes, it is great that we have so many choices.
The reason your dc don’t care for it is the same reason we didn’t care for it. My oldest ds could not narrate, summarize as is asks in the first volume, and we all felt like it was not a “story”. It was exactly what you said “like she’s talking to me.”
There are some threads on the forum about MOH, likes and dislikes, if you care to read them. I think a few of us made it to lesson 11 and just couldn’t make it work anymore. I could not tweak it enough to make it CM friendly, but I know some that do, or at least use it for a referrence.
You know, I own the first and second volume and couldn’t connect with those, but had hopes this might strike me differently. Ah well. The volumes we do own are great for reference, however, and I actually pulled one out recently to read to my young adult daughter’s boyfriend, who was curious about Solomon and couldn’t believe it when we told him about all those wives; he learned a lot and we all enjoyed the refresher.
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