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Need Module 3 substitution recommendation
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So we are going to do SCM Module 3 for history/geo/bible next year, and I’ve already bought all of the recommended resources to accompany it except Famous Men of Rome from Greenleaf. We have NOT enjoyed Famous Men of Greece this year, and I don’t want to risk a similar situation next year. I really thought we could work through our issues with Famous …Greece, but I am to the point of dreading every lesson we read from it. We will finish out this year with it since we’re almost done, but I definitely need something different and better written for next year.
Can you recommend a resource to substitute in place of Famous Men of Rome?
I have had a friend, who has never found a history curriculum she enjoys, suggest Mystery of History. When I told her I was considering Story of the World, she frowned and said they didn’t like it. So, I really don’t know what to get! I do know that I’m not going to buy 10 different resources and hope that one of them works for us.
Appreciate any help you can offer,
Lindsey
Lindsey, have you seen these? Even if you don’t choose one of them, I know that there are other books on the site that could/should/will take care of your needs.
I’ll be a bit radical here and say Why have a spine at all? What about putting your books in chronological order and just reading each of those?
I can’t remember your children’s ages. If they’re middle school or later and you’re feeling like they need to learn a bit about some important people you could always assign it as a research exercise. Each week have a list of 3+ people you want them to find in an encyclopedia or online and read a short summary on, just to put the person in their head. They can add them to a timeline or narrate to you. Just a different idea, though not terribly CM of me…blush.
Tristan, my kids will be 7 and 8 next year. I wouldn’t mind not having a spine, EXCEPT that I feel my education on Roman history is extremely limited and I don’t think I could provide my kids with the same level of information as a spine can. I can make it through the Bible and geography portions just fine…but history is another story. I’m not well-read in history until about 1850-present. Earlier than that, and I can teach biblical history, but not world history.
@sheraz, I’m a little confused. When I followed your link and clicked on a few of the resources, they appear to be what we already have. Did Greenleaf Press take these books and revise them? The title and contents page of Famous Men of Greece are the same as my copy from Greenleaf.
I think I have a list of Rome spines which I will look up and post. But I am wondering if you could help describe what you didn’t like about the Famous Men of Greece so we can stay away from suggestions that might have the same issues.
HA Guerber’s Story of the Romans is one spine I have on my list besides the Famous Men series. Dorothy Mills has one too but it is more for high school.
HiddenJewel, I didn’t like how poorly written the stories were. Coming from the same company and people publish a grammar curriculum (English for the Thoughtful Child, vol. 1 and 2), I felt that many of the sentences were poorly structured and hard to understand. My children’s eyes seem to glaze over every time we pull this book out. I went back and re-read some passages today, and truthfully, I couldn’t remember reading those stories! Isn’t that terrible? I feel that the stories are dumbed down to a certain extent, making it difficult to get involved and interested in the plots. This is solely my opinion, but after our experience with this resource this year, I don’t want to repeat it again.
Did the Shearer family take HA Guerber’s books and revise and reprint them under the same titles? This is where I’m confused.
Thanks and what a bummer.
Queen Homeschool is supposed to have their Ancients spine out soon but I think it is supposed to be a little higher level than early elementary.
http://www.queenhomeschool.com/productpages/History/livingworldhistoryframe.html
I used the old Guerber books from online so I do not know on the Shearer books. You can check the text of the original ones out on Google books.
I simply meant that they have lots of books that can help your children learn about Rome, but they are not necessarily in a “spine”. So if you feel that you have to have a spine instead of a timeline and books that can teach different aspects of that timeline, maybe it won’t be of much help. Here is a different link:
http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=books
Click on the civilization tab, then on Rome.
Yes, there are lots of books to choose from on Rome! Unfortunately, because my personal knowledge of Roman history is so limited, I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. I’m really good at choosing reading books, literature, assigned reading, etc., but history is not my forte. Having a spine appeals to me because it ensures that I’m covering the time period, places, people, and events that should be covered. This is all very helpful, but maybe I’m too inadequate to figure this one out of my own.
The Shearer family revised the Famous Men of.. Series origianally written by Haaren and Poland. Several people have done revisions. The Greenleaf editions are the ones revised by the Shearers.
HA Guerber wrote The Story of… Series. The Guerber books have been revised by Christine Miller. You can see sample chapters of her revised books at http://www.nothingnewpress.com/guerber.shtml. I have not read any of the Famous Men books yet so I can not compare them but I have enjoyed the Guerber books. They are written as an engaging narrative at an elementary/middle school level. They are written simple enough for a child to understand but engaging enough to hold even my interest.
HTH
Heritage History has a book review of a few different Ancient History “Spine” series books (including Famous Men of… and Story of…..) – but the page doesn’t seem available today. (I think the page was the first link Sheraz gave..) But here is a page with the link to that review, and it does have some links to the series they reviewed, even if the review isn’t available. http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=home&FileName=reviews.php (first section of reviews – Ancient History Spines
But it seems like a LOT of links and books aren’t working on Heritage History Today – so maybe wait a day or two?
Lindsey, we’ve used The Story of series and Christine miller’s revised guerber and I much prefer the style of guerber and the flow it lends. It’s a bit longer, but it will likely be our spine for our next go round for modules 1-4. Using SCM’s Story of Nations/Americas this time has been great. I will say they are much shorter and simpler than Guerber. I would ideally like something like Stiry of Nations/Americas for modules 1-4. Simple, but good.
HTH,
Christie (on phone so sorry for errors and brevity)
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