All of the books listed on the curriculum plan chart for history are scheduled in the history guides. The history guides will tell you which book to use each day, how much to read, and remind you to have your child narrate what was read. You can view samples in our Bookstore of the each history guide to see how each lesson is laid out.
The Middle Ages/Renaissance and Reformation, Early Modern, and Modern history guides are in the process of being updated. (Sorry, no release dates yet.) Sonya has been busily working on them for several months now. All of the guides will have the geography lessons updated to use the Visits to books. The long-awaited Visits to Asia will be ready by the time the history guides are released. The Middle Ages will have a brand new, written for SCM spine. There will also be The Stuff They Left Behind portfolios available to go with each time period.
We are eager to have these ready and are working hard to get them out as soon as possible.
Simply amazing! You guys at SCM are just AMAZING!!! I am so excited to hear that as we will be studying the Middle Ages/Renaissance and Reformation in our next school year. Woo hoo!!! Thank you again for all you do and thank you Karen for that update.
We are hoping before the fall. However, we know that life happens and plans may change. We will announce when the products are ready in our weekly email.
Karen, may I ask if you are aware of any changes to the books recommended with that time period? I have looked online at the sample pages and made notes of books I need to purchase, but it just occurred to me that maybe those would changed a little too.
Karen asked me to pop in here with the revised book list for the upcoming 2nd edition of the Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation study. Yes, some of the books have changed because of the new spine, feedback we have received, some books’ going out of print, and trying to scale back on the amount of reading for the younger grades. The new study is not completely wrapped up, but I’d say this list is about 95% sure. So with that introduction, here is where the new book list stands as of this moment.
Family Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz The Bible Smuggler by Louise Vernon Castle by David Macaulay A Castle with Many Rooms (new SCM spine book by Lorene Lambert coming soon) Cathedral by David Macaulay
Grades 1-3 Brother Francis and the Friendly Beasts by Margaret Hodges Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess by Richard Platt Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson Medieval Feast by Aliki Pippo the Fool by Tracey E. Fern The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla Viking Adventure by Clyde Robert Bulla
Grades 4-6 Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray King Arthur and His Knights audio recording by Jim Weiss
“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” poem by Robert Browning The Vikings by Elizabeth Janeway
Grades 7-9 In Freedom’s Cause by G. A. Henty The Magna Charta by James Daugherty The Prince and the Pauper by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle The White Stag by Kate Seredy
Grades 10-12 The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson Famous Men of the Middle Ages (the one with extra chapters by Rob Shearer of Greenleaf Press) Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation by Rob Shearer The King’s Fifth by Scott O’Dell The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff Men of Iron by Howard Pyle The Second Mrs. Giaconda by E. L. Konigsburg Voices of the Renaissance and Reformation edited by Rob Shearer
Geography will be Visits to South & Central America and Australia, along with Material World and Hungry Planet.
The new Bible lessons for the Family will be written into the lesson plans; grades 7-12 will complete Life in the Word for a supplemental Bible study.
So, many of the same books but also some changes. I hope this helps!
Yes, we are updating the Early Modern and Modern Times guides, as well: Creating The Stuff They Left Behind portfolios to go with those, incorporating the Visits To . . . geography books, changing the Family Bible lessons to be included in the guide with a supplemental Bible study for the older students, scaling back on the amount of reading for the younger students, adding the high school credit suggestions. Not a lot of major changes; just tweaking to improve, based on feedback from users, and to make all six studies consistent.
I know the list is not yet set in stone, however, if I had an older child who went through Famous Men last go-round, and just did not enjoy them at all, and, this said child will be in 10th grade the next time we hit this year, could any of the books from the 7-9 grade list be read to take the place of Famous Men, for the most part anyway? Or, would she really be missing too much 10th grade rigor by doing that?
Thanks so much, and I hope that makes sense!
Stacy M