Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

This topic has 23 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 4 months ago by amandalayman.

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January 16, 2017 at 6:31 pm
Rebekah
Participant
Are the individual books for older kids scheduled in the SCM history guides?
January 16, 2017 at 7:18 pm
Karen Smith
Moderator
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.
January 17, 2017 at 8:50 am
marmiemama
Participant
Karen, are any of the guides being updated in the near future? And if so, what kinds of changes might there be?
January 17, 2017 at 4:02 pm
Karen Smith
Moderator
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.
January 17, 2017 at 4:28 pm
Regan
Participant
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.

January 17, 2017 at 5:45 pm
marmiemama
Participant
Yes, thank you for the update, Karen! Would it be safe to assume…maybe…by the fall?? ?
January 17, 2017 at 8:11 pm
Karen Smith
Moderator
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.
January 18, 2017 at 3:32 pm
Regan
Participant
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.
January 18, 2017 at 7:27 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
Hi, Regan –
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!
January 18, 2017 at 8:02 pm
Regan
Participant
Sonya, that helps so much! Thank you! I am so excited to hear about a spine written for SCM! All of my dreams are coming true!!! 🙂
January 20, 2017 at 2:34 pm
Amanda
Participant
That’s so exciting! Are similar changes being made to the Early and Modern guides?
January 20, 2017 at 5:33 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
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.
January 20, 2017 at 6:05 pm
Amanda
Participant
Wonderful! I can’t wait to see them. SCM has been such a blessing to our homeschool 🙂
January 21, 2017 at 4:08 pm
Stacy Montgomery
Moderator
Hi Sonya,
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
January 23, 2017 at 12:27 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
Hi, Stacy. Sorry for the delay in answering; I’ve been on the road.
Which history study/Famous Men are you thinking about?