TruthQuest Users

I’ve used TQ and nothing else since it was hot off the press in 2001. What sold me TQ and what keeps me with it is the focus of looking at every person, event, culture by answering two questions about them…Who is God (or god as the case may be) to them and as a result, Who Is Mankind? We learn to look at the heart issues. We learn how God moves and works in and through man. This gives us the ability to evaluate the current events going on around us today and look at those as the result of a belief system, a worldview.

Then, of course, there’s the books. 🙂

I’m afraid I wouldn’t be much help in the planning area. I don’t do much of that with history. Actually I’m not much of a planner period. 😉 I would simply go through the guide a choose the topics you want to cover (you can’t do them all), choose the book(s) you want to use and plot the days or weeks you’ll need to finish it. For topics I don’t plan to cover, I may just read the commentary and move on (each individual colony or Indian tribe, for example.) Some topics we may spend many weeks on ( the American Revolution, for example). I also may choose topics based on what would interest or benefit my boys most. Girls or different ages might require different choices. Just don’t be overwhelmed by all the topics or book choices. They are just that…choices. I have many of my library patrons who panic over the long list of books repeat after me, “You cannot do it all! You cannot do it all!”

I also LOVE TQ!  This is our first year.  I’m using AHYS I with our younger kiddos and our 12th grader is using AOR III.  She loves the commentary.  I love the booklists 🙂

It is easy to get bogged down by the massive lists.  I kind of made a rough plan of our year, breaking it into three 12 week terms.  I planned Exploration for the first 12 weeks, Colonial Life for the second 12 weeks, and the Revolution for the third 12 weeks.  We are going into the 12th week of our 2nd term and are not quite finished with the Colonial section I had planned.  I was feeling a little overwhelmed one day a week or so ago.  Then our 10 year old said, “Mom, don’t worry about it, let’s just read until we finish.”  I suggested that it may go into summer and both kids stated that was OK.  They are really enjoying their history study this year with all the great living books.  So much so, that they’re not counting down to the end.  They want to keep reading, even if it takes all summer.  This is a huge relief for me!!

I’m learning as I go.  Being the first time through, there are a few things I will change with our baby.  But we’ll cross that bridge at that time :)) 

Blessings to you in your decision,

Melissa

TQ is our history “program” too, I have been using it since we started homeschooling, my dd is 16 now.  My son is not a prolific reader like she is but we do fewer topics with him and do them more in depth which he really likes.  (did i miss some commas?)  For example, we have just finished reading the American Revolution topics and watched some Liberty’s Kids dvds that went along.  Now we will spend this next month working on an Amer. Rev. notebook from the Time Travelers series by Amy Pak.   We also use her timeline figures for our Century Books.

Here is her link:  http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/

After this is done, Lord willing, we will  begin the history cycle from the beginning and spend the next 5 or 6 years doing history chronologically.  I am looking forward to it. Here is an project I want to order from Hands and Hearts to go along with out Ancient Egypt study. 

Here is the link: http://handsnhearts.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

If you chose TQ for world history studies for the late 18th century to present day, which guide would you choose??  I’m still having a hard time choosing something for my ds who needs world history for next year.  He doesn’t need to cover the ancients (we already have, except Rome) and most guides/texts do not cover just the time period I’m looking for.  The closest I’ve come is SCM’s last two modules and Notgrass.  I’d be happy to use either one, but I like to look at my options.

Thanks.