I’m sorry I have read all the posts. But I am a person who needs to see and hold something to totally understand it. So I just want to be sure I get what I see on the posts here and from what I have read on TQ’s website.
1. It is like a “book” in it self. You read it and it teaches the history and bible. But the bible isn’t reading the entire thing from say Genisis 1:1 – the end of it.
2. There are NO other books you have to read alongside it.
3. There ARE other options for reading on the side listed in each chapter/book.
4. Using it along side SCM modules is VERY much an option. Either to replace a section or add addition reading books.
Does this all sounds correct to you all? Also I will be starting Module 3 which one would you pick? Rome
I wouldn’t call it a book in itself….It does have commentary on each subject you are studying, but I’d say it’s more of a booklist with excelent commentary. The commentary alone wouldn’t give you too much of a full understanding of a subject. For instance, we are currently studying Pontiac’s Rebellion, and she says something to the effect of “I’ll let you wonder what would have happened if it wasn’t for an Indian girl falling in love with a soilder.” It doesn’t give you the whole picture of the story – more like bits and pieces of it to peak your interest and get you thinking.
2. You don’t have to read EVERY book in their, or anywhere close to it, but you’ll need to pick up living books to read on the subjects you choose to cover.
3. Did you look at the samples that TQ has on their website? That might help you visualize better what it is.
I haven’t seen it in my hands yet, but from the research I’ve done on them, most people buy them because of 1) the extensive reading lists in them and 2) God’s Providential hand in History and man’s response.
There is a commentary at the beginning of an event/topic/person in history. There is also a question called “ThinkWrite” which they want young children to narrate Charlotte Mason style and older kids to actually write their answers down. Although God’s hand is central in the guide, it is recommended to do a separate Bible study.
You can easily use SCM along with TQ. They have book suggestions, but you could get your books from both suggestions.
I would join the yahoo group. I think you will get a much better idea from the people who have actually used it.
Also, so from the samples the books are more of an intro and then the additional reading is what “really” teaches you the history?
Ok.. I’m getting it. So to use it with SCM I would/could read what was in the TQ because it’s just a highlight, do the SCM planner and then if I wanted to add or change books that would be the main thought behind it? Is this sounding more right?
You are all the best. Anyone want to come over and show me how they do it?? LOL Misty
Theoretically you are correct. I really like the books selections with the Modules here and you should be able to plug them in to TQ, then add additional books if needed. There is a commentary and then the book suggestions and ThinkWrite. I haven’t actually seen the guide, so I’m going on what I can glean from the website. Someone who has the guide, please correct me if I’m wrong.
We don’t use the SCM History Module, but I noticed Sonya had a lot of books listed in the American history section that are listed in TQ as well. I read in another thread that someone used Sonya’s book list as her “must cover” subjects, and all other were optional to study up on as time and interest permited. We do basically the same thing, but use our spine books to help me set limits! I would do every topic in the TQ manual if I could. 🙂 I enjoy history a little too much! We use the Light and the Glory as our main spine – if it’s covered in The Light and the Glory, we study it, and This Country of Ours as our secondary spine – we usually cover it if it is in that book. Hopefully, once you have your TQ guide in hand, that will help!! I was glad I read it in the other thread – I don’t think I’d finish book 1 if someone hadn’t recommended going through the guide and highlighting everywhere Sonya’s books were, so you knew where the “must cover” subjects were. I just applied that to the spine books we use. Hope you enjoy TQ as much as we do!
How old are your kids? Are you using the American History for Young Children? I adore history too! I just found The Light and the Glory on the TQ website and ordered a copy. It looks wonderful!
We’re doing American History with my 4th graders and a K. TQ is not a book you would use on it’s own. It does have nice commentary, but some periods of time just have a sentence or two, or more of a theological discussion instead of a history narrative. It just sort of moves you from event to event and then lists books which would be helpful for learning more about that event.
What we have done is exactly what has been described earlier – I took the books listed on SCM and highlighted them in TQ. Then I went through to see if there were any areas I felt really strongly about that didn’t have any SCM books listed. If I was “light” in an area I wanted to cover I would read the TQ suggestions and pick a book or two to read. Sometimes the SCM books covered it enough. I also marked the books I already owned and I thought worth reading.
Some topics I chose to skip completely. Others I wanted to really cover. We are using The Story of the Thirteen Colonies to cover those topics which I couldn’t find books for.
Cindie – My kids are 7 and 4 (and 2 and one on the way – but they don’t care too much about history just yet!). I let the 4 year old decide when she wants to join us and when she’d rather play. She doesn’t usually turn down snuggle time on the couch with a good book. The 7 year old is on about a 6th grade reading level, so I do a mixture of chapter books, and kid books with lots of illustrations, depending on how in depth I want to go on a certain topic.
We are using American History for Young Americans, we’re on volume one. We’re slow movers. Although, now that someone pointed out the highlighter technique, we are moving at a bit quicker of a pace! 🙂
Ok just when I thought I got it 1) use scm as your hand book then add Tq as additional, or vise versa.
Now I hear things like Light and glory and this is our country “spine” . What do you mean by spine”? And what are these books? Just extra reading? Misty
Sorry! I got used to hearing the word “spine book”, but didn’t know what it meant at first either. I should have thought to explain that.
The spine books are basically the one book (or 2 in my case) that is your “go to” book. It isn’t required at all – it is basically extra reading, however, we (my family) make those books the priority for reading. Usually one chapter covers whatever subject you are covering.
We usually read the commentary in TQ one day, the spine book the next day and then start reading a few topic specific books that are suggested that peak our interest. I don’t even bother trying to cover a topic in a certain period of time. We just go until we’re done, and then start the next topic.
The Light and The Glory for Children is VERY good at helping your child (and you) see God moving throughout history. They start each chapter off with a scripture that pertains to the topic. We were able to get a copy at our library, however, we loved it so much that we bought a copy for our home.
We choose to use a second spine book because I felt that the Light and the Glory was skipping too many parts of history that I wanted to cover, so I started using “This country of Ours” alongside The Light and the Glory.
And don’t worry about asking too many questions! I have gleaned so much information from other people asking questions!
But the light and glory is for more recent times correct from looking at the library information? Not from like rome time?
Are you all using this mainly with the more recent histoyr and not the earlier history? We will be moving on to rome and those don’t seem to fit, correct?
The Light and the Glory is for American History, so it wouldn’t fit into the time period you were looking for. You can look on the TQ website at the sample pages for Rome, they will have additional spines for that time period. You really don’t *need* one, it’s just an extra resource.