America: Our Stories, Volume 1 (American History Living Book)

3 reviews for America: Our Stories, Volume 1 (American History Living Book)

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Cristinaboogaart – August 3, 2023

   Once again, Lorene Lambert wrote a living book that brings to life the ideas, the people and the places of America. I thoroughly enjoyed pre-reading and am looking forward to reading again with my children in the coming years.

   For comparison, I also have read the previous SCM recommended history book, Stories of America. This is a wonderful resource for younger grades, however America: Our Stories vol. 1, significantly improves on presenting the ideas of the time and igniting the imagination for a more accessible and encouraging word on this country of ours.

2. 

   Rated 2 out of 5

   Rhonda – August 16, 2023

   While this book is well written and presents a great story of history, it falls very short on the presentation. The printed book only contains black-and-white photographs. It is very disappointing. You cannot see dimensions and topography in this kind of picture. The books do not contain many pictures as it is (far less than most other curriculums i.e. Generations, Abeka, etc. ), so it is very important that the ones presented are done well. The story may be fantastic, but the presentation falls very short of today’s standards. I am sorry to have to leave this review, but people should know what to expect before they spend their money on this book. You will have to look up the pictures and places on your own to present beautiful pictures. We love SCM and we will absolutely continue to use them, but this book is a disappointment in my honest opinion.

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     Jordan Smith – August 18, 2023

     Thank you for your thoughts, Rhonda. For America: Our Stores, the focus is on the living narrative that tells a story that students can imagine. We chose to include some photos that would help students understand that these are real artifacts and places. It would be more ideal—even with the e-book edition that includes color photos—to look up and present larger images so that the details can be noticed. It sounds like you’ve done that to supplement the wonderful living narrative of the book, and that’s a good option if you want to look at the pictures more closely.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Amanda – October 29, 2023

   I was absolutely thrilled to see that a new Lorene Lambert book was out, just in time for us to study American history. My husband, not a Charlotte Mason educator by any stretch, wanted to review it first. He set off to read the online sample chapters with heavy skepticism. He came back sulking, because in spite of himself, he loved it. He was so engaged that he proceeded to give me a lengthy narration (without knowing he was doing so), explaining every fascinating aspect he’d learned about American history from the few chapters he read. He then went off to plan a trip to see some of the sites in the book that are near our home.

   Needless to say, we’ve incorporated the book into our homeschool. Both my elementary schooler and my middle schooler are highly interested and retaining the information well because of it.

   The book is more of a “spine” than a textbook, and makes it easy to add supplemental material at the educator’s discretion. The author’s style is calm and engaging, and I feel that she is much better at refraining from bias than most history authors. We look forward to more of her books!