Why the History Revealed Curriculum Works Well for Us

After a successful year of history with Ancient Civilizations and the Bible from Diana Waring’s History Revealed series last year, we are back at it with Romans, Reformers, and Revolutionaries.

History Revealed works well for our unit study, project-based learning, literature-based loving family. In fact, it’s been a perfect transition for my older kids to make from that lifestyle into one that’s slightly more like a textbook.

It really couldn’t be more similar to what our lifestyle of learning has looked like for so many years/

  • Fits with our cycle of rotating through chronological history
  • Is Biblically-based with a creation worldview
  • Includes living literature book lists
  • Includes audio supplements
  • Itโ€™s project-based
  • Offers my children choices in their studies
  • Can be used with both of my older children at their own levels (middle and high school)
  • Offers an activity book for younger children which helps with my upcoming 5th grader when other lessons might be too tough
  • Incorporates research, writing, timelines, vocabulary, art, mapping, science projects, music, cooking, drama, and MORE!
  • Gives specific ideas for various learning styles
  • Provides me with a teacherโ€™s guide and my children with a workbook

Understanding the challenges of creating an accurate flat map when the world is round.  Balloon mapping activity, Chapter 1, Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries.

Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries SET: A Biblical World History Curriculum Resurrection to Revolution (History Revealed, Volume 2)

 

In fairness, I ought to mention that this curriculum isn’t for everyone!  We are a unit study, project-based, literature-based lovin’ family.  I had to sit down with one close friend to walk her through the curriculum and how to go about it without feeling overwhelmed or spending an entire year on one chapter.  There’s a lot of possibility in each chapter and you have to have the guts to pick and choose from the many, many ideas and activities.

For me, that’s what I love.  I love having really good information to start with and then activity & project ideas that reach into every subject and every learning style.  Top that with a list of the best of the best literature/non-fiction suggestions and it fits us like a glove.  Joy. ๐Ÿ™‚

I’ve made one or two other changes this year in our curriculum plan, too.  You might like to see the most current list here.

8 Comments

  1. I just love when stuff like that happens!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Okay, this year we are trying out History Revealed’s latest series WWW. I was wondering what your thoughts were after using it last year. I am scared to try it! I think it will be great, but I am just trying to break it down for our oldest, who is a sophomore, down to our younger kids (13 with Down syndrome, 10, 7, & 4). Obviously, our highschooler will be on his own. I just cannot figure out how to plan it out. I hope this makes sense! I would love to get your insight since you are a former user :). Thank you!

  3. Kristi,

    Last year, I ended up only using HR with my 9th grader. The year before that, I had used it with an 8th grader and 5th grader. They both did fine, but I was VERY involved with the 5th grader – like helping him read for the text for understanding, adding additional library books and talking through almost all his projects with him. Last year, I wanted the 9th grader to be almost completely independent with history. Knowing how involved I would still have to be with the 6th grader, I chose not to use the program with him.

    Even if you choose to use the elementary supplements with your younger children, you’ll probably need to find library books on the topics on their grade level. The text is pretty in depth. Many of the projects, though, can be done by various age levels. You’ll just expect way less from your younger ones.

    Our typical plan was:
    Week 1 – text and CD’s
    Week 2 – extra reading for research project/paper
    Week 3 – mapping, timeline, vocabulary, etc
    Week 4 – art, music, cooking, experiments, etc

    I hope this helps! I really did LOVE the curriculum.

  4. I went a whole new route with some homeschool book choices this year and am trying the Ancient Civilizations and the Bible for my 7th and 9th grader this year. My books came in the mail yesterday. I was so excited. Now, I admit, I am lost. I have no idea where to start and what to do. I looked for any video instructions and reviews. There aren’t any videos that I found and all of the reviews say you create your own curriculum out of it. I am just lost ๐Ÿ˜€ and not ashamed to admit it. A little overwhelmed. It looks amazing and I can not wait to dive in… but the water looks dark and I am scared. HAHAHA!!! Maybe I just need to take a quiet day to sit and really try to figure it out. (A quiet day… when is the last time I had one of those? ๐Ÿ˜‰ If you have any links or advice, I would truly appreciate any help you have to offer. Thank you so much. Heather <3

  5. Heather, I don’t have the curriculum in front of me right now, but I remember a really good intro chapter in the teacher’s guide that walks you through how to use it. The curriculum is very cool because you get to sort of pick and choose the best things for your children. That can also be a frustration for parents who really just want to be told what to do, though! LOL

    Take some time to read through that chapter. If it’s still confusing or you want some help setting up your first month of studies to get the hang of it, I’m happy to talk with you!

  6. I’m hoping we have a similar experience. We just bought History Revealed for our youngest two to use this year. Can’t wait to jump in (we won’t start until mid-September). I’d love to hear how you use it. We have to limit ourselves to a 4-day week because of co-op involvement. That’s making me a little nervous…

  7. I hope you love it, Carey! We used it about four days a week, too, because of our co-op schedule. I mostly followed Diana’s four-week plan for lessons. It’s been a few years since I’ve used it, so I don’t remember exactly what each of the four weeks entailed, but I know I stuck pretty closely to her schedule because it worked so well. Of course, there was NO WAY to do everything suggested for each week, so I would pick-and-choose based on what was most important for us and what worked best with the learning styles of my children. For each unit, we always got in reading the text, listening to the CD’s, mapping, timeline work, vocabulary lists, a living literature selection, and a research-based project. The other things – like art and cooking – only happened once in a while. Let me know how it goes!

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