We just finished Mystery of History Volume I (MOH). I wanted to take a few minutes and just write a bit about my experience.
Last year I made the decision to go to studying history using a four-year cycle. Then, the next decision was what book or curriculum to use. I picked MOH because the reviews repeatedly stated that this was Bible based and I wanted that. The back cover states that it is Classical (I liked that), Chronological (I wanted to use that approach), Christian (that was important for us), and Complete (I liked that). I thought that MOH would give me an easy reading to get our history done and yet give me time to explore other rabbit trails.
We had learned the history time line when we did Classical Conversations and so I was excited to begin to fill in some knowledge about different points on the timeline.
I purchased the book, the CD of Reproducibles, and Homeschool in the Woods Timeline figures. I didn't use the CD and ended up selling that.
I read the lesson and will confess that we didn't always do the pretest or the quiz. We did write history sentence or sentences for each lesson on 3x5 cards. In the beginning we wrote one for all of us but then I transitioned to J writing it for himself and I still wrote one. I learned quite a bit along with the kids. It has helped in reading the OT to have some of this knowledge.
Last summer as we were beginning the year I reviewed the book list at the back of MOH and looked at a number of other book lists for Ancient History from other homeschool programs and created a big list of books to read. I will admit that we didn't read as many of those books as I thought or planned. We did read the Golden Goblet as a read-aloud. That book had suspense and kept us wanting to read just a bit more.
We did begin a big timeline notebook with the timeline figures. We had quite a bit of catching up to do as we began that later in our school year and we put those in our shipment so we have not worked on them the past few months.
We did add some field trips that were fun.
The Reproduction Tabernacle gave us a perspective on the size and feel of the Tabernacle.
We also visited the Penn Museum which has an excellent display and Egyptian artifacts.
We enjoyed Mystery of History Volume I. I know the kids enjoyed it when they ask if we have the next book and when we can begin that one.
I want to continue the summary cards but also do the pretest and post test as well as read a number of books related to the history we are studying. Maybe I will want to consider buying the CD so I can make easy copies. We will continue to complete our timeline books.Lord willing we will be in Europe for part of that book and be able to visit things to help us understand.
Beth
I've heard a lot about this curriculum, but haven't had a chance to see it in person. We're starting Classical Conversations this coming year and I've been throwing around different history programs to use. CC is throwing me for a loop - so much is covered!! Thanks for your outline of MOH. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen we did CC, I just read some books and history that corresponded with the history sentence. If I were to do it again, I would probably use MOH with CC. Again some of that would depend on the age of the children. I looked at the CC here but two of the convenient campuses were full.
DeleteI've heard great things about MOH, but have not used it myself. I'm thinking about doing CC next year, and history is causing me the most pause. I really like the Veritas Press we are using right now and don't know if that would jive with CC since they both have songs and cards and such. Do you have any insight as to whether or not that would work (I don't know if your familiar with VP), or if you think reading books that go along with the memory for the week like you did is best?
ReplyDeleteWhen we did CC it was the last year of the VP timeline cards. I am familiar with VP but have not used it. When we did CC it was Cycle 3 and the history sentences were American history (I think I still have the memorized). We had studied some American history the year before so we just continued American history and read books based on the history sentence -- I finished George Washington's World, and a few other books. We did Essentials and IEW so we did our homework through the week. I didn't do anything to build on the Grammar, Latin, or Math, and Geography just memorize the memory work. Since Science was the body, we read some books and I tried to read based on what we were memorizing. Then we read Exploring the World of Chemistry. I didn't do anything to teach about the big timeline. My son was 11 at the time and he did memory master. My daughter loved the timeline and memorized it. She was given timeline master.
DeleteLet me know if you have further questions or what to talk about this more.
Thank you! That is helpful. I am trying to listen to what everyone is telling me about their experiences and hopefully make the right decision. I just wish it was a cheaper program, then I wouldn't have to think about it so much and just give it a shot =)
DeleteWe did CC for a year. We didn't do it this past year because we were traveling and in different locations. I looked at it for the fall as we will be in the Northwest but the two campus nearby were already full. It is expensive but it was good for a year. The accountability of weekly kept us working on our memory work.
DeleteThis is a great review. We are going to use MoH for the first time this fall. I am looking forward to it. If you would be willing, I would love to see the books you've added to your reading list. Thanks again for this helpful post!
ReplyDeleteI am glad this helped you. I sent you an email with the list of books.
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