Review: Veritas Press Self-Paced History

I have shared here before that I have a hate/love relationship with the subject of history.  When I was in school, I hated it. I did what I could to pass and get through but retained nothing!  Since beginning our homeschool journey, my relationship with history has changed so dramatically and I give all the credit to great homeschool History curriculum!  

Veritas Press has come up with with another great twist to history in a course called Self-Paced History.  I had the opportunity to review the time period of Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Explorers to 1815 and the Explorers To 1815 flashcards that are used with the program.
There are 5 self-paced history courses available:

• Old Testament and Ancient Egypt 
• New Testament, Greece and Rome 
• Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation 
• Explorers to 1815
• 1815 to Present

Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Explorers to 1815 is an interactive online course that takes you through the different historical time periods chronologically and uses the classical approach of many different types of memorization aids.  The price for a year of online study is $199 per student.  You can add siblings for $100 off.  If the quiz results are not important to you, you can have each additional child go through the course independently but only the first quiz results will be recorded. There is an option to print out the results of the quizzes as they are taken so you can keep a record that way too.  You can also have the children do the course together but it will but only have one student's name on there.  The students could take turns answering the questions.  It really just depends on what you want to do!
It is recommended for Grammar stage students in 2nd-6th grades with a minimum age requirement of 7 years of age at the first day of class.  
During this course, you will cover 32 historical events from Explorers to 1815.  Each event has 5 lessons for a total of 160 lessons.  Each lesson lasts from 30-50 minutes depending upon the student.  The lessons are designed to be used each day of the week covering an event per week over a period of 32 weeks.  However, you are given an entire year to complete the course.  This allows you great flexibility to fit the course into your own homeschool schedule.  We chose to stick with our normal schedule of 3-4 lessons per week and still should finish in plenty of time before the year is up.
This course can be completed by the student independently and is entirely self paced.  I had Sarah, my 5th grader, take the course and I enjoyed watching the lessons with her.  
You will be taken on a journey through history by characters dressed in the time period.  Our time period characters were James, Abigail, and a totem pole named Ikuhabe.  They carry you through colorful backgrounds and make you feel like you are right back in history with them.  We found ourselves laughing out loud often which attracted other family members to join in on our journey.  

As you navigate through the course with your tour guides, you are given activities to complete through out the tour. Some are graded quizzes and some are just to help you retain what you are learning.  Activities include filling in maps for geography lessons, comprehension questions, spelling exercises, vocabulary, timeline dates, and so many more. 
There are a few hands on projects disbursed through out the course as well.  These can be downloaded in PDF format.
Here is a beginning geography lesson.  As you learn more, the activities become harder as well including all you have learned so far.

Below is a sample question/answer screen.

Here is a spelling activity.

The course also uses the Explorers To 1815 Flashcards. The cards sell here for $19.95.  It goes through the dates and information given on the cards and you are quizzed on that information as well. Each event lesson covers the memory work song that goes along with the flashcards - another classical approach to memorization. Most of the interactive worksheet questions will come from the flashcards.

As you navigate through each course, you will continue to be asked questions about previous lessons to make certain that all information that is being taught is retained.  The course works so effectively!  The different approaches to learning really cater to different learning styles and help the information stick.

An optional resource available with the course is scheduled reading plans for different level historical fiction books.  The books used for Level 1 are found in Level 1 Kit and usually for 2nd and 3rd grades.  Level 2 books are found in the Level 2 Kit and usually for 4th-6th grades. There is also a Combined Kit available if you have children in both age ranges.  
Since this is an online course, you will need to test your computer's compatibility and you can do that here.  You can also watch sample lessons of the different time periods available.
Overall, we love this program!  It is a unique approach to learning history and I could see it freeing up time for many homeschool teachers because it teaches and automatically grades as well!  I could see the price being an issue for us if we did not combine students but I think this could easily be used for 7th and 8th graders as well.  They may find the characters a little hokey depending on your student's personality but Stephen (my 8th grader) enjoyed joining in with us as well.
Other Places To Find Veritas Press Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/veritaspress
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Be sure to check out what my fellow crewmates thought about this and other Veritas Press products by clicking the banner below.

Review: Philosophy Adventure

Here is our homeschool's review of Home School Adventure Co.'s Philosophy Adventure.  

Philosophy Adventure explores the lives of philosophers and equips students with the information they need to defend a biblical worldview.  It teaches students how to Write skillfully, Think critically, and Speak articulately.  As they continue to go out into the world, students will be faced with all sort of false philosophies and they will need to be able to discern and stand for truth.  

Each lesson in Philosophy Adventure consists of the same components - The Philosopher's Story, Writing assignments, Thinking assignments, Speaking assignments, Geographical information, and a Contrast section comparing the philosopher's works or a secondary source if the philosopher's written work did not survive and the truth from the Bible.

We reviewed the downloadable format which sells for $39.95.  There are also print editions available too.  The downloadable format came in a zip file that included the following:

• Philosophy Adventure Reader - The Reader is in full color and contains the philosopher stories, writing lessons, critical thinking lessons, public speaking lessons, historical geography, writing checklists, creative writing prompts, and more.
• Philosophy Adventure Student Notebook - The Student Workbook includes philosopher notebook pages, mapping assignments, creative writing sheets, and more.
• Philosophy Adventure Teacher's Resource - The Teacher’s Resources includes the quizzes, keys to the quizzes, tests, and mapping assignments, timelines, and more.

You will journey through the thoughts and ideas of 8 world renown philosophers.  The curriculum is very flexible to use.  You can use it as your primary curriculum where you will only need to add math, science, and foreign language or you can use it as a supplement to any current curriculum. 

It is recommended for grades 6-12, and probably best for mature 6th graders and up. Middle schoolers will need parental/teacher guidance. High schoolers can do this on their own.

How we used it:
I used this curriculum with my high schooler.  We tackled the lessons in a 4 day school week taking two weeks to complete one lesson.  The introduction gives you different scheduling ideas.   There is a great seminar available on Home School Adventure Co  to aid you in setting your high school credit for this course.

All of the worksheets for the student can be printed and filled in or filled in by typing the answers directly into the student notebook.

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Day 1 - We read the philosopher's story and filled out the notebook page for the philosopher.

Day 2 - We read and did the Write assignment.  Using the available writing checklists, the student can be sure that they are on the right track.  The writing portion is extremely easy to use and laid out in step by step format.  This really helped my son to not be intimidated to tackle the writing assignments.  It began slow and continued to build upon writing concepts as the lessons progressed.

Day 3 - We read and completed the Think assignments.  These usually began the process of examining the philosopher's beliefs with those of the Bible.  The skills taught here are applied as the student completes the research and writing assignments.

Day 4 - We read the Speak portion and completed the assignments.  These assignments can be easily overlooked if you are not careful.  I love the author's warning while reading one of these assignments.

• "So, if you are thinking of passing on the speech communications portion of this adventure, I urge you to prayerfully consider these verses." 1 Peter 3:15 and John 14:15

The goal here is to teach the student how to defend what they believe with gentleness and respect.  

Day 5 - We spent this time on the geography and the school of thought feature. This portion of the curriculum included maps, contemporary pictures of the places mentioned, and the school of thought that the philosopher participated in or founded. The pictures were really a great addition for us and made the journey seem to come to life more than just finding it on a map.

Day 6 -   Timeline Activities and creative writing assignment - everything needed to complete the timeline and creative writing assignments were also included.

Day 7 - Memory Card Fun and Review - We used the memory cards in a matching type game for a quick review of the lesson.  

Day 8 - Quiz on Lesson

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We pretty much stuck to this schedule while making our journey through Philosophy Adventure.  The curriculum gives great flexibility in choosing the schedule that works for your family. If your student doesn't quiz well, they can retest until they have complete mastery.  The quizzes can be printed out or filled in on the computer.  My son really liked typing in the answers compared to writing them out. Sometimes, we would just cover the questions orally as well.

I love the author's, Stacy Farrell, writing style.  I can tell that she has a heart for God and equipping the next generation to take a stand for their beliefs. She is also equipping parents to educate their children. Ms. Farrell is a homeschooling mom who is going through the trenches the same as we are. 

For high school, your student can certainly tackle this resource on their own but we chose to do it together and I am so glad we did.  The discussions and conversations that arise while going through the lessons is invaluable especially during those last years you have with your student before they head into adulthood.  

Also available are some great supplements to this curriculum (they can also be used alone) Philippians In 28 Weeks, The Wise Woman With Literary Analysis Journal Questions, and Mere Christianity (see my review).

Other Places To Find Home School Adventure Co

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HomeSchoolAdventureCo
Twitter: http://twitter.com/HomeSchoolAdven
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/HomeSchoolAdven
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/115241518288669984312/+Homeschooladventure/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/HomeSchoolAdven

For all my readers, Home School Adventure Co. is offering a 10% discount on any purchase until May 15, 2014 - use the code CREW-10.  I would highly recommend this resource for all homeschool families especially those who are teaching their children how to defend their faith!

Be sure to check out what my crewmates thought about this and the other curriculum offered at Home School Adventure Co. by clicking the banner below.