The Nomadic Professor: US History 1 & 2

I have another homeschool product to share with you today from Timberdoodle, The Nomadic Professor: US History 1 & 2.  This digital course is geared for high schoolers (grades 9th and above) or students aged 14+.  This course qualifies for high school credit and /or can also be used to prepare for the AP and CLEP tests.

US1 or American History 1 is broken into 10 units starting before Columbus looking at the pre-Columbian Americas through The Constitution and its ratification.  US2 or American History 2 is similarly broken into 10 units beginning with Washington's presidency through the end of the Reconstruction era.

I really like the "nomadic approach" outlined above - guided, flexible, transparent and content-rich.  I also really like the organization of this course as well.  Each unit has materials needed or specific to that portion available for each session.  I appreciate that the course material is easily accessible and available in print-friendly versions for the students to use!  These courses use a combination of engaging videos and text to help history come alive.

Every unit includes a unit preview, pre-quiz, the unit material, summary and structure terms, post quiz and a document lesson.

Above you can see what will be covered in Unit 8: European Rivalries

I have really enjoyed that there are both pre-quizzes and post-quizzes to test the students knowledge of the material so they can see what they are learning and check that they are understanding the information.  The document lessons are great as well.  This is where students will look at historical literature and focus on different skills for historical literacy.  They are taught to look at the source, contextualize about that source, read and infer about the claims/evidence/implications, and corroborate if other sources agree or disagree.

I really love the building your structures concept.  It’s where you take the historical concepts and piece or connect them together, you need to be able to explain the definition of each of the terms and how they connect.

So for this first unit, students will need to be able to define or explain Mesoamericans, the Neollithic Revolution, Olmecs, Teotihuacan, Maya, glyphs, and Tenochtitlan.  This can be done a number of different ways but it’s such a great way to solidify what you have learned and understanding how it fits together, so neat!

If you are looking for a US History curriculum for your high schooler or a course to help prepare your student for the AP and CLEP tests The Nomadic Professor would be an excellent choice!

 

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received The Nomadic Professor in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Bible Unearthed by Drive Thru History® Adventures Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}

We are huge fans of Dave Stotts and Drive Thru History® so I was pumped when we were given a lifetime access to Drive Thru History® Adventures digital course, Bible Unearthed.  You may remember our previous review of Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" last year.

So, what is Bible Unearthed?  It's a 12 part series that will take you on an archaeological adventure of the Bible and ancient world.  As you explore history, you will see the importance and impact that archaeology has and better understand the ancient world.    Even though it's a 12 part series, there are 17 sections of this course.  These include a Welcome to the course section (to help you and your family get the most out of this course), a Course Guide that can be downloaded (gives you a course summary and sample weekly schedule), How to use the Dig Deeper Articles section, How to use the Worksheets and Answer Guides section, and Introduction to the Adventures Community section and the 12 main sections.  There is a progress bar on your dashboard that will tell you how many of the 17 sections you have completed as you work your way through this course.

Watching Episode 1: What is Archaeology? together as a family.

The 12 sections of this series includes a video episode (approximately 15 minutes long), a written/exposition breakout, a downloadable worksheet containing discussion questions and an answer guide, Dig Deeper articles, and some optional fun activities. 

 

 

The episodes are hosted by Dave Stotts (host of Drive Thru History®), Randall Niles (writer from Drive Thru History®) and Dr. Titus Kennedy (a PhD archaeologist and expert for this series).  The episodes are so interesting and engaging!  It is fascinating listening to these three and I love how relatable they are.  It feels like they are sitting in your living room with you.  Each episode is approximately 15 minutes and they include discussions, pictures, artifacts, maps, clips of archaeological sites and locations, and more!

 

Above you can see the episodes that we have watched.

 

What are the 12 topics discussed in this course?

• What is Archaeology?
• The Impact of Archaeology
• Locating Archaeological Sites
• The Life of an Archaeologist
• What's Being Discovered Today?
• Archaeological Mysteries
• Top Discoveries in Bible Archaeology
• Getting Involved with Archaeology
• Trends in Archaeology
• Weird Archaeology
• Accidental Discoveries In Archaeology
• What's Left to be Discovered?

B completing the worksheet for Episode 1 while we were watching it.

 

Above you can see one of the optional activity assignments, to make a timeline.

I appreciate the flexibility of this course, you can choose your own adventure for what you want to complete with your family.  I think it is so fascinating to see the historical accuracy of the Bible through archaeology!  It's so interesting to see the artifacts and sites that have already been discovered and think about the ones we have yet to find.  We are really enjoying this course and I look forward to implementing even more of the "deeper" activities as we continue our journey of the ancient world with a Biblical focus.

More advanced students might want to purchase Titus Kennedy's book: Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life.  It's an awesome way to dig deeper into the amazing world of archeology and it's cool that you can put a face with the author.  It kind of feels like you know him after watching through the episodes with him 😉.  I also want to mention that you have access to an exclusive Facebook group just for members of the Adventures family.

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Drive Thru History® Adventures. 

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24-Hour History 5-Book Set from Timberdoodle Review

I have a fun book set to share with you today from Timberdoodle, the 24-Hour History 5-Book Set. Our set includes The Attack on Pearl Harbor (by Nel Yomtoy), D-Day (by Agnieszka Biskup), The Assassination of John F. Kennedy (by Terry Collins), The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr (by Terry Collins), and The Apollo 11 Moon Landing (by Nel Yomtoy).

 

Our new history books!

D loves graphic novels so she was the first to grab them!

Each book takes a focused look at an important day in US history, hence the 24-Hour History name, and is 48 pages in length.  The books are easy to read and the graphic illustrations are engaging and students see how key events in history have a lasting impact, even through today.  I really appreciate that each book ends with a summary or conclusion, timeline, cast of characters, glossary, a find out more section and an index.

 

Specifically the days in history that this set examines are:

December 7, 1941 (The Attack on Pearl Harbor)

June 6, 1944 (D-Day)

November 22, 1963 (The Assassination of John F. Kennedy)

April 4, 1968 (The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.) and

July 20, 1969 (The Apollo 11 Moon Landing).  Now I am going to share with you a few sneak peeks into our books.

A peek inside The Attack on Pearl Harbor book.

The Apollo 11 Moon Landing book is one of our favorites!

E reading about The Apollo 11 Moon Landing.

 A peek inside The Apollo 11 Moon Landing book.

The cast of characters in D-Day.

The find out more section in The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

The glossary in The Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

 

The 24-Hour History 5-Book Set is part of Timberdoodle's 4th Grade Curriculum Kit and we are excited to have it as part of our homeschool resources!  If your kids enjoy graphic novels like mine do, they are really going to appreciate this set.

 

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  Timberdoodle sent my family 24-Hour History in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Timberdoodle's Graphic U.S. History Set of 13 Review

I have a super fun book set to share with you today from Timberdoodle, their Graphic U.S. History Set of 13 books.  This set is recommended for ages 10 and up and would be around a 4th grade reading level.  I think interest is definitely broader, more like 2nd through 12th.  In our home, E (2nd grade) - A (10th grade) were all interested in them!

Our Graphic U.S. History Set of 13

A closer look at all of the titles.

This set includes The New World, The Fight For Freedom, The US Emerges, Problems of a New Nation, Americans Move Westward, Before the Civil War, The Civil War, The Industrial Era, America Becomes a World Power, The Roaring Twenties and The Great Depression, World War II and The Cold War, The Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam, and Globalization.  Each book is 54 pages and includes engaging, full-color graphics throughout.

D was the first to get her hands on our books and she devoured them.

She read through all 13 books in just a few days.

This series is perfect for children to get a broad U.S. History overview beginning with the New World in the 1500s through Barack Obama's inauguration.  Most children love graphic novels and my kids are no exception.  There is something about them that ignites a passion for reading.  I love that this set gets kids excited to learn about history, specifically U.S. History!  Each book contains relevant historical content and fun, engaging illustrations that help keep the reader's attention.  I love that this fast-paced nonfiction series can be read over and over again as these books are not overwhelming and easy to read.

  Excerpts from our series

Another feature of this series is that the nonfiction text is shown in blue colored background; whereas, the fictitious speech bubbles are shown in yellow.  I like this clear separation.

 A peek into The New World.  

{You can see what I mean about the different colors.}

I do want to note something else.  This is not a faith-based series so there are a few spots of potentially offensive language.  Timberdoodle does a great job of pointing all of these instances out on their website:

Fire, follow orders.  For God's sake, fire! 
By whose authority?  In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!
Oh, God!  It is all over.
Give 'em hell, boys!
Lord!  Lord!
I tell you war is hell!
Look at that - another damned carpetbagger arriving!
You farmers need to raise less corn and more hell!
We will divide our forces, drive the red devils into the open, and wipe them out!
Diable!  Those Americans!  Bring our troops home from Mexico.
My God, sir!
Remember the Maine, and to hell with Spain.
My God! I'm wiped out.
Oh my God, no!
                
Despite the above, my view is that this is a really good U.S. History summary set and your kids will most likely be enthralled with them like mine.   This set helps readers form a timeline of American history as they read and reread this series over and over again.  This would be a great addition to any homeschool or home library.

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  Timberdoodle sent my family their Graphic U.S. History Set of 13 for a discounted price in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Pathway to Liberty US History Level 1-3 Review

We recently started using Pathway to Liberty's US History, part of Pathway to Liberty's History Curriculum, from Pathway to Liberty Homeschool Curriculum.  This curriculum is available in both physical and digital format.  While the physical format is to be used by only one student, the digital version can be printed and used by your entire family.  We were provided with the digital curriculum for Levels 1, 2 and 3 of US History.  This included a Teacher's guide for all levels and a Student Guide for levels 1-3.

E with Level 1

D and C with Level 2

B with Level 3
There are four levels in this curriculum.  Level 1 is geared for the early elementary years K-3rd grade.  Level 2 is geared for upper elementary who can read and write fluently, 4th-6th grade.  Level 3 is geared for middle school and early high school students, 7th-9th grade.  While Level 4 is designed for 10th-12th.  This curriculum is specifically designed so that you can learn history with your entire family using the same material at their individual levels.  That's huge!

Pathway to Liberty has four years of study:  Universal History (Year 1), The Middle Ages (Year 2), US History (Year 3) and World History (Year 4).  Each year of study has materials for Levels 1-4.  As I mentioned earlier the level of study is based on age and grade level.  Guess what?  They even have a suggested way to use this curriculum with a CoOp, love that!

  
In Year 3, US History is studied in order to understand the foundation of our American Republic.  This program begins with foundational principles, transitions into the early colonies and finishes up with the Civil War.

Scope and Sequence
I really appreciate the Scope and Sequence.  It shows an overview for every level for each week in the curriculum.  The program has 26 weeks of material and has 4 days of lessons each week.  The last few weeks are built in as catch up weeks to complete any unfinished assignments and to reflect on the year.  I love these at a glance views of what we are studying as it is helpful to see where we are going.

Overview For Week 1
I also appreciate the weekly overviews for the same reason.  Each week has a scripture, principle idea and leading idea.  I really like the way that it lays out the materials for the 4 different levels.  This makes it a lot easier to grasp what the different levels are doing and how they overlap and differ.  This was convenient as I was using it for 3 different levels.

Watching the video on The Pilgrim's Journey Documentary
I would say that the first two weeks of this program is a bit of a transition as they are foundation weeks.  They are specifically designed to build a solid foundation of history to then build onto.  After the first few weeks, you get into more of a rhythm I would say so give yourself that time to adjust and adapt.  I enjoy the flexibility within this curriculum as well.  You do not have to do everything!  You can adjust and adapt as needed.  You may notice in the overview for week 1 that the students will watch YouTube videos.  Pathway to Liberty has their own YouTube channel which makes everything easy to locate!

Teacher Guide
The Student Guides includes step-by-step instructions on how to use the curriculum, weekly lesson plans and student assignments, study guide questions, vocabulary words and writing options.  The Teacher guide is chock-full of great resources including additional writing sources, vocabulary, devotional models as well as information about Pathway to Liberty's vision to name a few.
This program has a strong Biblical Worldview and I personally love that but those that are looking for secular options should not use this curriculum.  We are enjoying the weekly scripture verses and I love seeing my kids digging deeper into the Bible.  I really appreciate the word studies as well.  I think my kids are really getting a lot out of them.
Pathway to Liberty is a holistic curriculum in that it includes a lot of subjects within the program like Bible, history, writing, vocabulary, geography and character to name a few.  In other words, it's not just a history program.  So, if you already have an intense writing program, then you will probably not do all of the writing assignments.  You will adjust as you need to.
I really appreciate the way that this program is designed and set up so that I can teach my kids the same lessons using the different levels.  I will say that I think Level 1 has been a bit advanced for E, who is age 7.  She is hanging in there so far but I have been adjusting it more for her; whereas, Levels 2 and 3 have been pretty spot on for my kids in a great and challenging way.
Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of Pathway to Liberty including the different four years of study as well as the four different levels.

You can engage with Pathway to Liberty on social media @:

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Check out Pathway to Liberty's video below on how their curriculum works.  I hope you find it helpful.

 

Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" Review

Drive Thru History

David, the kids and I have been enjoying Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" from Drive Thru History®.  This DVD set includes 18 half hour episodes (~ 9 hours of content) and contains a study guide with discussion questions for each episode (the answers can be found at the back of the study guide).  The target age range for Drive Thru History is middle school and above (through adulthood) but I think many younger kids could enjoy it as well.

Inside the cover

DVD set - this is a 3 disc set along with a color study guide in the middle of the discs.

Disc 3

The study guide contains summaries for each episode as well as discussion questions and answers.

Discussion Example for Episode 2

Discussion Answers

Disc 1 - Episodes

Disc 3 - Episodes

Dave Stotts is the host and your tour guide through each episode.  This series starts off exploring what happened following the resurrection of Jesus using Luke's account in Acts as a guide and follows to Revelation.  Each episode we watch gets better and better.  Dave Stotts is really relatable and has a good sense of humor.  For example, when he disagrees with his brothers on theology he tells them to do it their way while he does it God's way.  This series is down to earth yet gives a faithful account of the Bible.  I really enjoy the visual component of seeing what so many Biblical and historic sites look like today - it feels like I'm there.  This series includes some classical oil paintings with special effects (zooming in and around, seeing the painting from a different view, adding snow to name a few examples).  I love this!

 Here you see an example

Then, they zoom in on the painting

Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" is so informative and I appreciate seeing scripture paired with background history, it adds so much.  I think Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" is not only educational and good family entertainment but it would also be a great, easy curriculum to use in small group study (this would work for youth groups or adult groups).  You could watch an episode and then discuss it.  I think you could use the discussion questions provided as a starting point.  This program is also great for Christian families who want to teach their children history from a Christian worldview.  And honestly, it's been a great tool for myself to learn more about the world of the first Christians.  If you are a believer and want to learn more or even if you aren't and you are looking for evidence for or against the Christian faith, I would highly recommend this series.  

Buckle up and enjoy the ride!  I know I am.

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation".

This is the 5th Drive Thru History series and the first that we have seen.  I look forward to seeing some of their other sets (Ancient History, American History, The Holy Land and The Gospels).  Check out the amazing trailer for Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" below.