Dee
- Reviewed on Friday, September 12, 2003
- Grades Used: 5th-9th
- Dates used: began 9/03
Has anyone else found this wonderful, world history book 'The Old World and America'? It gives kids ages 5th or 6th grade through 9th or even higher, a good, and very interesting overview of world history. I really liked the way the information is presented. It doesn't just present facts. It is written more as a narrative, with the author putting concepts that makes them have relevance. For example, my daughter just loved the way the history book starts out with the illustration that all of the present stems from the past, and the greatest history event was Christs coming.There are black and white drawings of the events and concepts throughout. A sketch at the start of the book shows BC and AD on a timeline, with Christ at the center. Another one shows man progressing from ancient time to present. For my highly visual learner, (and me too!) this really helps illustrate the concepts. At the start of each chapter, it gives the main idea or theme, to help in presenting it. The first chapter emphasizes presents tie to past, and the nations motto 'E Pluribus Unum'. I had her look at coins, to find that, and In GOd we trust. She loved finding the writing and examining the coins, then taping them to a sheet and writing the 'fancy latin words' above it and then displaying it! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to give a good, Christ centered (it is Catholic I should note) overview of world history from creation through the 1700s. Because it is such a large time span, no topic is covered real in-depth, however it really allows 'enough' history, especially for the younger set to get them interested, provides unique activities and character building questions, quizzes, at end of each chapter. .his may be the only year I can homeschool her, and while I had the chance I wanted to give her a basic world history as it happened, not sifted through anti,Christian propaganda school books, so that she can then really move on into understanding how our great nation came to be, and to appreciate it more. I read Cathy Duffy's review of it, and that's what caught my eye was, that to properly understand the present you need to know what came before. (I had planned on teaching only on American history and after praying felt led to try this book, and at only 18.00 it is even more delightful).So, if you want a basic Christian history, that is not overwhelming with a huge number of facts, and encourages critical thinking and unique activities (not just now let's pretend to be King so and so), get this!! I plan to supplement with some Bible reading and hopefully create a simple timeline with main ideas and events, with BC and AD and Christ at center.
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