We have had some great conversations regarding History this year. More than any other time.  Why?  Because we are in the Ancients this year. My boys are older now, and have been studying several time periods.  Now, we are hearing a lot more about  PreHistoric, Millions of Years, and descriptions of Primitive Man.

We’ve had to sort out what we think about Pre-History, What is History – and how to talk about the different perspectives and opinions of the writers of these books on ancient times.  We’ve learned a lot from Truth Quest and sorted much of this out but it just seems like there should be an easier way to study the early times of the earth, without the constant converting of word phrases and times. As much as I adore the idea of Classical Education and the older living books, my boys just don’t seem to like to read them on their own.  What is a parent and teacher to do with this time period?

That’s when I remembered a PDF file that we were to review for New Leaf Press, Master Books.  “World History: Observations & Assessments from Creation to Today” After the laptop broke and the Kindle got cracked, I lost quite a few resources. Thanks to the handy archive feature of Gmail, I was able to search it out!

Written by James P. Stobaugh, World History High School Level Student and Teacher’s editions has “Observations and Assessments from Creation to Today.”

I downloaded the book, sent an email to the company apologizing for the delay – and thought it would be a good time to use the book so I could review it.

Do you know what’s weird about me and being a homeschool teacher?  Every year, since the boys were tiny – if I looked at 1 or more learning levels ahead – I would get overwhelmed. In 2nd grade I couldn’t stomach 4th grade math. For the entire time, I’ve been intimidated by older grade texts. Looking at long lists of test questions and essay suggestions makes me want to take a coffee break. I see where the boys are now, and think, will they? Will they be able to do that later? How???

I read the first few lessons and got REALLY excited. For one, it’s chapters follow the sequence of our Art History for Jon and Nate. We are in Egypt so we are not very far behind in the book. The lessons are quite short, but detailed.  Jon is reading from DK type books, which Nate has already browsed in earlier years, so it Thrills Me to no end to find a High School Level History Book written from a Creation Beginning point of view that is easy to digest. (Preview)  What?  Did I just say easy to digest? This book is intended for 10th to 12th grades.  We are also working on 10th grade Biology and I made the remark yesterday – is this supposed to be this easy?  Ha! They ARE able to do it. Nine years of building blocks, and our structure is firm, built on a foundation of The Word.

And that is why this text is important.  As I’ve shared before, we don’t mind so much if the author pulls things back to millions of years – but it how much of the text are you supposed to trust if the perspective is off? As I mentioned above, the boys have asked a lot of questions, great questions, but how to teach history if they doubt the text so much?

We are thankful for companies like Master Books at New Life Publishing for publishing great learning tools with the Bible at it’s core as the plumb line for truth. Clear objectives, Challenging assignments – “This study will help students learn Objectives, develop a Christian worldview while forming his or her own understanding of world history trends, philosophies, and events.”

So far – 4 chapters into the book, caught up with Egypt – starting week 9 of History and Art this year – it has been my favorite learning year ever. But you hear me say that every year.  Have I mentioned how much I love getting to learn with my boys – love being a homeschooler lately?  I do. I really do.

FYI – We are using this text as a resource to give a deeper understanding while studying Ancient Art Forms. We have been using it with a Charlotte Mason Style with Narrations both verbal and written in Nate’s Ancient Notebook. The text has been easy for him to read and understand, and he has related many of the topics to what we have already learned. Nate is 14, 9th grade level, and enjoys to book. This is intended as a stand alone History Textbook – but, as you know, we don’t approach Subjects as Stand Alone. You’ll be hearing more from this book in our writings, I am sure.

Disclaimer: I received the Student and Teacher Editions in PDF for free in exchange for using them in my home and sharing my review on my blog.