Veritas Press History Curriculum
by Marlin and Laurie Detweiler
Reviewed by Martha Robinson
Purchase details: Veritas Press History Curriculum, Set of flashcards and CD-ROM which contains the song and a PDF version of the teacher's manual, $44. Paperback teacher's manual available for $24.95. Available from Veritas Press. The third grade set, New Testament, Greece, and Rome, with cassette and paperback teacher's manual was provided for this review.
The Veritas Press History Curriculum provides a straightforward method of memorizing a total of 160 historical events with the complete five year program. The goal in the Veritas Press Bible and History curricula is to integrate events found in Scripture with historical events not recorded in Scripture. The student will then be able to see God's sovereignty today based upon His work in the past. The set reviewed, New Testament, Greece, and Rome, begins with the Minoan culture in 2200 B.C. and ends with the fall of Rome in 476 A.D.
The curriculum has several parts that may be purchased as a set or separately. The 32 flashcards are 5" x 8" cardstock. Artwork illustrating the event is shown on the front along with a large title and color-coded stripes. The stripes indicate if the card is found in just the history set or is repeated in the Bible set. On the back of each card, there is a sequence number for the set (and the Bible set if applicable), an overview of the event, and books for further study. About 25 references are recommended for this set in addition to the New Geneva Study Bible, a study Bible supportive of Reformed/Calvinist doctrine. Only eight of the cards are duplicated in Bible sets for third and other grades.
The audio tape is a song that goes through each of the events in chronological order. Only the title, card number, and an occasional date are included in the lyrics.
The 280-plus paged paperback teacher's manual begins with suggestions on how to teach the class. In general, one card should be covered per week. Children should sing the song daily for the first few weeks until memorized and then three times a week after that. Games like "Go Fish" and other ways to use the cards are suggested. A grading scheme for content, grammar, and spelling is discussed.
Both hands-on and workbook type activities are included for the weekly lessons corresponding to a card. The first activity is always a worksheet in which questions are asked about the historical event, and the child is expected to write answers in complete sentences. One to six optional projects are recommended for each card. Most of the projects involve artwork; however, group events such as a class Olympics, a concentration game, and a Greek Council are suggested. Literature units with chapter-by-chapter comprehension questions are included for The Trojan Horse, How the Greeks Won the War, D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, The Children's Homer, Detectives in Togas, and Pompeii, Buried Alive. Answers immediately follow the literature units. Composition projects using the keyword outline strategies of Andrew Pudewa's Institute for Excellence in Writing programs are introduced about midway through the teacher's manual. An essay-style test completes each unit.
The appendix of the teacher's manual contains instructions for integrating history and writing, the lyrics to the song, and fill-in sheets for a chapter summary and a timeline. There is not an answer key for the worksheets and tests.
Recommendation: The New Testament, Greece, and Rome history cards and tape were some of the first published parts of the Veritas Press History curricula, and in comparison with the Bible curriculum reviewed, Veritas Press has greatly refined its products over the years. The audio tape lacks the detail and date continuity of the Bible tape,published in 2001. The teacher's manual is not as rich in content, but still offers some interesting literature and art projects.
This particular set covers a very long time in history -- over 2,600 years. The family may want to stretch the study beyond the thirty-two weeks suggested. This set also uses many resources that might tend to strain the family budget. Not all of the resources are required, and the representatives at Veritas Press will be happy to suggest those which are the most important. Of course, you may always choose your own resources and just use this program as a framework.
While I have not seen the corresponding Bible set for third grade, Judges through Kings, it is obvious that the two programs diverge at this point and purchase of both sets would be necessary if your family wishes to continue with Veritas Press's methodology for Bible and history study.
HomeschoolChristian.com resources related to this review:
HomeschoolChristian.com's History Section where you will find many "living" history resources!
Review of Veritas Press Bible Curriculum
Interview with Marlin Detweiler of Veritas Press
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