My friend, Jamie, wrote an honest review of TruthQuest Middle Ages, and I’d like to share it with you. I think you’ll be very interested in this homeschool history curriculum.
A friend once told me that if she could recommend one thing for history in home-schooling TruthQuest History would be it. I believed her, I respected her as a home-schooling mom, and I had seen the positive results in her children. But for some reason I dragged my heels. I think I was overwhelmed at what I perceived as a lack of structure in the books.
This year my friend sent me TruthQuest Middle Ages and I gave it a try. We used it in conjunction with Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. After planning what TruthQuest Middle Ages sections would fit best with Story of the World and a learning curve of how the system would work best for me, I now cannot imagine not using TruthQuest History in our study of history. The problem I have is that there is so much good information in TruthQuest History, it is hard to narrow down what I want to use!
This year I taught my children ages 12, 10, and 8. The way we use TruthQuest History in our home is to fill in “the rest of the story” within the frame of Story of the World. We listen to the audio version of Story of the World and then the rest of the week(s) we read TruthQuest History commentary and read suggested books. I was also able to use TruthQuest History to add people/ events that weren’t covered in Story of the World that I wanted to cover.
We use the ThinkWrite exercises as oral exercises right now. My older daughter will begin doing these as writing assignments with the next book in the series: Renaissance, Reformation, and Exploration. That is part of the beauty of TQ, it is completely adaptable to your needs and family situation.
I am very thankful for Michelle’s thoughtful commentary. Her insight has helped us think about history in a new way and see the connections from one time period to another. The 2 Big Questions, “Who did these people believe God was?” and “Who did they believe mankind to be?” have helped us discuss and think about history in light of the fact that it is HIS story!
As I said, there is a lot of information in each TruthQuest History guide. We are finding out how TruthQuest can best serve our history needs as we use it. I am excited that what I once saw as “no structure” is actually what I truly appreciate about TruthQuest History. I can see that I will be able to use it to fit our needs in whatever our stage or season. I know that the kinks I have using TruthQuest History are being worked out as I gain confidence and experience. I wholeheartedly believe that TruthQuest History is a long term tool for teaching history in our home!
If you’re interested in getting any of these items, click the title below for more info.
Story of the World Vol. 2 (Middle Ages)
TruthQuest History (listing of all time periods & all ages)
Other Story of the World Volumes: Story of the World Vol. 1
Question: Have you used TruthQuest history or Story of the World? Please leave your thoughts about either curricula as a comment. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
