Five Things to Love About The Mystery of History
I am a convert to The Mystery of History.
When I bought volume 1 of The Mystery of History (MOH), I considered it a resource for our primarily literature-based home education. I honestly looked down on it a bit, since it didn’t require any additional reading. I was a curriculum snob.
But life happened, and I found myself using The Mystery of History more often. Two of my high school students used different volumes as history electives, completing the high school level assignments, and it was definitely enough. Slowly, I became a convert. So what convinced me to make the switch to The Mystery of History?
The Mystery of History is Self-Contained
After years of gathering books every week, I was tired. After years of reading stacks of required books, my kids were tired. The very thing that first made me judge the curriculum harshly, eventually drew me to it. While we can read additional books when interested, we don’t have to. MOH is a complete text on its own.
The Mystery of History Tells Stories
The reason I originally chose a literature-based education style was because I believed literature engaged the students and helped them better relate to the information. Except, my kids then faced information overload and began to dread reading. MOH has a storytelling style that engages the students without information overload.
The Mystery of History is Adaptable
The Mystery of History can be as basic or as in-depth as I want it to be. I can dive into all of Linda Hobar’s activities, find supplemental books, and do hands-on crafts with the kids— when time and energy allows. Or we can read the chapter, look at a map together, and still have a great learning experience.
The Mystery of History Brings the Family Together
I have always preferred teaching my children in a multi-age group, whenever possible. I love hearing them talk about what they are learning while they play or as the family is eating. Having them on the same page is satisfying and encouraging. Bringing myself back into their history education by reading aloud to them has also been a good decision. It makes history time enjoyable once more for me. I am bonding with my kids, instead of cracking the whip over unread books.
The Mystery of History Has a Christian Worldview
So much is learned from history. How it is taught shapes our world view, along with our understanding of life, God, and the church. It is very important to me that our family use a Christian history curriculum. I love how much church history is mixed in with the world history in The Mystery of History. It is reassuring to know my children are learning about heroes of the faith as well as the heroes and villains of the world.
So what about you? What do you love about The Mystery of History? Or are you holding it at arm’s length, looking at it somewhat suspiciously, as I once did? Try borrowing it from a homeschool friend for a month. You might be as surprised as I was, and be converted, too.
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April is just your average homeschool mom, who happens to have nine kids. She and her husband have two homeschool graduates, and seven left to go. April can usually be found dodging laundry piles, homeschooling, breaking up sibling squabbles, chasing kids, reviewing curriculum and blogging at ElCloud Homeschool Blog. You can also find her on twitter, pinterest, and instagram.
Comments (2)
These are all the reasons we are loving MOH as well! I can relate to your “self-contained” point. I loved curriculum that used living books but I was growing tired of the enormous amount of effort it took to gather all the books each week. MOH is great because it reads like a story without the hassle of gathering a ton of books…unless you want to and then the reading list is an excellent resource.
We’ve gone through all 4 volumes now cover to cover and I love it! It’s still a lot of information especially for younger students but that’s history for you. Re started with volume 1 this week! Wahoo!