This makes me even more excited to start our TGTB history! I really loved the content when looking through it. I am also really excited to see TGTB Economic course that’s coming out. I’m interested to see how it all works out. These videos help so much!
We LOVE Story of the World! We also love the activity guide because it gives great suggestions on extra reading and has some great options for narration, mapping activities, and fun activities if you choose to do them. We are doing Masterbooks next year but we're using Story of the World Volume 3 as a read aloud along with it because I just can't give it up LOL
I am adding Abeka's Government course to our upcoming year. Knowing you used and liked it makes me feel more confident in my decision! There are just SO MANY good choices out there, which makes it hard to choose. This video was so well done, so I know you have helped many of us nail down a curriculum!! Thankful for what you share on your channel!
Thank you I am about to purchase a world history and Civic. I continue to hear the Story of the World. So I am leaning towards that one. For a 6th grade. Thank you for sharing.
I used Master Books American History last year for my 6th and 3rd grader. I chose it for its ease of use and wasn't super time consuming. My son would like more projects. I felt like they retained a fair amount of the history we covered.
Loved this video! There are so many good options to choose from. We are planning to use Abeka’s My America My World & My Story 1 with my daughter for first grade.
Such a great review of all the different resources you have used! We are doing Notgrass's middle school civics/government curriculum for next year but I was super tempted to do Masterbooks! So glad Katie found something she really enjoyed!
I cant wait 2 do sum of these with my son. Im thinking we should start with abeka or master books right now cuz hes 5 and after that hopefully will b ready for tgatb and sum of the others uve mentioned like the story of the world
We've been using Classical Conversations and I think they lay out a great foundation, but I feel like we need to add more to our day this year. Think I'm going with America's Story for my 2nd and 5th grader. Thanks for sharing!
We are using My Story. My daughter is in Kindergarten. I don’t know if she is retaining all of the information but it is a great discussion started. And for sure a survey.
We were still in CC for the first semester of 9th grade but after pulling out at Christmas time, Katie did Abeka American Government in 9th, then MB American History in 10th.
I'm planning to use Masterbooks America's Story 1 with my girls this coming school year. I've looked through it and I think it is going to be a lot of fun!
Our Blessed Life I’ll keep you posted! We are mainly going to read aloud. I have the teacher guide with the worksheets and we may do some of the map work & timeline activities. We will see how it goes!
@@kayking3313 We did enjoy it! I bought the teacher guide as well which includes the student workbook pages and I did drop those about mid-way through & we just used America's Story as a read aloud. I did have the kids create a timeline book along the way which was fun and helped them remember what we were reading. For next year, they want to do Gather Round History mini units, so I am planning to do those with them instead of continuing on with America's Story. I would recommend America's Story though to anyone. It is very well written for the age group that it is targeted for (3rd-6th grade). It is not written like a textbook but instead reads more like a story which we enjoyed.
@@faithfullyinfertile Thank you for the quick and thorough reply 😊 May I ask how old your kiddos are? Do you think you will revisit America's Story again when they are older?
Thank you very much Collen for your thorough review of these history books. Your review has really helped me to begin to make decisions on which book/s to use for my 2nd grader this Fall. I have a question though, my daughter will be going into the second grade and she has a high level of reading and comprehension and also enjoys Geography. Which of these two books do you suggest we use: 'My Story 1' or 'The Mystery of History'?
If she is advanced in reading, I would not do My Story 1. It is really primary level (K-2). I would go with the America's Story series, The Mystery of History, or Story of the World instead. There are geography pages in both the Mystery of History and Story of the World if you get the optional activity books. I am not sure how much geography is covered in the America's Story series.
@@simplejoyfilledliving Thank you very much Collen for you quick reply. I am going to agree with your suggestions. I watched another video that gave a nice review on 'The Mystery of History.' I am deciding to go with 'The Mystery of History.' Thank you very much for your recommendation. God bless you.
Notgrass is an excellent history program, but just not one that is for us. I reviewed one of their elementary books but I don't like the approach of telling an important event through the eyes of one person or one family. (I love that idea as a supplement, just not as a main text). We did not choose it for high school because my daughter compared it to Abeka and Master Books and preferred the layout of Abeka for Government and Economics and Master Books for American History and World History. My friend Christie loves Notgrass and so do her children. She has at least one video where she goes into a lot detail on it and that might help you see if it would be a good fit for you. Her channel is called One Blessed Mess.
I used My Story this past year and loved it. My children don't do well with a ton of writing either, so I had them do the activities (coloring, word search, and the copy work for the 5 words), but I read everything to them and then had them verbally answer the questions and then I wrote their answers down for them. Worked out great
We love the Story of the World! I’m buying the whole collection after I found it in my My Fathers World curriculum! I love how it’s written! We all decided as a family it’s so well written! I’m not going to do lessons but just use it for a read aloud! Love your other ideas!
How did Katie like world history? We are brand new to homeschooling and going into the 9th grade. Also, we still need to choose a science, most likely biology. Thank you!
Hi there! In another video you mentioned needing to beef up TGATB with American History and Katie used Masterbooks (I believe) did you end up using it for world history also? Or do you feel TGATB was enough the further you went into it?
I used Masterbooks for American and World history and used the TG&TB high school student explorers to beef it up and to create honors projects. We added about 6-8 activities for each class from TG&TB.
I still don’t know what to choose ☹️ My son will be in 6th grade and it’s our first year truly homeschooling. I’m also looking at Gather Round Homeschool and Bookshark. Too many choices!
Honestly Gather Round could be a good way to start to ease into homeschooling. it is very gentle and from what I understand you would just need to add math. Do you follow Home Sweet Homeschool? That's my friend Ashlea's channel and she has a lot of Gather Round videos and her son is also entering 6th grade next year. I would watch some of those if you are interested in Gather Round to get a closer look.
Thank you for information because I am starting to look for curriculum so I can start grandchildren working on their learning this summer. I want to try to do a science and history together for grades 1 and 3 and they do other subjects at their level. Do you have any ideas which curriculum would work best? They are all good readers but the 2 first graders writing is just beginning. We do a lot of read alouds so they comprehend very well. Thank you
TG&TB science and history isn't leveled by grade. Science is usually K-8 or K-6 depending on the unit. The history is K-12 but there are student explorers for smaller age ranges like K-2, 3-5, etc.
Do you think I can start TGTB in 6th grade- 8th grade? Or would you say 6-9th grade? I haven't ever used it and am just now looking into it, it says it is being discontinued... hmm maybe I pick something else... back to square 1
Would you have any suggestions on social studies/history curriculum for a young first grader? I was looking at master books my story 1 but I seen so many negative reviews.
@@simplejoyfilledliving I was going to get Abeka my America my world Teachers Guide because it looked more thorough then just the reader? I wanted something a little more hands on for her.
@@simplejoyfilledliving i owe you. You are making this so easy to understand. Love your channel! So exciting to see what adult your baby Katie will become. Good job!
Curiosity Chronicles, Oh Freedom (by Woke Homeschooling), River of Voices (by Blossom & Root) are excellent secular history programs. They will be much more diverse and will look at history from multiple vantage points. I dont know the ages of your children, but you might want to start your search there. Be blessed!
@user-vg8ez9cu6u If you or anyone else reading this wants *real* diversity, Gentle and Classical Press has something called On Mission. You can probably omit the Christian aspect of it but it's great for geography.
Still helpful 4 years later! Thank you for this! I want to do Mystery of History but wasn't sure when to do it, so that was great advice!
This makes me even more excited to start our TGTB history! I really loved the content when looking through it. I am also really excited to see TGTB Economic course that’s coming out. I’m interested to see how it all works out. These videos help so much!
I’m glad it helped!
We LOVE Story of the World! We also love the activity guide because it gives great suggestions on extra reading and has some great options for narration, mapping activities, and fun activities if you choose to do them.
We are doing Masterbooks next year but we're using Story of the World Volume 3 as a read aloud along with it because I just can't give it up LOL
We enjoyed it too as a read aloud.
I have always heard such good things about Story of the World!
You broke down all of the History options so well! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
I am adding Abeka's Government course to our upcoming year. Knowing you used and liked it makes me feel more confident in my decision! There are just SO MANY good choices out there, which makes it hard to choose. This video was so well done, so I know you have helped many of us nail down a curriculum!! Thankful for what you share on your channel!
Thank you! ❤️
Thank you Colleen! That was so thorough and helpful.
You’re welcome!
I love Notgrass History. Wonderful company!!
I’ve heard great things about them!
Thank you I am about to purchase a world history and Civic. I continue to hear the Story of the World. So I am leaning towards that one. For a 6th grade. Thank you for sharing.
You're welcome and thanks for watching! ❤️
I have been curious about the Master books American History
I used Master Books American History last year for my 6th and 3rd grader. I chose it for its ease of use and wasn't super time consuming. My son would like more projects. I felt like they retained a fair amount of the history we covered.
Notgrass History is also another great option for all grades, that I didn't hear you mention.
I’ve never used Notgrass, but I’ve always heard great things about it.
Wow this video is such a great resource! Thankyou! Would love to see one like this for science.
It will probably go up next week!
This was great, thanks! It was a big help for me in planning for quickly approaching high school years.
Thank you!
Awesome video, thank you for this information!
Glad it was helpful!
Love all of your ideas!
Thanks!
Loved this video! There are so many good options to choose from. We are planning to use Abeka’s My America My World & My Story 1 with my daughter for first grade.
Thank you!
Great video! I love using the reflections social studies grade 5. It's just so nice and informational.
Thanks! ❤️
Such a great review of all the different resources you have used! We are doing Notgrass's middle school civics/government curriculum for next year but I was super tempted to do Masterbooks! So glad Katie found something she really enjoyed!
Notgrass was one we almost went with as well! It looks great!
I cant wait 2 do sum of these with my son. Im thinking we should start with abeka or master books right now cuz hes 5 and after that hopefully will b ready for tgatb and sum of the others uve mentioned like the story of the world
This is a great breakdown of different History options!
Thanks!
We've been using Classical Conversations and I think they lay out a great foundation, but I feel like we need to add more to our day this year. Think I'm going with America's Story for my 2nd and 5th grader. Thanks for sharing!
We used Story of the World when we are with CC but I'm really interested in America's Story as well. I t looks really good!
Thank you so much. Looking forward to your TGTB video:)
It will be up on Friday!
We are using My Story. My daughter is in Kindergarten. I don’t know if she is retaining all of the information but it is a great discussion started. And for sure a survey.
I’m thinking of using it with Sophie and just skipping some of the writing.
Great review...would love to see a peak inside masterbooks...we love their HS sciences
Thanks! Katie is using World History this year and we will review it later this year and can flip through it.
We love masterbooks history!
We’ve only used high school so far but I’m excited to try the others as well.
Our Blessed Life which one did you use for 9th grade?
We were still in CC for the first semester of 9th grade but after pulling out at Christmas time, Katie did Abeka American Government in 9th, then MB American History in 10th.
Very thorough video. Do you have a video on what you would over again if you could?
No, but that is a great idea!
@@simplejoyfilledliving Awesome! You are a Godsend and a prayer answered. God sent you to me and others. Thank you for yielding to the Holy Spirit.
@@favored4life thank you so much!
This video was so helpful! Do you have a video like this on Language Arts?
Thanks! I will have one on language arts soon!
@@simplejoyfilledliving great! Thank you
I'm planning to use Masterbooks America's Story 1 with my girls this coming school year. I've looked through it and I think it is going to be a lot of fun!
I would love to know how you like it!
Our Blessed Life I’ll keep you posted! We are mainly going to read aloud. I have the teacher guide with the worksheets and we may do some of the map work & timeline activities. We will see how it goes!
@@faithfullyinfertile Are you and your girls enjoying MB's America's Story 1 so far?
@@kayking3313 We did enjoy it! I bought the teacher guide as well which includes the student workbook pages and I did drop those about mid-way through & we just used America's Story as a read aloud. I did have the kids create a timeline book along the way which was fun and helped them remember what we were reading. For next year, they want to do Gather Round History mini units, so I am planning to do those with them instead of continuing on with America's Story. I would recommend America's Story though to anyone. It is very well written for the age group that it is targeted for (3rd-6th grade). It is not written like a textbook but instead reads more like a story which we enjoyed.
@@faithfullyinfertile Thank you for the quick and thorough reply 😊 May I ask how old your kiddos are? Do you think you will revisit America's Story again when they are older?
Thank you very much Collen for your thorough review of these history books. Your review has really helped me to begin to make decisions on which book/s to use for my 2nd grader this Fall. I have a question though, my daughter will be going into the second grade and she has a high level of reading and comprehension and also enjoys Geography. Which of these two books do you suggest we use: 'My Story 1' or 'The Mystery of History'?
If she is advanced in reading, I would not do My Story 1. It is really primary level (K-2). I would go with the America's Story series, The Mystery of History, or Story of the World instead. There are geography pages in both the Mystery of History and Story of the World if you get the optional activity books. I am not sure how much geography is covered in the America's Story series.
@@simplejoyfilledliving Thank you very much Collen for you quick reply. I am going to agree with your suggestions. I watched another video that gave a nice review on 'The Mystery of History.' I am deciding to go with 'The Mystery of History.' Thank you very much for your recommendation. God bless you.
We are in the 3rd volume of TGATB and its soooo nice jumping time periods. I dont want to spend an entire year in ancient times
I love that too!
Great video! Wondering if you’ve looked into Notgrass and your opinions on that.
Notgrass is an excellent history program, but just not one that is for us. I reviewed one of their elementary books but I don't like the approach of telling an important event through the eyes of one person or one family. (I love that idea as a supplement, just not as a main text). We did not choose it for high school because my daughter compared it to Abeka and Master Books and preferred the layout of Abeka for Government and Economics and Master Books for American History and World History. My friend Christie loves Notgrass and so do her children. She has at least one video where she goes into a lot detail on it and that might help you see if it would be a good fit for you. Her channel is called One Blessed Mess.
Thank you!! What a great reply.
I used My Story this past year and loved it. My children don't do well with a ton of writing either, so I had them do the activities (coloring, word search, and the copy work for the 5 words), but I read everything to them and then had them verbally answer the questions and then I wrote their answers down for them. Worked out great
So far we are loving it too!
History Quest, and History Odyssey by Pandia Press are good secular History curriculums.
Thanks for sharing!
Would you consider doing an in depth review of the Abeka world geography course?
Good idea!
We love the Story of the World! I’m buying the whole collection after I found it in my My Fathers World curriculum! I love how it’s written! We all decided as a family it’s so well written! I’m not going to do lessons but just use it for a read aloud!
Love your other ideas!
We did it as a read aloud as well.
MB has HS world history class in the academy. I can't wait to use it aside the World History curriculum.
That sounds great!
How did Katie like world history? We are brand new to homeschooling and going into the 9th grade. Also, we still need to choose a science, most likely biology. Thank you!
Katie enjoyed Masterbooks World History and American history. We used Shormann biology and chemistry at diveintomath.com
Hi there! In another video you mentioned needing to beef up TGATB with American History and Katie used Masterbooks (I believe) did you end up using it for world history also? Or do you feel TGATB was enough the further you went into it?
I used Masterbooks for American and World history and used the TG&TB high school student explorers to beef it up and to create honors projects. We added about 6-8 activities for each class from TG&TB.
I still don’t know what to choose ☹️ My son will be in 6th grade and it’s our first year truly homeschooling. I’m also looking at Gather Round Homeschool and Bookshark. Too many choices!
Honestly Gather Round could be a good way to start to ease into homeschooling. it is very gentle and from what I understand you would just need to add math. Do you follow Home Sweet Homeschool? That's my friend Ashlea's channel and she has a lot of Gather Round videos and her son is also entering 6th grade next year. I would watch some of those if you are interested in Gather Round to get a closer look.
Would love Masterbooks history flip thru...is there color in it or is it black white
Great idea! I’ll work that in. There are 2 versions of the world history. The old one is black and white and the new is color.
Thank you for information because I am starting to look for curriculum so I can start grandchildren working on their learning this summer. I want to try to do a science and history together for grades 1 and 3 and they do other subjects at their level. Do you have any ideas which curriculum would work best? They are all good readers but the 2 first graders writing is just beginning. We do a lot of read alouds so they comprehend very well. Thank you
You might really enjoy The Good & the Beautiful for history and science with them. That’s probably what I would use for those ages together.
@@simplejoyfilledliving Do you think I should get the 3rd grade level for both subjects to use with all 4 children?
TG&TB science and history isn't leveled by grade. Science is usually K-8 or K-6 depending on the unit. The history is K-12 but there are student explorers for smaller age ranges like K-2, 3-5, etc.
@@simplejoyfilledliving Thank you!
Do you think I can start TGTB in 6th grade- 8th grade? Or would you say 6-9th grade? I haven't ever used it and am just now looking into it, it says it is being discontinued... hmm maybe I pick something else... back to square 1
Definitely you could. They are updating it-that’s all. But my understanding is that you can move from an old version to a new one with no issue.
For Abeka Govt could we just buy the teachers book and the child works out of that with answers in back or would we need something else?
We bought the test book, test answer key, and teachers book.
Would you have any suggestions on social studies/history curriculum for a young first grader? I was looking at master books my story 1 but I seen so many negative reviews.
We used My Story 1 and it was ok, but not our favorite. I prefer Abeka for the really young grades (K-2).
@@simplejoyfilledliving I was going to get Abeka my America my world Teachers Guide because it looked more thorough then just the reader? I wanted something a little more hands on for her.
I do want to ask wat order did u go through with ur daughter? Thats wat im getting stuck on. Right now im started with k-1
With Sophie I am starting with Masterbooks My Story and then plAn to move through their America’s Story series.
What grade level would you recommend starting TGTB history course?
2nd or 3rd grade is the earliest I would start but many families start it in kindergarten.
Which elementary curriculum is secular? I like to teach Bible myself.
Story of the World is secular. The rest all have a Christian world view.
@@simplejoyfilledliving i owe you. You are making this so easy to understand. Love your channel! So exciting to see what adult your baby Katie will become. Good job!
@@pinkorganichorse thank you! 💕
Are these all religious?
Except for Story of the World, they all promote a Christian world view.
Curiosity Chronicles, Oh Freedom (by Woke Homeschooling), River of Voices (by Blossom & Root) are excellent secular history programs. They will be much more diverse and will look at history from multiple vantage points. I dont know the ages of your children, but you might want to start your search there. Be blessed!
@user-vg8ez9cu6u If you or anyone else reading this wants *real* diversity, Gentle and Classical Press has something called On Mission. You can probably omit the Christian aspect of it but it's great for geography.
You could totally do my story with your daughter if you just let her dictate all of the written answers for you.
That’s what we had to do when we used it.