Catherine Millard's History Curriculum

I will have to say that I have not found what I would call I satisfied curriculum for my younger students. Of course we have ABeka history texts in the house and use them but they are still lacking in something. Something that I just couldn't put my finger on until I began to read some of Catherine Millard's books.

Now for my older children they have and will use 'Streams of Civilizations Vol. 1 & 2' by Christian Liberty Press. This 2-year series starts out with creation and is up to date as it ends with our current president. These two history books are a favorite and will be used at our house for 9th & 10th grades for all my children. The thing I like most about these books are the 8+ projects suggested at the beginning of each chapter. I always made my daughter choose at least 2-3 of them to complete. They range for every learning style so I found that to be a bonus.

We also are using 'America's Providential History' by Beliles & McDowell, which includes Biblical principles of education, government, politics, economics, and family life. This book is a valuable resource for those teaching high school history of our Godly heritage. Another resource book I suggest is 'Rediscovering the Ideas of Liberty' by Stedman. This book covers our constitution and our Creator's original design for out once Godly nation. The interesting points in this book is how they demonstrate original intentions of the constitution and show how they have or have not been changed and the consequences of such.

For those older students who are ready for constitutional studies and economics I suggest a great book titled 'Basic American Government' by Carson. This book has been hard for me to put down as an adult reading it as it provides a thorough look at our constitution, our economy, and world politics and how it has played a part in our own history.

For younger children I would try the Uncle Eric series for economics and history. I have the one book many of you will recognize - 'What Ever Happened to Penny Candy?' This is an excellent series for the middle school age children. I would also include 'the Kids Book of Money' by Scholastic. This book takes kids from barter and trading all the way through banks, financing and the stock market. (Age level 4 grade and up.)

I also highly recommend using Christine Miller's 'All Through the Ages' especially if you are interested in a unit study approach. She has broken down the curriculum guide two ways where you can either organize by age level or time period. The list of books in her materials is well worth the minimal cost of the curriculum. Some of you may remember her guest article in the newsletter which will be returning here shortly. Please visit her website for more information. http://members.aol.com/Cmmbelle/index.html

Catherine Millard has written some powerful history books for younger and older children alike. For the younger children she has 'A Children's Companion Guide to America's History'. It is a 31 day lesson plan book that touches upon just about every time period in our Christian history. It is designed to teach the truth about of Godly heritage and includes appropriate Bible verses as well. I like the drawings that go with each lesson too. If you have several children I would copy them so all the kids could color them in as each lesson is taught. Each lesson has questions and an assignment for memorization. I suggest perhaps using each lesson as a starting point and adding more materials to it - stretching the lesson for a few days or longer. I could see this being used as a whole year curriculum covering 31 weeks very easily.

For older children say 5th grade and up Catherine Millard has two books: 'Christian Heritage of our Nation - National Landmarks' and 'Christian Heritage of our Nation - National Memorials'. When you have completed these two books you will have completed a tour of our nation's history through our landmarks and memorials. I can not even begin to tell you how much research this woman has gone through to get the truth published into these books. She has fought the US Printing Office, The Library of Congress, the Historical Foundation and many more bureaucracies on our behalf. It is her intense desire to serve the truth that has guided her to author these fine materials for us to use in our Homeschool.

Some goodies for mom, dad and your high school aged child would be Catherine Millard's 'Rewriting of America's History' and 'Great American Statesmen and Heroes'. The book on the 39 statesmen and heroes outlined are just a wonderful resource into their everyday Christian lives. There are so many interesting facts, speeches, documents and more to discover in this book. The other book has a clear calling to American's to look at what is happening to out original recorded history and how it is being changed, by whom and why. I cried when I discovered that they have painted over the Jefferson Library's original artwork, a building known as one of the most beautiful in the world in the late 1800's, with gargoyles and other atrocities. Neither my family, nor I will ever see how it was originally intended with Bible verses and scenes of prayer. I agree with her that if we are to preserve anything for our future grandchildren we must speak now. If we loose our sense of who we were, where we came from, we will loose who we are and where we are going. I say it is a must read for any family concerned about the true history of our country.

If you are in Washington DC I would highly recommend her guided tours through the historical sites. Visit her website for tour information and information on her publications. http://www.christianheritagetours.com/index.html