The Pathway to Liberty History Curricula is the solution to the author's (a homeschool mother's) dilemma as she sought to teach her children history--but found the choices she had to be too boring or dry or too revisionist (she felt that they picked and chose key individuals, leaving out others and other events and more...to suit an agenda). She then began researching and wrote a new comprehensive history curriculum, highlighting themes that she believes arch through history. This curriculum is written from a Christian perspective and incorporates Bible verses and passages and Biblical themes.
The curriculum is laid out as an easy-to-follow guide to allow the student (especially the high schooler using level 4!) to progress through their studies, divided up into a four-day week. The lessons are laid out nicely, leaving no confusion for the student as he or she looks over the work plan for the day.
The lessons are made up of component parts of history, English/writing, and Bible. The resources used for learning range from The Chain of Liberty book to different "Core Books" (listed in the front of the manuals--books such as Christian History of the Constitution, Boys of '76, Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary, the NIV Bible, and more), "Expanded Reading Books" (such as The Story of Liberty, Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule, and more), YouTube videos and corresponding worksheets, vocabulary terms, Bible verses, and more. Each week/chapter has a principle to focus on as well as a leading idea.
There are questions for the student to answer in the Student Guide after they have completed a reading or a video which help to cement or focus the learning in another manner for the student.
The teacher's guide is much the same as the student guide, except the answers are included :)
You will notice on the Weekly Overview Page picture that the different levels are listed. Students of different levels (grades, ages) cover the same general information at the same time. I really like this. It is so nice for a family to be studying the same topics. We have found in our family that when the kids are studying the same material (even if at different levels with age-appropriate work), conversations in the car, around the dinner table, in the midst of regular life--tend to include references to the material that is being learned. It is a great way to learn and maintain the learning!
Overall, I really enjoy this style of learning--having multi-age learners studying the same topics and themes. A few other things I really like about this are the ease of following the lesson plans each day of each week as well as the Christian emphasis and the intent of the author to highlight the important "links" of the chain of history. There are a few typos/layout and spelling errors, but they are really just small annoyances, they will probably be fixed in a future edition. If you are looking for a history curriculum which you can utilize for your full homeschooling family, this is worth looking into!
If you'd like to read some more reviews of the Pathway to Liberty products (including other Years and other Levels), please click on the link below!
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