Homeschool Curriculum Review: The Mystery of History
Are you looking for a history curriculum that you can do with several children in different grades all at once? Do you want a homeschool curriculum that ties in ancient history with the bible? Well that’s what I am talking about today. Specifically, I am reviewing the Mystery of History curriculum.
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What Makes Mystery of History Different from other History Curricula?
I’m glad you asked. My family used volume 1 of The Mystery of History which covers Ancient times to the resurrection of Christ. Actually, let me rephrase that. It covers the beginning of the world through the resurrection of Christ. The first lessons cover the creation of the world. Subsequent lessons intertwine the bible with other history. And this is what makes it such a unique curriculum. It doesn’t do bible separate from history. It covers the people and events of the bible right along with the history of other places and people.
Why is this important? Well, it gives a great perspective of when things in the bible happened. I think it really gives students an understanding that what happened in the bible was real and it shows what was going on in the world at the same time as what was happening in the bible. It takes bible “stories” and makes them “history” which is what they really are.
Mystery of History Volumes
There are 4 volumes in the Mystery of History series. Just like lots of other homeschool curricula, Mystery of History has changed a little over the years since the time that I used in with my children. The volume 1 that I used was really a teacher’s guide that included everything to teach all your children in grades kindergarten through 8th grade and older. It doesn’t specifically state high school, but it could definitely be used for high school as well.
Today, Mystery of History offers hardcover student readers, which seem to be all the actual lessons that were in the teacher’s volume. They offer the teacher’s volume as a free printable when you purchase any of their student readers. The old teacher’s volume or as it’s referred to now “The Companion Guide” is all black and white pages and you print it yourself at home. The new student reader has color maps and images and side bar info. It sounds similar to a regular history book. It seems to include lots of info that you would have had to look up or research outside of the old companion guide.
It seems it may be more of a self-contained curriculum now where you need less outside resources or maybe none at all. This makes it a lot more convenient for the homeschool parent.
The Mystery of History Companion Guide
The teacher’s resource or volume or “Companion Guide” that is now offered as a download contains all the lessons. It also has activities after each lesson for each level of student. For instance: lesson 25 is titled The legend of the Trojan Horse. The activity for the younger students has them use a plastic toy horse and army men etc. to recreate the Trojan Horse.
The activity for middle students is to look up information on Greek gods or goddesses and answer a few questions. Older students make a chart of names of some of the gods or goddesses and describe them. There are then 2 questions for older students to choose from and give an answer about apologetics or the difference between mythology and Christianity.
The lessons are set up in weekly divisions. First there is a pretest to introduce the topics that will be in that week’s lessons. This is also to see what the students already know about the topics. 3 lessons follow. After the 3 lessons, there is a review with timeline or wall of fame activities followed by an exercise, review, or quiz.
There are also quarterly worksheets which are a review of everything studied in that quarter. There are 2 semester tests as well. In total there are 36 weeks of lessons set up this way.
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Mystery of History Extras
The Mystery of History volumes include instructions for creating memory cards to review the information learned. I love this idea. Students are the ones who make the cards. This gets them even more involved in the material as they write the information or make a little picture and add dates. They are reinforcing what they learn by writing it again then reviewing the cards periodically.
Linda Hobar, the author, also provides instructions for creating a wall of fame timeline. This is done using one of those tri fold boards you can find in Walmart or Hobby Lobby for projects. It is something that I have not seen in any other curriculum. I have seen wall timelines and timeline books, but this is the only homeschool curriculum that uses a wall of fame.
The wall of fame timeline is not something I put together and used with my children. If you have read any of my previous blog posts about history or timelines, you know we used Sonlight’s Book of Time. Since my children already had those books there was no need to create a wall of fame. You can listen to my podcast episode 39 about using timelines in your homeschool here or wherever you listen to podcasts.
In the back of the Companion Guide are some suggested books and video resources that complement the lessons. These are not required, but can be used if you would like. They are listed with the lessons they would pair with. Lastly is the answer keys to all the pretests, quizzes, worksheets, and semester tests. Remember these resources listed in the back of the companion guide may not be necessary with the newer student readers.
Even More Extras
Linda Lacour Hobar discusses the classical approach to education inside the book and she describes how she incorporated that philosophy of education into the Mystery of History volumes.
The appendix also includes 10 different outline maps for the student to add names of places to and study geography. Also included are some pages in the appendix that are there to help complete some of the worksheets or exercises in the volume.
My Recommendation if You Want to Use The Mystery of History
This paperback book that I have has over 400 pages and it is a complete 1 year history curriculum. The new student readers have tons of color images and maps that probably replace the need for extra materials or research. You can find used copies of the paperback companion guide if you are looking to save some money. You can then use the internet or library to supplement what is needed.
If you want the student readers with the free downloadable companion guide then your need for supplements is greatly reduced. This may be a better option for some of you.
You can purchase new student readers that include a free download of the companion guide for about $72 on Christianbook.com. The price seems to be a little higher on Amazon. You are actually getting 2 volumes, though, since it includes the hardcover student reader and the printable companion guide.
If you need to be a little scrappy this school year and need something less expensive, then do a little search on Ebay or Homeschoolclassifieds.com and buy a used copy of either the student reader or the companion guide or both. I have never used the student readers, but, in my opinion, a used copy of the older companion guide would be all you need in this case. If you don’t want to go hunting down maps or resources every week, then go get the student readers.
More Info on the Mystery of History
You may also want to go to the Mystery of History’s own website for even more information and where they offer whole bundles with extra resources for the curriculum. Click here.
I highly recommend The Mystery of History if you are looking for a history curriculum that ties in the bible with early world history and if you want to teach multiple grades or ages at the same time.
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Wishing you all the best in your homeschool journey!
~Mary
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