Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Lisa R
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Posted: Sept 28 2005 at 3:37pm | IP Logged Quote Lisa R

I've been looking at these books and know that some of you are using and enjoying them. I'm wondering if you're planning on using the others as they become available and if you'll just use them in order? Also, is the teacher's manual necessary or helpful? Did you purchase directly from them or somewhere else?

Thanks,
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Posted: Sept 29 2005 at 9:01pm | IP Logged Quote ALmom

We have gotten our textbooks through CHC and would like to have the series. I found the TM helpful because that is where the recommended living books are and various craft things to order. We are not real sticklers for doing all the quizzes but I do tend to use those for me to look at and then use as discussion stimulators at times or a quick oral review to see what is being retained and if we have to pick one instead of many read-alouds we might do it in the area that isn't sticking as well. I do tend to be a little bit more bookish right now than I originally invisioned mostly because it's the only way I seem to manage with all the different ages and challenges this year - just so you know where I'm coming from. Some of you may not find the TM nearly as helpful as I did because you seem to be very computer savvy and already know a thousand different booklists correlated to time periods.

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Jeanne
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Posted: Sept 29 2005 at 9:41pm | IP Logged Quote Jeanne

Lisa,

I just started using From Sea to Shining Sea this year.

So far I really like using this book as a springboard for living books. It helps me stay on track for history. I have found the teachers manual helpful. It has a timeline, activity suggestions, dicussion suggestions.

If this year works out I would use future books that they publish.

Hope this helps!


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Mary G
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Posted: Sept 30 2005 at 6:29am | IP Logged Quote Mary G

Ladies:

Would the TM be useful as a stand-alone -- in other words,could one just buy the TM and read-aloud to their students or use it as a resource for non-textbook learning?????

Just a thought

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Jeanne
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Posted: Sept 30 2005 at 7:45am | IP Logged Quote Jeanne

You could use it as a stand alone text, but we have learned so much more by reading other books on the topics we are learning about. It is very easy to read and my kids do enjoy it.

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Karen T
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Posted: Oct 01 2005 at 11:17pm | IP Logged Quote Karen T

Have any of you used All Ye Lands? We've been on World history last year and this one. I began with SOTW (heavily supplemented with living books) but really didn't like them. This year I picked up Furlong's The Old World and America but it's a bit sparse so far also. Right now we're in the early Church history and I'm mostly using various saints' stories (St. Monica, St. Augustine, St. Benedict, etc.) as our history. I'm curious about All Ye Lands.
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MicheleQ
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Posted: Oct 02 2005 at 5:54pm | IP Logged Quote MicheleQ

Mary G. wrote:
Would the TM be useful as a stand-alone -- in other words,could one just buy the TM and read-aloud to their students


No it wouldn't work as a read aloud, it doesn't have the stories in it.

Quote:
or use it as a resource for non-textbook learning?????


Well I guess you could but it would take a lot of prep and legwork. Frankly it would be a lot easier to just use the textbook. And as much as I love the teacher's manual you could do without it. I know the text is a bit pricey but trust me it's worth it. This book is not your standard textbook. Read this excerpt from the introduction to get an idea of what I mean:

"From Sea to Shining Sea has been written using a pedagogy that differs markedly from that assumed by most modern textbooks. The conviction underlying this book is that history is, first and foremost, a story--an enjoyable story, a story filled with drama. We have written this book, therefore, as if we were writing a story or a series of stories. Our hope is that students, approaching history as a story, will learn to love history and will, thus, retain more historical knowledge than is normally the case with the more customary text style. "

God bless!

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MicheleQ
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Posted: Oct 02 2005 at 6:02pm | IP Logged Quote MicheleQ

Karen T wrote:
Have any of you used All Ye Lands? We've been on World history last year and this one. . .I'm curious about All Ye Lands.


Karen,

It's great! We like it a lot. Again, like From Sea to Shing Sea it's not your standard textbook.

Both books are beautifully done. They are filled with pictures and pleasing to the eye. The text is readable and enjoyable and they are solidly Catholic. My only wish is that the others in the series were done and available.

BTW, if you can swing it get the teacher's manuals too. We used both books for a while without them and it was fine but I got the teacher's manuals this year and was really glad I did because it saves me a lot of time with narrations and timeline information. It's all right there for me, I don't have to search the texts to find it.

God bless!



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Natalia
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Posted: Oct 02 2005 at 8:51pm | IP Logged Quote Natalia

Michele,
Could you tell me what is included in the TM? How does it save you time with narrations?

Natalia
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Mary G
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Posted: Oct 03 2005 at 6:29am | IP Logged Quote Mary G

MicheleQ wrote:
Mary G. wrote:
Would the TM be useful as a stand-alone -- in other words,could one just buy the TM and read-aloud to their students


No it wouldn't work as a read aloud, it doesn't have the stories in it.

Quote:
or use it as a resource for non-textbook learning?????


Well I guess you could but it would take a lot of prep and legwork. Frankly it would be a lot easier to just use the textbook. And as much as I love the teacher's manual you could do without it. I know the text is a bit pricey but trust me it's worth it. This book is not your standard textbook. Read this excerpt from the introduction to get an idea of what I mean:

"From Sea to Shining Sea has been written using a pedagogy that differs markedly from that assumed by most modern textbooks. The conviction underlying this book is that history is, first and foremost, a story--an enjoyable story, a story filled with drama. We have written this book, therefore, as if we were writing a story or a series of stories. Our hope is that students, approaching history as a story, will learn to love history and will, thus, retain more historical knowledge than is normally the case with the more customary text style. "

God bless!

Michele:

Thanks for the "review" -- sometimes I've spent the money on the TM just to find it's the text with added stuff -- very frustrating on a homeschool budget! I need to keep these in the back of my mind for my littles as they get into 3rd - 5th grades. (I'll budget for both the text and the TM )

Thanks again for the info -- this helps alot!

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Karen T
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Posted: Oct 03 2005 at 7:32am | IP Logged Quote Karen T

I was also wondering what the intended age ranges are for All Ye Lands. I see that it's in the CHC middle school plans (which I just ordered) but both the two "textbooks" I've tried so far (SOTW and The Old World and America - Furlong) seem rather young for a 12 yo IMO.
Do I really need it with the CHC plans, or do you think I'd be OK just using their timeline stuff and continuing with the books I've put together based on Reading Your Way Through History?
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Posted: Oct 03 2005 at 10:07am | IP Logged Quote Elizabeth

I started using All Ye Lands this year, with the CHC middle school plans. At first, I gave it to my sons to read alone, using the comprehension questions orally. They absolutely hated the book. We've never used textbooks and it's sort of funny: I was on the phone telling macBeth about the book (I happen to like it) and my 13 yos was in the background saying, "dry as dirt; absolutely dead; broad, not deep; not living; no stories to make it come alive; can't retain it." After we listened to him for a minute, it ocurred to me that somewhow this kid had picked up all the CM lingo and was spitting it back at me . Turns out he's been reading my book; a copy was left in the car the other day and he picked it up to pass the time.

For the second chapter, I read it aloud to them, stopping frequently to discuss as I went. In all honesty, I was having trouble staying awake. While I found the subject matter interesting, the prose did make me sleepy .

So...I'm combining AYL with the Bethlehem history library and the Vision books. We'll continue to read AYL aloud and the boys will read the living books and write narrations to add to their Book of Centuries.

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Posted: Oct 03 2005 at 10:55pm | IP Logged Quote guitarnan

We used From Sea to Shining Sea last year along with as much good literature as I could jam into the school year (Johnny Tremain was my son's favorite; he also liked Lincoln: A Photobiography). My only complaint about the book was that it ends in 1900. This year we're taking a similar approach, with a spine text and even more reading to bring it all to life (currently Fighting the Flying Circus, by Eddie Rickenbacker).

I didn't buy the TM. I've finally learned to buy math TM's so I don't have to do all the problems myself, but for history and science I am quite capable of creating activities and test materials on my own. We did most of the end-of-chapter activities, plus some timeline, art and writing projects not included in the book.

I'd planned all along to do U. S. history over two years; this is how I learned it in 7th and 8th grades (long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...) and we actually finished the entire history of the USA. It's very hard to do in one year. When you add in a LOT of living books, well...I figure it's going to give my son good practice for high school work. (He was stunned to discover that college history students read hundreds of pages per week, per class!)

I think the Catholic Textbook Project is long, long overdue. I hope that the books sell well, so that we can see other similar endeavors in various subject areas for middle school and high school students. We really need some good, solid, Catholic textbooks that are from our time, not from 1950, IMHO.


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Lisa R
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Posted: Oct 04 2005 at 5:30pm | IP Logged Quote Lisa R

Thanks everyone for you comments.

Elizabeth.....what is the Bethlehem History Library and Vision books?

Thanks!

Lisa

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Posted: Oct 04 2005 at 6:30pm | IP Logged Quote ALmom

I'm not Elizabeth, but the Bethlehem History Library are IMO great living books that happen to be very historically accurate - basically excellent historical fiction. A lot of their books also happen to be from a Catholic character's point of view so they are full of the faith. Vision Books is a series of Lives of the Saints that is being republished. Both the Bethlehem History Library books and the reprinted Vision books can be ordered through Ignatius Press. They are well worth having!

Janet
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Posted: Oct 04 2005 at 10:03pm | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

I'm using From Sea to Shining Sea this year, and I'll second (or third, or whatever motion we're on) the idea of supplementing with living books. I'm reading it aloud to my girls, discussing, and adding in literature. The St. Brendan story captured their interest at the outset, and they seem to like the book fairly well so far.

We've all been delighted to hear our 3 yo. repeatedly say, "Now, who was Eirik Gnupsson again?" Other times, she just looks up at me with smile and says, "Guuuh-NOOOOPSSon!" Such a delicious mouthful of sounds.

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Posted: Oct 05 2005 at 5:42pm | IP Logged Quote Karen T

ALmom wrote:
I'm not Elizabeth, but the Bethlehem History Library are IMO great living books that happen to be very historically accurate - basically excellent historical fiction. A lot of their books also happen to be from a Catholic character's point of view so they are full of the faith.
Janet


I just looked at Ignatius' site and they do have about 10 books listed under the Bethlehem list, but many do not seem to fall into what I would call historical fiction. Some are Regina Doman's (sp?) newer books for teens. Several did have some historical reference in the description, but is there a list somewhere that tells what time periods the historical ones fall into, and are there more than what's on the Ignatius site?
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Posted: Oct 05 2005 at 5:48pm | IP Logged Quote Elizabeth

Karen,
Here is the historical timeline at Bethlehem Books.Take some time to poke around the rest of the site too. Not a bad book in the bunch!

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Lisa R
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Posted: Oct 05 2005 at 6:16pm | IP Logged Quote Lisa R

Karen you beat me to it! I was just going to post that same question.

Thanks Elizabeth!

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Lisa R
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Posted: Oct 05 2005 at 8:34pm | IP Logged Quote Lisa R

The Bethlehem Books look wonderful. I can't wait to add those to our reading time. Also, I got my textbook and teacher's manual today for From Sea to Shining Sea and am so excited about these as well. This may be our best year yet!

Now if I could just RELAX about writing with BraveWriter! Baby steps, baby steps.....

Blessings,
Lisa

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