kristinannie
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| Posted: May 10 2011 at 2:45pm | IP Logged
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I was just wondering if Children's History of the World was appropriate for Catholics? I was thinking of using Story of the World, but have heard that after the first book (ancients), there are some problematic things for Catholics. In early elementary, I don't really want to have to read something and then explain our view.
I am doing Galloping the Globe for history for K with a lot of my own stuff. I am trying to plan ahead for 1st because I am probably going to try and go to one more convention to look at things. Thanks!
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stellamaris
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| Posted: May 11 2011 at 8:44am | IP Logged
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I think if you search for this title you might find quite a few posts on it here.
I have used A Child's History of the World several times over the course of our homeschooling journey.
Some of the features I like about this text:
Essential historical information given in each chapter
Written from a general Judeo-Christian worldview
Entertaining for younger readers, go for 3rd-5th grade
Provides an overview of the flow of history
Provides information on other world religions/cultures
Doesn't try to "convert" the reader
From a Catholic standpoint, few saints are covered, so you would probably want to supplement that a bit. The Spanish Inquisition is presented as an oppression of the Spanish government, and some details of grisly tortures are given (and, at the time this book was written, this was the state of knowledge about the Inquisition). It is clearly stated that the was only one Church (the Catholic Church) prior to the Reformation. The Reformation is presented as a quarrel between two factions, and no effort is given to justify one side or the other. I appreciate that in this case he sticks to the facts. He does make a somewhat mystifying statement that, "The people who protested against what the pope did were called protest-ants, and the new churches that grew from this protest are still called Protestant today. (my comment: OK, so far...) The time when these changes were made in the Catholic form of worship was called Re-form-ation, as the old religion was reformed." Kind of weird, since the correct term for the subsequent changes in the Catholic Church was the Counter-Reformation, with the Reformation being basically the Protestant Revolt.
Queen Elizabeth is positively portrayed; "Bloody Mary" is mentioned as being a strong Catholic and killing many Protestants; however, he does state, "This seems to us very unchristian, but in those days their ideas about such things were different." And also later says, "Elizabeth was a Protestant and was just as bitter against the Catholics as her sister and sister's husband had been against the Protestants."
Generally, the author tries to avoid any religious entanglements, even to the point of failing to mention that Cromwell and Charles I fought over both political and religious issues.
I feel that overall this book is a good, basic introduction to world history at an appropriate level for younger students that can be used by Catholics pretty much as is. Remember, you will cover this material again later on in more depth, refining your student's understanding of the religious aspect of history. As a Catholic, I would supplement it with information on the saints and specific Catholic history which is neglected in the book (e.g., the battle of Lepanto). One resource that might help you is Great Moments in Catholic History by Fr. Curran, which has black and white illustrations and short 1-2 page summaries of 100 important Catholic moments in history. Easy to read aloud or for a strong reader to read themselves.
Basically, Story of the World is the same idea, but more Protestant. Wouldn't it be great if there were a spine for Catholics similar to this? Something like "A Catholic Child's History of the World"?
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