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Connecting With History: World History from a Catholic Perspective

Publisher: RC History Author: Sony Romens Review last updated: July 2011

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Connecting With History is definitely one of my favorite options for Catholic families. It is a unit study designed for teaching children in grades K through 12 but at their own levels. It uses a classical education approach, focusing on the humanities and using real books with lots of reading and writing. I also appreciate that CWH follows an historical chronology.

In addition to complete coverage of history, CWH lessons might provide a major part of your language arts curriculum. Grammar and composition skills are not taught, but there is plenty of practice in the application of grammar and composition skills along with lots of reading and development of critical reading skills. While CWH is a Catholic-worldview based program, it is not a complete religion program. It will help children become very familiar with Scripture, Bible history, and Church history, and many activities are related to religion. But it does not attempt systematic coverage of topics such as the Mass and Sacraments.

The first three of a projected series of four volumes are available at this time. Connecting With History volumes are bound with a plastic spiral so that they will lie flat (or you may purchase a downloadable version that you will probably want to print and put into a binder). Each volume functions as an outline and teacher manual rather than a text, although Volumes 2 and 3 have added some "text" elements not present in the first volume.

CWH uses a six-step model for teaching that is explained at the beginning of Volume 1. Those beginning with Volume 2 really need the information and forms from the first volume, so the teaching guide from Volume 1 is available as a free download for those who purchase Volume 2 or 3.

I will describe Volume 1 then point out differences in Volume 2.

Volume 1: Old Testament and Ancient Cultures

by Sonya Romens and Andrea Chen

Volume 1 consists of one introductory unit (one week) and ten thematic units following. For each unit, there are about eight to ten pages that provide the following:

• Background reading suggestions for parents – About a half dozen such resources are listed at the beginning of the book, and parents are free to choose which one(s) they wish to use. One of the most important resources, although it is still optional, is a Bible timeline study course. CWH is structured around the time periods of The Great Adventure: A Journey through the Bible by Jeff Cavins. A teen version of The Great Adventure is titled T3: The Teen Timeline. This is a DVD or audio presentation (your choice) with study guide and timeline that does a marvelous job presenting the story of salvation history and familiarizing the audience with the layout of the Bible. Other background resources such as Making Sense Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did, You Can Understand the Bible, and Where We Got the Bible, provide parents with foundational knowledge that will make it easier to lead discussions and answer children’s questions. (Specific page numbers are given for each suggested background resource at the beginning of each unit.) Catechism references are also provided for parental preparation. While background reading is recommended, it is not a requirement. Parents can learn alongside their children as the family explores the books and resources together.
• Discussion prompts – a lengthy list of questions that should be used to spark discussion, to stimulate interest
• An overview – the brief background information contained in the book. You will probably want to preread this, then paraphrase ideas at a level your children can understand.
• Notebook activity – Children create their own notebooks including vocabulary words, timelines, maps, charts, and written assignments. Some copywork material is included in the book, primarily Scripture passages and poetry. This material should also be used for memory work.
• Exploration charts – charts break down specific assignments for beginning (K-3), grammar (4-6), dialectic (7-9), and rhetoric levels (10-12). Reading assignments are divided into three categories: Core texts, Basic Reading, and Additional Literature. Most essential is the reading from core books. Core books are from one to three books required for students at each of the four levels. For example, the grammar level requires Bible for Young Catholics and Ancient World (Usborne book) while the rhetoric level requires a Bible, You Can Understand the Bible, Genesis: The Book of Origins, and Exodus: Road to Freedom. Basic Reading assignments are from other books that expand the study as well as from Scott Hahn's Salvation History tape series (for rhetoric students). The books might be borrowed from the library or purchased. Examples of books used along with Volume 1 are Old Testament Days: An Activity Guide, Tut's Mummy Lost and Found, Science in Ancient Greece, Famous Men of Greece, Alexander the Great, Greek Lives (by Plutarch), and Mythology by Edith Hamilton. This is just a sampling of the many titles used! Additional literature options appropriate for each level are provided for each topical unit. Page or chapter assignments from these books are listed for each unit unless the entire book is to be read.

At the back of the book are eight forms that are used either for teacher planning or student "reporting."

An optional computer CD that covers both Volumes 1 and 2 has student timeline and report pages that you can print out. These are a real time saver, and they are likely to be more visually appealing than something you create on your own. Nevertheless, you (or your children) can create your own timeline pages or a larger timeline on your wall to use, and students may write reports on the computer or use some other format.

You will likely want to purchase the set of 114 timeline cards, printed as double-sided cards on heavy card stock. These are to be used with either a notebook or wall-mounted timeline. The timeline cards for the first volume are now also available as a downloadable file.

CWH lessons identify correlated maps from Blackline Maps of World History, a CD-ROM that you can purchase for use alongside this and other CWH volumes if you wish.

Volume 2: The Arrival of the King and His Kingdom

by Sonya Romens

Volume 2 covers the New Testament and the beginnings of the Church up to 1066 AD. It is a heftier volume than Volume 1 because of some significant additions. Built into this volume are quite a few novel discussion guides for books recommended for various levels of the program. The discussion guides (which have been used by permission from Hillside Education) include vocabulary lists, discussion questions, and activities/projects.

In addition to the discussion guides, one of the most significant improvements is that the project and writing ideas have been expanded, both in number as well as with far more explanation and suggestions.

Some core books from Volume 1 are also used with Volume 2. Among them are the Bible (in a version appropriate for each child) Ancient World, Famous Men of Rome, Bible History (by Johnson, Hannan, and Dominica), You Can Understand the Bible, Usborne Time Travelers: Viking Raiders, and Roman Lives (by Plutarch). Keep in mind that you will be using only those core books required for the level(s) at which your child(ren) will be working.

Among additional core books required for Volume 2 are 2000 Years of Christian History, Life of Our Lord for Children, Facts on Acts of the Apostles, Heroes of God's Church, and 57 Stories of Saints. You will also need to select a core history text. Titles for the various levels are: Founders of Freedom (beginning level), The Old World's Gifts to the New (grammar level), The Old World and America or Light to the Nations (logic level), and for the rhetoric level, either The Catholic Church: The First 2000 Years or History of the Church (from the Didache series).

CWH increasingly offers choices of core books since some of the excellent newer options (e.g., Didache series and Catholc Schools Textbook Project history texts) are much more expensive than some older resources. Many books from this level are also used with the third volume, so keep that in mind when deciding which books to purchase.

As with Volume 1, many other titles are on the list of "basic" books. Just a few examples are: How to be a Roman Soldier, City, Famous Men of the Middle Ages, Pompeii: Buried Alive, The Great Heresies, and Augustus Caesar's World.

There are only seven units in Volume 2, but they might take longer to complete than those in Volume 1.

Volume 3: World History through Catholic Principles

by Sonya Romens

This volume covers the 11th through 17th centuries of world history, reserving United States history for the next volume. There are eight units that should take from three to four weeks each to complete. World history focuses more on western civilization, the source of our Christian culture. It takes "side trips" to other cultures primarily through stories of explorers and saints.

Core books for this volumel for the Beginner level are Founders of Freedom, Once Upon a Time Saints and More Once Upon a Time Saints. For the Grammar level students use The Old World’s Gifts to the New and Heroes of God’s Church. Logic level students read 57 Stories of Saints plus your choice of either The Old World and America or Light to the Nations. The Rhetoric level uses One Hundred Saints plus your choice of either The Catholic Church the First 2000 Years or The History of the Church: A Complete Course (Scott Hahn, Didache series).

Summary

Each volume is likely to take most of a school year, depending upon how many of the suggestions you choose to use. For those unable to use all the recommended resources CWH has put together "Economy Packages" that include the most essential books. Some of the activities require extensive research or are projects that will take a while to complete. Younger students will almost certainly spend less time than older on both reading and projects.

CWH might require a significant amount of teacher preparation and presentation time, especially with yournger students. However, the methodology is excellent if you have the time to implement it. The narrower you keep the study, the fewer resources you will need, and the less preparation time it will require. However, you are likely to best meet the needs of your children and their various learning styles by using some of the more time-consuming projects and assignments.

The publisher's website, www.rchistory.com, features articles, and sample pages from the program and ancillary items as well as all the resources for CWH.

Purchasers of the program also gain free access to another website that has updates and additional resources that will enhance the program.

Volume 4 will cover both early and modern American History.

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