When given the option of choosing which of the nine available history guides I wanted to use for this review, I was beyond excited! Reviewing a terrific history product from a fabulous company like TruthQuest was pretty terrific; add to that terrific-ness the fact that I got to pick which era in history I wanted to use was the icing on the cake!
After much deliberation, I chose TruthQuest History's guide to the Renaissance/Reformation/Exploration (1400-1600) . And for our family's little homeschool, I think it was the perfect choice!
Let me tell you a little bit about TruthQuest History - how the program works, what makes it unique, etc.
TruthQuest History makes it's history guides available in print or pdf form, which means that any and every homeschool can find an option that is perfect for their family's needs. The guides are literature-based history studies - which simply means they use solid literature, that's interesting and of the highest quality, to teach history. The guides are done in chronological order, from Creation to 2000 A.D. A homeschool family could purchase a guide to pick up where they left off in their study of God's work in our world (which is really the only reason to study history, after all). Or you could purchase the first guide and begin to learn about God's purposes in history beginning with Creation!
History is taught as "God's initiation and our response" with TruthQuest, and I have found this to be a unique and thorough way to study the 1400's through the 1600's. All of my children have been using this resource, and all of my children have learned a TON with TruthQuest. Here is how we use TruthQuest History in our homeschool: we jumped right in and started with the early 1400's by studying John Wycliffe and Jan Hus. First we read the section from the TruthQuest guide about Wycliffe and Hus, and then we began to read some of the recommended books about these men. With such a terrific list of book options included in these guides, we were able to pick and choose which ones we wanted to read. Some titles we owned, others we borrowed from our local public library, and other could be found on Amazon.com. I should note that there were some titles we were not able to find; however, with such a wide selection it didn't hinder us in our studies.)
After we've finished studying about one group of people or era in time, we would move on to the next topic in the guide. There are fun ideas of projects too, like starting a family newspaper, using lapbooks, creating timelines, art projects, and more. Sometimes we would use these ideas, but primarily we focused on reading the great books. We haven't begun to dig into the wealth of information in TruthQuest History, and we have done quite a lot!
My family's personal options for reading material may not be the same as yours, so be sure to follow the Lord's leading for your family and skip topics or subject matter as you deem best. Pick and choose from the vast array of book options, implement writing assignments and maybe even watch a movie about a topic for a change! As for testing, you could have older children "create" a quiz for younger learners, or have each child give a presentation on a topic they have studied. History is about more than memorizing dates, so be sure to keep it central in your family's homeschool as God's story.
Using the guide for the Renaissance/Reformation/Exploration (1400-1600) era, we have learned about (or will be learning about!) John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Thomas a'Kempis, Rogier van der Weyden, Dante, Donatello, Henry the Navigator, Florence, Johann Gutenberg, the War of the Roses, Henry Tudor, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, the Battle of Granada, the Spanish Inquisition, Vascode Gama, Amerigo Vespucci, Ponce de Leon, Erasmus, Martin Luther, the Ottoman Empire, Herman Cortez, the Aztec Indian, the Auca Indians, Hernando DeSoto, Henry VIII, the Anabaptists, Copernicus, Ivan the Terrible, the Council of Trent, the Huguenots, Sir Francis Drake, Johannes Kepler and a whole lot more!! As you can surmise from this list, TruthQuest History delivers in content and quality. It's a tremendous value the price (which range from $24.95-$34.95 for print editions or $19.95-$29.95 for pdf editions).
To learn more, or to make a purchase, visit www.TruthQuestHistory.com
The TOS Crew were able to review all of the guides, so if you are looking for information about a specific era in history read the other reviews click HERE.
Disclaimer: As always, I received this product free of charge for review purposes. Opinions shared here are solely my own.
Keep God's story central to your study of history and you will be amazed at how your faith in Him will grow!
Day 172 done :)
Jan L. Burt
www.HomeschoolingMothersBibleStudy.com
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