This past year, we all really enjoyed studying Ancient History using RC History’s Connecting With History Volume 1: Creation to 63 B.C. We didn’t get to near as many hands-on projects this year as I would have liked, but we have all really enjoyed reading and discussing the recommended books! I just love that, with this program, we all work on the same time period together each year, based on a four year rotation and the Teacher’s Guide provides everything you need for Kindergarten through High School!!! (Each student has individual assignments based on their current grade level.)
We still have four more units to finish during the summer, but I went ahead and ordered Connecting With History Volume 2: The Arrival of the King and His Kingdom, which we will begin in the fall. Volume 2 consists of a total of 7 units, so I am hoping we can get through units 1-4 before the baby arrives in December, and then we will finish the remaining 3 next year.
“An in-depth study of the New Testament and Early Church history, this volume emphasizes the life and death of Christ as the central point of history and goes on to show the birth and spread of the Church as the Body of Christ, and its perseverance and growth through persecutions. The Church moves forward into the medieval period of history, spreading to new nations and replacing the Roman Empire with the Holy Roman Empire.”
Here is the list of books we will be using this year which are for the Beginner Level, Grades K-3:
Teacher’s Resources:
- Volume Two: The Arrival of the King and His Kingdom (63 B.C. – 1066 A.D.)
- Timeline Cards (63 B.C. – 1066 A.D.) – from RC History
- Report Pages and Blank Timelines – from RC History
- Blackline Maps of World History
Reading List:
- Spend the Day in Ancient Rome: Projects and Activities that Bring the Past to Life
- How to Be a Roman Soldier
- Mary My Mother
- Good Saint Joseph
- Jesus With Us: The Gift of the Eucharist
- The Miracles of Jesus
- The Parables of Jesus
- Pompeii…Buried Alive!
- St. Meinrad
- St. Paul Coloring Book
- Saint Peter the Apostle
- Apostles of Jesus
- Vikings: Dress, Eat, Write, and Play Just Like the Vikings (Hands-on History)
- We’re Riding on a Caravan
- Who Were the Vikings
Ancient Rome (Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times)
Supplemental:
- Christopher: The Holy Giant
- Good King Wenceslas
- Jesus
- Leif the Lucky
- Mary: The Mother of Jesus
- Just Like Mary
- Ancient Rome (Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times)
- Saint Patrick
- Saint Valentine
- Saint George and the Dragon
- The Holy Twins
- The Story of King Arthur
- The Sword in the Tree
A few of the core texts above are also used in the Grammar Level, Grades 4-6. Even tough Captain will be in 3rd grade, since we have already read many of the books on the K-3 list, I went ahead and ordered the books for the Grammar Level as well. We probably won’t use all of them this year, but they will be great to have in the future!
Reading List:
- Augustus Caesar’s World
- People of the Bible: Life and Customs
- City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction
- The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History
- St. Philomena (Coloring Book)
- Gladiator
- I Believe: The Nicene Creed
- Color Your Own Book of Kells (Coloring Books)
- Life in Celtic Times
- Step Into: the Viking World
Supplemental:
- Cleopatra
- Adventures of Saint Paul
- City of the Golden House
- Saint Benedict: The Story of the Father of the Western Monks
- The Man Who Never Died: The Life and Adventures of St. Peter, the First Pope
- Galen and the Gateway to Medicine
- The White Isle
- Brendan the Navigator
- Beorn the Proud
- Son of Charlemagne
- Beowulf
- D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths
- King Arthur: Tales from the Round Table
- The Blackbird’s Nest: Saint Kevin of Ireland
- Ben Hur (Radio Theatre)
The pictures do not reflect all of the listed books… More keep arriving each day, creating quite the exciting atmosphere in our home!! I am sure I could have borrowed some of these from the library, but I haven’t been doing the best with returning the books on time, and since I plan to use this program with all of my children I feel it is worth investing in these great books!
It should be another fun year!
dover publications is an awesome resource for the ancients too! that's what we did this year – wrapping it up w/rome!
That looks like such a fun program! Do you read most of the books aloud? I was trying to do history w/ my 2 youngest this year (1st & 4th) and reading took soooo long.
THank you for sharing! I am so excited b/c I am going to my first ever Catholic homeschool conference and now I know exactly what to look for ! PErfect timing! Thanks Jessica 🙂
God bless, Mary
I think it's a good investment. In fact, I was homeschooled and now I am asking my mom for some of our old school books!
Thanks Shelly! We did use a few Dover books this past year as well as some of their coloring books, stickers, and stencils!
Sara ~ It really is a GREAT program!! I was so thrilled to run across it last year! Yes, I do read quite a few of the books aloud, and sometimes I ask hubby to… Towards the end of the year my boys both started reading much better and I've been able to give them reading assignments. My long term plan is to read the k-3rd books aloud and assign my older children there reading from the appropriate reading lists.
Mary ~ Have a great time at your conference!!
Josette ~ I know what you mean! I love getting hand-me-down books from my mom too!
You are so wonderful! Thanks for sharing your ideas. When our son is old enough we look forward to following in some of the great footsteps you have left for us=) God bless your efforts!
We will begin year one of Connecting with History in August. I'm hoping to get in 3 units before the baby arrives, maybe even 4. I'm so looking forward to it! Your blog was the first place I read about it, so thanks!!!
Thanks so much for sharing your plans. We have six kids and we are planning on homeschooling next year for the first time. I love reading your blog. It really gives me the confidence to go forward with this. Your experience and insight is so helpful. I can't thank you enough. And please keep it up!!
Thanks, Jessica!
I have a question.
I just looked over the RCHistory web-site and found links for all the books for the program, but I didn't find anything to order for the parent who is teaching the class. Do they give you something to follow so you know what to actually do with the books? Thanks!
Oops! Nevermind…I found it!
Jodi ~ I am glad you found it!! I purchased Connecting With History Volume One and Two, as well as the Student Report Pages and Timeline Cards directly from St. George Books. However, most of the actual books used in the program came from Amazon (the links I used in my post) — some new and some used, since they were quite a bit cheaper that way. I hope that helps!
You are so thoughtful to share this with us. I appreciate the help. ;)This program is exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you for sharing this with us! I love living book curriculas!
Jessica,
We just purchased Connecting with History Vol. 1 I bought it after reading some of your older posts and it just sounded too good to not use! Luckily I bought it used from a friend who didn't care for it. We have already been doing Ancient Study using the Bible already so we will be able to start on Unit III. My question is how many days a week do you work on this with your kids? Mine are 2nd and K so I thought maybe 2x's a week with them. Thanks!!!
Cheryl
Cheryl ~ 2x's a week is all we get to here as well. I would love to do it more often, as the activities are endless, but at this time that is all we can manage. I keep reminding myself that we will have plenty of opportunities for expanding on what the children are learning when we revisit each time period. =)
Oh! I do assign more reading for my boys, which they can do whenever each week. (They choose to read in bed at night quite a bit…)
Thanks Jessica! I am glad you said 2'x a week too! I was feeling a little guilty that it is not as much as I would like to do. Thanks again, and do try to keep those contractions at bay!!!! I always am on bedrest too with everyone of my babies so I will pray that you won't be with this one!