Resource Description
Mystery of History employs a classical (using rhetorical teaching techniques), chronological (instead of thematic) and Christian approach to teaching history. The Mystery of History is written from a Christian, young-earth, perspective, teaching children to see God's hand throughout history...and how the Gospel of Jesus is the mystery behind all of history. Written in a conversational style, many lessons are presented in the form of mini-biographies, integrating fascinating stories with the events of the time. Arranged by quarters and weeks, each quarter begins with an "Around the World" summary of events to introduce the time period; lessons progress chronologically with each week having 3 lessons, a pretest, review, and exercise or quiz. The 108 lessons will take a year to complete if you follow a traditional 36 week school year.
Activities are broken down by age group and reinforce the material just learned through fun ideas that engage all learning styles; they're based upon the classical grammar/logic/rhetoric stages. Review exercises cover the timeline and map work exercises; quizzes are cumulative reviews that go over material from the very beginning of the course; the semester-long tests are similar (though longer), covering materials from 2 quarters (one major time period). Quarter-end worksheets help students synthesize what they've learned and keep everyone straight! Suggested Schedules for different age groups are included, as well as plenty of reproducibles. Line-listed answers included. 636 pages, activity pages reproducible, softcover, three-hole-punched and perforated pages.
Website: Mystery of History (may contain affiliate links)
(21 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: initial prep
Grades Used: 2nd, 4th
This is the first year we are using Mystery of History and we are really enjoying Volume I. I LOVE that the author has woven in the Biblical history with secular history in chronological order. It is so fun for me to see where the Biblical events fit into secular history (something I never learned in my schooling!) And my kids love learning the Bible stories over and over again--they love that they know alot of the material already.
This curriculum is great for teaching different levels--the author even includes suggestions for activities for younger, middle, and older children. My 2nd and 4th graders both really enjoy this program and my preschooler also loves listening to the read alouds and doing some of the fun activities.
There is some initial prep work (making the timeline, etc) but it's not bad. This is actually a very easy program to use with all the information included in the manual. I do supplement with a few other resources plus the author includes a section in the back of recommended resources. I also like the maps and feel this is very helpful in teaching where many of the historical events took place. They now recognize many of these places on a globe or world map.
Cons: A lot of material
Grades Used: 4th and 7th
This is a fantastic course. I learned so much about history and so did my kids. I will say it has taken us more than 2 years to get through Volume 1. There is so much to do and we don't make history a priority. But you can choose how much you do and how fast you complete the study. It was fascinating to me to learn how the different civilizations fit into Bible times. I love the focus on Jesus as it is HIStory.
Each weekly unit starts out with a pretest and then 3 lessons and then a test. You can copy the tests. Also you are to do memory cards and then timeline each week. And each lesson has activities for different age groups. There are maps in the back which are used in some of the lessons, so you learn geography too.
Cons: Alot of reading out of the text-doesn't always work for little one
Grades Used: 1st and 3rd
We are first year homeschoolers. I was pretty excited to get Mystery of History because History is my favorite subject. I should mention that we bought the first version. There is a second version available and it claims to make the timeline directions easier to follow.
Maybe it's because we're first year homeschoolers, but I found this to be a little too overwhelming. Our kids are 4, 6, and 8. They just weren't interested in the beginning lessons, like Tubal and Jubal-Cain (hope I got that right). Also, we weren't able to buy any of the additional resources, like the books and videos. It's a long list, and the costs add up quickly. I never did figure out how to put together the timeline, but like I mentioned, the 2nd version claims to have simplified that.
I think Mystery of History has alot of interesting information, and kids can definitely learn alot from it. I recommend getting the extra resources if you can afford it. I might try it again when the kids are a little older.
Cons: may be a bit much for younger grades
Grades Used: 1,3,6
History was once a dreaded subject in our house. We were all bored by it. This was recommended to me by a friend, and I am so glad I took her advice. My kids love this program, which says it all. We enjoy the timeline, which was easy to make from the book instructions. The kids take turns quizzing each other with the memory cards. Mapping activities are too much for my 1st grader, but older siblings can help. I do love that it's chronological, and I can teach all 3 kids at the same time. We also purchase the optional lapbook downloads.
Cons: none
Grades Used: 3-9
We have used Mystery of History volumes 1-3 and loved them all. My children learned so much that I don't remember learning about when I was in school. The amazing part is how much of what they have learned from MOH they have retained. We have moved on to a difficult high school level curriculum now and they still amaze me with facts they learned from MOH. The timeline was great!
Cons: Some instructions can be confusing
Grades Used: 4, 6
This is our first year with Mystery of History and we absolutely love it! I love that it is easy to use without much prep work - and that I can teach both of my children at the same time. My kids love the different activities (we pick and choose) and we all love the time line. We put our time line on the wall and the kids make the pictures/info to add. I do think some of the instructions can be confusing, although I understand that the book has been updated and that issue was addressed in the update. I am not a person to follow textbook directions exactly anyway and so we make the "idea" work for our schooling. I would highly recommend this curriculum. I am excited to continue next year to the next volume.
Grades Used: K-6th
History is one of those subjects I tended to push aside as not being of the same weight and value as math and reading. However, I love to read Mystery of History to my kids. I want to know what happened next in time. I love gathering on the couch and sharing these stories with my children. We all enjoy the timeline work and many of the additional activities. The lessons can be over a young child's comprehension. I also wish the CD was mac compatible to save me the time of going to a copier.
Cons: after vol. one a bit much for young kids
Grades Used: 3, 2, K
We used Volume one in it's entirety and just a few weeks into Volume 2. We loved volume one and my young kids at the time (ages 8, 7, 5 and 4) followed along pretty well. We loved reading about our favorite Bible stories right alongside other world events. It really helped us to have a greater understanding of the Bible. Volume 2 just got too deep for my younger kids. I lost most of them. So, we abandoned MOH. However, in our second run-through of history I will pull it out again. I think this series would be perfect for a middle grade student!
Grades Used: Still using first book (for 2nd & 4th)
I really like this curriculum. I was looking for something that was chronological and incorporated biblical history into world history. I like that it is easily multi-level. All of this (& more) can be read about in the description (very accurate!). We're taking 2yrs to get thru (vs. 1), and we abandoned the memory cards fairly early on (my 4th grader really disliked doing them, so finally decided to stop pulling teeth and let her drop them (I do think they have great value and if we pull this out again for a repeat in 5 or so yrs I will have her do them then). We pick & choose the activities & have had lots of fun with some of these (we do the "Younger" & "Middle" student ones - my Kindergartner also listens in & participates sometimes) and haven't done much of the geography. Again, for older students this would be much more valuable. I love the ideas for the timeline & think my girls enjoy drawing them, & we put them in a timeline book I bought from Sonlight (but you could make your own, and she gives suggestions too). There *is* some prep work sometimes for quizzes, activities, but not too bad.
Oh, there are some details we've just come across that I feel area a bit much for my K (Assyrians - skinning people alive, & a couple other similar details - I just skip over that if my younger are listening in (this is a read aloud & sometimes I have the older 2 narrate).
Cons: some prep work involved with the crafts & timeline
Grades Used: 3, 7
My kids love to do Mystery of History! They've really enjoyed making the time-line figures & really learning more about the Bible and how it coincides with PS History. I love that too! Some lessons take longer to teach with my younger one as she doesn't always "get-it" at first.