Monday, January 10, 2011

TOS Crew: Easy Classical

We were given a copy of  Easy Classical's Early Modern History Schedule for review for the TOS Crew.  This history schedule is available either in notebook form or for download.  We viewed the downloaded version for the review.

We did not actually use this history schedule but I have reviewed everything well enough to explain to you what I like and don't as well as how I would use it.  The Early Modern History Schedule uses a classical approach to learning.


The Early Modern History Schedule covers from Explorers to 1815 and can be taught to students in grades K -6th.   This is a very much like a teachers manual, it guides you through the school year using several other books.  This schedule is by no means a complete history curriculum.

After downloading the curriculum and reading the included instruction sheet I saw that the author, Sandra Williams, recommends reading the Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer.  The sections that she specifically mentions are those on the Grammar Stage and the How to Do It, as these will help you to set up notebooks for your children for the school year. 

I appreciate that Sandra seems to be very realistic and tells you up front that you will NOT be able to complete every thing on the schedule and that it is OK.  I don't know about you but that really puts me at ease and helps me to not beat myself up when I have not checked off every little thing.  Thanks Sandra!

She goes further to explain that this year is "jammed packed with a variety of projects, and lessons" and to feel free to pick and choose what works best for your family. Another sigh of relief!  Hands on projects are wonderful, kids usually LOVE them and they seem to seal the deal as far as helping children remember what they have just learned.  I always thinks hands on projects are a great compliment to any study. This is schedule incorporates several of the History Pockets into the lessons.  You can view a sample lesson HERE.

There are 36 weeks of lessons included in this schedule along with 45 pages of charts, sheets, and helps.  Weekly lessons also include review questions, quizzes, a shopping list for the following week and detailed instructions on how to use the schedules and the books that accompany it.

This schedule is right up my alley and very similar to what we are already doing.  I really love to have a guide and then several books to pull information from.  I love to use a mix of reference type books, historical fictions and reference books that have a story like tone to them.

Just to give you a better idea, here are the books that would be used with this schedule (purchased separately):


Veritas Press Explorers
Story of the World Vol. 2
Story of the World Vol. 3
Story of the 13 Colonies
Story of the Great Republic
History of US: First Americans
History of US: 13 Colonies
History of US: From Colonies to County
History of US: New Nations


You can purchase your own copy of Easy Classical's Early Modern History Schedule, either for download for $29.95 or in notebook form for $35.95.

Easy Classical also offers full curriculum's for grades K-6th, science schedule as well as other history schedules, which can be viewed on the Easy Classical website.

To see what other TOS Crew members are saying about Easy Classical please click HERE.

Please note that we received Easy Classical's Early Modern History Schedule free of charge for review purposes, but this did not influence my opinions of this product.

1 comments:

PrettyGirlInAPlaceLikeThis said...

That sounds like something I should check out! We already use Story of the World, and I would love to add more! Thanks for sharing!

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