Veritas Press Self-Paced History Course Review & Giveaway

History is one of our absolute favorite subjects to study in our home. As a classically-eclectic family, we study history from a chronological perspective. We explore eras of history in cycles that we repeat at the grammar (elementary), dialectic (junior high), and rhetoric (high school) levels. This school year we are taking an exciting journey through history via the Veritas Press Self-Paced History Courses.

Veritas Press is a popular curriculum provider for classical educators, but their resources are suitable for history lovers of all educational methods and philosophies. They have unique history classes available as Parent-Taught, Self-Paced Online, and Scholar’s Academy Online courses.

Our eleven-year-old daughter loves to study history with the Veritas Press! She thoroughly enjoys the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation Self-Paced History course. Frequently, she asks to complete more than one lesson daily as they are so informative and intriguing. She often requests to complete her history lessons before moving on to her other subjects. Even my niece (3 years) loves to join and learn. The lessons are just simply amazing!

Five different levels of history studies are available.

Self-Paced History Courses:
•    Old Testament and Ancient Egypt
•    New Testament, Greece and Rome
•    Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation
•    Explorers to 1815
•    1815 to Present

You can visit the website to view sample lessons for each level. This is not your average history program. Prepare to enjoy the lessons right from the start!

Key Components of the Self-Paced History Lessons:
•    Includes 160 interactive lessons (30-50 minutes each)
•    Covers 32 important historical people or events
•    Engaging educational games
•    Costumed historical characters
•    Interesting videos
•    Geared for 2nd to 6th grades
•    Access to the online lessons for one year!

Although the lessons are geared towards the elementary grammar level, you can make adjustments to use these at junior high level if desired. We opted to purchase the corresponding history Flashcards (set of 32 cards) to further our weekly studies. Each flashcard lists a brief overview of the historical person or timeline event and resource recommendations for additional reading. You have the option of making your weekly studies as light or meaty as you want!

Our daughter has a great love of literature and we chose to purchase (and check out from the library) recommended books to go along with the studies of the period. These are optional materials to expand the Self-Paced History lessons. The courses themselves stand-alone as a sufficient study, but the additional materials allow for an even greater in-depth coverage of the material.

Optional Books to Cover for Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation:  (available for separate purchase)
•    Adventures of Robin Hood
•    Augustine the Farmer Boy
•    The Beggar`s Bible
•    Beowulf
•    Big John`s Secret
•    Fine Print
•    From the Mixed-Up Files
•    Ink on His Fingers
•    King Arthur and His Knights
•    The King`s Shadow
•    The Shakespeare Stealer
•    Son of Charlemagne
•    Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow
•    This was John Calvin
•    Thunderstorm in Church
•    Chanticleer and the Fox
•    Door in the Wall
•    Leonardo’s Horse
•    Joan of Arc: Warrior Saint
•    Martin Luther
•    Medieval Feast
•    Michelangelo
•    The Minstrel in the Tower
•    Robin Hood
•    Saint George and the Dragon
•    Comic Book Shakespeare: Macbeth

Many of these are so fascinating you will not be able to put them down! Your student can read these independently or you can use them for family read-alouds. As mentioned previously, these books are completely optional to the online courses. If your budget is limited, you can most likely find some of these at a well-stocked public library or you can skip purchasing. You can even choose to read a few books that sparks your student’s interest. This program is truly flexible for you to structure according to your own needs. The Self-Paced History lessons are not dependent upon the additional literature books.

Each Self-Paced History course is priced at $199.00 for one full year of online access to the lessons. Even though this is a higher-priced resource, the educational value is well-worth the investment. Our daughter enjoyed this program so much that she asked for us to purchase the next course so she can work through the summer months. We highly recommend these courses to anyone who loves to study history!

What is your favorite time period to study in history?

Publisher Description:
Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation students will work at their own pace covering 32 important events. Teaching is interactive—clever games, striking video footage with live actors, and even talking characters will keep the student engaged the entire year. This is so much fun that you’ll find it hard to pull your child away from the computer. Learning history chronologically has proven invaluable in the lives of many children. By memorizing names, dates, places and events, children gain a valuable tool for understanding how God is working today and what He has done during many past events. Furthermore, they are following classical methodology by memorizing this material which is presented in a variety of ways that makes the memory work quite enjoyable. We’ve heard countless examples of how students who used this curriculum were able to routinely contextualize more in-depth study in later years–and that is exactly what needs to happen. Knowing a chronological sequence or time line of history is a crucial part of anyone’s education. This program will do just that.

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