History's Masterminds by Trisms is a one of a kind history curriculum. It is research based curriculum that gives a broad overview of world history. You child will learn to research different characters, inventions, scientists, and ideas from the past to the present. It helps your child work towards learning indepently and yet, offers clear worksheets, tests, and quizzes to help you know that they are getting things done!
I will be honest. I hate standing over my kids directing every little thing they do in school. I despise it with a passion. If I am going to micromanage them, I would rather it not be with their school stuff. (I do not make the same assertions when it comes to unloading the dishwasher, however. I have to know where they put the can opener!)
With this curriculum, you have a book that has the lesson plan, all the helps, and most importantly, the answer keys. The student has a book that has all of the lessons he will need to do, laid out in a weekly format. This would be a good time to mention that the curriculum can be used in one year or can go as long as 2 years, which is my plan. They just look at the lesson plan for they day and do what it says. If you use IEW, it also incorporates IEW in the curriculum as well!
My favorite thing about this curriculum is that doesn't tell your kid what to think or believe, but teaches them how to find out what they think and believe. I really like that it is not "preachy" and that there has not been anything that I have had to correct because of differing religious beliefs but at the same time it doesn't come across as a "secular" curriculum either. It strikes a very good balance.
This curriculum can be adjusted to meet the needs of a child who has learning difficulties, like my daughter. She has ADHD and can have trouble staying on task. Luckily, the format of History's Masterminds is very clear in what she is supposed to do each day. The lesson pages seem kind of cluttered at first glance, mostly because it has the whole week on 2 facing pages, and that threw her for a loop in the beginning, but she quickly overcame that and is able to follow the daily guide.
So, this is what her day looks like with this curriculum.
She opens the student book. She finds the day of the week she is on. Let's say it is a Tuesday. Tuesday's heading says she has to Locate and read background information on Ancient Greece, locate Greece on a globe, define city-state, citizens, democracy, and barbarians. She also has to mark map 1 and do the Explorer questionnaire on Hanno. Follow along the day to the Language Arts section and she will see that she will be studying poetry without rhyme and doing Language lesson 1b.
Because she is still learning how to research and find information, I have taken the liberty of pulling all the books I have on Ancient Greece and put them on a shelf. I have also looked over the lessons for the week and pulled out all the map, questionnaires and worksheets she is going to have to complete and put them in her folder. Because of her ADHD, she tends to trend toward severe disorganization, so I even go a step further and write the day that each item pertains to across the top of the page. That is all the prep work I do. It takes a very few minutes and my goal is to eventually have her do all of that work and then I will just check for completion.
You can see a sample lesson here, but it makes it look a bit more complicated than it is. :)
I am afraid my review will not do this curriculum justice. On the Trisms website, there are names and phone numbers of some REALLY helpful women that will give you real live answers!
This is an awesome middle school history curriculum!
We are going to have a flash give away on this! If you would like to get this curriculum, simply go like our Facebook page! We will be drawing the winners from there! Winner will be drawn tomorrow!
If you do not have a need for this curriculum, then I will offer a $50 Amazon gift card in lieu of it.
You can enter the giveaway here!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
2 comments:
I have been eyeing this curriculum but had no idea how to make it work for my ADHHHHHD boy. I've got a better idea thanks to your review. :)
Peggy!!! It is amazing! It is on sale until the 14th of the month. They do have an older version, but the newer one is arranged so much better, that it would be much simpler for your child to work with! It also really encourages independence!!
Post a Comment