Heritage History Young Readers Curriculum–A Review

There are many ways to study history- from textbooks  that feed children bites of information and facts  to original documents and everything in between.  Reading living books that put our family in the time period is what works at my house.  When Heritage History offered to let our family review their Young Readers Curriculum, which focuses on the use of living books in electronic format for computer, Kindle, and other e-readers, or to print yourself, we were happy to accept.When our package arrived we found a packet of papers already hole punched called the Study Guide (to place into a binder) and a CD with the Young Reader’s Library – more than 80 books in digital format.  Technically, the Study Guide is on the CD, making a printed version optional.  The CD holds several file formats for each book enabling us to add each book to any and all of our e-reading devices (computers, laptops, IPod Touch, Kindle) or to print them. 

The Study Guide has the following sections:  

• The Young Readers Teachers’ Guide – This explains the contents of the Young Readers Library, the philosophy behind the Heritage program, historical divisions of books, timeline overviews, and more.
• Accountability Forms – A few different forms for keeping track of what your children read each week, or what you read to them.
• The Curriculum User Guide – Explains the entire Heritage Curriculum from the earliest ages through high school, what you’ll find in study guides for older ages, and recommended course sequences.
• The Electronic Text User Guide – This covers e-readers, how to get the books from the CD onto your e-reader, or how to print out the library and bind it if that is your desire, along with copyright information.

The Young Readers course is organized around five categories:

1. American History
2. European History
3. Ancient History
4. Bible Stories
5. Legends and Folklore

Unlike the older student courses, which focus on one civilization per course, young readers are encouraged to begin their acquaintance with characters and civilizations across time.  The recommended plan is to read one or more books from each category during your study, and with over 80 books you can continue this exploration of history for several years!  The books in the Young Readers Library were all written by children’s authors who loved their subjects and wrote for children – making the books interesting and engaging.

While good readers can work independently and narrate to their parent about what they read, the books also work well as read-alouds.  That is the direction our family went for the review period, though I also read some of the books on my own to get a broader view of the contents.  We’re using our Kindle to read the books.

One key feature I loved on the CD library was a summary of each book and each series.  I actually printed these out and added them to my binder, divided by category.  The title of a book does not always give you a great idea of its contents, but a summary does.  As I wanted to fit our reading in with our existing history studies this was priceless.  I’ll share just a few examples of what we’ve read so far.From the European History section we are currently reading The Story of Captain Cook by John Lang.  Looking in the Teacher’s Guide I was able to see that this book, if printed, would take 34 sheets of paper, which makes a story just under 70 pages long.  All of my children are enjoying this biography because it is written with children in mind.  It begins by introducing us to James Cook as a boy, taking us through his early life and learning before we discover the man he was to become.  In the Ancient History category we couldn’t resist reading Milo Winter’s Aesop for Children.  Being familiar with several of Aesop’s fables, my children were delighted to discover new-to-them fables that included illustrations from the original book.  The fables are also a short and easy read to slip into our day, which was fun.

Having just finished our study of Vikings when the Young Readers Curriculum arrived at our house, we took a few days to read portions from several related titles.  My 10 year old Makayla especially enjoys biographies.  There were times when we would read about someone in our regular history curriculum and she would ask if I had any more books about them.  Often, thanks to Heritage History, I did. 

Final Thoughts

I really think that for the price you can’t really beat Heritage History’s Young Readers curriculum as a choice to start out a child’s first acquaintance with history!  If you’re willing to forgo buying a printed version of the Study Guide (since it is on the CD already) you will only spend $24.99 for 86 books.  Those books will give you enough material to last well over a year if you’re following Charlotte Mason’s guidelines to read and savor each living book, giving your child time to live in the story. 

I love that it is all centered around stories!  There is not a better way for a young child to connect with the facts of history than to have it pulled together into a story.  The books included are well-written and we’ve enjoyed every one we’ve read so far. 

If you’re wanting a gentle history curriculum for your young readers or wanting a library of quality living books check out Heritage History!

{Disclaimer: I received this product free to review.  I was not required to write a positive review, I just really like it.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}