Friday, May 18, 2012

Heritage History (TOS Review)

Since I bought a Kindle last year, I have been on a hunt for quality public domain (free) books. There are quite a few available on the internet, but I have found that free versions may not include pictures and the formatting may not be well done.

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Heritage History has collected hundreds of classic public domain (pre-1923) history books, arranged them into collections, and enhanced these collections with study guides and maps. Heritage History has done the work of choosing books that are well worth reading and providing volumes that display well on e-readers. The added timelines, maps and study guide make these collections into curriculum.

We received the Young Readers collection to review. This collection includes 86 books!

The Young Readers collection is the introductory unit of the Heritage Classical Curriculum. It includes easy-to-read, introductory selections from many historical periods and provides a broad introduction to Western Culture. Specially featured are short stories from American, European, Ancient, and Biblical history. Perfect for grammar school students who are reading at the “chapter book” level and up.

Our Thoughts: This collection of books was a nice enhancement to our current study of Ancient Greece. Because most of the books at this level are in story form, they were enjoyable  for Emily to read, but gave her a deeper understanding of life in Sparta and Athens. We prefer a literature-based approach to history, so I like to have a large selection of historical novels and biographies available. These  books were written before 1923, so the language is old-fashioned and a bit more difficult to read, but this wasn’t much of a problem. The original illustrations added to our enjoyment in reading these classic stories. We will continue using these books to supplement our studies of other historical ages.  I think this collection is a great value and am considering purchasing more Heritage History collections.

The other curriculums available are:

  • Ancient Greece
  • Ancient Rome
  • British Middle Ages
  • British Empire

Each curriculum sells for $25. Also available are “classical libraries” which are book collections of other historical eras and locations. The “libraries” do not include study guides or additional learning resources.

To read more reviews of Heritage History, please visit the TOS Crew Blog.

5/5 stars

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Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free CD and study guide in order to write this review. All opinions are my own.

3 comments:

  1. You won one of my giveaways! Watch for an e-mail.

    I like your star rating system.

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  2. Did you receive a print study guide? What did you think of it? I reviewed British Middle Ages and I also received the print guide. I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase the Young Readers and if I want the print guide or just use the one on the CD.

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  3. Tess,
    I like the print study guide, but personally probably wouldn't pay extra for it. Some sections are probably the same as what you already have, and it would be easy to just print out what I needed. It includes timelines, character lists, book summaries, and an index of stories by time period. There are also accountability forms and general info about using Heritage History.

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