The end of history

It’s a big day. We finished history today.
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Four years and three months ago, my friend Kristen and I gathered our kids together to start a homeschool history program called The Story of the World.

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(our very first class back in ’07–The Excavation)

We know many people who have started this four-volume series, but very few who have finished in close to four years. That is partly because each of the four volumes has about 42 chapters in it, meaning we often had to  keep going into the summer to finish up a volume.

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Who wants to tell them we’ll be doing history in July?

Last year, when our family joined the virtual public school in Massachusetts, we thought our days doing history together were over. But, that was just an interruption: As soon as I quit the virtual school, we went back to meeting weekly.

We have been so fortunate to have this relationship since it has kept us both accountable. It was hard to say, “let’s take this week off”, when I knew our friends would be reading the chapter in anticipation of our weekly meeting.

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Yes, this is history.
Now you may wonder, what do the kids remember from four years ago? If you are paying attention, you’ll notice that my son D isn’t even in these early photos because he was so young when we started. Even now, as we finish, he is just in his first months of first grade. But, I believe that for the older kids, we’ve laid down a strong foundation and an interest in history.

No, they may not remember every detail, but they will recall the big events. And when they encounter it again, I hope it’ll jog their memory, much like it did mine as I read about the journeys of Marco Polo, the history of the Korean War, and even the Fall of Rome.

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Except for this—no one will remember this.

In a couple of weeks, we’ll start history again, but this time, we’re spending two years studying U.S. History in depth so that we can delve into the big events.

I don’t know what it’ll be like to only focus on a single country instead of traveling the globe every week, but I do know one thing:

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I’ll have these five along for the ride.

Comments

  1. Loved seeing all the photos of them throughout the years! What a great accomplishment and it looks like they had so much fun learning at the same time!!

  2. Oh, I may put this series on my Christmas list. I hated, HATED history. But that's probably because it didn't involve paper hats and playmobil conquests.

    Congratulations!

  3. Okay, I'm actually in tears here! Thanks for the great post! I think doing history as one long story has given them a great perspective on things. It is also easier to "get" current events when you understand the stuff leading up to them (sort of anyway). I think their all time favorite was medieval times because of all the fun weaponry!

  4. I love this and pray that my friend and I stick together for four years plus, too, as we explore history together. So awesome!
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