I don’t know if you do this, but I have occasionally bought a curriculum with every intention of using it to it’s maximum potential, only to shelve after a few weeks because of time and energy constraints.
Shortly after beginning to home school six years ago, we moved my in-laws up from FL, moved everyone to a new house and then proceeded to help with a church plant and have 2 more babies in the space of a few years. Needless to say, I quickly found myself in survival mode, focusing on reading, writing and math.
Other peripheral subjects like science and history fell by the wayside and were sporadic at best. The sad thing is, I love those subjects and enjoy teaching them! I also believe they are important and often help foster a child’s love of learning.
Mystery of History – A Review
The Mystery of History by Linda Lacour Hobar was one of those things I bought, started and petered out on. Not because it wasn’t great, but because I just didn’t know where to fit it in.
This year when I was trying to decide on a history curriculum, I was debating several, when I remembered MOH and thought, hmmp, why not try it again.
What is MOH?
I needed something that was:
Cheap: check! I already owned the book (1st edition). Even if I hadn’t, it is quite affordable for a year of curriculum.
Multi-level: check! There are three levels which work perfectly for my 3rd, 5th and 7th graders. The levels are broken down as younger (k-3rd), middle (4th-8th), and older (high school). You can adjust it according to your child’s abilities and interests.
Taught with a biblical worldview: check! MOH incorporates Bible history with secular history seamlessly, while addressing a worldview, so that students are prepared for varying viewpoints they might encounter.
Linear timeline: check! Mystery of History starts with creation and progresses all the way to modern day over 4 volumes. We have covered various historical periods, including a year-long unit on states and US history last year. I really wanted the kids to get an overall view of history.
Audio CD’s for listening in the car: check! I was looking at using Story of the World’s audio CD’s to listen to in the car when we are picking up the oldest twice a week. I was thrilled to find out MOH had added it’s own, which follows the book exactly. It’s available for purchase of the whole year or there’s MP3 downloads for a quarter at a time, which was easier on the budget for us.
Visual time line: check! At the end of each week, the author gives you a list of figures that you and the kids can draw and place on the time line. We actually have most of the figures from our KONOS curriculum and we just add as needed. Or you can purchase a set on the Mystery of History site. The author has a great tip for making a time line that can be hung on the wall and then folded and put away using a sewing board. We never hung our KONOS time line because it required so much wall space, but it was something I always wanted to do because it’s such a great visual of where people fit in history.
Since Mystery of History ticked all the boxes, it was a no-brainer. After visiting their site to find the audio material, I stumbled on some bonuses they had added since I originally purchased mine:
Folderbook material : Available to purchase a quarter at a time is everything you need to make a fabulous folderbook (lapbook) perfect for older kids. I had intended to use this for the 3rd and 5th graders only, but the 7th grader loves artistic activities so much, she does it as well. It’s great for reinforcing material and gives the kids a visual of all they have learned.
Coloring pages: These may sound a little young for my age groups, but these are actually beautifully drawn illustrations for each week of the curriculum. We use these in the car and the kids color them while listening to the lessons. Then we display them in art frames for the next week. At the end of the year, I’ll bind them all together to make a finished book for each child. Even the 2 and 4-year-olds join in the coloring.
Companion CD with printables: All of the maps, pretests, quizzes, etc. are available on the companion CD for easy printing.
There’s several other add-ons available in the Mystery of History store. You can tailor the resources to your home school’s needs and only purchase what you want.
How Mystery of History works for us: Twice a week when we pick up my high-schooler from classes we listen to all three lessons for the week in the van. We keep a bag with folders, colored pencils and the current week’s picture ready for action. The lessons are only about 5-7 minutes a piece, and by listening to them twice a week, they retain more. They color the illustrations while listening and then we talk about the material.
During the week, I put folderbook items and any worksheets in their workboxes. I also check out related books from the library and pull out books from our collection for them to read during the week.
On Friday, when we have a break from afternoon science, we’ll do any of the extra activities, like maps and timeline figures together, as well as any quizzes. To this point, it has worked beautifully and we are all enjoying it, so it’s no mystery why I love this curriculum!
==)) Head Over to The Mystery Of History to Purchase One for Your Homeschool! ((==
More MOH Reviews here at TCC
- The Mystery of History by Shannon
- The Mystery of History Vol. III by Richele
- Review of Mystery of History Vol. 4 by Kyle McVay
I am using more resources this year with MOH2 and I am loving the coloring pages for Vol. 2. I love that MOH works without all of the extras, but gets even better when you use them.
I absolutely love all your practical applications using MOH. These could be adapted for any curriculum!
Wow, you really did an amazing job. Love everything you did. We did MOH1 & 2 last year in a co-op. I blogged about it here: http://www.paceathome.com/content.php?221-Powerline-Community-Church-World-History-I-Co-op-The-Mystery-of-History
Hello! Where did you get your timeline figures? They look more little kid friendly than what I have been able to find online-I looked at Konos and have not been able to locate. Did you get the folderbook instructions/materials from MOH? Thank you so much for your help.
I forgot to check the boxes to be notified!
Hi, Dina!
I did purchase some of my characters from Konos and some were given to me, which was a real blessing since they are a little pricey. Here is a link to them in the Konos store. http://www.konos.com/products/timelinechar.htm
There are several options and packages. Also, I would suggest swap boards and used curriculum sites, as I have seen them on there as well, and you can save a little. We have enjoyed drawing those that aren’t in the set as well. A friend of mine has made that part of their art time once a week and they make slightly larger than normal ‘postage stamps’ to commemorate each event or person.
Since I wrote this, we have been hanging our figures using tacks on strips of cork I found at the office supply store. Very simple and versatile.
The folderbooks are on the MOH site. I believe you can order them a quarter at a time.
Hope that helps! Feel free to ask any additional questions.
I am glad I stumbled upon this post. I was thinking about starting my daughter on Mystery of History next year. Thanks for the tips.
Thank you soooo much for posting this.. I was stressing out because I really want to do MOH but couldn’t figure out the timeline, it seems so big and I don’t have much space left, and I happened to have Konos timeline with the figures and I had forgotten about them until I saw your post. I don’t know if you still have it, but do you mind sending me a pic of the entire timeline?
Enma
I am looking at doing MOH with our 3 elementary children this year. The biggest hurdle is knowing how to schedule it. I planned to span it over the 5 day school week, but you mentioned that the lessons are only 5-7 minutes each… and someone else commented that they did Vol. 1 AND 2 in one year… I was going to call MOH and ask this question, but when I found your review, I figured it would hurt to ask if there’s anything you could add to advise on how to work it into our normal school hours/week.
I think doing 2 volumes in one year would be way too much, especially for elementary ages. It is structured as 5-days-per-week curriculum. Every week includes 3 lessons (1-2 pages of reading), one day of map work and one day of timeline and review (quiz or a different activity). Every lesson has suggested activities, plus you end up working on the timeline and creating review cards, so i would say it has plenty to do, much more than 5-7 minutes a day. Some weeks we had to combine map work and review, and it was ok, but i wouldn’t want to combine actual lessons to avoid overwhelming the student with information. The appendix also includes list of suggested reading books if you’d like to add some period learning. I think it’s easy to start your day with it with all of your students together, and then each can move on to their own activities, if necessary.