History

I came across this little gem of a story from the 19th century while visiting the Paidea Classics website. This is a website with resources for Eastern Orthodox home schooling families. If you are studying the time period of the early Church you will find a lot of primary sources and resources there.

Exiles of the Cebenna was originally written in the 19th century and pretends to be the long lost journal of a priest from the 3rd century. The language is delightful and the story very moving. It takes place at the time of the persecution by Decius, a particularly brutal time of martyrdom. The people of Arles, France have been told that they must appear at the arena to give sacrifice to the Roman gods. If they refuse, they will be tortured and killed. A small group of Christians under the leadership of the priest telling the story plan an escape through a secret tunnel. The Bishop however, must stay behind.

On the day of his appointed appearance, the Bishop quails under the torture and makes the sacrifice. He is utterly devastated that he could not bear witness to his faith and has failed his people. Hearing of this, his daughter who was one of the escapees, tries to return to see her father and comfort him. Since the tortures, the people and officials are subdued by the horrific spectacle, and the Christians feel that it is now safe to travel in the open. They are recognized however and taken to the prison. The daughter is told that she must sacrifice. She refuses, and in the most moving scene in the book begins her torture. Her life is spared at the last moment, but she does eventually die from her wounds. Her death indeed helps her father to proclaim his faith, and, according to the epilogue, he is also eventually martyred.

Although, a student may have trouble getting into the language of the story at first, it does become more readable and draws the reader in. The ending is worth every word of the rest of the book. It gives a truly inspiring image of the trials and glory of the martyrs.

Recommended for 7th grade and up.

This is a fun and colorful book of cut-out paper dolls that you assemble with small brads or brass fasteners (available from an office supply store), allowing the arms and legs to be moved and posed.
The book is printed on heavy cardstock (with perforated pages for easy removal) and there are two copies of each paper doll – one in full color and one ready to be colored.

There are 20 historical figures included, making a total of 40 paper dolls. These are the historical figures represented: Narmer, Khufu, Sargon the Great, Hammurabi, Moses, King David, Ashurbanipal, Nebuchadnezzar II, Cyrus the Great, A Greek Hoplite, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Qin Shi Huangdi, Hannibal, Hannibal’s Elephant (a great favorite among my younger children!), Julius Caesar, Caesar Augustus, Jesus, Constantine and Augustine.

My children are very much enjoying working with this book and even my eight year old was successful at cutting the pieces out and assembling them herself. Having two copies of each doll made it especially enjoyable to share among four children and I really appreciate that they have the name of each character printed on the back of the doll, so you don’t have to worry about keeping track.

The book also includes a very brief, even cryptic biography of each historical figure. Just enough information to help get the names straight.

Our first year of homeschooling we used a dry textbook for American history. Well, we didn't really use it - we put it off as much as possible and the year passed with only the first few chapters read.

Our second year of homeschooling, we discovered Greenleaf's Famous Men series (through enrolling in the Kolbe Academy Home Study program). What a difference! It was our first exposure to literature-based history study, and the idea of studying time periods through "real books" was a formative one in our homeschool.

Famous Men of Rome was written very early in the 20th century and revised by Rob Shearer of Greenleaf Press. Its operating principle is that history is not primarily about dates and facts; it is about the lives and actions of people. Consequently, it is divided into a series of "Lives", chronologically arranged, simply and memorably telling of the lives and choices of leaders and great men in the history of Rome.

There are thirty chapters in the book, starting with Rome's origin according to legend: the story of Romulus and Remus and their upbringing by a wolf, which became the symbol of Rome's self-identity in its later years. The rest of the book focuses on one historical "famous man" per chapter, with approximate dates of their lives. The stories are told as tales of virtue and vice and how individual actions and characters can affect history, not as dry collections of historical facts to memorize. My highschooler still remembers, from fifth grade, Horatio at the bridge and Cicero ending every speech to the Senate with "And Carthage must be destroyed!" The chronological range of the book is from 753 BC, the estimated founding of Rome, to 476 AD, the end of the Western Empire as Italy became a barbarian kingdom under the rein of Odoacer.

Though the stories in Famous Men of Rome are almost always very interesting, the writing style is quite simple. This might be a drawback to some families who prefer a more literary, complex style. But it does mean that an average 5th grader can read with comprehension and focus on content and meaning. Another possible criticism might be that taken by themselves, the Lives give a sort of scattershot perspective of the course of history - like a slideshow compared to a video. However, in my view the biographical presentation gives history more meaning and interest, and also allows us to compare and contrast the characters of these great men and see how their actions influenced their times.

The book is probably targeted to a third to seventh grade level. It makes an excellent read aloud, but can also be read independently. Kolbe Academy uses it for the history spine in fourth grade. An older student could read the book as an informative supplement to primary source reading in junior high to high school.

This is a sweet, but challenging story about a 16 year old girl from pro-Confederate Maryland who marries a Union soldier from Connecticut just after the Civil War. The story presents the conflicts of hard feelings and the need for healing between North and South in the context of family relationships. It seems quite unusual as stories usually lead up to an unknown "happily ever after." Here, the emphasis is on this young bride's married life. Cultural and religious differences as well as bitterness from the war make life quite difficult for this young bride living with her husband on his parents' farm. The story makes an interesting backdrop to consider ideas about developing relationships, the give-and-take necessary in marriage and the idea of love and commitment. Appropriate for ages 12 and up.