Curiosity Chronicles Review

[@howweschool]

While doing all my US History videos I’ve mentioned Curiosity Chronicles several times and thought I need to make a video on it! Now I don’t feel rushed to do one because this is such a great video and covers a lot of what we love about CC! We haven’t started modern even though we’re doing US history but our plan was to start it this month as we’ve really been missing the world view on history and after watching this I’m even more excited to start it!

[@michellegf]

I’ve been loving your U.S. History videos. We plan on doing US History next year, so they’ve been super helpful! I hope you get a chance to make a dedicated video. I would love to hear your take on CC.

[@atypicalamy]

Question for you given your experience using both Curiosity Chronicles and Core Knowledge curricula. I know you haven't mentioned using CK history/geography, but knowing how CK generally works, and having used CC, what age/grade would you suggest starting CC? I ask because I've read that CC can be a lot for some kids, so I'm considering using CK for my upcoming first grader and Pre-K/Kindergartener before starting CC Ancients (which I already purchased thinking we'd use it next year). We've been struggling through Sonlight/Bookshark level K history this year and I'm finally scrapping it because my Kindergartner could care less about any of the history and most of the read alouds. I've chosen two of the CK level K history units to finish out our year to give it a try. Your insights are always great, so any perspective you have is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[@michellegf]

I have used CK geography K -3rd levels. I’ve never used CC Ancients but according to CC website it’s aimed at kids 1-3rd. www.curiositychronicles.org/faqs Based on my experience I would start with CK and do Ancients the following year. The readers in CK are written at age appropriate levels for the grades, so the information is not overwhelming but still contextually rich.

[@alpinegirl]

As a homeschooler with a faith background who doesn't live in the US, I find that many Christian curricula lean heavily towards a very specific angle that doesn't reflect what I want to teach my child. So I'm excited to hear about Curiosity Chronicles. It sounds like it checks just about all of the boxes on my wish list. I'm also thrilled that it teaches about religion, because as you said, world history was heavily influenced by world religions, so any curriculum that doesn't dive into this is not comprehensive enough from my perspective. Question: Does the curriculum touch on both negative and positive influences that world religions have had throughout history? Does it avoid portraying any religion in a disproportionately negative light (ie. where a thorough understanding of history shows a mixed record)?

[@michellegf]

Great question! I think it does a good job of explaining how certain religious beliefs or movements impacted history. For example in Middle Ages it’s often discussed how religion was used as a means of power. Kings would often change the country’s religion not on some new found faith, but as a means of gaining political power. It also talks a lot about how certain groups were discriminated against pretty harshly from having different beliefs than the current religion of the time. While talking about the crusades, it’s discussed how the Pope made purposeful discriminating statements in order to rile the locals to join the crusades. In my opinion it doesn’t glorify or demonize any particular religion, but focused on giving you the facts and providing discussion questions to really analyze and come to your own conclusions.

[@meganhuckaby797]

Thanks so much for this! Very helpful. We are almost certainly going to go with CC 👍

[@michellegf]

I hope it works well for you, we have really enjoyed the levels we’ve used.

[@EatPrayCrunch1]

Thanks for the review! So does CC cover American history in depth, or more surface level in the context of world history? Are you doing another curriculum for American history?

[@michellegf]

So it doesn’t cover American History in depth. In definitely covers U.S. History topics and events, but more from a world perspective. I will be doing U.S. History for the next 2 years. For next year I plan on using Oh Freedom curriculum both the beginner & 3-7th grade set. Oh Freedom gives U.S. History from an indigenous perspective. After we finish that I plan on incorporating Core Knowledge U.S History. My overall goal was to take a world approach the first time with CC. Zoom in with the Indigenous perspective and then bring in CK for a more rigorous in depth study.

[@EatPrayCrunch1]

@Michelle G Oh that's great! I have been looking into Blossom & Root's River Of Voices for American history. I like it for the same reason that it shows history from many minority perspectives.

[@lisajtv9579]

Hi, Did you see that the CK US History and Geography are now available as an interactive Ebook? I think I am going to do the same. My learners are 11 and we are doing ancient/Medieval and once we get to early modern I will bring in CK for US history to blend in. My kids wanted to do it chronologically so we are starting back at the beginning and just fleshing it out more with videos and books@@michellegf

[@michellegf]

@@lisajtv9579 I’ve heard of the ebooks but I haven’t checked them out in depth yet. Thanks for the heads up though 😃

[@happyhome962]

Hi Michelle..I have a 6 year old and planning to consider CC ancient history. Any suggestions on how well this curriculum fits for 6 year old ? Or do you advise waiting for a year? Planning to use audio version

[@michellegf]

I don’t have any personal experience using Ancients. I know each level grows in complexity. Ancients being the first level is recommended for 1st-3rd grade. www.curiositychronicles.org/faqs I would suggest checking out the sample pages and audio and see if it’s a good fit for your 6 yr old. My 6 yr old joined us this year and last and some concepts we’re definitely over her head, but she got a great introduction and although she can’t distinguish specific dates, she understands the overall themes we talk about.

[@ameliakolts8605]

Did you consider History Quest and Build Your Library at all when doing your initial research? I’d love to hear your reasoning for choosing Torchlight and Curiosity Chronicles over the other. We did HQ and BYL 1 this year, but am considering switching to just CC for Medieval times. History Quest has been fine, we’ve not disliked it. I just don’t love it either.

[@michellegf]

I researched both TL and BYL and decided on TL. I prefer TL as it has more modern literature and diversity. BYL is inspired by Charlotte Mason, which I think in fine, but we don’t really use things like copywork and narration. I haven’t used History Quest before. TL pulls a lot of resources and activities that relate to the history lesson being discussed each week in CC and is scheduled out well.

[@ameliakolts8605]

@@michellegf thank you! I think we will use CC this coming year, and I will have to look more at TL! Your review was so helpful!

[@michellegf]

@@ameliakolts8605 I’m glad you found it helpful!

[@daniellebraga2880]

I’m looking for a medieval history curriculum that would work for a group of 3rd/4th graders in a co-op setting. In having used this, do you think it would work in a group setting?

[@michellegf]

I think it would work well in a group setting. The instructors guide has discussion questions, map work, hands on activities and additional reading suggestions. There is definitely a plethora to choose from. I know you can also get the lap books that go along with the chapters. The only downside I see is the chapters are longer and full of a lot of information. The audiobook chapters were about 15 mins long. I could see it being harder for the kids on the younger end to pay attention for so long, especially if their not an auditory learner.

[@TheMommaLibrarian]

We didn’t love ancients for my 2nd grader a few years ago bc it was just too much but we are planning to do early modern next year for 3rd and 6th.

[@michellegf]

I look forward to seeing what you guys think about it. I plan on cycling thru all the levels again with my 6 yr. I think it’s been a good introduction, but there are definitely times when the info is way over her head.

[@ShardaeRenee]

I'm looking into History Quest with the addition of the lapbooking add on from Curiosity Chronicles. This review makes me want to support this company even more!

[@michellegf]

We’ve really enjoyed it!

[@michaelagoen4603]

We love it as well. We did ancient and now are in the middle of Middle Ages. There book recommendations are great.

[@michellegf]

Agreed! I love the plethora of book options. 📚

[@diannaannette6956]

Thanks for the video!

[@МиссВи-к3у]

Thank you so much :)

[@maggiepanning356]

I added CC Ancients in halfway through this year (to TL, BYL, and HQ) and I just dislike it so strongly. I was really hoping to like it as that would have made my future planning much easier. Sadly, I dislike almost every part of it. When I saw your video I thought, “Oh, maybe she’ll give me some insight into the upper levels that will give me hope”, but I don’t see anything that will likely change my mind. I think my biggest disappointment has been that it really is just a “Snapshot” and at least at the ancient history level it gives you very, very surface level information and then zips of to the next thing (even within a chapter). We much prefer depth over breadth (for connection and retention) so HQ along with all of the living books and nonfiction extensions in HQ, TL and CC work much better for us. For us the narrative style of HQ provides much better (and lengthier) descriptions of things at the ancient’s level. We’ll see how we feel as we move forward in history. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I’m glad it works so well for your family.

[@diannaannette6956]

Do you also have a channel for homeschooling? I would be interested in how you combine TL, BYL and HQ together.

[@michellegf]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with this. I am impressed you can combine so many different programs!

[@maggiepanning356]

@@diannaannette6956 , I do not, but I have thought about it many times.