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Review of What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I loved doing a review of what every child needs to know about Western Civilization.

My obsession with wanting to teach history creatively stems from a quote I read by H.G. Wells.

“Narrow history teaching of our school days was mainly an uninspiring and partially forgotten list of national kings or presidents.“

Avoiding uninspiring lists and meeting the challenge of dodging inside-the-box history curriculum has not always been easy.

So I was happy to review What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization by BrimWood Press.

I will just tell you now that I won’t hide my obvious preference for this curriculum.

It fills a much needed niche in the homeschooling community, but it is so much more than a history curriculum. More on that in a minute.

What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization by BrimWood Press

I glanced through all the fascinating and detailed pictures.

The BrimWood press bundle I received included:

  • 1 Guide: What Every Child Needs to Know about Western Civilization.
  • 1 Calendar Quest which is a historical narrative.
  • 1 Color the Western World.

I am especially giddy about this curriculum.

It is the first one that I have used that covers history in broad strokes.

How broad? Well, in just 12 – 14 lessons you cover 5,000 years of history.

Review of What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization by BrimWood Press

I had to read that twice. I might add there are 2 more lessons, but one is an introduction and one is a review.

Details can be fascinating, but they can get in the way too.

Not all details are necessary to understanding and grasping the full picture. Sometimes it just does not matter. I think kids know that too.

Middle School Homeschool History

I have covered history through unit studies, through a four year cycle and through the eyes of individuals that lived in each time period, I couldn’t wait to get started using it.

This teaches a story of how the calendar came to us which is how What Every Child Needs to Know about Western Civilization teaches. Clever.

As the fictional characters, Lindsie and Evan travel through time in a refrigerator box, Tiny eagerly tuned in,

Strangely enough Father Time always seems to be around to explain about how a seven day week came to us or how the constellations were located in the sky.

It didn’t hurt either that Mr. Awesome joined us for this review and read aloud to us. I highly recommend using your highschooler for a read aloud if you have one.

I am happy that my high school teen joined us for this review .

It allowed me to evaluate how extensive it was for him a high school teen.

Homeschool History

With the additional activities listed in the manual that include research, questions concerning worldview, introduction to the traits of each civilization and the contributions made by each civilization, I certainly think that a novice or highschooler could use the manual to discover them.

Too, if you have highschooler who is burned out on history, then using the manual can breathe life back into your day.

The wide scope that it covers keeps it so not intimidating.

As for the reader or Calendar Quest, it is written to an elementary age child. 

However, there were some characters along Lindsie and Evan’s trek that Mr. Awesome and I had obscurely heard of. Discovering those vague history characters was an unexpected benefit of Mr. Awesome reading to Tiny. 

Mr. Awesome claimed the reader was too young for him and it was, but then again, it is right on grade level like the publisher claims for using with a younger child. Tiny enjoyed the humor in the reader and I found a way for my older child to join us.

What I love about What Every Child Needs to Know about Western Civilization.

Like I mentioned before, it is so much more than a history program. Listing both the history features that I loved and the other things, I don’t want to miss giving you any nifty detail.

  • I find the lesson plan layout very useful. You know my obsession with expecting a lot from a teacher’s manual and how some manuals are nothing more than an answer sheet. This is an excellent and well organized manual or guide with practical tips. You see exactly how to cover each lesson.
  • One more significant point about this manual is that it is BOTH teacher and student guide. You use it with ALL of your children. Thank you BrimWood Press for understanding that we are teaching multiple ages of children and that we try to avoid insanity by not using 3 or 4 different teacher’s manuals.
  • Use this one manual for multiple ages of children. By the way when I find a curriculum like this that I can use with multiple ages of children, I try to divide the price by the number of children using it so I can see what I am actually paying for each child per year. Then divide it again into half because it is both teacher manual and student manual to get a true cost. That is how I arrive at the value of a curriculum that I use with multiple children.

Teacher Manual Features

Review of What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization by BrimWood Press
  • I’m not done yet with the manual because it is so comprehensive and I have to tell you about the layout. The first page of the lesson has a box called Teacher Preview and another one called Objectives. Oh YES – I am in organization bliss! Give me a purpose for the lesson and I have a direction for the day.
  • Here is another sweet bite on this program because you know I said it was so much more than a history program.  It has geography and a snip of language arts too. This especially feeds my desire to teach out of the box because I can include any subject I want to and apply those subjects when I teach about a topic. It’s more meaningful to include details when they are wanted.

Teaching Helps

  • The next part of the lesson is called History in a Nutshell. It includes information on the significant contributions of that time period along with instructions on coloring the stickers for the younger kids that are included in this curriculum. Information on filling out the 14 Hats of History which are the 14 periods you are striving to memorize is included in this section. Several lessons include helpful background information of that time period. You do not have to research extra information if you do not want to because it is included. This part appeals to me so that I can determine if those foundational pegs or key events are covered when teaching that time period. This part is the reason I see this manual being practical too for the first time history teacher or student who finds history boring and wants just the general sweeping ideas.
  • Between the stickers and Color the Western World coloring book there is plenty to choose from for both your younger and older children.

History in Broad Strokes

  • Key events that you add on the back of the cards and details that you fill in on the front of each card as you go along help to solidify the timeline of history. We followed along in each lesson plan as you are encouraged by the curriculum to try to put your hats in chronological order. By using both the front and back of the card, your kids come away with a fresh, unique and overall picture of history. Certainly, a doable goal to memorize all 14 time periods. This is a refreshing change from all the details that you may be teaching when using a four year history cycle curriculum.

I won’t be giving up my copy of What Every Child Needs to Know about Western Civilization any time soon as I plan on using this for years to come.

It is a keeper in my home, and I plan on going over it again both as a standalone history curriculum and to use as a review tool.

My boys still need to see the flow of history and a way to tie it all together.

I tend to be organized overboard when it comes to details because we love history, but I restrained myself from delving into them like the curriculum suggested because it defeats the purpose of what I am trying to do.

Don’t pitch your slow moving curriculum, just use What Every Child Needs to Know about Western Civilization when you want to take it up a notch.

Thank you BrimWood Press as I confess my absolute love and bias for a one of kind history program.

Where to Buy What Every Child Needs to Know about Western Civilization and Product Facts at a Glance.

Product Name: What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization, Calendar Quest and Color the Western World.

Ages: 5th – 8th grade, but I see a practical use for highschoolers who struggle with history.

Type of Product:  Physical product.

What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization is an awesome homeschool history program covering history in broad strokes. You’ll love how quickly you can cover 5000 years of history in a few weeks. Check it out at Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

You’ll love these other history helps:

How to Make an Easy Roman Helmet & Shield & A Set of Printable Wings

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

How to Make an Easy Roman Helmet & Shield and A Set of Printable Wings was easy to make. Also, look at my Ancient Rome Lapbook for Kids and Fun Hands-on Ideas for more fun.

It has never been a secret that I don’t sew and barely craft.

So when it came time to get Tiny ready for our year end co-op when studying Ancient Civilizations, I turned to cardboard and duct tape.

How to Make an Easy Roman Helmet & Shield & A Set of Printable Wings

Ancient Rome was a powerful civilization, and it influenced many things in our modern world.

And you’ll love how to make an easy Roman helmet doesn’t really take so long.

HOW TO MAKE AN EASY ROMAN HELMET

Supplies List

  • 2 Large pieces of cardboard. I got mine from Target when they were throwing the boxes away. I knew I wanted one piece tall enough to be a shield for Tiny.
  • Gold and red duct tape or your choice of colors.
  • Silver Sharpie
  • 1 piece of red cardstock
  • About 3 pieces of poster board. We chose red color.
  • 1 men’s extra large red t-shirt
  • Scissors, a hot glue gun and a sharp craft knife like x-acto
  • We already had brown summer sandals for footwear.
  • Of course, no kid this age will go without anything under the shirt, tee hee hee and they shouldn’t so a shorter pairs of shorts works.

Just in case all of this gets gibberish sounding and because you know I love a good old picture anytime to explain anything, I put one here for you.

Easy Peazy Roman Kids Costume How To

It was all easy to make but like anything it takes a bit of time to put it together.

HOW TO MAKE AN EASY ROMAN HELMET

This took me part of 2 days or one weekend to put this together along with some help from hubby.

Helmet. The helmet was 3 pieces of cardboard, some duct tape, and red cardstock.

One piece of cardstock I measured to go around the head or as a headband.

One to go over the top so the “feathers” can adhere to it and then the front part that was free drawn by hand and then colored with a silver sharpie.

It was glued on the headband.

Easy Roman Costume
Easy Roman Shield

Then I took the red cardstock and made a crease in the center and then cut it into strips but not cut all the way through.

Then glued it on the top of the cardboard piece of the helmet.

Easy Roman Shield
How to Make an Easy Peazy Roman Costume

Here is a side angle of it.

After you glue it on the top strip coming over the helmet, just work with the cut strips until you get them to stick up how you like.

KIDS ANCIENT ROME COSTUME WITH CARDBOARD

I cut some up thicker and others thinner to make it more rustic and real looking.

Easy Roman Shield

Tiny was pleased with it and we worked next on some “armor” for the shoulders and chest.

Shoulder & Chest Armor. This was quiet a bit easier. I just used soft poster board, duct tape and leather shoe strings. I laid the soft poster board across his shoulders, did an eyeball measure and taped it with duct tape.

It is two pieces after I cut a circle for his head and I taped the back side. I left the front open so he could slip it on.

Easy Roman Shield
Easy Roman Shield

 One view is of the top in the picture above and if you turn it over it didn’t look so hot on the underneath, but hey nobody sees that anyway. I just used more tape to hold it.

This was the very last piece put on so that I could put duct tape around the neck or the other side of the circle.

I used leather shoe strings around a piece of gold poster for his chest armor.

Shield. This didn’t take long either. The hardest part was cutting it. I thought about painting it but didn’t really want to mess with waiting for it to dry.

That was one option though. Instead we just covered it with red poster board and used duct tape to cover the edges.

Easy Roman Shield
Easy Roman Shield

I think I change my mind but maybe the hardest part was finding a good set of “wings” that were approved by Tiny.

MORE ANCIENT ROME HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES

He spent almost an hour on the internet looking for some. In the end I couldn’t find any that were free on line so I made some from our clipart.

You never know when you might need one set of wings, so download here printable wings.

Easy Roman Shield
Easy Roman Shield

Add a foil covered bowl to the center and we were done.

It was the back that took just a little longer because I made some cardboard  holders for him to put his arm through and one for him to hold.

So in all the back had 2 holders to keep up his shield.

Again I lifted the shield and measured about where he would hold it and made some cardboard “holders” and used duct tape to keep them in place.

Kids Roman Shield from Cardboard

After that hubby helped to make a sword “holder”  out of a left over piece of cardboard and a bracelet or two and we were done.

Helmet, shield, chest armor, shoulder armor and a sword holder. What more could a kid want for his Roman soldier costume? Try one!

How to Make Smokin’ Hot Egyptian Pillars Out of Cardboard

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Dynamic reader rave


How to Make An Egyptian Pillar Out of Cardboard . You'll love these EASY steps. Click here to start making yours!

CynthiaIdeally I wish everybody would have a Cynthia as one of their co-op leaders,  but since that is not possible, I want to share one idea that came of out of her creative little mind for our co-op. Besides being a great friend, she is so talented at coming up with ideas that keeps the fire for fun stoked in our co-ops.

It was her idea to have two 8 1/2 feet Egyptian columns and they came out so beautiful because of her hard work.

The strengths she brings to a co-op is an excellent example of what I talked about in my 5 Days of a Homeschooling Co-op. Prep the learning environment and the kids will have fun and learn at the same time.

Here is her supply list:

  • 14 – 5 gal. buckets
  • 2 rolls duct tape
  • 6 sections of clean bendable cardboard large enough to wrap around buckets (each about 4 ft. wide x 3 ft. tall )
  • paintable wallpaper samples cut into strips (optional)
  • chalk pastels
  • paint
  • Elmer’s glue
  • spray can of matte finish for protecting chalk pastels
  • large heavy rocks that will fit in 2-5 gal. buckets
  • 2 pieces of wood cut to serve as caps for tops of pillars
  • 2 hooks for banner
  • tape measure, ladder or chair

And here is her explanation of how to make them.

1. Find a picture of Egyptian pillars to use as a guide for colors and patterns.

egypt-column-backdrop-2
racinet-egyptian-columns

1/2

2. Decide how tall you want the pillars. We used 7 buckets stacked on top of one another which made each pillar about 8 1/2 ft tall. You can adjust the height by using more or fewer buckets.

3. Remove the metal handles from all of the buckets.

4. Fill the bottom bucket with heavy rocks. This will give the pillar stability.

5. After the bottom bucket is full of rocks place another bucket with the open end on top of the open end of the bucket with the rocks in it. Use duct tape to secure the two buckets together tightly right around the outside of the buckets where the open ends are placed together. Be generous with the duct tape and go all the way around the buckets perhaps even a couple of times for strength and stability.

photo-6

6. Place a third bucket on top of the first two so that the bottom ends are against one another. Use duct tape to secure them together tightly where the two bottom ends meet. Don’t forget to go all the way around the buckets with the duct tape once again.

7. Continue placing and taping the buckets together in the same manner as the first and second buckets alternating (open end to open end, bottom end to bottom end) as you go up until you have reached the height you desire.

photo

8. Decorate each section of cardboard. There are many ways this can be done, but we used chalk pastels which we sprayed with matte finish for the bottom two sections and paintable wallpaper sample strips for the top section. After the wallpaper sample strips dry, glue them to the top cardboard section. Or instead of wallpaper sample strips you can easily continue decorating the top section with pastels or paint.

photo-15

9. Once everything on the cardboard is dry attach the bottom section to the pillar. We taped ours together at the back with duct tape as well as double-sided duct tape between the cardboard and bucket to give it extra strength. Be generous with the duct tape so the pillars don’t come apart.

10. Place the next section of cardboard right above the one on bottom and duct tape it in the same manner as the first.

photo-21

11. Attach the last section of cardboard with duct tape above the second one in the same way as the first two.

cap of pillar

12. Now you are ready to cap the pillar. For a cap we used a board cut a little bigger than the top of the bucket. We also nailed another board a little smaller than the opening of the bucket to the bottom side of the board that serves as the cap. This anchored the cap inside the bucket so that it would not fall off.

13. To hang a banner or something else between the pillars install hooks into the middle of the edges of the caps.

In another post, I will share how Kelley made that beautiful banner.

Great Empires Review and Co-op 4.2013 17

I love the fact she used discarded wall paper books and buckets. Simply ask your local paint store if they have any supplies like that they are discarding.

Our study of the Great Empires won’t be easily forgettable because of her hard work. A little cardboard, imagination and diy creates lasting memories.

Thanks Cynthia for such an amazing job. I hope this inspires you with an idea or two to keep activities fun in your co-op or just through the summer.

Are you going to give it a try?

Use this idea with my Ancient Civilizations Unit Study and my other unit study, Ancient Civilizations II.

Hugs and love ya,

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

We have been putting the final touches on our unit study for the ancient Maya. We started off our discussion on Meso-America and narrowed our interest down to the ancient Maya.

Free Ancient Maya Lapbook and homeschool unit study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I want to focus more on the Aztecs but Mr. Awesome and Mr. Senior 2013 are throwing out other topics for our next unit study topic.

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

Tiny still likes this topic so we haven’t settled on our next unit study. Too, I think we may focus some on our new curriculum we just got. It’s hard for us to stay away from a good unit study for long so maybe the change to cooler weather will make them decide on a topic.

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

In most unit studies we find an abundance of hands-on things to do but for this topic they really were focused on reading. However, we did find some hands-on things in the book Amazing Maya Inventions You Can Build Yourself that we liked.

We spent quite a few days learning about the tzolk’in calendar, also called the Sacred Round. It wasn’t as easy as the Maya made it look to line up the two circles for the calendars side by side.

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

{tzolk’in calendar. pic att and link to learn about it.}

But we did manage to make two circles like the book said and followed the directions but I am not so sure we managed to use it like they did. It made us appreciate the advancements they made in math, building and a written language.

I added this calendar circle as a minibook in the lapbook. So here it is, the next lapbook for you. It has 9 minibooks.

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

Then of course you know I have to make something for you to  put on the outside of your lapbook for a cover in case you don’t have wild hair and want to create one. So here are two cover choices.

Remember too all of my minibooks or downloads are usually kept separate and not one big HUGE download. I do this because it helps to keep organized when you can pick/choose what you want to download or keep on your computer.

Also, I do it this way because you may prefer to notebook and you can use individual minibooks and decorative pieces from the front cover to create your own notebooking pages. It is rare that I do one huge download. Just letting you know there is a method to my madness.

I made a few organizational changes to our school area this year and am ready to share that with you next. Here is a glimpse of one area I had to redo. I FINALLY got my teacher’s manuals for history and other subjects in a notebooking system I heart. I will have my pictures to share on the small but meaningful changes made to our area.

organization homeschool binders

You know I heart quotes each day. I find this one inspirational today as I think about you and the countless other educators as we daily give to our kids. Also, I was talking in my workshop Monday night how you do give up some things to homeschool but they seem so insignificant now when you see the blessing of your children. {sappy moment thought}. It just made me think of this today.

The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”

~ Kalu Kalu~

How to Get the Free Lapbook Maya and Free Notebooking Pages

Now, how to grab the free maya lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

And it’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you. If you’re already a confirmed subscriber, you will not have to do this. You’ll receive the freebie instantly.
 ►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

FBI Unit Study Experiment 2 (Invisible Ink) + FBI Printables

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Are you looking to study modern American history? You'll love this AWESOME free FBI Lapbook and Unit Study | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I promise you I have not forgotten about releasing the newest free lapbook about the FBI, but it was such an extensive unit for us. I still have more to share before I release it.
Today, I want to share another activity we did on the FBI unit study and that was to make invisible ink.

Of course, according to my teenagers anyway, you have to try the experiment out the way they did it on the movie, National Treasure. There are several ways to make invisible ink and we did a couple of them.

So the teens gathered some supplies and printed off some of the invisible ink activities from the internet. The one they really wanted to do was the one using cornstarch. An iodine solution is used to reveal the writing. You make a gravy using cornstarch and write with that.

Then the message will appear purple after rubbing an iodine solution over it. The iodine binds to the starch molecules.

Instead of waiting for me to get some more iodine, they decided to try it the easy way with lemon juice.

They wrote with milk too.

Do you think it would appear with just the heat of the blow dryer?

The boys determined that though the blow dryer was beneficial, they needed a much greater heat source like a hot burner or stove.

Once we got the burners going on the stove, we had messages.There are many methods to making invisible ink like white wine, vinegar, apple juice and even orange juice.

Click here for the Kids World article on making invisible ink appear if you want some recipes. This activity is an overall easy activity to do and it appeals to kids or adults of any age. They still would like to see a purple message though using iodine.

I have a few more printables to add to this growing unit.

We needed some covers for the notebooks the boys decided to use. I leave it up to my high school sons to decide whether they want to lapbook or notebook. It is such a fine line, I feel, between those two concepts because minibooks can be used in a notebook. So it really is just a matter of how you want to present the information. Presentation is part of the grade for my high school sons so they get the say in how the cover pages are put together. For younger kids using lapbooks, the emphasis could be on crafting and decorating the outside flaps of lapbooks.

The next round of notebooking pages makes me feel better anyway preparing for the graduation of Mr. Senior 2013. The two pages can be used to track the history of the FBI from 1908 to present and/or add in world events. Just in case I missed anything in the last 100 hundred years of American History he can get the general idea of it in now before he graduates. You know history is our very favorite subject and we probably didn’t miss any big events. It just comforts me when I have those moments wondering if I did enough with him.

There are just a few lines on the page to jot down the main world events and/or mix match to line up with the history of the FBI. It is meant to be used as a quick reference for history.  Too, I think it really builds appreciation in understanding what was happening in the world around the special agents as they tried to keep up with changing times.

By the way if you want to do some more reading about the way they did the invisible ink in the movie, National Treasure, read here . The article, National Treasure – can lemon juice and hot breath reveal invisible ink? is from The Creative Science Center.

Are you to looking study modern American history? You'll love this AWESOME free FBI Lapbook and Unit Study | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus