I love history.

I didn’t like history much as a kid. As a mom, I love it. That’s probably partly because I’m older, but it’s also partially because of the great history resources that have helped make history come alive for me! My journey to loving history began when I found The Mystery of History several years ago. Later, when I found all of G.A. Henty’s historical novels free for kindle I snagged them all up and giggled like a school girl. And now, my growing fondness for our Heritage History books is putting me at risk for being labeled a “history junkie.” History is so fun!

When I first saw Heritage History’s name floating around the internet, I was intrigued. I tried to win a copy here or there so I could try it. I finally got my hands on a copy (<– interpreted, “they gave me one to review! WOOT!) and you have to know me well enough by now to know how happy that made me. More history! If you think that’s exciting you should stick around to the end of this post!

My kids on the other hand..

Now, my children aren’t quite as sure about history as I am. They’re a little more skeptical. They kinda look at me sideways when I get excited over something from history. Sometimes, though, I manage to draw them in and we get excited together. This happens more often when I present history as a *story* – either with interesting movies or documentaries, or lately, with my Heritage History stories.

To whet their appetite for our Heritage History Young Readers curriculum, I thought I would start with something more fun and jumped out of our history timeline to the 15th Century, where we find the legend of Robin Hood. I know what you’re thinking — is Robin Hood history?? Yes, yes it is! My children asked the same question – smart kids, eh? To answer their question, we did a little bit of internet research on Robin Hood to learn how much of this legend is true and how much is not true. (Curious? Google it!) Diving into the tale, it wasn’t long before they were hooked. Imagine how my heart pitter-pattered when my oldest asked “Will you read some more Robin Hood to us today?”

How do I use the Heritage History?

“So, that’s great, but you just read the stories? That’s it?” <– Thanks for asking! Sometimes, yes. Each curriculum cd includes a variety of stores from biographies to legends to historic literature. Some of these may interest your child more than others, or you may choose to have your child spend more time on a biography than a legend. In any case, you can start with the stories and you can go from there for as far as your child’s interest or your free time allows.

The curriculum also comes with timelines and maps, images and other study aides. But it’s not a “curriculum” in the sense of a structured, lesson planned, assignment based kind of thing. You can use this as your spine or as a supplement, in conjunction with other living history books, notebooking and other projects. And of course, there’s the internet! You can always search for additional biographical information, images, maps, projects, movies, and so on.

Our spine will be Mystery of History but I want to supplement with living books as we go and this is a great addition to our “living library!” By “library” of course I mean my kindle. (Over and over I thank my mom for that Mother’s Day gift!) The biggest advantage to getting the curriculum cd over reading the books online is that you can move the books to your kindle and the kids can go off to their corner or you can all cuddle up on the couch to share the adventure together.

If you’re not techy, it’s pretty easy, too. I’ll include a quick little tutorial here at the end of this in just a few paragraphs.

Another Benefit of Heritage History

Last but not least, it’s affordable and totally in my budget. The curriculum cd that I have, the Young Readers set, has 86 ebooks in it – plus the curriculum guide and study aides. The curriculum cds are only $24.99. I’m totally pleased.

Know what’s even better? Free stuff!
In addition to giving me a curriculum cd to try out, they gave me a code, valid through October 31, 2012. Using the code “AmberHug”will get you a free copy of the Spanish Empire Library when you order any curriculum cd. (It’s not case sensitive but it has to be a curriculum set, not a library set, so note that difference!)

How to Move Your Heritage History books to Your Kindle

If you have any questions about moving the books to your kindle, ask and I’ll try to answer.
They also come with epub files that work on most other eReaders (including the Nook) and pdf files so that you can print it out and bind it or put it in a binder.

I’m looking forward to using the Heritage History books with our Mystery of History Volume 2 this year. Many of the books in the Young Readers Curriculum correspond to the same time period, Early Church to Middle Ages. I’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks, I’m sure!