Level 1 is recommended for students in grades 5 and up, Level 2 for students in grades 6 and up, and Level 3 for students in grades 7 and up. Older students may also benefit from working through the series, and homeschooling families will find a wealth of resources in each book that can meet the needs of students at multiple levels.

Yes! Our scope and sequence for the full Curious Historian series can be found here.

The Curious Historian curriculum has been designed to be taught at the pace of one chapter per week, with each book to be completed over the course of a semester (e.g., Book 1A in the fall semester and Book 1B in the spring semester). Each level has its own Suggested Weekly Schedule, found in the support tabs of The Curious Historian product pages here at classicalacademicpress.com. For a sample, follow this link to the Suggested Weekly Schedule for Level 2, which is based on 4 classes per week for approximately 30–40 minutes each day, to be modified as necessary by the teacher.

For parents and teachers who would prefer to spend more time on each text, we have also supplied in the support tabs a Suggested Yearlong Schedule for each book. For a sample, follow this link to the Suggested Yearlong Schedule for Level 2.

A quiz and answer key are available for each weekly chapter in the series, (not including introductory and review chapters). In Levels 1A, 1B, and 2A, the quizzes are supplied in the consumable student edition, with answer keys provided in the teacher’s edition. In the more advanced books—Levels 2B, 3A, and 3B—the quizzes and answer keys are in the teacher’s edition only, and the blank quizzes may be photocopied and distributed to students. For your convenience, printable PDFs of the quizzes for all levels are provided among each volume’s Bonus Digital Resources, which are complimentary for each level when you purchase at least one of The Curious Historian texts at classicalacademicpress.com.

If you would like to have your students complete an assessment at the end of the semester or when they finish each book, you may wish to use the final chapter, which presents an end-of-book review beginning with a summary of the high-level concepts from the text and ending with review exercises and short fill-in-the-blank chapter summaries. We also recommend having students sing through the entire unit songs, as well as the “Top Things to Remember” song from each book.

The Curious Historian’s Archive: Extra Resources packet is available for purchase at classicalacademicpress.com for each TCH text and includes the following downloadable materials:

• Songs (MP3s): The TCH music consists of a song for each unit, summarizing the key events and cultural pieces of each chapter, and a “Top 12 Things to Remember” tune that is a great way for students to impress their friends and family with the most interesting tidbits about history! The song lyrics are included in appendix A of each book, but the only way to access the audio files is through the Archive packet.

• Profiles and Legends (PDF): Included in the Archive packets for Levels 2 and 3, this collection of optional readings complements the chapters in the texts by shedding further light on important figures, by introducing students to some of the more famous legends of history, and by retelling a few of the classic tales.

• Biblical Connections PDF: For teachers and parents who would like to integrate religious history/biblical studies with their study of history, we have created a supplemental PDF that draws connections to biblical history and locations, scripture verses, and so forth. Icons in the teacher’s edition indicate when to reference this optional PDF resource.

• Reading Guide (PDF): For those who would like to continue their exploration of history beyond the pages of each text, we have supplied a recommended reading list, featuring titles for both students and teachers. This PDF includes clickable links for easy browsing and purchasing.

• Guide for Hosting a Medieval Day Event (PDF): Included in the Archive packet for Levels 3A and 3B, this guide for hosting a daylong event celebrating the Middle Ages at your school or homeschool co-op includes plans for multiple learning stations, an immersive monastery experience, medieval games, a mystery play, and a catapult battle. The Archive packet also includes a separate Master Supply List for the Medieval Day Event (PDF), which is a convenient, printable checklist including all the required materials.

• Printable, full-color master unit time lines and timetables (some of which are also found in the book appendices)

• A list of “Top 12 Things to Remember,” beautifully designed as a convenient reference sheet

• Printable, beautifully designed PDFs of the reference archive charts (also found in the chapters or book appendices)

• Printable PDFs of the blank maps included in the book, as well as separate answer keys, for extra geography practice

A number of elements included in the The Curious Historian books are available as digital resources that can be easily downloaded, printed, distributed, or displayed to meet the needs of your students. These Bonus Digital Resources are complimentary if you purchase a Curious Historian program, student edition, or teacher’s edition at classicalacademicpress.com; otherwise, they are available for purchase.

Included for Level 1 are:

• Chapter quizzes, ready to be printed and distributed

• Quiz answer keys, accessible on your screen in addition to the teacher’s pages of the book

• Reference Archive charts selected from the books’ chapters and appendices

Included in the Bonus Digital Resources for Levels 2 and 3 are all of the above, plus:

• The “Four Categories of Virtues (and Vices)” chart included in appendix C, presented in printable form for display in the classroom

• Spotlight on Virtue (PDF): For Levels 2 and 3, the discussion questions about virtue, which are either included on the last page of the teacher’s notes for each chapter or in appendix C, compiled as a printable PDF that can be distributed to students

We are passionate about history, and at times it can be difficult to limit ourselves to just the most important, large-scale information when there are so many interesting tangents to explore! For those teachers and students who find themselves inspired to dig deeper, we have created for each TCH book a free, supplemental Go Deeper PDF that includes additional information you may wish to share with your students or explore for your own interest. This includes, but is not limited to, fun tidbits, links to museum collections of artifacts, additional information, and more. (Did you know the oldest woven garment in the world was discovered in an Egyptian tomb? Or did you ever wonder what Cleopatra may have smelled like? Did you know there’s a debate about what “thumbs down” actually meant for a gladiator in the arena? Or did you ever wonder how societies coped with climate change during the Late Antique Little Ice Age?) Icons in the teacher’s editions indicate selections of these optional PDF resources to help you know when to reference them as your students experience the chapters.

A host of supplemental TCH resources are available at no cost. You can find them in the support tabs of The Curious Historian pages at classicalacademicpress.com or in your My Library account.

• An audio version of the Introduction to Teachers recorded when Level 1 was first published

• The Go Deeper resources for each book

• The song lyrics included in each book’s appendix A

• Scope & Sequence for the series

• Suggested Weekly Schedule for each book

• Suggested Yearlong Schedule for each book

• For Levels 1 and 2, God’s Great Covenant Overlap chart and Ancient Alphabet chart

• For Level 3A, a pronunciation guide for difficult names and place names

• The Alphabetical Glossary for the full series

The beliefs and practices of a culture can teach us much about how the people lived, what they believed, and what kind of ruler they served. Therefore, it is important that our study of history explores the main concepts of religion, such as monotheism and polytheism, and the ways in which people of the world have traditionally worshiped. In Level 1, we trace the beginnings of several world religions that are still practiced today, such as Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism, and in Level 2 we also discuss the main beliefs of major philosophies such as Confucianism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism. In Level 3 we discuss the dominant role of Christianity in European culture and politics, the rise of Islam in the Middle East, and the often turbulent clash between the two world religions during the Middle Ages. Throughout our discussion, we attempt to present a factual narrative that will be approachable for public and charter schools as well as faith-based schools.

Optional Religion in History sidebars point out places where ancient history directly intersects with historical events or figures mentioned in the Bible, such as the Exodus from Egypt, or with other religious texts. If you would like to further integrate biblical history into your study of history, The Curious Historian’s Archive: Extra Resources (available for purchase for each book) includes a Biblical Connections PDF with additional content. Icons in the teacher’s editions indicate when to reference the optional Biblical Connections PDFs.

We believe it is important to teach students to begin thinking like historians rather than just having them learn and memorize facts. Understanding that history is not only a record of events that happened in the past, but also the study of how human societies have changed over time, lays the foundation for seeing history as more than just a list of dates and names.

History can be studied for multiple purposes, and those purposes will evolve as students mature. In our view, following the classical tradition, the chief purpose for studying history is to cultivate virtue and wisdom in students. This means that they should learn to praise the true, good, and beautiful and blame that which is not. Various historical figures and events will often exhibit both praiseworthy and blameworthy elements. We should help students learn to be discerning and not to expect historical figures or events to be categorized easily as just “all good” or “all bad.”

Another important reason for young students to study history is to know their world and thus to better know themselves. The record of events and persons that have shaped our world is foundational to knowing who we have been, are now, and might possibly be in the future. In dozens of ways, students who have studied the past are well equipped to examine our current cultural moment and make wiser decisions about what is happening and what perhaps could or should happen. If our young students become curious about history—eager to know the causes of events and movements and hungry to understand the motives of various people and the consequences of their actions—then they will be on their way to becoming thoughtful human beings, family members, workers, and citizens.

The events of history are both complicated and closely intertwined. Even historians who have devoted their professional lives to such study are still left with many questions and areas of debate! For example, during the two periods of ancient history we cover in Level 1, there were many kingdoms and peoples interacting with and conquering each other. We have tried to present a chronological narrative in all the texts that is as simple and understandable as possible; however, striving for clarity often means having longer chapters, as shortening the text would leave too many gaps and make the narrative confusing.

In TCH1B, we introduce a new cultural element: lengthier spotlight pieces that discuss important literature, technologies, monuments, languages, and religions of the age. These cultural “of the Age” pieces are considered optional but highly encouraged reading material. Depending on your schedule, you might choose to select just one or two to highlight for students, to assign them as homework, or to skip them if necessary.

Each chapter in The Curious Historian series provides a wealth of sidebars, discussion questions, exercises, and cultural pieces. We recommend that you review each chapter in advance of teaching it and exercise discernment in determining what content you wish to cover with students and what pacing will work best for your class. For example, in some chapters you might decide to skip the sidebars and the culture sections, or instead choose to focus more on the culture pieces and less on the historical narrative. Depending on your selections, you should adapt the exercises and quizzes to reflect what best meets your students’ needs. Many of the civilizations and kingdoms will continue to pop in and out of the historical narrative, so if you do choose to skip any chapter(s) entirely, be sure to reference the alphabetical glossary at the back of the book for concise definitions to review with students for general context as needed.

For further guidance on content and scheduling, please see the TCH suggested schedules and the Introduction to Teachers (available as part of the teacher’s edition free sample found on the product page).

No. We have included key historical dates throughout each lesson, and at times as part of the vocabulary definitions, but memorizing the dates is optional. However, a familiarity with the date spans will help students to better keep the historical events in sequence.

If you do choose to have your student(s) memorize the dates, it is important to keep in mind two key notes. First, dates are often estimated dates at best since we do not always have surviving historical records. Second, due to this lack of concrete evidence, many events have multiple date ranges, all of which have been suggested and defended at some point or another by many other well-educated scholars. It is often hard to find a scholarly consensus. We present such dates with “ca.” (circa) before them, indicating our inability to provide an accurate, exact date. Additionally, to help address this degree of uncertainty, we have sometimes chosen to present date ranges rounded to the nearest decade or half-century for the major periods and kingdoms we study.

We have chosen to present our study of history in a well-organized, chronological progression of important events and figures, while also devoting space in each chapter to delving into the fascinating culture of each civilization. The Curious Historian series features a variety of elements that we hope will help students to enjoy and become curious about their study of history. These key elements include:

• Full-color images of artifacts, artwork, illustrations, etc.

• Full-color time lines and timetables to help students understand the major events of history in context

• A study of the Middle East and Far East (including the Arabian Peninsula, China, India, and Japan), geographical regions that are often omitted in many curricula

• A focus on particular aspects of culture, including literature, language evolution, and basic military history, which are not always covered in other standard curricula

• A wide variety of discussion questions, exercises, writing prompts, and hands-on projects

• Optional opportunities for a study of geography, in the form of map exercises

• Optional opportunities for integration of writing and literature, grammar, foreign languages, and biblical history

We recommend that you read the chapter narrative aloud, with the student(s) following along, or that you have your student(s) read the text aloud to you. Students who are confident readers may be able to read the chapter narrative independently. Either way, be sure to take opportunities throughout each weekly lesson to emphasize key points, check for comprehension, and engage in periodic discussions. (The Question Box sidebars, while optional, will be particularly helpful in prompting further dialogue.)

One way to regard history is as a record of the past. The various “records” of history include inscriptions, written documents, and stories and poems, some of which have been preserved over the centuries thanks to the study of foreign languages (including Latin and Greek) and literature. Where possible, we have noted opportunities in The Curious Historian for optional integration with the following CAP curricula:

• Writing & Rhetoric and Well-Ordered Language: In the chapter narrative and some of the exercises, such as the Be Creative writing prompts, we have supplied suggestions (where applicable) for ways to integrate the literature excerpts found in our writing and grammar series.

• God’s Great Covenant: If you are planning to use both The Curious Historian and God’s Great Covenant in the same school year, we have created a free PDF showing how the historical narrative presented in TCH Level 1 overlaps with the Old Testament narrative presented in God’s Great Covenant Old Testament 1 and Old Testament 2. We have also created a free PDF for Level 2 showing its overlap with the New Testament narrative in God’s Great Covenant New Testament 1 and New Testament 2.

• Latin for Children and Greek for Children: Many of our English words are derived from Latin or Greek. When a TCH vocabulary word has interesting or unusual roots, we have supplied this information in a To the Source sidebar. These word origins may be of particular interest to students also using our Latin for Children or Greek for Children series. While in our Latin for Children and Greek for Children primers we typically keep the definitions simple, listing only one or two of the most common translations, in TCH we have listed multiple translations or more nuanced meanings since the better translation may differ depending on the historical context or the English word being defined.

We think very highly of Susan Wise Bauer’s The Story of the World series and her engaging, narrative approach to history. While we have chosen to present our study of history in a more standard, chronological progression of important events and figures, we also want to encourage students to enjoy longer narratives that can help them more deeply imagine what it would have been like to live in these long-ago eras. Therefore, throughout TCH Levels 1 and 2 we have noted where you may choose to supplement by reading sections or chapters from The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, vol. 1, Ancient Times. We also encourage you to peruse Dr. Bauer’s corresponding activity book if you think your students would enjoy additional hands-on activities and projects. While specific passages in Dr. Bauer’s second volume are not referenced in the teacher’s notes of TCH Level 3, which is aimed at more advanced students, the table of contents in The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, vol. 2, The Middle Ages makes the overlaps clear. We think your students may enjoy reading Dr. Bauer’s chapters to their younger siblings or schoolmates, and at the same time they will be reviewing the highlights of what they have learned in The Curious Historian.

Dates for ancient and classical history going as far back as 2000 or 3000 BC are usually estimated dates at best since we have few surviving historical records from those periods. Due to this lack of concrete evidence, many events have multiple proposed dates, all of which have been suggested and defended at some point or another by many other well-educated Near East and/or Scripture scholars. It is often hard to find a scholarly consensus. We have generally used the dates most often agreed upon by historians, though these dates may vary from those presented by Scripture scholars. If you are using both The Curious Historianand God's Great Covenant together in the same school year, you should feel free to choose which set of dates you have students memorize. (For more on the chronology presented in TCH, please see the above question on memorizing dates.)