Thursday, July 30, 2015

A Great Storyteller Teaches American History—Dave Raymond's American History

Dave Raymond's American History Review
*Disclosure:  Compass Classroom affiliate.  See why below.

I really like listening to Dave Raymond teach American history.  He's a gifted storyteller. He explains things from a Christian perspective showing in detail how Christianity influenced American history. He's got incredible insight.  He's unapologetic about sharing that insight into how God worked things together for the good.  He's the kind of guy you'd like to invite to dinner. ~smile~  I just cannot say enough good things about this product.  Best of all, my kids enjoy these lectures.

Each lesson has five days of short lectures, reading assignments, and weekly quizzes.  During the second semester, students will write a research paper. Extensive instructions about choosing a topic, format, how to write it, and how to grade it are included.  Mr. Raymond takes the scary out of it.

My kids used American History I at ages 16 and 14.  They were able to do the work primarily independently.  After the fact, because I had a crazy semester and forgot about it, I realized that I missed one of the neatest activities.  The students were supposed to make an illustrated journal of different parts of American history to go along with the lessons.  It's sort of like a scrapbook of their year.  It encourages them to dig a little deeper into the things that interest them along the way.  Oops! 

THE DETAILS:
There are 26 weeks of lessons.  Each week there are five 10-minute lectures, daily tasks, readings, and weekly exams.  The students also keep a year-long journal.  A Student Reader is included on each DVD.  You get everything you need for one year of high school History credit. 

*Click here to watch the trailer, download free sample lessons, and see a list of lessons.
Dave Raymond's American History


  • Formats: DVD, Download, Streaming
  • Lessons: 26
  • Addl Mtls: Student Reader, Teacher's Guide, Weekly Exams (PDF)
  • Credit: 1 HS
  • Age: 13+
  • Teacher: Dave Raymond
  • $89 

  • I really like the guarantee offered by Compass Cinema:
"We Like Kicking Tires.  We bet you do, too. It's such an annoyance to buy something when you're not sure it's a good fit.  To help you out, we've put complete sample lessons and downloads of full lessons for every product on our new site.  Furthermore, if you ever buy anything from us that you don't like or don't use, just send it back for a full refund.  Finally, we try to keep all our products on sale for you since we understand you may have limited resources. (Our wives homeschool, too.)"
Read my review of Volume One.  The two volumes have now been combined into one.

Compass Classroom makes video curriculum that's fun for kids, smart for moms, and easy for everyone.
*Disclosure: This is a rewrite of a previous review. At that time, Compass Classroom sent me a free DVD of their American History Volume Two lessons in exchange for an honest review.  I am affiliate with Compass Classroom.  If you should choose to purchase an item after clicking the photo link above, I will get a commission.  Your price will not change.  I am affiliate because they produce excellent products that I really like.

5 comments:

  1. I appreciate this review...we are in the process of planning our high school curriculum now. Can't believe our little one will be starting high school in the fall, Lord willing! They grow up way too fast...it makes me sad. :( But, thanks be to God, to be a mother and to have this precious opportunity. I am definitely going to check out your recommendation! God bless you, sweet friend. :)

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  2. Hi Cheryl, I find myself looking down the road a few short years and wondering what I'll be when I grow up!

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  3. Thank you so much for this review, Laura. My son is young, but I will keep this in mind for the future. History has been the one subject that I have not found a good curriculum for. Last school year the History program I used was simply awful! :) Happy day to you!

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  4. I did not homeschool my children. But if I had it to do over again, I would. One thing we did do for our kids was instill a love of history in them. Because we all love to read we all love history.

    Thanx for sharing.

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  5. It's been hard work homeschooling all these years, but it really pays off in relationships. It's worth all it takes.
    Blessings Stephanie!
    Laura

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Your blog friend,
Laura Lane
5 Year Cancer Survivor