The New Testament Greece and Rome from Veritas Press is a Self-Paced History course. It is an on-line full year class that retails for $199.00. I was given this course for the purpose of this review, that can be accessed immediately after your registration. Once you have registered for the class and created a student account, you can begin using the course. The Veritas Press Self-Paced History: New Testament, Greece and Rome course is video based; full of history, games, tests, and jokes all taught by two humorous actors. The two actors are "brother and sister", dressed in character for the time period,who are aided by talking statues who teach students history.
There are also New Testament, Greece and Rome flashcards that accompany the course and are mailed to you. The flash cards are retailed at $19.95. The course is paced to correspond to the flash cards that are a timeline of history to memorize. There is also a constant memory song that is played throughout the course to aid in the student's memorization of the timeline of events. There are 5 lessons for each card, that can take about 15 minutes to complete followed by a quiz. There is also a list of books that coincide with the course that are optional. We have not yet purchased any books and have not felt that we are missing anything by not reading them. Although my children love reading and cannot wait for their book order to come in the mail:)
Students can work at their own pace covering 32 historical events. The time period covered in this particular course is from 2200 BC to 476 AD. The course begins with the Minoan culture paralleling the Biblical History of Abraham. Students have a full year to complete the course but since it is self paced they can easily move through it at a faster pace. My children loved it so much they would complete multiple lessons in one sitting!
Veritas Press is a classical Christian educational program that offers 5 different levels of Self-Paced Courses. The five levels are:
-Old Testament and Ancient Egypt
-New Testament, Greece and Rome
-Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation
-Explorers to 1815
-1815 to Present
All of the Self-Paced History Lessons include:
-160 Lessons (30-50 minutes each)
-32 Historical people or events
-Educational games
-Historical characters in costume
-Videos
-on-line lessons for one year
The age range for this particular course if for grades 2nd - 6th. My 9th grade son has also been enjoying the lessons even though he says some of the questions are "to easy" for him. My other three children (ages 10 - 13) used it every day for the last month. They would log into their on-line student account and spend over an hour doing the course. I was very impressed at how the course captured their attention because they were only required to spend 15-30 minutes a day!
Since this is a Christian based course it does touch on Biblical verses and history, although that is not it's main subject. There are 31 lessons that cover the history of the Minoans, Mycenaean, The Trojan War, Phoenicians, Division of the tribes of Israel, Homer and Greek Mythology, Greek Olympics, The founding of Rome, and The colonization of Greece. Students are quizzed on historical facts through interactive games such as the labyrinth, shooting ships, battle game, a memorization song, and shipwrecked quiz. Every section finishes with a test to test the student's recollection of the facts they have studied.
In my opinion this is a great course. This course requires the students to memorize chronological history in an engaging way. I really like how it is paced with games and a quiz every fifth lesson. I have been pleasantly surprised at how much the kids are learning as well as hearing them singing the song throughout the day! I also really liked the fact that the students could access the course at their own leisure and pace.
The only part I did not like about the course was the inability of the students to retake a test or quiz. Once a test or quiz is taken the grade is final. Even if they mistakenly hit the wrong key or did not take it seriously. It would be nice if the teacher (me) had the option to allow students to retake the test or quiz so I could measure their mastery of the subject. If you are interested in this course you can try out the free 2 week trial to make sure it is a good fit for your students.
You can connect with Veritas Press through the following sites or view samples of their self-paced courses on their website:
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