secular, non-Eurocentric history text? does it exist?

[yllek]

I have been perusing Amazon tonight, and now I'm feeling a little defeated. Is there such a thing as a child-friendly, secular, non-Eurocentric world history text? I've looked at the reviews of SOTW, A Little History of the World, and A Child's History of the World, and I'm bummed to read that the religious perspectives of the authors (not to mention the historical inaccuracies, Eurocentric biases, and condescending tone) really color the presentation of the historical material.

If you know of good secular resources, preferably richly written (not just encyclopedic), I would be soooo grateful to hear of them.

[RiverSky]

I'm not sure about "non-Eurocentric" but I know that History Odyssey by Pandia Press is secular.

[dotnetdiva]

You can download the Pandia Press History Odyssey as a "Try Before You Buy" to see if you like it!
http://www.pandiapress.com/trybeforeyoubuy.html

We definitely wanted a secular, non-Eurocentric history program. Story of the World isn't that bad, many secular homeschoolers use it. There are a few chapters we'll have to work around and add stuff to balance it out.

[BusyBee]

Not sure if this helps, but what we do that is a lot of fun, is to do our history through literature. This can be done in a couple of ways, for example reading literature FROM the time period, or reading historical novels ABOUT the time period. You can pick the books you are comfortable with, and the kids seem to retain all sorts of information that is eaily forgotten when learned from a textbook because they empathize with the characters. Of course, part of the fun is being able to read these books together and have discussions about hard issues as they come up. Recently we've been reading books that mention slavery, we've had to have long discussions about this. We recently read a book that had a part that was condescending to other religions. We stopped reading and had a discusion about this. I ask questions such as "why do you think these people believe this?" or, "could you say something better that would be respectful to all people?" I find this to be even more valuable than the fact-based learning textbooks emphasize. Although we buy a lot of books, we also visit the library almost every week, so this approach is friendly to our budget.

[Malva]

I love A Little History of the World!

It's euro-centric but the author makes it clear that it's the case, at least it's secular.

Here is a link to a blog post with a rather eloquent review of the book, better than what I could write about it!

Editing to add:

Also on everyone's reading list (for the parents, not the kids!) should be The Uses and Abuses of History by historian Margaret MacMillan. Reads like fiction and a great reminder to take ALL history with a grain of salt.

[sierramv]

You could choose your favorite book of the bunch and use it as your spine and then use living books to help fill in the detail that you want your dc to learn ( i.e. we have a street through time history book that the kids love and spans centuries, plus folktales, stories, what life would be for a child of that time, etc.).

Please keep us posted, great thread. We are doing US History this year and will be doing World next year. Good Luck

[sierramv]

I forgot to mention that SOTW has a free online curriculum with LOADS of great living books to supplement and a timeline to go with it!!

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by Malva

I love A Little History of the World!

It's euro-centric but the author makes it clear that it's the case, at least it's secular.

Here is a link to a blog post with a rather eloquent review of the book, better than what I could write about it!

Editing to add:

Also on everyone's reading list (for the parents, not the kids!) should be The Uses and Abuses of History by historian Margaret MacMillan. Reads like fiction and a great reminder to take ALL history with a grain of salt.

thanks for the book suggestion -- i added it to my wish list to look at when i have more time.




Serriamv -- should i assume the SOTW free online curriculum with LOADS of books to supplement it adn the timeline are on the WTM website? or is it else where. I really need to look at that -- it sounds GREAT.

[Lune]

Originally Posted by Malva

I love A Little History of the World!

It's euro-centric but the author makes it clear that it's the case, at least it's secular.

[sierramv]

MommaAimee - I just went back and checked my link, it actually is from the Bringing Up Learners site, and you can download all the info/timeline, projects,etc. for free to use with EITHER, SOTW or Little History of the World. I'll post the link, hopefully this will work

http://bringinguplearners.com/myths-...ion-selection/

[Dakota's Mom]

Have you tried "A People's History" books by Howard Zinn. His stuff is mostly about the United States, but it does seem to be a lot more honest than most of what is out there.

Kathi

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by sierramv

MommaAimee - I just went back and checked my link, it actually is from the Bringing Up Learners site, and you can download all the info/timeline, projects,etc. for free to use with EITHER, SOTW or Little History of the World. I'll post the link, hopefully this will work

http://bringinguplearners.com/myths-...ion-selection/

you are so sweet!!!!!

Thanks

It is tubby time here, then bed time -- then i have to clean up the house -- but THEN I will sit down and look at them as I am really excited about this. Really

[Chamomile Girl]

I don't know what age level you are looking for, but for high school/ adults Ronald Takai's A Different Mirror is classic!

[yllek]

Originally Posted by Dakota's Mom

Have you tried "A People's History" books by Howard Zinn. His stuff is mostly about the United States, but it does seem to be a lot more honest than most of what is out there.

Kathi

I love Howard Zinn. There is a children's version of A People's History, which is what I will use for US history. I just wish he would write a world history book for children. That would be the spine I would love to have.


Thank you, everyone, for all the wonderful suggestions. I hope some more ideas keep coming in. I will look over the living book titles and booklists. If I uncover something else that might be useful, I'll post back too.

[californiajenn]

I just checked Howard Zinn's website to see what he was working on and found that he passed away today.

[Calidris]

Originally Posted by yllek

I have been perusing Amazon tonight, and now I'm feeling a little defeated. Is there such a thing as a child-friendly, secular, non-Eurocentric world history text?

subbing in hopes that there is at least one example

[yllek]

Originally Posted by californiajenn

I just checked Howard Zinn's website to see what he was working on and found that he passed away today.

This really saddens me. His work gave voice to the marginalized, the ones who didn't get the chance to write the history books... Thanks for posting about it.

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by sierramv

MommaAimee - I just went back and checked my link, it actually is from the Bringing Up Learners site, and you can download all the info/timeline, projects,etc. for free to use with EITHER, SOTW or Little History of the World. I'll post the link, hopefully this will work

http://bringinguplearners.com/myths-...ion-selection/

that is too cool.

I loooooove how it is laid out also -- so clear and easy to follow.

Thanks so much.

It is a bit beyond us now -- but i think I just found out first history / grography curr!!!!

[Mama_Leah]

We use Sonlight and the history we have covered so far has been great. Most of the books we have used are Usborne: Usborne Book of World History, Time Travelers, Houses and Homes and Peoples of the World.
These are all secular and since Sonlight is Christian they supplement with A Child's History of the World but you wouldn't have to use it at all.

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by Mama_Leah

We use Sonlight and the history we have covered so far has been great. Most of the books we have used are Usborne: Usborne Book of World History, Time Travelers, Houses and Homes and Peoples of the World.
These are all secular and since Sonlight is Christian they supplement with A Child's History of the World but you wouldn't have to use it at all.

How Christian / Biblical is A Child's History of the World ??

Aimee