TOS Review- Classical Conversations

Today I am reviewing PreScripts Cursive Passages and Illuminations: American Documents  from Classical Conversations.

What an extraordinary, hands-on learning experience!  The book, geared for those up through and including high school, has students refine their cursive handwriting skills as they copy important documents and speeches from American History.  There are so many incredible ones including the Mayflower Compact, the Gettysburg Address, Ronald Reagan's Inaugural Address, and everything in between!  Not only is the student practicing their handwriting skills, but they are learning from a primary source-- the very words of the person him/herself.  I also encouraged my son to do research on the individual and the time period in which he/she lived.

Not only is the student introduced to some of the most famous words in American History, but they are introduced to the practice of illumination (think stunning Medieval manuscripts), so each speech/document that they transcribe becomes their own individual, beautiful work of art.

I was thrilled at how meticulous my teenaged son was in designing/completing his illuminations.  Doesn't it look good?  The documents were great discussion starters and the art aspect was a wonderful and added bonus.

The photos below are some examples of the American documents that are included in the book.  The first one is Henry Cabot Lodge's League of Nations speech from 1919.  The second is Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Address from 1895.

PreScipts Cursive Passages and Illuminations American Documents is available for $12.99.  I don't think anyone would be disappointed by purchasing this book.  There are literally centuries of American History in its 145+ pages, in the very words of the people who lived it, not a 3rd party textbook source.  I also like that it reinforces two art forms: the writing of cursive and the beauty of illumination.  Cursive is definitely a lost art in today's world.  Most schools have eliminated it entirely (not this homeschool!).  It is "too time consuming" and "kids all use computers anyway." They are creating a generation of functional illiterates who will not be able to read notes that a professor puts on the board or a memo from their boss.  This book makes a "tedious" and "time consuming" subject one that is interesting and forever linked to history.  Hands-on learning works for us here!