I love history. Always have. I taught it for many years in high schools and colleges. When I see a good history curriculum, I get psyched. (and my kids laugh at me!)
The Famous Men of Rome is a year-long course. It consists of a text, student guide and teacher guide that are filled with vibrant color pictures. Memoria Press actually commissioned 30 oil paintings to be included in the text and they are simply gorgeous!
The text is 157 pages long and contains 29 interesting and attention-keeping stories about famous men from Rome's history. We read the stories aloud and then discussed what we had learned. My kids really enjoyed the story-style of the writing.
In the text, your students will read about great Romans including:
- Romulus
- Cincinnatus
- Julius Caesar
- Nero
- Marcus Aurelius
- Cato the Censor
- Constantine the Great
- Horatius
- Junius Brutus
and many more
I did not know that the Romans worshiped Romulus, the founder of Rome as a god. They worshiped him under the name Quirinus, which was one of the names of the god Mars (didn't know that either!) and they built a temple to him on a hill which was then called the Quirinal Hill.
I also found it very interesting that great numbers of Romans attended amusements such as horse and chariot races because they did not have to pay admission. The shows were paid for by rich Romans and by the government, both of whom sought the ordinary people's favor.
The Student Guide contains activities and information to supplement what is read in the text. The lessons in the guide contain the following:
- Facts to Know (includes vocabulary, definitions and quotations)
- Comprehension Questions (great for higher level thinking skills!)
- Activities (charts, timelines, maps and more. Perfect for those hands-on learners like mine!)
- Review (vocab with a word bank)
- Important People, Places and Things (fill in the blank with no word bank)
- Who Said That (same as above, but with quotations)
- Places to Identify on a Map and Match the Year to the Person
- Drawing Pages (another plus for those hands-on, creative kids!)
Click here to see a sample from the Student Guide.
The Teacher's Guide contains the answers to the Student Guide in addition to tests with keys. To see a sample from the Teacher's Guide, click here.
Memoria Press has been known for many years for their superb Latin curriculum, and I am sure that this Roman study will soon become a favorite of many. Not teacher intensive, but a wonderful example of the classical approach-- reading a living-book style text that is accompanied by not only questions of varied degrees of difficulty, but hands-on activities to complete, that were definitely the favorite part among my kiddos.
You can purchase the set of books for $39.95 or separately: $17.95 for the the student and teacher guides and $16.95 for the text. There are also flashcards available for $12.95.
When learning is fun and interesting, you know we are doing something right!
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