Little Homeschool on the Prairie: Pathway to Liberty Homeschool Curriculum Review

We are a history loving family. The last several weeks my son has been digging in to US History with Pathway to Liberty's History Curriculum we have been using US History Level 3 from Pathway to Liberty Homeschool Curriculum.

I received a physical copy of US History Level 3:

Teacher Guide

Student Guide

The Chain of Liberty Study Guide

The Chain of Liberty Textbook

There are literature books required to complete the program. You will also need access to the internet. For levels 2 thru 4 it is recommended that you us a 1 1/2” 3-ring notebook with tabs for 26 weeks. You can also create a timeline which can be downloaded from the website for a notebook version or a wall timeline too.

There are four levels which are customized for grade levels. Depending on age and your choice as a parent this can be used independently or with the parent’s involvement. Pathway to Liberty Homeschool Curriculum is a complete comprehensive history curriculum. This is a Biblical Worldview Curriculum.

Level 1: K5-3^rd grade

Level 2: 4^th -6^th grade

Level 3: 7^th – 9^th grade

Level 4: 10^th -12^th grade

US History Level 3 starts with the foundation of the curriculum for the first two weeks giving you a chance to get assimilated into the curriculum style. Like any new curriculum you have a learning curb. Once you get down it flows really easy with each lesson. We were pretty comfortable after the first week.

Starting in week 3 you stay on a topic throughout the week. You will explore Jamestown, Puritans & Pilgrims, Plymouth Colony, to the Patriots in the Pulpit, events Leading up to the Declaration of Independence, Birth of the Nation, Found Fathers, The Bible & the Constitution, and up to the Civil War. As you guessed you will be digging into the early history of the United States.

Teacher Guide and Student Guide

The layout is the same in both guides except for the exception of the answers to the questions are provided in the Teacher Guide.

A few sample pages to help you as a parent with assignments

in the Teachers Guide

The teacher manual has some helpful information with teaching and directing your students work with modeling an outline and research modeling the 4 R’s which includes: Research, Reason, Relate, and Record.

Please keep in mind the Student Guide is intended for one student if you have a physical copy. If you are doing this with more than one student you will need to purchase another workbook or buy the digital book which can be used with more than one student.

Both of these are spiral bound book which is always my favorite as it lays out flat without any hassle. There are 26 weeks with lessons 4 days a week. This is more than history as you will have geography, Bible scripture copywork and memorization, writing assignments, vocabulary, reading assignments, and more all wrapped up nicely in this step by step curriculum.

I love the layout of the schedule

The weekly lessons have schedules laid out for all 4 levels which makes this convenient if your teaching multiply ages together.

Each week you have a Weekly Overview giving you a brief synopsis of the lesson.

Teaching Objectives will let you glimpse at the main thoughts and principles taught during the lesson. My son called it a “highlighter” of the week as it’s what you need to pay attention to in each week’s lesson.

The next section is a table that includes: Scripture, Principle, and Leading Idea. All of these you will be writing out what is in the table.

The scripture(s) is completely written out along with the location in the scripture. Both the Principle and leading Idea for the weekly lesson is in this section for you to copy in your notebook.

Many of the lessons also include YouTube videos for most of the weekly lessons. The videos vary in length and can be anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour in length. Some of them are lectures and others are documentaries.

A few samples of the videos above on Jamestown and on the Star Spangled Banner song.

When you pull up the videos for your level it is laid out nicely to locate what video you need for the lessons easily

The schedule breaks down for you schedule in simple steps with what pages you read in the assigned books, Word Studies, several optional writing options. History Expanded, and Vocabulary. All of this is broken down by level. For kids that are independent or even semi-independent this will be easy for them to complete the lessons.

Several maps throughout that correspond with the lessons

Word Studies are an essential part of the program. The preferred dictionary is the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary which can be purchased separately our there is a free tonline version. You write out the words meaning in your notebook while underlining key words in the definition.

Your questions are a mixture of facts, your own personal thoughts on the lesson, and some discussion questions. For example: “Who are the Puritans?” or “What do you think happened to the colony of Roanoke?”

You can really go in as much depth as you want with this history curriculum as there are several suggested subjects and topics you can dig into more. It gives you information with what to include. There are several more suggested books outside of the core books and videos to look at.

The Chain of Liberty Study Guide and Textbook

The textbook and study guide is written by the author of this curriculum Jayme McCullough. On the cover it says, “Do men have a right to think for themselves?” That is a loaded question don’t you think? Jayme McCullough explains that the Chain of Liberty is the chronological timeline of histories events of the human race. Just like a chain has links so does history connection people, events, and ideals. That is me paraphrasing it.

A few sample pages of the textbook above

The book is included in the schedules for you to follow. This is a good companion with the program. It goes over the information you are reading and learning about but we felt that it broke it down in smaller parts on topics and people. It really explained things at a level that my son was able to comprehend easier. It’s sort of like a history behind the history. It also looks at history from a Biblical perspective.

The Study Guide provided interesting questions from the textbook

The Study Guide is just that with questions for you to answer from the textbook. It covers questions that correspond with linking that chain together. The Chain of Liberty will guide the questions around Creation Link, Dawn of the Nations Link, Moses and the Law Link, Church Link, Reformation Link, First Colonies Link, First Constitutional Republic Link, Expansion and Erosion Link, The World at War Link, and Restoration Link. This covers all the eras of history included in all four programs. This book will be essential in other series. This also has the answers to the question in the back of the book.

My son enjoyed this workbook and the questions in the study guide. However he disliked the book size, the provided writing space, and that the book doesn’t stay open while trying to write in it. I let him work out of a notebook as it really frustrated him. I have to agree with him. I honestly would love the Study Guide to have a different format.

How did I use Pathway to Liberty Homeschool Curriculum in my Homeschool?

I spent several days looking over the material and watching several of the videos myself before I had my 13 year old son who is just finishing up 7^th grade next week. My son is very independent. I wanted to get an overview of the lesson to get him started off and not have him fumble through it at first. However I felt that the layout is extremely easy to follow. In fact I think it’s one of the easier history curriculum's out there with this much depth to it.

He is learning about the Roanoke Colony in this lesson and completing the Student Guide

My son really enjoyed reading The Chain of Liberty Textbook and found it intriguing.

We did a mixture of me working side by side with him so I could see how he worked through the program to letting him go solo. We followed the schedule with no hiccups. My son had to go solo more than I intended to with some unexpected surgeries and appointments with my daughter.

Above are a few pages of my sons completed work

I had the first core books on hand and was able to stay on course for the lessons. I will need to obtain the next book here real soon to continue on. My son wants to continue this next year.

My son’s thoughts, “I found this interesting with the combination of God and History together. The reading wasn’t so bad with what books I’ve read so far. Some of the questions are challenging and made me think. It’s been a long time since I’ve studied the Puritans in-depth and I found it interesting now that I’m older. I was really intrigued with the section on Roanoke colony. It’s an interesting mystery to contemplate what happened to the colony.”

“I like some of the YouTube videos and some of them I thought were boring and dragged on.”

“I would like to have more writing space in the workbooks. The Chain of Liberty student book was a pain and I didn’t like how it was formatted. The style really frustrated me.”

My son concluded with, “I would give this a thumbs up.”

I love the depth of history this provides and how it ties in a Christian worldview. It all weaves together nicely. You can tell a lot of thought and time was put into this history curriculum. With Jayme McCullough being a homeschool mom she truly understands how to make it homeschool friendly.