For each lesson students should read the corresponding chapter of Famous Men of Rome. The Famous Men of Rome Student Guide contains 30 lessons and a very nice appendix (which might be my favorite part). I think it makes history more personal, and for that reason, the facts seem to stick better.

Each chapter focuses on one specific person in Rome’s history (moving in chronological order), which is a very unique way of studying history. The Famous Men of Rome Book draws students into the story of the lives of important Romans, and in doing so teaches them the story of Rome’s past. The curriculum is broken down into 30 lessons, which I love! A typical school year has 36 weeks, so this 30 lesson curriculum gives ample opportunity to stop at interesting points to do more outside research on topics of interest, or to take several weeks off to work on writing a historical research paper on the historical time period. The Famous Men of Rome set includes the Famous Men of Rome book, a student workbook, and a teacher guide. I think he’ll learn plenty just reading the Famous Men of Rome book and joining in our discussions. I’ll just do more oral discussion with him than written work. He loves history and often reads his 6th grade sister’s history books for fun, so I know he can understand the content. I believe my rising 3rd grader could also join in next year. This curriculum is targeted at 4th-8th grade, so it’s the perfect fit for grouping my rising 5th and 6th graders together for history. Stopping for a year in Rome, seems like the perfect answer- a whole year to really dig in-depth and learn rather than breezing through.

When we got the opportunity to review Famous Men of Rome Set by Memoria Press I thought this might be the answer to my history concerns. I know I can’t keep all we cover each year straight, I surely can’t expect the children to! So far, the curriculum we’ve used is adequate, but I always have the feeling that we are trying to cover too much ground each year, resulting in everything blurring together and little long-term retention of what we study. History is a subject I’ve struggled with throughout our homeschooling journey.

Memoria press online