World History Detective

World History Detective
By
Published at Critical Thinking Co.

About the product

World History Detective® can be used as a standards-based, stand-alone textbook, a resource of supplemental activities to enrich another textbook, or as a review course for older students. Students begin by analyzing a lesson. Next, they apply critical thinking skills to answer multiple choice and short essay questions. Finally, students support their answers by identifying evidence learned from the lesson. World History Detective® includes geographical maps, timelines, and concept maps, and develops critical thinking skills in lessons that teach the roles that technology, power, institutions, ideas, and trade play in shaping history.

This book provides teacher and student introductions, list of historical topics, a lesson on identifying evidence, answers, critical thinking skills, identification of evidence, evaluation of evidence, as well as drawing inferences and conclusions.
My Thoughts

I stumbled on a new product from Critical Thinking a couple of months ago.   Since we were going to study the Medieval era as part of our homeschool, I was looking for a curriculum that will encourage my oldest son to read more about the Medieval Times and learn from it.   I had found some interesting novels but this specific product which I had discovered would challenge him in reading on a specific topics, find answers to questions and take the time to draw conclusions on his own.  

The World History Detective allow you child to become a Sherlock Holmes while travelling through historical events from the past.    The first book concentrates mostly on Ancient and Medieval Civilizations.

The table of contents is divided into four historic ages:

• Prehistory – dating history, prehistory to Neanderthals, early modern humans, and middle stone age through the new stone age
• Ancient Civilizations – Fertile Crescent and the Sumerians, Babylonian Empire, Hittites and Phoenicians, religious history of the Hebrews, Ancient Hebrews, Assyrians and Chaldeans, Persian Empire, Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, Ancient India, Ancient Greece, Persian Wars, Peloponnesian Wars, Macedonians and Hellenistic Age, Classical Greece, beginning of the Roman Empire, Roman Republic Government and Law, Roman military, Phoenician Wars, Decline of Roman Republic, beginning of the Roman Empire, Daily Life in the Roman Empire, Ancient Roman Art and Literature, Roman Emperors, Christianity, Fall of the Western Roman Empire, and Ancient Celts.
• Medieval Civilizations – Medieval Easter Roman Empire, geography of Europe, Barbarian Europe, spread of Christianity and Roman values into Barbarian Europe, founding of Western Europe, founding of England and Ireland, Medieval Russia, feudalism, age of faith, Medieval art and education, Crusades, conflict between kinds and popes, development of individual freedom, Muslims and Jews in Medieval Europe, fall of Medieval Society, geography of Arabia, beginnings of Islam, spread of Islam, Medieval Islamic science, math, business and literature, Medieval Islamic art and architecture, decline of the Islamic Empire, Seljuk and Ottoman Turks, geography of Asia, China, Medieval Japan, Medieval India, Medieval Korea, Medieval Southeast Asia, geography of Africa, Medieval West African Empires and economics, and Medieval East Africa and Zimbabwe.
• Early American Civilizations – First Americans, geography and Great Civilizations of Mesoamerica and South America, Mayas, Aztecs, Incas, Norteast Tribes, Southeast and Plain Tribes, Great Basin and Plateau Tribes, Soutwest and California Tribes, as well as Nortwest Coastal, Subartic, and Artic Tribes.

To give you an idea of how the lessons are presented, check the images below.

I am impressed with the quality found in the exercises.  There is usually a page and a half of reading to do (sometimes accompanied by maps) and the student has some multiple choice questions to answer as well as some written questions where he/she has to expand on the thinking use to formulate the answer.    These exercises are perfect to discover more about civilizations from the past as well as deepen a better understanding of history.   I am suspecting that more books will be part of this series.   I hope that a World History Detective based on Canadian History would be put together eventually.   I would be great to have something on Canadian History that would stimulate the critical thinking of the student. I am very pleased with World History Detective Book One as we cover the Medieval Civilizations as part of our history lessons.  

If you purchase the World History Detective Book One, you will also get free bonus review lessons which are downloadable from the Critical Thinking website.   Also, the answers are provided in the book.  You also have the authorization to reproduce the pages for your family use. 

The World History Detective Book One is available for purchase directly from Critical Thinking for the price of 34.99$ US.   in 2015, a software edition will also be available.  It is also available on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

  

Disclaimer: Thanks to The Critical Thinking Co. for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.