World History: Observations and Assessments from Creation to Today: High School Level

If I had it to do over, I would not buy this text. At best, this is a readable overview of World History. I like how the author attempts to end a lesson by asking the student to summarize the reading. This causes the student to think beyond the straight forward who, what, when and where, but promotes asking why and how? However, the questions often have no foundation in the readings. The student must either have information from outside sources or be cognizant of societal trends that are probably not readily apparent to a high schooler much less an adult. My other frustration with the text and answers in the Teacher edition is the overpowering Christian emphasis. I am a Christian, but I feel the author is frequently preaching in his exam answers. Definitely not what I expected.

This book is a wonderful history book that is full of information from an angle that teaches all the details.The bookstore I purchased this from was great to work with. I ordered the wrong version and they exchanged with no problems.

Excellent as an overview of world history.

Loved it! Very informative

This book was terrible to be honest. The author did a poor job conveying history in a Christian view. His topics were all over the place and there was little information to answer his questions. This book was a failure in my opinion. I would not recommend this book to any one who is looking for a serious school curriculum.

A history curriculum that is easy to implement, compact and designed for independent study- that's what you will find in this book. It would work well for those who are not attempting to do an extremely in depth World History course in high school. Also it will fit nicely those students who prefer to do their work on their own. I don't think it would be well received for those who are looking for an intensive World History course in high school. Nor would it be a good fit for those who prefer living books for their education.Each chapter has 5 lessons that follows the format of read, answer critical thinking questions (most are open-ended, only a couple are T/F or multiple choice/matching), and then take an exam (as the `5th lesson'). It also contains the following components (from the book): narrative background, concepts/generalizations, a bit on a person who made a difference in history (called History Maker), historiographies or historical debate (presents theories surrounding a period or topic), world view formation, and history and world view overviews throughout the book.It is suggested as a 12th grade book. Other books in the series include American History (10th grade) and British History (11th grade).Here are the pros I found with this book: * Short lessons that would take about 20-30 minutes, perhaps a little longer for answering the questions in depth * Many open-ended questions (it says that they are critical thinking based roughly on Bloom's Taxonomy) that help students think `outside the box' * Interesting presentation of some information/worldviews (such as book review for Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety) * Includes quite a few religions and views from other cultures (without giving up it's Christian perspective) * It is a year long course (it has 34 weekly lessons) * Affordable * Compact and light book (not like a heavy textbook) * Christian viewpoint (but it doesn't shelter needlessly -presents overviews and some insight into worldviews)The cons for our family are as follows: * There really are no primary source documents (it does have quotes and excerpts from some but it doesn't really direct the learner to more than just what is in the textbook) * It is too textbook -it isn't terribly engaging until the questions are asked. It seems very basic and just skims the surface (not to say that it should be college level work but a little more would have been nice). Some of the information isn't any more in depth than my current 7th grader is already learning. * The exams are NOT included in the student text -only in the teachers book (I don't have it and the preview I found does not show the format of the exams). If it were truly `independent' I would like it to include them in the student book with the answers in the teachers book. * If we were to use this as a World History text we would need to supplement it with other books. There are websites included (referenced in the paragraphs) where the information was obtained but very few authors and books. That may not bother some people especially since our world is becoming immersed in the internet but *I* would prefer a book. * And finally, which doesn't really take much away from it, it is all in black and white. Keeping the cost down, I am sure, is part of the reason for printing in black and white but it's just not as `pleasing'. My kids and I read lots of books on the Kindle -which is gray scale -so the black and white isn't new, I just didn't expect it in a textbook.I expected it to be more in depth and complete than it is - since it is designed for independent learning. It states at the beginning the students are responsible for reading and following through with assignments -the teacher obviously is expected to give insight as well and to correct/discuss the questions and exams- that's the impression I got. It is `comprehensive' as in it includes a lot of historical content in terms of quantity. I would like to have seen more references and resources suggested for further reading (if the student -or parent -so desired). I think this might work for a spine with other books and resources integrated to further study the times, places, events and/or people. I don't think it is all that is needed for a really good World History high school course. Of course, if one isn't really that into history then this may be perfect for them. If they need to just get the credit this might be just the thing. For us, we need more.I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to those who are in need of a World History curriculum that `gets the job done' while presenting it with a Christian perspective. But I wouldn't really recommend it to those who want serious study into history (or those who aren't interested in it having a Christian perspective).***Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NLPG in exchange for an honest review. A positive review was not required or guaranteed.***

Written from a Christian Worldview, author James Stobaugh crams 6000+ years of history into 288 pages in World History: Observations & Assessments from Creation to Today .Geared for your High School student, this new selection from Master Books contains 34 chapters with 5 lessons each. Each lesson consists of a short reading section with critical thinking questions and will take approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Some of these questions can be deduced from the reading, some require thinking 'outside the box' and a few require you to search out the answer in other materials. At the end of each week's lessons is a short exam.This particular study has a nice, interesting flow of history from Mesopotamia to the present. In addition to studying great civilizations like Israel, Egypt, Greece, Japan, Central and South America, you'll also learn the 7 major worldviews, ponder thought provoking questions about the Martyrs, read quotes from Hinduism and Confucius and consider opposing views of the Crusades. In addition to fabulous pictures, you'll breeze through 20th century History with World Wars I & II, Jazz Age and Post modernism.Both my resident teen-aged History Buff and I though this book contained more 'meat' than British History. I was very pleased to see that there were more thinking questions and that they required a lot more in-depth thought as well.Eventhough there's a lot more information in this course, we still have the opinion that this would be a great study for someone who hasn't studied much History -or- doesn't particularly care for the subject -or- just wants a straight up study of History without additional readings, literature suggestions or mapwork.I received a Teacher and Student book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.