Veritas Press History Review: Independent History Curriculum for Your Homeschool!
You’re in the right spot for a top to bottom Veritas Press History Review!
We have been using Veritas Press History in our homeschool with my 5th grader and 2nd grader for about 5 months now, and I could not be happier with the decision to switch from our previous history curriculum.
I am excited to finally share all the details with you about how it’s been going!
Keep reading this review to find out:
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Why We Switched to Veritas Press History
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How Veritas Press Self Paced History Classes Work
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What We Love About Veritas Press History
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What I Don’t Love About Veritas Press History
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How To Save Money on the Curriculum (I got you, Homeschool Mama!)
Veritas Press History Press Review: Why We Switched our History Curriculum
I personally love teaching history in my homeschool.
It was one of my favorite subjects in school and just came very easily to me. My kids enjoy the read alouds, the discussion, the hands-on projects, and timeline building.
History really is a highlight in our week!
But this year I started to find it more and more difficult to carve out the time to do age-appropriate history with all of my girls.
My littles need me every minute for reading, math, and writing, and my oldest will tire of waiting for me to get to her for the things she can’t do on her own.
I want to do ALL the things…but I also don’t want to do school for 25 hours a day. I needed to take something off my plate, so I decided to switch from this outstanding history curriculum (but very teacher intensive) and give Veritas Press History a try.
The goal was that it would give me more breathing room in my homeschool day, help my kids to learn at their levels, and they would continue to have fun with history!
Wait, What is Veritas Press?
Veritas Press is a Christian online homeschool curriculum that offers self-paced classes for history (and other subjects)!
These are NOT your stale, prerecorded lessons that you have probably seen before.
Veritas Press offers a dynamic media presentation that will engage your kids through historical characters, games, puzzles, and songs!
Here is what the Veritas Press Website says parents can expect from their self paced history classes:
– Have one less subject to teach
– Don’t have to grade any assignments
– Can see their students progress at all times
– Have kids that are excited to learn
– Free up more time in your day
– Have so much fun they don’t know they’re doing “school”
– Can work wherever there is internet access
– Progress at their own pace
– Enjoy review that is as fun as a video game
– Will master what they are learning
How Do Veritas Press History Lessons Really Work?
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Pick from the following Veritas Press History options:
Middle Ages, Renaissance, & Reformation
Or these US History Options:
Veritas Press recommends that you start with Old Testament & Ancient Egypt in 2nd grade and then continue through the curriculum chronologically to 6th grade.
But you can absolutely start wherever your child is interested, and your child will definitely be engaged and challenged.
2. Buy the Veritas Press Flash Cards that go with the course you chose.
That is the only physical item that is essential to the course from day 1. It serves as a visual timeline and as a reminder of key information as they answer questions during the lesson.
There is an option for a digital download of the flashcards, but they have a watermark on them and would be pretty expensive to print.
I wanted to start the curriculum right away once I made the decision to sign up. Now, I had to wait for these flashcards to come in the mail?! I was super impressed though that they showed up in 2 days, and we didn’t pay for expedited shipping.
****Big Tip: Immediately hole punch the cards and put them on a metal ring. That will save you so much pain from the cards getting out of order or your kids losing one – been there done that several times! You’re welcome! 🙂
3. Set your kid up with their account, put their flashcards in front of them, and let them go!
No teacher’s guide. No prep. Just go!
They will start clicking through videos, questions, puzzles, games, and songs!
I sat with my girls during the first lesson, just to make sure they understood how to navigate the software. They quickly showed me that they did not need my help anymore.
Expect the lesson to be around 20 – 30 minutes. There are enough lessons to fill 5 days a week for 32 weeks.
****Veritas Press History Self-Paced Classes do have a book list that is suggested to go along with the curriculum, but they are considered to be extra. The online course is robust and complete by itself.
Veritas Press History Review: What We Loved This Year
1. History is Fun!
History was already a favorite with my kids, but Veritas Press sent it over the top.
It quickly became the first subject they wanted to do every day. And no joke, my 2nd grader asked to do history on a weekend because she thought it was so fun!
We have had many busy days where I tried to cut history from our schedule because we didn’t have time – but my kids would beg to do it anyways.
2. Historical Characters Teach the Lessons
The short, information-packed videos are taught by actors in historical costumes and my kids love it!
My second grader is also learning early history from a sunglasses-wearing, talking Sphinx, and my fifth grader’s video includes a talking totem pole.
No dry, dull history here! It feels more like a conversation than a lecture.
3. Flashcards Make History No Stress for Kids
Veritas Press takes 32 key historical events from the time period being studied and has the kids learn them in chronological order over the year.
There are 32 flashcards – one for each event. On one side is the name of the event and a beautiful painting depicting it, and on the other side is a summary of key points they are learning.
I love the visual that this provides, but I love even more that the kids are free to use the flashcards for all questions, review questions, and tests.
They get to have the answers right in front of them, so no need to stress, get frustrated, or be overwhelmed with what they need to remember.
4. Constant Review
You might think, “Um, are they learning any history if they have the answers in front of them all the time?”
Yes!
There is such a huge focus on review, so your kid is constantly answering the same questions over and over again. My kids will often not even look at the cards because they have memorized the information over time – with no tears or stress!
5. The Songs
There is a fun song that the kids sing at the beginning of every lesson that teaches the 32 historical events in order.
My 2nd grader especially loves this and will sing the song at the top of her lungs at the beginning of every lesson. It drives my other kids crazy, but I love that Veritas Press History took the time to include so many different ways to reach kids and get them engaged!
And man, the song is really catchy!
6. The Games!
If we weren’t sold with the fun videos and catchy songs, the interactive games would have sealed the deal!
I still remember my 5th grader gasping and saying, “Mom, it’s a video game!”
Now, there are several types of games.
There are review games that encourage kids to answer questions correctly to reach a goal.
The above picture is a great example. When my daughter answered a question correctly, it would send Columbus’ ship a little closer to land. If she missed a question, a wave would crash over the ship and it wouldn’t move.
There are also games as a reward after finishing something, puzzles, spelling challenges, and more! They offer a lot of variety with each new lesson, so my kids don’t get bored.
7. Veritas Press History Teaches from a Biblical Worldview
It is such a breath of fresh air to have my kids learning history every day from a solid Biblical worldview. It is solidly understood that God is at the center of the curriculum and that the Bible is truth.
The early history lessons start with the Creation and moves through several Bibilcial events before getting to early Egyptian civilization. I was a little worried that it would be too heavy on Biblical history (I already teach that during our morning time), but the lessons do quickly fan out and go far beyond Biblical history.
8. Money Back Guarantee
Spending this kind of money can feel a little risky.
What if my kids hate it?
What if I hate it?
Rest assured that Veritas Press has a rock-solid 90-day money back guarantee, which means you can try the curriculum for three months and still get your money back, no questions asked.
If only all curriculum had that kind of guarantee.
Then maybe I woldn’t have a basement full of books that I don’t know what to do with. Sigh.
9. History Is Off My Plate
As a busy homeschool mom of multiple kids, it is so nice to be able to hand off one subject. This frees me up so much to work with my other kids.
It feels great knowing that they are getting a great foundation in history and probably learning more than if I had found the time to teach it myself.
I also like that it gives my kids a break from read aloud, workbook-style type lessons they do for most subjects.
It definitely breaks up the day for all of us and gives us some variety in our learning!
Veritas Press History Review: What We Didn’t Love
1. Consumable
You have one year to use the curriculum after purchasing it (you can delay the start day though).
After that year, you lose access. You can keep the flashcard, of course, but you have to buy the curriculum again to use it with younger kids.
2. Glitchy
Every now and then the games or slides would start to glitch. My kid couldn’t click on anything, move forward, or backward in the lesson. Usually, we just had to restart the lesson and it would take us back to where we started.
Twice I had to reach out to customer service because we couldn’t pass through a game. The chat option was really quick on the website, and they were very helpful.
Both times it turned out that we just didn’t understand the game. A little irritating that the directions were not explained more clearly, but just glad it was a quick fix.
3. Price
The sticker shock can be a little much, especially if you want to enroll multiple kids in Veritas Press History.
We all don’t like parting with our money, but I do feel pretty strongly about investing in quality curriculum.
After 5 months of use, this history curriculum is definitely worth my money. And honestly, it was giving a gift to myself.
Keep reading though to find out how to avoid paying full price!
4. We’re Not Learning Together
As much as I love Veritas Press History, I really miss that we are not all learning together and having rich discussions about history.
That is a huge piece of what makes homeschooling special to me.
We still have morning time: devotions, prayer, and read-aloud time. I have also recently added in a current events curriculum to our morning to get back that discussion time.
How To Save Money on Veritas Press History
Veritas Press History Self Paced Classes are $250 at the time of my writing this review (but definitely click over to their website to see if that’s changed).
That is not far from what I paid for my entire box curriculum when my oldest was in 1st grade.
Yikes!
What is a budget minded homeschool family to do?
You’ve got two options.
1. Wait to purchase the curriculum until late August
In late August, Veritas Press runs a sale for $100 off their self paced courses.
$150 is stil a lot of money, but it was much more comparable to what I was already paying for history (including project supplies I had to buy for the year).
2. Have Your Kids Share a Course
If you have multiple kids, definitely consider having them share a course. Veritas Press has no problem with you doing this, and they allow you to redo lessons as many times as you want to.
Your kids may really love learning together and talking about their lessons!
The only issue you may have is that the scores a child achieves cannot be changed. So let’s say Mary scores an 80% on a lesson and then Sally comes up behind her and does the same lesson, scoring 100%. The recorded grade will still be 80%.
Click on one of the below courses to find out more and decide which would fit your homeschool the best!
Middle Ages, Renaissance, & Reformation
US History Options:
Recap: Veritas Press History Curriculum
If you’re feeling a little jittery about making this change, please know that I have commitment issues too when it comes to buying curriculum
Remember that Veritas Press has a no questions asked 90 Day Money Back Guarantee!
So you can test drive this curriculum in your homeschool, and still return it within 90 days if you don’t fall in love with it.
But I don’t think that will be an issue!
Have any more quesitons that I didn’t cover in this review? Drop them in the comments and I’ll get you answers, Homeschool Mama!
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