User Reviews and Testimonials

Cathy Duffy is a homeschool curriculum specialist, who is best known as the author of "Top 100 Picks for Homeschooling Curriclum". She writes independent reviews for Christian homeschoolers, and recently reviewed the Heritage Classical curriculum:

". . . .these CDs offer far more than a collection of out-of-print books. The CDs have been organized in a way that makes it easy for even inexperienced parents or teachers to find exactly what they need. . . . .[they] might also be used alongside programs like Tapestry of Grace, Story of the World, and Omnibus—classically oriented approaches that require students to read books such as those in these libraries. . . . .

You can see the whole review by Cathy Duffy here. It's too late for the 2012 version of 101 Top Picks, but maybe next time . . . .

Anne Wagener of Practical Homeschooling magazine authored an exceptionally good "Spotlight" review in issue #102.

"If you want to build a library full of trusted, vibrant history books from past generations, you could spend years haunting used bookstores and websites searching out the best titles plus hundreds or even thousands of dollars to buy them . . or you could invest as little as $20 to acquire a set of excellent books, thematically arranged, in digital form from the Heritage History Library. . .

You can see the whole review by Anne Wegener here. It was published in Practical Homeschooling magazine #102, Jan/Feb/Mar 2012. ©2012 Home Life, Inc. Used by permission.

Jimmie Lanley homeschools a middle school age daughter in Tennessee using a Charlotte Mason approach. She reviewed the Ancient Rome Classical Curriculum and has provided an outstanding review.

"Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of different living books based curriculum. I started with Sonlight, shifted to Winter Promise, used Beautiful Feet, and now I’ve started falling in love with Heritage History. . . . In the beginning, I needed a well-planned, "check the box" type of "open and go" curriculum. But as I grew in experience and confidence, I realized that . . .I didn’t need a lot of detailed lesson plans . . . just quality literature and a general outline. I think my transformation has found its culmination in Heritage History. . . . . . . see more.

Valeric McClintick homeschools four children, aged 8 to 1 years old and is a specialist in arts and crafts. She reviewed the Young Readers Classical Curriculum and has been using it with her family.

"if you’re a homeschooler you know how wonderful it is when you find an appropriate book…. a Classic that teaches your children about important facts in a fun, and memorable way. . . I love that Heritage History is providing these classic stories in an updated format, making it easy for today's homeschooling families. . .see more.

Tristan D. , from Ohio, has a full house, with six under the age of 11 and one on the way. She reviewed Young Readers.

. . . I love that it is all centered around stories! There is not a better way for a young child to connect with the facts of history than to have it pulled together into a story. The books included are well-written and we’ve enjoyed every one we’ve read so far. . . . see more.

Blossom B. homeschools a middle school boy and a high school girl in Ohio. She reviews Ancient Greece and British Middle Ages.

.. This curriculum fits in well with my current choice of using a Charlotte Mason method of learning. It is heavy on reading living books and narrating what has been retained. And whereas before we have tried to implement time-lining and map-work into the day and fell short, we didn’t have that trouble using HHCC. It is all included in the CD curriculum. . . . see more.

Ticia Messing teaches grammar shool aged twin boys and a daughter at home. She reviewed Early America classical library.

. . . I've taken the time to read two of my books and I love them. . . They're an affordable way to add in some great classical literature to your school year . . . see more.

Angie homeschools her two sons.She reviewed the British Middle Ages classical curriculum.

You get a smorgasbord of types of literature to choose... If your goal is to browse this period of history, you could choose beginning level historical fiction reading, or get intense with advanced comprehensive history...unlike so many other companies that have come up with reading lists that force you find crazy out of print curriculum – they send it to you. On a VERY easy to use CD.... see more.

Barb has homeschooled her four kids for the last 15 years. She reviewed the British Middle Ages classical curriculum for us.

This is our first year of using any of Heritage History's products and I can say without hesitation that they live up to my high expectations...I wish we would have had access to these public domain ebooks when we were working through Tapestry of Grace Years 1-2... Heritage History...makes it affordable and convenient for homeschooling families to ratchet up the learning without a lot of fuss. I only wish we would have had access to this sort of quality curriculum...when we started homeschooling sixteen years ago...Heritage History is a curriculum spine or supplement that will truly offer something for everyone.... see more.

Christine is the homeschooling mother of four kids, she reviewed the Christian Europe classical library.

I have a middle schooler who is a voracious reader. When I had the opportunity to become an affiliate for this company, and received the Christian Europe library of books to use in our own homeschool, I could not wait to begin. Each affordable library includes dozens of books that can be downloaded onto an iPad or e-reader, and curriculums have maps, timelines, and other resources in addition to the books! Now that I’m actually planning and choosing which books to include from Heritage History’s CD library... I am even more convinced about this resource. So much so, that I’ve chosen to purchase at least one more CD curriculum for use this year. see more.

Jodi has four small children and plans to homeschool them, she reviewed the Young Readers classical curriculum.

Quite honestly, though I have been using eBooks for some time now . . . it was Heritage History that made me WELCOME eBooks into my home…Heritage History is a company that takes us back to reading history instead of using “social studies” or paraphrases, which only dabble in history. Heritage History has compiled hundreds of well written stories penned for the child or laymen. The books aren’t intended to be read as an "assignment" per se, but as a pastime . . . something that is enjoyable. History is fascinating, but sometimes we just need someone to paint the picture for us in order to launch the movie within our imagination. Heritage History curriculum does just that... If you like stories of old that didn’t sugar coat things like pirate fights, aborigines eating sailors, and real knife fights that don’t always end happily, then Heritage History is for you... see more.

Betty homeschooles six kids. reviewed the Heritage History Classical Curriculums alongside the TruthQuest system.

Heritage History’s literature goes hand in hand with the TruthQuest Guides. In fact, if I purchased each of the Heritage History CDs, I would have a complete set of books to use with our TruthQuest guides from the beginning to the end, with very little need to purchase much else. . . . There are over 400 classic narrative texts with original illustrations and complete text. These are living books and twaddle free. They are a homeschool mom’s delight, as one CD will offer a year or more reading for the entire family! see more.

This mother of four has homeschooled for ten years, and uses a variety of resources for history, My Father's World, World History, detective, and Heritage History. She reviewed the British Empire Classical Library.

My 6th grader has been enjoying reading selections from The British Empire. The nice thing about these cd's is that they contain multi-levels of reading, so, his older brother can jump in too. We will be utilizing the Spanish Empire Library more over this coming summer to branch into early American History. Perfect!! . . . see more.

Laura L. homeschools her family in Southwest Missouri. She reviewed the Ancient Greece Classical curriculum and writes:

"We've hit on a winner! Michael, 12, has spent hours, yes hours, happily reading Ancient Greek history books for this review. He's read seven so far! Michael has an interest in Greek history and Greek mythology. This made Heritage History Ancient Greece an excellent choice for our family. . . I don't have to tell him to read his history. He says, "It actually has good books. . . . See more at Harvest Lane Cottage

Lori is a history buff with a special needs daughter. She reviewed the Young Readers curriculum and writes:

"On a personal level I loved these stories. Hearing the children's tales written from an earlier perspective was really refreshing to me and I am sure this would be the case for many students as well." See more at Special Connection Homeschool

Carissa is a homeschooling mother of seven. She reviewed the Ancient Greece Classical Curriculum and writes:

"I inserted the CD into my computer with a little bit of trepidation . . . but as I looked over the menus and read through the Introduction I was sold! . . . Heritage History claims to line up with the Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling, but I would argue that it also lines up with my Classically Relaxed approach.

Here’s some of the things I love: 1) The CD is designed to look like you are in your web browser (familiar) but it’s independent of the internet! (AWESOME!) 2) You can copy, print and share these books on your eReader. No copy write violations here! 3) [The CD is] Loaded with Living Books for all levels of learning. 4) [It is] Organized and easy to navigate. . . " See more at My Life on a Taffy Pull

Debbie is a speech pathologist and homeschools four children. She reviewed the Ancient Greece classical curriculum and writes:

"This collection of books was a nice enhancement to our current study of Ancient Greece. Because most of the books at this level are in story form, they were enjoyable for Emily to read, but gave her a deeper understanding of life in Sparta and Athens. We prefer a literature-based approach to history, so I like to have a large selection of historical novels and biographies available" See more at Debbie’s Homeschool Corner

Courtney, a homeschool mother of 5 boys, reviewed Young Readers, and writes:

"I'm thrilled with this product. . . It was easy to transfer the books onto the Kindle Fire . . . and the formatting is excellent. . . For less than 30 cents a book, I've got an entire library of great historical books for my boys and I look forward to incorporating more of these books into our history studies." See more at The Classical Circus

Brianna J. is an avid gardener who homeschools eight children. She reviewed Young Readers, and writes:

"I found the way the books were organized to be simple and user friendly . . . this is a well priced CD to add to your homeschool as a History resource especially if you use Classical, Charlotte Mason, or other real books intensive teaching methods. . . " See more at I Can’t Decide

Jennifer, a mother of five from British Columbia, reviewed the Young Readers collection, and writes:

"One only needs to read a few of the history books included in the Heritage History library to realize how seriously deficient one’s knowledge of history really is. Most of the books in the Heritage collection were widely available in children’s libraries at the turn of the century, but very few history books of comparable value are still in libraries . . . If learning classical history or a classical education is important to you, you may find these Heritage History volumes to be an indispensible part of your homeschool. . . " See more at Our Peculiar Lives

Michelle homeschools two boys using the Tapestry of Grace curriculum. She reviewed the Young Readers collection and writes:

"You can use this program alone . . . [but they] have even incorporated books into popular history programs. For example; Tapestry of Grace is used and recommends many books from Heritage History but you can also find many more on the topics you are studying for your units. This made my heart smile, as they have taken the "leg-work" out for homeschool mamas. . . . Yes, Yes, Yes, I cannot say enough about Heritage History, it is like having a history library in your own home. . . . We will use this as a supplement to our history program but it definitely can be used as a stand alone history with the study aids and wonderful website they have put together!" See more at Our Beautiful Mess

Jessica R. is a mom of five from Western PA. She reviewed Ancient Rome, and writes:

"What's so great about these products is that by using the narrative approach to history, Heritage History is able to restore interest in both popular and long-forgotten historical stories and events. . . . I am generally averse to computer-based education . . . but am surprised to find myself so excited about this curriculum. . . It greatly reduces costs . . . and frees me of any hassle trying to find shelf space for [these books]." See more at Modest Mama

Janet B homeschools her five children in Kansas. She reviewed British Middle Ages, and writes:

". . . In addition to the wonderful array of books included on the CD, I was pleasantly surprised to find an excellent variety of additional resources that made our study of the British Empire all the more interesting. Maps and outlines, reading logs and additional images, unique resources such as British geographical terms and charts of major British war battles all enhanced our reading. These "extras" really were the icing on the cake for my family, and as a woman of Irish descent I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Ireland during this era in history. . . " See more at Encouraging Moms Who Homeschool

Carrie homeschools five children and reviewed our British Empire curriculum. She writes:

"I personally prefer reading LIVING BOOKS as opposed to the textbook way of learning history. I think the retention of information is greater, and the material is certainly more interesting. History becomes about real people doing real things rather than just a bunch of facts to be memorized. We really LOVED Heritage History." See more at Amazing Grace, how Sweet the Sound

Collen B homeschools her two children in Florida. She reviewed the British Empire curriculum and writes:

". . . .Don't some of those titles just make you want to grab up the book and read it? . . . There's more to it than just the books that have been captured and preserved. This disc also holds 50 historical maps. My son just loves to look at stuff like that! . . . " See more at Colleens Quest

Jennifer W. homeschools her children in Oklahoma. She reviewed Ancient Rome, and writes:

"The Ancient Rome collection includes romantic stories for students of all abilities . . . I just wished I would have had this for the entire year while studying Ancient Rome this can be downloaded onto a Kindle, iPad or any other type of reading device, SCORE!" See more at Just Wedeminute

Stephanie homeschools two young daughters. She reviewed Young Readers, and writes:

"When I first began homeschooling I had many friends who were into reading the classics . . . I remember cringing and thinking "Classics?! UGH!! I am not going to make my child read all those boring classics!" But, hey, get this: I was wrong. I made a significant discovery somewhere in my homeschool journey . . . and that is that not all classics are boring. . . What a TREASURE I have found in Heritage History! A big HUGE thank you to Heritage History . . . for introducing me to this fabulous library of classics for children!" See more at Swinging on Small Hinges

Valerie homeschools her four children while maintaining a half dozen web pages. She reviewed Young Readers, and writes:

"I was a bit worried that [these older books would] be too much for my 9 year old to handle. Would she get all tongue twisted and frustrated? Nope. She read them. She understood them. She enjoyed them. She wanted more. . . . all of the stories in the Young Readers Collection are chosen because they are told in a child-friendly, easy-to-understand manner . . . I really love that Heritage History is providing these classic stories in an updated format, making it easy for today’s homeschooling families . . ." See more at The Crafty Classroom

Jessy homeschools her three children in Western Maine. She reviewed Young Readers, and writes:

"...this history curriculum is a bunch of stories on a CD that I can download onto my Kindle Fire and bring anywhere with us! A GREAT resource for VAN LEARNING or waiting for one of the Saplings to finish an activity! . . . So, where did we enjoy Young Readers? Around a fire, in the back yard, with the hens and ducks of course! (LOL) What's more enjoyable for learning history than relaxing around a warm, crackling fire with your pets near by, listening and discussing history? The Saplings wanted me to read more and more from Heritage History!" See more at Our Side of the Mountain

Judy blogs about health products as well as homeschool curriculum. She is part British so was especially interested in reviewing the British Empire collection. She writes:

"the first I opened was about Queen Victoria . . . Being able to read an older book was sheer pleasure because I almost feel the older books are more true to form. I love the magnitude of book titles offered and the fact that as my children grow, this curriculum will meet their needs based on their maturity and level of understanding." See more at Health, Beauty, Children and Family

Mary homeschools her three boys in Texas. They use Tapestry of Grace and she reviewed the Young Readers classical curriculum:

"My favorite feature (besides the books!) is the short biographies. They are simple, to the point descriptions of [important historical characters]. For example: Esther is described, "Persian Queen who protected the Jews in her kingdom." Marie Antoinette, "Queen of France. Beheaded during the French Revolution." Clara Barton, "War nurse and founder of the American Red Cross." The study aids are going to be helpful, and nice supplements to any history curriculum. We use Tapestry of Grace, and the young readers CD has several titles suggested by Tapestry of Grace! Color me excited!" See more at Winecup Christian Academy

Christina is bilingual and homeschools her two children using a classical and Charlotte Masson approach. She reviewed Young Readers, and writes:

"If you believe that reading quality literature to younger students is fine for history studies, then you will love the Young Readers collection. If you are already using a literature-rich history curriculum, then you may want to add in (or substitute) some of the books from the Young Readers library into your studies. . . . I know that with the number of books provided in this product we will easily be able to use this set of books for the next several years." See more at Blue Skies Academy

Lexi has a classical, eclectic style of homeschooling and uses Tapestry of Grace for her three young children. She reviewed Young Readers, and writes:

"We enjoyed many of the book selections on the different topics. I love how the books are organized and easy to access. We plan to use this program as a supplement to our history studies, enjoying the books as read alouds to enhance our studies. With Heritage History . . . you are getting an excellently organized library that is searchable by subject, genre, or as part of a series. I found the product to be worthwhile simply for the excellent formatting and ease of finding exactly what I was looking for . . .. " See more at Lextin Academy

Beth is a mother of eight and still homeschools her younger four in West Virginia She reviewed Young Readers, and writes:

"We chose Young Readers because it is full of easy to read stories from many different civilizations. . . . We were able to use quite a few of them to supplement the history we are reading this year. I have already been picking out books to complement our studies for next year since our school year is nearly over right now. Heritage History has been a great help in my lesson plans for next year. . . You also have the advantage of using the Heritage History books in many different ways . . . I love having the option (of being able to) print the books. Sometimes I would like the kids to be able to read for themselves or have a picture for their history notebook. That isn't possible with most e-books." See more at Stair Steps Academy

Chris homeschools three teenage children and works as a veterinarian. She reviewed Ancient Rome classical curriculum:

I don’t tend to comment on price very often because everyone has such extreme differences in opinions of value and budgets available, but this curriculum is just amazing for the price. And adding the superb and multi-age inclusive study materials with it totally doubles the value. So there you have it on value and cost! . . . . We requested Ancient Rome to complement our study of Latin, and help us prepare better for the National Latin Exam. While my high school student has studied a year of Ancient Rome already, I see many of the books here are ones used in the living books curriculum we used . . . but there are many more that will be of great use when my other two students are ready to study this era." See more at Armyof5

Tracey L. homeschools her two middle school age boys in Australia. She reviews Young Readers and Ancient Greece.

"Remember when I cast "Story of the World" aside, abandoning the textbook approach to History? Well we haven’t looked back, . . . see more.

Michelle is a homeschool mother of five from California who travels many months of the year with her children and appreciates the convenience of electronic books. .

. . . .I am thoroughly impressed with this inexpensive library. Its perfect for my family, especially since we'll be living in our camper for about six months. Its lightweight and easy to use and doesn't take up valuable storage space or cost a bundle. I encourage you all to check it out!! . . . see more.

Joyce W. is from Louisiana and maintains two blogs, Homeschooling High School, and Education Jump Off. She reviewed Ancient Rome with her son Brandon.

. . . We are loving this program. I like that all the books are on one CD and written before 1923. . . Brandon choose from the battle section for his first book, "Helmet and Spare" by Alfred J. Church. He is enjoying it and is coming to me and sharing what he has learned, this is a first! . . . . see more.

Ann Solomon homeschools a middle school age boy in Georgia. She reviews Ancient Greece.

. . . Heritage-History is a wonderful fit for anyone that uses a classical approach, a Charlotte Mason approach, or uses Old Fashioned Education or the Robinson Curriculum . . . see more.

Simonetta Carr is the author of a series of beautifully illustrated books that introduce young people to some of the most compelling theologians in Christian history. She used historical images from Heritage History in John Owens and Augustine of Hippo.

Naomi Geogan is a Charlotte Mason devotee, with three children, nine and under. She moderates the Charlotte Mason Education discussion board in addition to blogging at Living Charlotte Mason. She reviewed Young Readers.

. . . The curriculum is flexible in that it does not map out what books to read for you. Instead, recommendations are made for core knowledge books, and then the student is encouraged to select the books along their lines of interest . . . see more.

Fara C. homeschools her five children in Alabama and is using the Heritage Curriculum to supplement a history textbook. She reviewed Young Readers and British Middle Ages.

. . . My older children are studying Romans, Reformers, and Revolutionaries for history. Thus the books available in the British Middle Ages Curriculum fits right in with their other studies. . . . see more.

Dawn is a homeschooling mother with "five kids and a dog", from Eastern Washington. She reviewed Ancient Greece, and hosted a give-away to kick off her new blog "The Mamma Knows".

. . . There are so many wonderful books on this CD, and each Curriculum or Compact Library contains many more for you to explore and delve into. We have other titles from Heritage History and LOVE all of the wonderful, high quality literature that they provide! . . . see more.

Alecia Rolling is a Catholic homeschooler who uses selected books from the World History Collection to complement their own history program.

. . . The organization found in the study guides is impeccable, and the tips offered for using the curriculum in the practical day-to-day homeschool room are very reasonable. The method presented here is certainly worth replicating. . . . see more.

~Help us grow~