Rhetoric History Modules

These a la carte classes are offered throughout the year. Ranging from 2 week to 12 weeks in length, our mod courses allow you to customize your school year to fit your schedule and interests. History students complete their work before class, then meet once per week in our live online classrooms at the scheduled times to discuss their work. 

​These modules are based on the award-winning Tapestry of Grace homeschool curriculum, but you do not need to own or be studying Tapestry of Grace at home to join one of our mods. We have scheduled these mod courses to coincide with our year-long classes to insure that, as long as we have a full-year class in session, all registered mod students have a class to join. If interest in a module is high enough to host a separate module, we'll open a second section. Some light reading (provided by your teacher) might be required before the module begins, to provide you with background information.

NOTE: the book lists included for our mods may change slightly. Students will receive an updated book list once enrolled.

2020-2021 School Year​ (Spring Semester)

Ancient History

Classical Greece
​Students enjoy a four-week mini-series on the Classical Age of ancient Greece. We will study the military clashes of the Persians with the Greeks, learn the details about the Classical Greek people, places, and battles, and explore the rise of two small, independent city-states of mainland Greece--Athens and Sparta--whose rivalry left the Peloponnese weakened and ready for the exploits of  Alexander the Great. Students will give a mini-presentation in class. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Weeks 24-27.
​​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. 
​
​Required Resources:  
  • These Were the Greeks, by H.D. Amos and A.G.P. Lang
  • Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations, by John Haywood
  • Optional: Holman Bible Atlas, by Thomas Brisco
4 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$80 Total
Tuesdays
Mar 2-23, 2021
1:30-3 PM ET
90 Minutes
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic and Empire
Students explore the entire history of Rome, from the earliest known people on the Italic peninsula,  the rise of Rome, and the establishment of Roman power on the Italic peninsula, to the Punic Wars, events leading to the Roman Empire, and the expansion and eventual demise of the empire. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Weeks 28-35.
​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. 
​
​Required Resources:  
  • These Were the Romanss, by G.I.F. Tingay and J. Badcock
  • Rome and Carthage: The Punic Wars, by R. Bosworth Smith
  • Holman Bible Atlas, by Thomas Brisco
  • Optional: Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations, by John Haywood
8 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$160 Total
Tuesdays
Apr 6-May 25​, 2021
1:30-3 PM ET
90 Minutes

Medieval to Modern

Elizabethan England, Early colonists, & Louis IV's Europe
Students discuss Queen Elizabeth and the high point of the northern Renaissance and the Golden Age of England, the Scottish Reformation and Queen Mary, and the rising tension between England and France. We'll then shift our attention to the difficulties that colonists encountered at Jamestown, James I's negative view of Calvinist Christians who came to be called Puritans and Separatists, the historic voyage of the Plymouth settlers, and how the Dutch founded New Amsterdam after the explorations of Henry Hudson.  On the other side of the pond, we'll look at the Thirty Years' War, the Scientific Revolution and work of Galileo, the growing power of French monarchs Henry IV and his son Louis XIII and England's King Charles I, and France's Louis XIV. We'll end the module considering the ongoing developments of the English colonies, the Restoration period in England, and whether the English political and social clock was truly turned back, and absolutism. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 2, Weeks 19-23.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​

​Required Resources:
  • The Colonial Period: 1607-1750, by Brenda Stalcup
  • Optional: Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation, by Robert G. Shearer
5 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$100 Total
Tuesdays
Jan 26-Feb 23, 2021
10-11:30 AM ET
90 Minutes
Give Me Liberty!
Students study the French and Indian War; the Treaty of Paris of 1763, noting the shift in power in North America; the rapid development of a true global economy and the new economic theories of Adam Smith; prosperity and growth of the colonies leading up to the American Revolutionary War; the points of tension between Great Britain and her colonies; and consider from a biblical perspective whether the colonists were right to rebel against their king. We'll trace the battles, strategies, and intrigues involved in the Revolutionary War, and the importance of foreign allies to the Americans states. We'll end the module considering the years between the Revolutionary War and the convening of the Constitutional Convention, the process of writing the new Constitution of the United States of America, and the problems in France that led to the French Revolution. Covers ​Tapestry of Grace Year 2, Weeks 29-34.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​

​Required Resources:
  • The Revolutionary Period: 1750-1783, by Bruce Thompson
6 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$120 Total
Tuesdays
Apr 13-May 18, 2021
​(no class Apr 14)
10-11:30 AM ET
90 Minutes

The Nineteenth Century

The Civil War and Reconstruction
Students explore the presidencies from Buchanan to Grant, the Dred Scott case, Florence Nightingale, the unification of Italy, Lincoln and the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, Reconstruction, and the Plains Indian Wars. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 3, Weeks 21-26.
​​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • Eyewitness to the Civil War, by Kagan and Hyslop
  • The Civil War: 1850-1895, by Auriana Ojeda​
6 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$120 Total
Thursdays
Feb 11-Mar 18​, 2021
1:30-3 PM ET
90 Minutes
Early Immigration and the Gilded Age
Students explore the Cleveland and Harrison presidencies, the Gilded Age in America, the Captains of Industry, Social Darwinism, the Gospel of Wealth, labor unions, segregation in the New South, the rise of the Populist Party, and ongoing developments in Europe during the Gilded Age. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 3, Weeks 31-34.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • The Gilded Age: A History in Documents, by Janette Greenwood
  • Optional: The Civil War: 1850-1895, by Auriana Ojeda​
4 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$80 Total
Thursdays
Apr 29-May 20​, 2021
1:30-3 PM ET
90 Minutes

The Twentieth Century

China's Mao Zedong and the Red Scare
Students explore the main point of Marxist theory, the ideas that make up Maoism, the domestic policies and events of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, the Red Scare, and the culture in America and around the world during this time period. Covers ​Tapestry of Grace Year 4, Weeks 20-22.
​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources: 
  • Readings provided by teacher​
3 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$60 Total
Wednesdays
Feb 3-17​, 2021
1:30-3 PM ET
90 Minutes
Civil Rights, JFK, and Vietnam
Students discuss the events in America and internationally during Ike's second administration, JFK's domestic and Cold War policies and assassination, President Johnson's Great Society initiatives, the ongoing civil rights movement, Vietnam War, and Mao's cultural revolution. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 4, Weeks 23-27.
​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • The Cold War: A History in Documents, by Allan Winkler
5 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$100 Total
Wednesdays
Feb 24-Mar 24​, 2021
1:30-3 PM ET
90 Minutes

2021-2022 School Year

Ancient History

The People and Places of Ancient Egypt
​​​Students will explore the forms and functions of the Nile River and everyday life in ancient Egypt. Then, they'll dive deeper into the beliefs of this ancient people and how that shaped their pyramid-building and mummification process. Students will give a mini-presentation in class. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Weeks 1-3.

​​Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. 

Required Resources:  
  • Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations, by John Haywood
  • Optional: Holman Bible Atlas, by Thomas Brisco
2 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$40
Tuesdays
Sep 7-14​, 2021
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
A Tour of the Ancient World
​Students will explore the geographical setting, government, religions, and everyday life of the ancient cultures of India, China, the Americas, and Greece (Bronze Age and Early Archaic Period). Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Weeks 10-14.
​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. 
​
​​Required Resources:  
  • Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations, by John Haywood
  • Ancient India, by Allison Lassieur
  • These Were the Greeks, by H.D. Amos
5 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$100 Total
Tuesdays
Nov 2-Dec 7, 2021
(no class Nov 23)
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
Classical Greece
​Students enjoy a four-week mini-series on the Classical Age of ancient Greece. We will study the military clashes of the Persians with the Greeks, learn the details about the Classical Greek people, places, and battles, and explore the rise of two small, independent city-states of mainland Greece--Athens and Sparta--whose rivalry left the Peloponnese weakened and ready for the exploits of  Alexander the Great. Students will give a mini-presentation in class. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Weeks 24-27.
​​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. 
​
​Required Resources:  
  • These Were the Greeks, by H.D. Amos and A.G.P. Lang
  • Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations, by John Haywood
  • Optional: Holman Bible Atlas, by Thomas Brisco
4 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$80 Total
Tuesdays
Mar 1-22​, 2022
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic and Empire
Students explore the entire history of Rome, from the earliest known people on the Italic peninsula,  the rise of Rome, and the establishment of Roman power on the Italic peninsula, to the Punic Wars, events leading to the Roman Empire, and the expansion and eventual demise of the empire. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Weeks 28-35.
​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. 
​
​Required Resources:  
  • These Were the Romanss, by G.I.F. Tingay and J. Badcock
  • Rome and Carthage: The Punic Wars, by R. Bosworth Smith
  • Holman Bible Atlas, by Thomas Brisco
  • Optional: Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations, by John Haywood
8 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$160 Total
Tuesdays
Mar 29-May 24​, 2022
(no class Apr 12)
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes

Medieval to Modern

Medieval Europe: Charlemagne, Vikings, and Feudalism
​​Students discuss Charlemagne, the most famous king of the Middle Ages, and what happened to his empire after he died. We also learn about the Vikings and their devastating attacks on churches and towns in continental Europe, but how God used that as a catalyst for feudalism. We'll discuss the Crusades, the development of English government, the Magna Charta, and the growing power of the Holy Roman Emperors. We end the module focusing on the international trade networks and a trader named Marco Polo, the regrowth of towns at the close of the Middle Ages and how guilds came to regulate both the quality of goods and the government of these growing towns, and note the growing power of Capetian kings of France, as well as the kingdoms of Sicily, Aragon, and Germany. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 2, Weeks 4-8.
​​
​Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. 

​Required Resources:  
  • The Middle Ages: An Illustrated History, by Barbara A. Hanawait​
5 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$100 Total
Thursdays
Sep 23-Oct 21​, 2021
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
The Renaissance
In this module, we study the fine arts during the Renaissance movement, focusing on the early southern Renaissance artists like Giotto, Brunelleschi, and Donatello; artists of Florence, like Botticelli and da Vainci; the High Renaissance artists Michelangelo and Raphael; and Venetian art. We'll analyze the Renaissance movement from a biblical perspective and study the history of exploration through Columbus' great voyages, making connections between the Renaissance explosion of learning and human self-exultation and the Age of Exploration. We also look at the treatment of indigenous African, Asian, Aztec, and Inca peoples at the hands of European explorers and Spanish conquistadors in light of biblical Christianity. We'll end the module considering the distinctive characteristics of the Renaissance in northern European countries, discussing their important writers and thinkers, such as Erasmus and Luther, and noting the link between scholarship and the Protestant Reformation. Covers ​Tapestry of Grace Year 2, Weeks 11-15.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​

​Required Resources:
  • Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation​​
5 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$100 Total
Thursdays
Nov 11-Dec 16​, 2021
(no class Nov 25)
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
Elizabethan England, Early colonists, & Louis IV's Europe
Students discuss Queen Elizabeth and the high point of the northern Renaissance and the Golden Age of England, the Scottish Reformation and Queen Mary, and the rising tension between England and France. We'll then shift our attention to the difficulties that colonists encountered at Jamestown, James I's negative view of Calvinist Christians who came to be called Puritans and Separatists, the historic voyage of the Plymouth settlers, and how the Dutch founded New Amsterdam after the explorations of Henry Hudson.  On the other side of the pond, we'll look at the Thirty Years' War, the Scientific Revolution and work of Galileo, the growing power of French monarchs Henry IV and his son Louis XIII and England's King Charles I, and France's Louis XIV. We'll end the module considering the ongoing developments of the English colonies, the Restoration period in England, and whether the English political and social clock was truly turned back, and absolutism. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 2, Weeks 19-23.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​

​Required Resources:
  • The Colonial Period: 1607-1750, by Brenda Stalcup
  • Optional: Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation, by Robert G. Shearer
5 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$100 Total
Thursdays
Jan 27-Feb 24​, 2022
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
Give Me Liberty!
Students study the French and Indian War; the Treaty of Paris of 1763, noting the shift in power in North America; the rapid development of a true global economy and the new economic theories of Adam Smith; prosperity and growth of the colonies leading up to the American Revolutionary War; the points of tension between Great Britain and her colonies; and consider from a biblical perspective whether the colonists were right to rebel against their king. We'll trace the battles, strategies, and intrigues involved in the Revolutionary War, and the importance of foreign allies to the Americans states. We'll end the module considering the years between the Revolutionary War and the convening of the Constitutional Convention, the process of writing the new Constitution of the United States of America, and the problems in France that led to the French Revolution. Covers ​Tapestry of Grace Year 2, Weeks 29-34.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​

​Required Resources:
  • The Revolutionary Period: 1750-1783, by Bruce Thompson
6 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$120 Total
Thursdays
Apr 7-May 19, 2022
​(no class Apr 14)
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes

The Nineteenth Century

Post-Revolution Early American History
Students will explore the Americas: the presidencies from Adams and Jefferson to Jackson, the War of 1812, and Simon Bolivar and the South American independence movements. Students will also track events in Europe: the Industrial Revolution, the career of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Congress of Vienna. Covers ​Tapestry of Grace Year 3, Weeks 3-12.

​Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • The Revolutionary Era, 1789-1850, by Charles Bruenig  
  • The Early American Republic, by Paul Johnson
  • Antebellum America: 1784-1850, by William Dudley
  • Simon Bolivar, The Liberator, by Guillermo A. Sherwell
10 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$200 Total
Wednesdays
Sep 15-Nov 17​, 2021
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
The Victorian Era and Westward Expansion
Students explore Victorian England, the presidency of Van Buren through Taylor, Manifest Destiny, The Mexican-American War, the development of the electric telegraph, life on the Oregon Trail, the potato famine of the 1840's, various utopia societies and extra-biblical teaching in America in the mid-1800's, the early women's rights movement, and early socialists and Karl Marx. Students will give a mini-presentation in class. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 3, Weeks 13-18.
​
​Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. 
​
​Required Resources:  
  • VIDEO: Victoria & Albert, volume 1 & 2
  • Antebellum America: 1784-1850, by William Dudley
  • Optional: The Revolutionary Era, 1789-1850, by Charles Bruenig​
​
6 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$120 Total
Wednesdays
Dec 1, 2021-Jan 19, 2022
(No class  Dec 22 & Dec 29)
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
The Civil War and Reconstruction
Students explore the presidencies from Buchanan to Grant, the Dred Scott case, Florence Nightingale, the unification of Italy, Lincoln and the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, Reconstruction, and the Plains Indian Wars. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 3, Weeks 21-26.
​​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • Eyewitness to the Civil War, by Kagan and Hyslop
  • The Civil War: 1850-1895, by Auriana Ojeda​
6 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$120 Total
Wednesdays
Feb 9-Mar 16​, 2022
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
Early Immigration and the Gilded Age
Students explore the Cleveland and Harrison presidencies, the Gilded Age in America, the Captains of Industry, Social Darwinism, the Gospel of Wealth, labor unions, segregation in the New South, the rise of the Populist Party, and ongoing developments in Europe during the Gilded Age. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 3, Weeks 31-34.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • The Gilded Age: A History in Documents, by Janette Greenwood
  • Optional: The Civil War: 1850-1895, by Auriana Ojeda​
4 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$80 Total
Wednesdays
Apr 27-May 18​, 2022
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes

The Twentieth Century

World War I
Students will explore World War I, from Woodrow Wilson's presidency, his New Freedom programs, American neutrality, the changes made by the Allies in their domestic policies as a result of the war, to an examination of Marxist socialism from a biblical perspective, the demise of Tsarism in Russia, buildup of Allied naval and air power, the Russian Revolution, the war's effect on America as a world power, and the post-war peace process. Students will give a mini-presentation in class. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 4, Weeks 3-6.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • America in the 1900's & 1910's, by Jim Callan
  • World War I, by H.P. Willmott
  • Imperialism: A History in Documents
  • ​Three “Whys” of the Russian Revolution, by Richard Pipes
  • Only Yesterday, by Frederick Allen
  • Optional: Imperialism: A History in Documents, by Bonnie Smith
4 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$80 Total
Tuesdays
Sep 14-Oct 5​, 2021
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
The Great Depression and Hitler's Germany
Students study the economics of the Great Depression and Hoover's response, everyday conditions in America and the U.S.S.R., Roosevelt's personal history and his New Deal program, and extremist leaders in Europe and Asia. Covers ​Tapestry of Grace Year 4, Weeks 11-13.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​​
Required Resources:  
  • Only Yesterday, by Frederick Allen
  • America in the 1930’s, by Jim Callan
  • Stalin: Russia’s Man of Steel, by Albert Marrin
  • Hitler, by Albert Marrin
3 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$60 Total
Tuesdays
Nov 9-30, 2021
(no class Nov 23)
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
World War II
Students explore the flow of events during World War II, the leaders and ideas of this period, the rifts in the Allied ranks at the end of the war, the conditions around the world after the war, the question of whether World War II was a just war, and the ideological differences between the opposing camps in the Cold War. Covers ​Tapestry of Grace Year 4, Weeks 14-17.

Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • America in the 1930’s, by Jim Callan
  • The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won
  • Hitler, by Albert Marrin
  • Stalin: Russia’s Man of Steel, by Albert Marrin
  • The Cold War: A History in Documents, by Allan M. Winkler
4 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$80 Total
Tuesdays
Dec 7, 2021-Jan 11, 2022
(no class Dec 21 & 28)
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
China's Mao Zedong and the Red Scare
Students explore the main point of Marxist theory, the ideas that make up Maoism, the domestic policies and events of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, the Red Scare, and the culture in America and around the world during this time period. Covers ​Tapestry of Grace Year 4, Weeks 20-22.
​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources: 
  • Readings provided by teacher​
3 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$60 Total
Tuesdays
Feb 1-15​, 2022
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
Civil Rights, JFK, and Vietnam
Students discuss the events in America and internationally during Ike's second administration, JFK's domestic and Cold War policies and assassination, President Johnson's Great Society initiatives, the ongoing civil rights movement, Vietnam War, and Mao's cultural revolution. Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 4, Weeks 23-27.
​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • The Cold War: A History in Documents, by Allan Winkler
5 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$100 Total
Tuesdays
Feb 22-Mar 22, 2022
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes
The Postmodern World
The major focus of our study is on leadership, especially an analysis of presidential leadership from 1970-2001, including Nixon's détente and Watergate, Ford's integrity, Carter's malaise, Reagan's revolution, G.H.W. Bush's New World Order, and Clinton's lost opportunity.  Covers Tapestry of Grace Year 4, Weeks 28-33.
​
Age: Minimum age 14. Recommended for 9th graders - 12th graders. ​
​
​Required Resources:  
  • The Cold War: A History in Documents, by Allan Winkler
  • Eyewitness to Power, by David Gergen
  • Presidents book and/or internet links
6 Weeks
Level: Rhetoric
Class size: 5-10
$120 Total
Tuesdays
Mar 29-May 10, 2022
2-3:30 PM ET
90 Minutes

    Wish we offered other modules?

    Let us know! If we get enough interest, we would be happy to add courses that would help our families.