I looked up on the web Glencoe World History. Do you like it? I'd like to buy a history textbook that my son and I can read a little bit at a time at night. How long are the chapters? Is it engaging with nice color pictures? Thanks!
I'm still deciding on Glencoe, but think I will keep it. It is quite nice, although not exactly perfect-- i.e. it is not the sort of book that just pours itself into one's head, though they've done a pretty good job of varying the content. Graphic and infobox content is high for a text aimed at middle and high schoolers. Chapters begin with a decent brief overview, are followed with some review, and run from around 8-40 pages. The entire text came on the CD, as promised; the textbook has yet to arrive.
ETA: One thing that I liked about both Glencoe and Get Ready! is that they contain lots of ideas for extra exploration, including suggested extra reading.
I just can't express how happy I am with the "Get Ready! For Social Studies" books. They're wonderful. They have black and white pictures and no color, though. The "Get Ready" books were described to me by a homeschooler as basically a superb outline sufficient to serve as a "spine", with enough text to suffice as a textbook or review aid. That's exactly what they are, and for a first overview they are going to do very well. They contain timelines, vocabl lists, the whole nine yards.
