Charlotte Mason’s way of doing history distinguishes itself by following multiple streams, as it also does in science, meaning that beyond the youngest years, students study two or three histories (or, for science – biology, chemistry, and physics).
Streams allow variety and increase tolerance for any one period in which a student has less interest, since each period is only one of three at any given moment. More importantly, simultaneity facilitates the study of history as the science of relations.
In the United States, the first stream is typically American history, the second British, the third Ancient. Catholics, especially, should consider another option, especially at the high school level. I propose three streams – Ancient, Medieval, and Modern.
For Catholics, the medieval period should be at least of equal importance to the ancient. Appending it to the end of the ancient, where it typically is compressed into one of four (or more) years, cannot do justice to the period that is the most Catholic and arguably, the most formative for Catholicism. Separating Medieval from Ancient and making Medieval its own stream recalibrate the typical imbalance and correct the relative neglect.
Nihil sub sole novum 