World History Out of Your Window © (2023-24)

Spring Semester

15 weeks: January 11-April 25

“After finishing the last week of ‘World History Out of Your Window,’ my son Julian was genuinely sad. There were even some tears….He enjoyed the pace, the reading, the writing assignments, and the projects that they did while in class. The way that Christine Echeverri designed the curriculum was exceptional, because it had many different components which all fit together and kept things interesting. Julian was introduced to many new ideas and given an appreciation for all the fascinating and inspiring architecture around the world.”

Anna Montgomery, homeschool parent
  • Are you interested in an out of the box education for your homeschool student?
  • Does your student respond to creative, multi-dimensional projects?
  • Have you touched upon world history already, but are looking for review?
  • Are you planning to travel within the US or abroad?

Join author and artist Christine Echeverri for this unique literature approach class that will marry history, art, and engineering.

Instructor: Christine Echeverri

Ages: Grades 6-7

Date and time: Thursdays at 1 PM (90 minutes, meeting once per week)

Semester Tuition: $399 ($50 discount for private pay*)

*Private Pay: Payable in 3 installments of $116.33

“The course ‘World History through Architecture’ is a unique way of looking at the world history. It didn’t just draw the attention of the students to the enchanting beauty of the ancient structures but also made my daughter imagine the history happening by looking at the tangible and solid physical structures. The projects my girl made like Taj Mahal, creative religious buildings, introduction to an architectural master mind like Frank Gehry and his structures, and a zoom meeting with a prominent architect show how involved and committed Christine is to her students in letting the students experience the ultimate joy of her class. As my girl was enjoying the class so much she never realized that she was learning a lot of world history too…I could see how much Christine’s class impacted my girl as she has been asking me to take her to ancient structures and historical buildings in our trip to India coming summer. Icing on the cake is when students get to publish their own book at the end of the course. Truly amazing class!“

neeharika mudumba, homeschool parent

Register now!

Thursdays 1PM

Other Information

  • Students who sign up for this class are committing to two semesters, fall and spring.
  • To hold a spot, families intending to pay with charter school funds must leave a $25 deposit. The deposit is refundable subject to our refund policy.

From a student perspective:

“The ‘World History Out of Your Window’ class was a class where I learned about buildings in the ancient and middle times. My favorite building that I learned about was the Notre Dame cathedral. We also had to write a journal (that was fun) on buildings. At the end of the semester, we had a final project and created a presentation/report on a building of our choice. Then, we created a model of that building. This class was a fun, friendly, fascinating, and intriguing class. ☺️”

Katelyn, 5th grade

Course Description

Prehistory through the Renaissance

“‘Ruskin said: ‘Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last.”

On the whole I think this is true. If I had to say which one was telling the truth about society, a speech by a minister of housing or the actual buildings put up in his time, I should believe the buildings.'”

Kenneth Clark

Join us for a year-long study of world history, using a living books approach. We will use History Quest to allow us to travel back in time, seeing life in a variety of historical periods. We will begin in prehistory, when people embellished the structures of their day — large rocks and caves — with complex polychromatic paintings that one can visit even now. Along the way, we will explore major world monuments such as the pyramids at Giza, Notre Dame cathedral, Pantheon, Acropolis, Sanchi Buddhist stupa in India, Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, and other major structures. We will ask questions such as “Where did they get their materials from, to create this particular monument?” “What technology allowed them to build as tall as they did?” “Using what we have learned about symbolic visual language (crosses, Star of David, etc), how is a particular building speaking to us?” Then — we will explore what each building has to say, in the process exploring art, technology, and engineering concepts first hand. Through the use of materials like sketch books, clay, paper art, and digital design programs, we will explore how various cultures have built structures that are indeed – larger than life.

In class — we will cover reading comprehension, review, looking more closely at one or two monuments each week, hands-on building activities, and games. Using a digital learning management system — reading, researching building/architecture projects, hands-on building projects, and other resources will be posted.

Questions? Registration issues, or questions for Christine?

“The infinite life of the arts is sparked by faith; an unchangeable essence, regardless of wars, interruptions, or neglect. The arts outlive governments, dogmas, and the cultures which produce them. Because they are the essence of reality they cannot be totally destroyed. They are the true historians — all that is left when the dust and the ruins are cleared away.”

Nathan B. Winters, Architecture is Elementary

Class FAQs

Questions? Contact us!

Do you take California charter school funds?

  • Yes, we do! See our Service Vendorship list for an up-to-date list of charters.
  • Purchase Order (PO) instructions can be found at the bottom of this page.
  • A $25 deposit is required to hold an enrollment spot. The deposit will be refunded when the PO arrives, subject to our refund policy.
  • Don’t see your charter on the list? Fill out this form to begin the process of adding your organization!

My student is using another history curriculum at home and/or enrolled in a hybrid program with history. Your class sounds interesting and we’d love to enroll in this class too. Do you advise two history classes?

We do not suggest double-booking your middle school student in 2 history programs, even if one is a curriculum you are doing together at home. If your student is enrolled in a hybrid program that contains a history component, we advise against enrolling in this class. In our experience, this overlap can create burn-out for both the student and the family; we suggest waiting until such a time when your student has space in their schedule to dedicate to the class.

What is the workload for this class?

Being a middle school class, the outside-of-class workload will be about 2-3 hours per week. Most weeks, students will read about 40 pages in History Quest, plus reading from 1-2 literature books each semester. (History Quest is available as an audiobook as well.) To learn about architecture, students will also occasionally read from the Architecture book by Glancey. Also, we will build online timelines, explore architecture around where we live, and work on short writing and architecture exploration projects using what students have learned in class and from the History Quest reading. (And, if your student has already read History Quest, this course will serve as an excellent review; they may see history in a new light after exploring these amazing world monuments!)

What parent support will be needed?

  • Assist student in logging into learning management system (Canvas or Google Classroom) and monitoring weekly assignments
  • Help student to create a weekly schedule to finish assignments
  • Assist student uploading work or photos to learning management system (Google Classroom or Canvas)

What are the required books and materials?

As with all of Ms. Christine’s classes — the main requirement for this class is to read these books! The work and discussions during class will rely on the reading.

What tech platforms are required and used?

  • Online platform such as Zoom/Google Meets
  • Learning Management System (LMS) login [For Google Classroom, Google Login or Gmail for each enrolled student is required and a parent Google account is recommended]
    • LMS such as Google Classroom or Canvas will be used to post assignments.
      • Note: GC will not work properly without a Google Login
      • If siblings enroll, each student will need a unique login for the LMS
    • Google Docs
    • Google Slides
    • Digital design program like Procreate, Minecraft, Sketch.io, Tinkercad, Sketch-up, or any other CAD program (sketchbook can be used in lieu of these)
  • Computer mouse (helpful with games, etc.)

What are the semester dates?

  • Fall semester (14 weeks): September 7 – December 14 (Off Thanksgiving week)
  • Spring semester (15 weeks): January 11 – April 25 (Off week: Spring Break, April 1-5)
  • Note: Both semesters are the same price, spring has one bonus week

What are your registration and cancellation policies?

See this page for policies.

For more answers to your questions, see our Class FAQ page.

CHARTER SCHOOL PURCHASE ORDER INSTRUCTIONS for World History Through Architecture Class

For billing purposes, please request purchase orders using monthly interval price below (instead of the whole semester length).

  • Vendor: Christine Echeverri DBA Carrier Shell Curriculum
  • Instructor name
    • Christine Echeverri
  • Class: Group tutoring – World History Through Architecture online class
  • Start date: January 11, 2024
    • Semester end date: April 25, 2024
  • Duration of each lesson: 90 minutes
  • Frequency: once per week for 4 months
  • Cost per month – Spring semester: $99.75 x 4 mos. (Jan.-Apr.)
    • Semester tuition: $399
  • Class link: https://carriershellcurriculum.com/classes/history-classes/world-history-out-of-your-window-2023-24/

World History Out of Your Window © 2021-23 Christine Echeverri. All Rights Reserved.