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[Paisley Hedgehog]

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[Faithr]

We've done more than enough here. We've done Ancient History for 1 credit; Church History for 1 credit, British History for 1 credit and then American History - 1 credit. In addition to that we did a credit for Economics and a credit for Government.

 

So I think you are fine with what you have as the basics. You might even chalk up more in the higher grades if your student wants to pick an elective that also falls within the Social Studies credit realm.

[Chris in VA]

Depends on what you want to do. I stuck with 4 years of world history, throwing in Gov't.

 

We did

Ancients

Medieval/Ren

Skipped to 20th Century

and then went back and picked up Early Mod with a half credit of Gov't

 

We used

Omnibus 1 and 2 w/tweaking--Spielvogel West. Civ and a little Barron's World History The Easy Way

Sonlight 300 with Gilbert's 20th Cent Year by Year (for the Teens and Twenties)

Spielvogel again with Idiot's Guide to Am Gov't and reading some founding documents and Federalist Papers.

 

I called the 20th Cent year "The 20th Century: American History in The World Context" on our transcript, since it did cover a lot of Am Hist and ds needed it to get into college.

[FaithManor]

This is what we did:

 

World History - 1 credit

American History - 1 credit

American Government - 1 credit, used a college book instead of the usual half-credit high school curriculums

Economics and the History of Banking - 1 credit - Used college texts again. Given our current economic messs, I really wanted dd to have a good grasp of fiat currency systems.

 

I noted on her transcript that we used college texts for the two subjects that are normally only 1/2 credit courses. We never had a single college question it.

 

In our area, its pretty sad, but most kids only take three years of history in school. American History, World History, a semester of civics, and a semester of economics. One of our local P.S.'s only offers the semester of civics and no econ. I can't imagine being a college bound student with only 2 1/2 credits of social studies listed on my transcript.

 

Faith

[Liza Q]

If you want to do more History I would consider cutting Civics back to a half credit (we are only required to do a half-credit here in NY) and doing State History the same year.

 

Civics/State History

World History (say, up to 1600 or so?)

American History

Economics/Modern History

 

Or, you can add things like Government (what NY calls Civics) and Economics as electives, which is how I handled them so we would have more time for History. If we had been required to do State History, I would have added it as an elective, probably in the 9th or 10th grade.

[SkateLeft]

Here's ours...

 

World History - 1 credit

US History - 1 credit

World Geography - 1 credit

US Government - .5 credit

Economics - .5 credit

 

It's based on the recommendations of the University of Minnesota and the University of California.

[Ellie]

In this order:

 

World geography

World history

U.S. history

U.S. government/economics

[hsmamainva]

My oldest did this sequence:

 

9th - World Geography

10th - World History

11th - US History

12th - British / European History

 

My second is on the following sequence:

 

9th - World Geography

10th - US History

11th - World History

12th - US Government (1 semester) / Economics (1 semester)

[Brindee]

Here's what dd will do:

 

9th: Ancient History

10th: World History

11th: US History (after finishing this course, she'll probably CLEP History of the United States 1)

12th: Government/Economics (I think)

[Mama Lynx]

On my hs transcript (public school) I had 1 credit of American History, 1 credit of World History, 1/2 credit of Criminal Justice and I forget what the other 1/2 credit was .... "Personal Development," I think. No econ, no civics.

[ValRN]

The plan we are working through:

 

World Geography - 1 credit

World History - 1 credit

U.S. History - 1 credit

Government - 1/2 credit and Economics 1/2 credit

[Mama Lynx]

We're tentatively doing the same plan. One year of ancients, one of medieval/renaissance, one of early modern and one of modern, with government thrown in, and hopefully a half credit of econ, too.

[Lori D.]

We only need 3 Social Studies credits here; specifically:

gr. 9 = 1.0 = Ancient World History

gr. 11 = 1.0 = American History

gr. 11 = 0.5 = Government

gr. 12 = 0.5 = Economics

 

We'll end up with 3.5 additional "social studies" credits which were done as electives:

gr. 10 = 1.0 = 20th Century World History

gr. 12 = Medieval World History

gr. 11 = 0.5 = Church History

(spread over all 4 years) 1.0 = Worldview

 

 

Most colleges also accept for the Social Studies credit subjects such as:

- geography

- comparative religions/worldview

- psychology

- political science

 

 

Check out the list of curriculum standards in Social Studies for the 4 high school grades at World Book online for more ideas of Social Studies topics:

grade 9

grade 10

grade 11

grade 12

 

And here is a list of K-12 Social Studies topics from Awesome Library website. Best of luck in your Social Studies adventures! Warmly, Lori D.

Edited April 19, 2010 by Lori D.
added info

[Jean in Wisc]

1 World history

1 American history

.5 Geography

.5 Economics

1 American Government

.5 World Views, Ethics, and Philosophy

[ChemMommy]

Ancient History 1.0

Medieval History 1.0

US History 1.0

Modern History 1.0

World and US Government 1.0

Philosophy 1.0

Church History 1.0

 

This one wants to be a History major, so it makes sense. The next one will probably not do the Philosophy course. Yes, it is more than our ps requires, but I don't care. The oldest one really likes history so we are fleshing out his transcript with that. He's not too keen on science, so he will just have the minimum for that! LOL

[AngieW in Texas]

For my oldest:

1.0 US History using SL Core 100

1.0 world history to 1914 using Prentice Hall textbook

1.0 20th century world history using SL Core 300

0.5 Thinkwell government (next year)

0.5 Thinkwell economics (next year)

 

for my other two:

1.0 US History using Oak Meadow

1.0 world history using Oak Meadow

1.0 world geography using Oak Meadow

probably go the Thinkwell route for government/economics like with my oldest, but my do Oak Meadow government instead

[MamaAkins]

Here's my tentative plan:

 

9th grade: early modern history (1 credit)

10th grade: modern history (1 credit)

11th grade: US history (1 credit)

12th grade: Economics + Civics & Government (1 credit)

 

Electives:

World Geography (1 credit)

Worldview (1 credit)

[EKS]

A couple of options:

Geography

US history

World history I

World history II

 

or

 

Geography

US history

World history

US government (0.5)

Economics (0.5)

[Joan in GE]

with a quick question?

 

What is the difference between "civics" & "government"? I see some people use one term, some the other and one both...

 

I'm out of touch over here and was just planning on Amer. Gov. if he goes to a US school or Swiss gov if here...(besides lots of history, 1/2 credit econ, and maybe philosophy)

Joan

[Brindee]

with a quick question?

 

What is the difference between "civics" & "government"? I see some people use one term, some the other and one both...

 

I'm out of touch over here and was just planning on Amer. Gov. if he goes to a US school or Swiss gov if here...(besides lots of history, 1/2 credit econ, and maybe philosophy)

Joan

Government is the organization, machinery, or agency through which a political unit exercises its authority, controls and administers public policy, and directs and controls the actions of its members or subjects.

 

Civics is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. In other words, it is the study of government with attention to the role of citizens ― as opposed to external factors ― in the operation and oversight of government.

 

Those definitions are from Wikipedia. They say it more clearly than I could. I'm glad you asked, I was wondering also! :)

[Photo Ninja]

My dc's social studies credits:

 

#1.

1 cr World History

1 cr. U.S. History

1 cr. Medieval/Renaissance History

.5 cr. Civics

.5 cr. Economics

 

#2.

1 cr. U.S. History

1 cr. World History

1 cr. 20th Century History

1 cr. Government/Civics

.5 Economics

 

#3.

1 cr. World History

1 cr. U.S. History

1 cr. U.S. History 2

.5 cr. Gov't/Civics

.5 cr. Economics

1 cr. Psychology

[QueenCat]

Child 1:

Ancient-Rome (1), U.S. (1), Govt (1/2), Economics (1/2) (first year of high school was public, with no S.S. for 9th graders)

 

Child 2:

World (2), U.S. (1), Will do Govt and Econ, 1/2 each.

 

Our umbrella requires 1 SS of choice, 1 U.S., 1/2 Econ. Current 9th graders and futures will have to also have 1/2 govt. This is actually based on a change in state requirements.

Edited April 20, 2010 by CathieC
left out info

[Kareni]

Our state does not mandate any particular social studies courses for homeschoolers, but they do require three credits for public high school graduation.

 

My daughter ended up with only three credits in this area. They were World History (1700 to 2000), AP US History, and AP Comparative Politics and Government. While I would have liked her to have taken a Geography course, other subjects took priority. Given her interest in majoring in Latin or the Classics at college, she completed her fifth year of Latin and a year of Ancient Greek in 12th grade in lieu of an additional social studies course.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Joan in GE]

Brindee - thanks for looking that up...somehow it seems like civics should be required and I never thought of adding it before....

 

In an itemized form...

 

9th

Middle Ages - Renaissance World History - 1 c

World Geography - 1/2 c

Amer Gov 1/4 c

 

10th

Modern World History - 1 c

AP Human Geography - 1 c

 

11th

Economy & law (Swiss) - 1/2 - 1 depending

 

12th - if going to US uni

American Gov & Civics - 1/2 c maybe AP Comparative..

US History 1/2

 

Joan

[Mommyfaithe]

For my current High Schooler:

 

World History (1)

U.S. History (1)

U.S. Gov. (1/2)

Economics (1/2)

Introduction to Philosophy(1/2)

European History (1)

 

We have finished up with 4-6 credits in history for my older 3.

~~Faithe

[emubird]

US History (AP)

Govt (.5)

World History

Archaeology(Teaching Company lectures; Women's Work; In Small Things Forgotten; and a few other things I forget now)

Ancient History (in more depth than above) (.5)

Biology in History (readings such as Guns, Germs, and Steel; Collapse; Plagues and Peoples; Chiles to Chocolate; Seeds of Change)

The Use of History (The Use and Abuse of History (Macmillan); Lies My Teacher Told Me; After the Fact) (.5)

 

We wanted to do:

Linguistics

Psychology of Gender

but we didn't get to either of those

 

We probably could have counted British History too, but I couldn't fit the transcript on one page anymore.

[creekland]

My oldest did:

 

20th Century

World History

American History

Gov't/Economics (half credit each)

 

My middle son is doing:

 

American History

World Geography

Gov't/Economics and

??? (undecided)

 

They differ due to what they did in 8th grade + I discontinued the 20th Century - had used our ps text. My middle son did World History with his brother, but he was in 8th grade, so it doesn't count for credit. I'll just note it on his transcript. My oldest did geography in 8th.

 

My youngest wants to return to ps next year for high school... so he'll follow what they do - for better or worse.

 

None want a future that includes in depth history, so history is one we do more or less for fun + checking boxes for requirements. My middle son might not even do a 4th course since he'll be taking multiple science classes.

[Hunter's Moon]

In public school:

9th- World History

10th- American History

 

I hope to take for homeschooling:

11th- Ancient History

12th- Civilization and Growth of Western Man

[Jen S in Va]

World History

Geography

US History

Government/Economics

[laughing lioness]

We only did 1/2 credits of Gov and Econ each, but then we added in 1 credit of current events which included whatever campaigns we were working on, Leadership Institute bootcamp and the extra TeenPact classes attended.

[eumyang]

If I were a homeschooling parent (interesting enough, I don't even have kids yet), I probably would follow this sequence:

 

1st year: World History

2nd year: Government (sem.) & Economics (sem.)

3rd year: US History

4th year: "Social Science" (an intro. to sociology, anthropology, and psychology)

 

 

69

[Wendi]

I am trying to figure this out. I want to do TOG for 8th-11th grade, but am considering having ds do the more traditional textbook route.

 

So either:

 

9th World History (medieval/Renaissance)

10th Early U.S. History

11th Modern U.S. History (would count as an elective)

12th Government (1/2 credit) and Economics (1/2 credit)

 

OR

 

9th World History

10th U.S. History

11th Government (1/2 credit) and Economics (1/2 credit)

 

 

Our state requires three credits of "social studies", which must include 1 World History, 1 U.S. History, 1/2 Government and 1/2 Civics. Depending on what major/career ds is leaning toward by then, we may add another year of history or geography. If not, we'll just do three credits, and bulk up on science, foreign language, fine arts, or whatever he ends up being interested in (or what is required for the degree he ends up wanting to pursue).

 

Wendi

[PeterPan]

Shari, a couple things you probably already know: credits reflect material covered, units are the TIME spent. Often they overlap, but not always. For instance one might cover a rigorous, college level text in a semester, call it a credit, but have it be only one UNIT for the amount of time spent. Nitpicky, eh? Most people never even realize the difference, because their transcripts don't cut it close. But IF your transcript cuts things close, it can matter.

 

So some of the amounts you gave (a whole year on gov't??) are pretty non-standard. Some of that is going to sort out for you as you come to the resources and curricula. For instance it's often a semester of econ, a semester of gov.

 

Worldview, philosophy, and especially church history classes may all get flagged as bible or non-academic by the evaluator, at least they did at the place I worked. So these would not count toward meeting your requirements to enter the university without deficiencies in the category you had intended them for. Again, you want to be very clear what they expect. It should say in their catalogs or bulletins. You can change the name you put on the transcript and change how it gets interpreted. (Instead of church history put World History 2.)

[elizabeth]

9th Modern History, Political Philosophy, Sociology 3 credits

10th Ancient History, Ancient Philosophy, Biblical Archeology 3 credits

11th Medieval history, Medieval /Scholastic Philosophy, Anthropology,Economics 4credits

12th DD's choice of electives with Senior Project . I know the credits awarded seem intensive but having checked my book lists and time allocated ,what I am asking is far beyond the standards of most colleges until one hits a higher level courseload.

[Joan in GE]

credits reflect material covered, units are the TIME spent. Often they overlap, but not always. For instance one might cover a rigorous, college level text in a semester, call it a credit, but have it be only one UNIT for the amount of time spent. Nitpicky, eh? Most people never even realize the difference, because their transcripts don't cut it close. But IF your transcript cuts things close, it can matter.

 

Hmmm...I thought we could choose if the student was going to gain a credit by finishing a textbook or doing a Carnegie unit of 120 hours (though I just checked and saw that on Wikipedia, the Western Assoc of S & C is using 144 hrs)...

 

So when you say If we are cutting it close...what do you mean by "cutting it close"?

 

Thanks,

Joan

[PeterPan]

Well obviously I only worked at *1* school, can't speak for everywhere, but where I worked a credit and unit were not the same thing and not interchangeable. They were assumed to be generally the same when evaluating (the school puts credits and you assume they are units). However if you see something non-standard, you start investigating further. If what the evaluator is actually looking for UNITS, not credits, then they'll draw the line there, decreasing the credits assigned to match the units. Most people never know about this process, because it's part of the admissions evaluation process.

 

By cutting it close, I mean having totals that are close to their minimum standards for admission without deficiency. These should be stated very clearly in their literature. If your totals, after evaluation, fall below those standards, they may admit you WITH DEFICIENCIES and require make-up coursework that doesn't count toward your degree. Make sense? I can't fathom that happening to people here, but it's always something to be aware of as you're making your plans.

[Joan in GE]

Well obviously I only worked at *1* school, can't speak for everywhere, but where I worked a credit and unit were not the same thing and not interchangeable. They were assumed to be generally the same when evaluating (the school puts credits and you assume they are units). However if you see something non-standard, you start investigating further. If what the evaluator is actually looking for UNITS, not credits, then they'll draw the line there, decreasing the credits assigned to match the units. Most people never know about this process, because it's part of the admissions evaluation process.

 

By cutting it close, I mean having totals that are close to their minimum standards for admission without deficiency. These should be stated very clearly in their literature. If your totals, after evaluation, fall below those standards, they may admit you WITH DEFICIENCIES and require make-up coursework that doesn't count toward your degree. Make sense? I can't fathom that happening to people here, but it's always something to be aware of as you're making your plans.

 

Thanks so much, Elizabeth. I had not known about that possibility...

 

I have to say that I see what you mean about Amer. Gov. A friend who was using Texas Tech, showed us her American Gov textbook which was enormous and she was doing it in half a year! What she will remember from the course I do not know. How much time she spent altogether I do not know either.

 

Joan