9th dd will take class on the World Wars...what else should we do?

[Carrie in NC]

Next year my then 9th grade dd will have a chance to take a class on World Wars I and II. My son took this class several years ago, and it is extremely well-done. Taking an entire semester on each war gives the class time to really go deeply into the causes and implications. There will be lots of reading and a few short papers- reports, really.

 

What I want to know is what else I should do for history? I'm not sure what to call this on a transcript. My son took this in 8th grade, even though it is a high school class, so I haven't had to put it on a transcript yet.

 

I've thought of doing a 20th Century World History to compliment the course, or geography (although she'd had that this year). Or I could do a separate history, as long as I didn't make it too strenuous, since she's got a pretty full schedule next year. We've been covering American History this year, and at the rate we're going I think we'll be just about to WWI in the fall, so i guess I could just continue that. But how should i put that on the transcript? I plan to have her take a high school level US History class.

 

Oh, I guess I should add that she'll be taking British Lit next year. I know it's not usually a 9th grade class, but she's an advanced writer/thinker and it's what's being offered by my dear and valued lit teacher! :D

 

My dd will also have:

Spanish 3 (private class)

Algebra I

Biology (private class that I teach)

Toastmaster

Youth Chorus

Piano

She has developed her own RP (role playing) site where she spends a fair amount of time writing, and she wants to start Japanese.

 

Thanks!

[Guest Hs425]

Have you thought about creating a course description with a title that includes wording to this effect: American History-20th Century Wars? I wouldn't include much more work, except that within your course description you would need to include wording such as..."examing the political and economic causes of WWI" (which of course requires you to go back to late 19th century political structures of Europe, including the dominance of 'Western' European powers (i.e. French in S.America, Africa, and Indochina; The Netherlands in Africa and Indonesia; England (everywhere) underscoring among other factors, the land grab particularly in Africa which Germany felt left out of due to latent attempts at nationalism and lingering political intrigues of Napolean III.

 

Martin Gilbert's off the shelf text on WWI is preferable. Have you've included lots of map studies for this course? A comprehensive course description and bibliography is all that is required.

 

I did a similar study focusing on 19th century wars, esp. The American Civil War one year and subsequently focusing on 20th century wars the following year. We benefitted greatly by the photohistoriography of the coffee table text entitled "The 20th Century in Pictures." GaTech requested a portfolio of our son's high school program, which included these course descriptions. They never blinked as the descriptions were complete enough to fill all necessary requirements/explanations of coursework completed. BTW, he was accepted at GaTech, though he didn't choose to attend. I don't know if you are familiar with GaTech's initial reluctance to admit homeschoolers in times past.

[Michelle in MO]

Kathleen of Rock Creek Rumblings (her blog) is putting together either a 20th century history class for next year, or it might be 20th century literature (or both!--I can't remember!).

 

Anyway, I think that anything Kathleen would teach would be excellent; her boys have done extremely well under her tutoring, and she is one of the most well-read people that I can think of.

 

You might send her a PM and ask her about the scope and sequence of the class she's putting together for next year. Here's a link to her blog:

 

http://www.kahclassical.blogspot.com/

 

From what I can tell, her book list for next year looks very comprehensive!

[Laura K (NC)]

My sons are all very interested in the World Wars, especially my high schooler. They have read so many books on the wars that I wanted my oldest son's freshman year to take this knowledge and expand on it. Sonlight gives a good background, though I wish I had taken the time to plan out 1850-1900 for them as well. Sonlight gives a great look at the rumblings before the wars and the causes and what was going on socially and economically, and then it gives a really nice overview about what the repercussions of the wars were for decades afterward and it ties the whole century together. We're doing it without paying much attention to Sonlight's literature or writing or anything else. The 20th century program is updated for next year so that is good news, too.