Need History recommendations please

[Heather in OK]

I'm feeling very lost. We started this year doing TOG and it just wasn't a good fit. I was going to do unit studies (and still may with my younger ones) but that makes me feel like we're skipping and missing events. With next year being our last before high school I want to have a course laid out for her so we don't miss anything credit-wise.

 

I guess I would like something that:

- isn't VERY Christian (i.e. MFW, )

- is literature based

- is affordable

- has the ability to be used with younger grades (but that's not vital..it would just be nice)

 

What else is out there?????

[regentrude]

We follow the suggestions of WTM. We use the Kingfisher encyclopedia (and for DD Short history of Western civilization) as a spine, read lots of books, supplement with documentaries.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, I use WTM recs, but perhaps Sonlight, if you're looking for a program already pulled together for you?

[Heather in OK]

I don't have a copy of WTM so I'm not sure what those recs are.

 

I should add, another preference is that it's somewhat laid out and doesn't require much teacher-planning. As much as I love putting units together and plan, I just do not have the time.

[Mommybostic]

I really like The Story of the World. It's appropriate for all ages, and for older kids the suggestion is to use this as a supplement to something like the Usborne Internet Linked Encycolpedia of World History. You can pick supplemental) reading with real books and things based on what the chapter is about (i.e. ancient Egypt, Greek and Roman Mythology.) You make a great big long timeline that you enter important dates, people and events on, and there are neat projects in the activity books, even for older kids. It's worth looking into, even if you think it may be too teacher intensive. It's fairly reasonable in cost, and like you said, it's not TOO Christian, although there are mentions of the Bible and people and events that are Bible based. Anyway, I just got my books, so check it out.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Mommybostic

[Heather in OK]

Yeah, we've used SOTW before. Not really interested in using it again as our main text.

 

Thanks for throwing out some ideas! I looked a bit more today at TOG and am considering just keeping on with it. I just don't see anything else that would work for us.

[Donna A.]

What about Ambleside or Linda Fay's list?

 

http://www.amblesideonline.org/index.shtml

 

http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/2009/07/curriculum-overview.html

[Tohru]

What about TOG don't you like? Maybe I could offer some suggestions. We use it here and pick and choose out of it. We are using it as a secular program and Y1 is the hardest of all the years to secularize.

 

I could be remembering wrong...

For the WTM recommendations, I think the history portion pretty much says to find a spine book, such as a history encyclopedia...maybe Usborne for the younger grades, Kingfisher for middle, and DK for upper level.

You'd read the 2-page spread in the encyclopedia, do an outline of the information, find some books that went with that historic period, maybe write a report, put it on the timeline, move to the next page in the encyclopedia.

 

WTM is pretty straightforward, but I like TOG because the history books and literature books are already selected and I don't have to think much about it unless I want swap out a book or skip it. I generally use the WTM idea with TOG by just looking at the "Supplement" in the history section of the TOG or finding the 2-page spread in the encyclopedia that correlates with the TOG week.

I hope that makes sense.

Edited November 29, 2010 by jadedone80
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[JenniferB]

"All Through the Ages" by Christine Miller is an excellent resource book, basically a very long listing of literature history books. She breaks it down by time period, and then again by age/reading level, and it covers K through 12.

[Kates]

Have you tried the Hands of a Child units? You can pick and choose which ones you want to use, they're easy to adapt to youngers, and pretty much all of them come with terrific reading and link lists. They also come with schedules and answer keys (they're now written into the units, for the most part), so they're user friendly. They're also reusable when you get to that part of the history cycle once more.

[Heather in OK]

Christina ~ Thank you! HO looks very interesting! Simple, straight-forward, and covers quite a bit.

 

What about TOG don't you like?

It's just SO much (which is a good thing). We were only using the reading lists, part of the map work (not the overlays), some of the discussion questions, and some of the student pages. I just don't want to pay for a curriculum if I'm not going to use it all.

[thowell]

I could be remembering wrong...

For the WTM recommendations, I think the history portion pretty much says to find a spine book, such as a history encyclopedia...maybe Usborne for the younger grades, Kingfisher for middle, and DK for upper level.

You'd read the 2-page spread in the encyclopedia, do an outline of the information, find some books that went with that historic period, maybe write a report, put it on the timeline, move to the next page in the encyclopedia.

 

I wish I could find a good Christian spine to do this with.......

[Brenda in FL]

Another suggestion for History Odyssey. Although I wouldn't try to have your youngers follow along - can they do SOTW?

 

My 6th grader was able to do HO middle ages level 2 pretty indepently last year. Freeing me up to use SOTW with my first grader.

[HollyDay]

I could not make TOG work either. I love the idea, just wasn't practical for us. Have you considered Beautiful Feet or MOH?

[Another Lynn]

I have not used it, but it seems like several TOG users here expressed relief at switching to Biblioplan. (Pongo comes to mind if you want to search for her posts). I think it offers a variety of spines to choose from... could be cheap depending on how many of the extras you buy, and could be used with youngers (I think).

[Tohru]

It's just SO much (which is a good thing). We were only using the reading lists, part of the map work (not the overlays), some of the discussion questions, and some of the student pages. I just don't want to pay for a curriculum if I'm not going to use it all.

 

lol! I think the author specifically says several times throughout the curriculum that no one is going to be able to do everything in the curriculum.

 

I often find that if I'm in a rut, I want to buy something new because I think that will fix it, but really I just need a break or more motivation because I'm feeling lazy.

 

From your original concern:

Figuring out what you want to cover and go from there is probably more realistic than trying to find something that will cover everything. There are a lot of great programs out there...it's so hard to choose. :)

[Melissa in CA]

It's just SO much (which is a good thing). We were only using the reading lists, part of the map work (not the overlays), some of the discussion questions, and some of the student pages. I just don't want to pay for a curriculum if I'm not going to use it all.

 

With TOG you're paying for a curriculum that spans the ages and offers a huge buffet of choices. You CANNOT do it all, you should not do it all. You pick the items off the menu that you like. Just like at a buffet, you pay more to eat at most buffets due to the sheer volume of food choices. You would not go to a buffet and expect to eat everything they offer...well, you MIGHT go and expect to do that, but you'll kill yourself trying! Ha! Same with TOG. You use what you can and you ignore the rest. We only used the primary sources of TOG (minus the activity selections) along with the maps (not the overlays) and some of the questions, some of the student activity pages. We did not use a lot of the other goodies. I know most...if not all...TOG users use about the same or less of the curriculum. You did not waste your money. Honest. ;)

 

I love, love, love TOG. I am so sad that we are not currently using it, and that my ds is wanting (liking/loving/ugh) BJU's history instead. It boggles my mind that he would chose a textbook over TOGs lovely selections; it breaks my heart to see Y2 sitting on the shelf getting dusty, and a brand new unopened Y3 rusticating in the closet. =( I will probably literally shed tears when I go to sell my sets. So, keep in mind that this is coming from a TOG lover. :D

 

As for other choices, I would look into History Odyssey as a pp mentioned. I personally do not like learning history from Kingfisher, or any encyclopedia for that matter, but it does look intriguing and something I have considered just recently for 9th grade. With my ds's love of BJU's History and Activity Book though, we will probably end up going that route...much to my horror. :lol:

[Heather in OK]

lol! I think the author specifically says several times throughout the curriculum that no one is going to be able to do everything in the curriculum.

You CANNOT do it all, you should not do it all.

*SIGH* Yes yes yes, I know that. When we are just using a few of the features it's just not worth the $$. Especially since it can't be resold. I thought it would work for us and we would get a good deal out of it. We are not. So I no longer want to pay for the units.

 

And no, we aren't stuck in a rut. TOG just isn't working for our family.

 

Ah yes...thank you for the Biblioplan reminder! I'm going to look into that one too.

 

I have looked at MOH in the past. Actually I have eyed it for several years but I'm just turned off with the fact that it's not a complete program yet.

 

I'm still considering HO but am not sure how it would work using two levels. A few reviews I have read aren't that positive about that aspect of it.

[Honey Bee]

I used Beautiful Feet with my young kids. Here is a link to how their programs work for different ages. It worked great and was definitely literature based and Christian.

[Mommamia]

Someone mentioned looking for a good Christian spine and then doing WTM way. A Living History of our World by Angela Odell might fit the bill.

[woolybear]

What period in history are you looking for? Some good free options:

 

History Mosaic http://bringinguplearners.com

 

http://www.guesthollow.com

 

http://www.milestonesacademy.com

[KristineinKS]

"All Through the Ages" by Christine Miller is an excellent resource book, basically a very long listing of literature history books. She breaks it down by time period, and then again by age/reading level, and it covers K through 12.

 

Similarly, there's TruthQuest History.

[Heather in WI]

*SIGH* Yes yes yes, I know that. When we are just using a few of the features it's just not worth the $$. Especially since it can't be resold. I thought it would work for us and we would get a good deal out of it. We are not. So I no longer want to pay for the units.

 

And no, we aren't stuck in a rut. TOG just isn't working for our family.

 

I'm following your thread with interest because this is exactly how I feel! I bought year 1, but I'm basically only using the reading recommendations. Quite expensive for a booklist!!!!

 

I, also, did SOTW the first time through completely with oldest ds. Second oldest ds only did two years of it for school, but has read through the entire series several times on his own FOR FUN. :lol:

 

I need something new for next year (Medieval-Ren) for a 6th, 4th, and 1st grader. I'm off to explore all of the suggestions you received. :)

[Another Lynn]

I'm following your thread with interest because this is exactly how I feel! I bought year 1, but I'm basically only using the reading recommendations. Quite expensive for a booklist!!!!

 

I, also, did SOTW the first time through completely with oldest ds. Second oldest ds only did two years of it for school, but has read through the entire series several times on his own FOR FUN. :lol:

 

I need something new for next year (Medieval-Ren) for a 6th, 4th, and 1st grader. I'm off to explore all of the suggestions you received. :)

 

I'm not sure if these were mentioned earlier, but if you're looking specifically for Middle Ages, Living Books Curriculum sells a Middle Ages Guide (most of their other guides are grade specific... but they sell this one separately.) By the way, it's aimed at 4th grade (I think) so it might be adjustable to your ages.

 

Another one (possibly mentioned earlier in the thread) might be Simply Charlotte Mason. They do not have guides completed yet for all history periods, but they do have one for Middle Ages.

 

Also, HOD's Resurrection to Reformation would probably work for your older two, but not for your youngest.

 

Hoping both Heathers will come back and tell us what works for them and why. :001_smile:

[Heather in OK]

This year we are doing Ancients.

 

BTDT with TruthQuest. My kids got dreadfully bored with it. I have a couple volumes if anyone wants to buy them. lol

 

My friend lent me MOH Vol 1 to look over. I just haven't had time to sit down and go through it.

[nelewaf]

My 7th grader loves. loves loves history. We are using Kingfisher (not too expensive), and extensive library books. Following the Well-Trained Mind rec's regarding writing (list of main points, select a topic of interest, outline this topic from a non-fic book, write a bit about this topic).

 

We have almost 100 checkouts from the library now........often the kids will just sit near where the public library books are and read, flip, look. It's inexpensive and they love it.

[TheAutumnOak]

This year we are doing Ancients.

 

 

My friend lent me MOH Vol 1 to look over. I just haven't had time to sit down and go through it.

 

I am wondering if you looked it over yet and what you think of it if you did?

[catholicmommy]

We have loved HO here too. We are doing ancients level two with my grade 5 (and I have bought corresponding history pockets for k-3 for my gr 2 boy to follow along with). I love that it is written to the student, and i love how it is teaching her to outline, summarize and keep her binder/notebook orderly. There is mapwork, timeline suggestions, and literature suggestions. We have done the literature as a read aloud because I want to include my gr 2, but it just as easily could be assigned reading for my gr 5.

 

I also love the way they organize the topics. SOTW was TOO chronological for us. It was hard jumping from one story to another every chapter. We like how history odyssey has a whole unit on one area before moving on to the next area (but they also include timeline timeouts to help orient you as to what is going on at the same time in history). It helped us become more immersed in the individual stories of each culture before moving on in time.

 

hth!!

[Heather in OK]

Just coming back to update....

 

We're going to try MOH Vol 1. I finally had time to look over it and I think it might work. It seems to have just enough balance with information, activities, mapping, and review/quizzing.

[thowell]

Have you looked at A World Of Adventures?

[Trish]

What is OAW again? I couldn't find it on the abbreviations page.

[Tammyla]

I think my ds, and I might like this. :001_smile:

 

History Odyssey is working well for us. It is lit based and uses Kingfisher as a spine. It is secular but we are a Christian family and have not had an issue with it. You would want level 2 for a Jr. Higher and it can't be used with a younger child, but it's not expensive at all (about 34$).

 

It is written to the student, tells them what to read, what assignments to do and where to file the assignment in the binder. It has worked really well for us. If you get the ebook, all of the worksheets are writable pdf. My sone loves that he can type his assignment and print it our neatly.

 

There is an extensive preview available and I highly recommend seeing if you can get Kingfisher from your library, printing out the sample and giving it a try. The link says "Try before you Buy!". Also, each guide is broken down into sections so last year when we switched programs mid-year I was easily able to pick it up at the half-way point. I only had too tweak a couple of lessons because he hadn't read a previous literature book.

 

It covers history, literature, writing and outlining. There are no hands on projects or anything like that. It is basically a scheduled out WTM history program.

[mcconnellboys]

I believe it's Oxford Ancient World, perhaps....

[lavender]

Have you looked at VP's history, particularly the self-paced online class? Neither of my kids were into history and would frequently complain about the BORING subject.....UNTIL on a whim, I signed them up for this. I can honestly say they LOVE doing history now, and will even request to sign in of the weekend. Very highly recommended for elementary and middle school years. We also do their live Omnibus classes, which are also a hit! :D

[TheAutumnOak]

We're going to try MOH Vol 1. I finally had time to look over it and I think it might work. It seems to have just enough balance with information, activities, mapping, and review/quizzing.

 

We started it this week and so far so good...