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K12 History and sequence (long, sorry! :)


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So... all three of my kids together are working through K12 Human Odyssey. I don't use K12 the company, just the text as a spine. We should finish volume 1 this year - and then my older two will probably end up just reading through the first half of vol. 2 in preparation for heading to the local high school next year where they start with the Enlightenment (so that will get them to the right place).

 

I was thinking of just continuing on with younger dd. But she, unlike my older two, really has no use for history. All the additional reading that I've given my older two will not fly - I'm much better off getting her to read good literature than historical fiction. But without all the extra reading, I think just the text and some documentaries will not get history to stick in her head.

 

So... I'm wondering if I should just actually use K12, meaning buy the online portion. I know some of the assignments look like busywork, but maybe the extra questions and the online portions will actually get things to stick without my having to pound it into her head?

 

And then the sequence question. We last did US History when she was, well, tiny. She remembers virtually nothing, esp. pre-Civil War. Also, World History B from K12 is for 8th graders; she'll be in 6th next year. Would it make sense to do US History A and B from K12 for 6th and 7th, then skip World History A and do WHist. B for 8th grade? The other good thing about this sequence is it will also put her right in place for where the high school class starts (and she may or may not go to high school, but having her in the right place wouldn't hurt).

 

I also worry that if I don't sign her up with something outside, we'll never get through the sequence. Last time I did US History it took us 4 1/2 years. Yikes.

 

So, any feedback on this idea? I'd love to hear how people liked the K12 US History (I've heard mostly about World); if doing those two years a year "behind" would be a problem (I think it might be good for her to have it a bit 'easy' to start, to ease her in to the expectations of output). And do you think K12 would care if I "skipped" WHist A?

 

And... I thought K12 had repackaged the Hakim books into a 2 or 4 volume set for their 2-yr US Hist course, but on their website it still lists something like 6 volumes just for the first year. Did I hear wrong?

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Also, World History B from K12 is for 8th graders; she'll be in 6th next year. Would it make sense to do US History A and B from K12 for 6th and 7th, then skip World History A and do WHist. B for 8th grade?

 

K12's middle school history courses aren't grade specific. That's why they don't put grade levels on them. They're designed to be used by all the middle school levels, so the virtual academies can switch them around to meet the needs of their state standards. K12 lists that sequence (Amer A and B, World A and B), but there isn't much difficulty difference between the courses. In fact, my daughter found the American history courses to be more work (but she HATED the Hakim books, which probably didn't help.)

 

So no worries there. :) You can do them in any order that works for you.

 

Personally, I don't like the American history courses as much as I like the world history courses. Unless they've been revised in recent years, they actually don't have as much of an online component as world history does. They required a lot of writing, and used worksheets that the student filled out with the material from the text. The assessments didn't always match the information on the study guides, so my daughter sometimes had a hard time figuring out what to study for the assessments, if that makes sense. The worksheets would focus on one thing, and the assessments would quiz her on something different.

 

So, any feedback on this idea? I'd love to hear how people liked the K12 US History (I've heard mostly about World); if doing those two years a year "behind" would be a problem (I think it might be good for her to have it a bit 'easy' to start, to ease her in to the expectations of output). And do you think K12 would care if I "skipped" WHist A?

 

If you're paying for the course independently, you can do them in any order and however you like. :) K12 doesn't care if you skip a course.

 

And... I thought K12 had repackaged the Hakim books into a 2 or 4 volume set for their 2-yr US Hist course, but on their website it still lists something like 6 volumes just for the first year. Did I hear wrong?

 

Not as far as I know. They've always used the whole set. They do part of the set in the first course and part in the second course. If they repackaged them, it was after I quit working for them several years ago.

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Personally, I don't like the American history courses as much as I like the world history courses. Unless they've been revised in recent years, they actually don't have as much of an online component as world history does. They required a lot of writing, and used worksheets that the student filled out with the material from the text. The assessments didn't always match the information on the study guides, so my daughter sometimes had a hard time figuring out what to study for the assessments, if that makes sense. The worksheets would focus on one thing, and the assessments would quiz her on something different.

 

Well, that is very annoying. :glare:

 

If you're paying for the course independently, you can do them in any order and however you like. :) K12 doesn't care if you skip a course.
That, on the other hand, is good news. :)

 

Not as far as I know. They've always used the whole set. They do part of the set in the first course and part in the second course. If they repackaged them, it was after I quit working for them several years ago.
Well, after some more hunting around, I actually found the concise editions on their website. Description: By special arrangement with the author and publisher, K12 is proud to offer a special four-volume Concise Edition of A HISTORY OF US, the award-winning and critically acclaimed series by Joy Hakim. The Concise Edition features the same lively, engaging, story-driven prose as the original series. These textbooks are fun to read! K12's Concise Edition is designed to meet the needs of busy home educators as well as schools and classrooms, where time constraints can make it difficult to read all ten volumes in the original edition. This book-Volume A, the first of four volumes in the Concise Edition-tells the story of America from prehistory to 1800, including the lives of early Native Americans, the settlement of the thirteen colonies, and the American Revolution. K12's Concise Edition of A HISTORY OF US features many color illustrations and photographs, all new maps, charts, and graphs, helpful collections of important primary sources, and a glossary and index in each volume. "For those who want an overview of American history," says Joy Hakim, "my friends at K12 have made choices and helped create this new four-volume version. I'm very pleased with what they've done."

But oddly, their courses still have the non-concise version on their syllabus. Where do these concise versions come in? I guess I'll have to call and ask.

 

I am honestly not a fan of the original Hakim books. I find their layout busy and hard to read. I'm kind of hoping these are more appealing. I love K12's HO books so much - I was kind of hoping they gave them an overhaul that made them more similar to those. I can find them on Amazon, but none of them have the look-inside feature. :(

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From what I understand, the concise versions are used in the virtual school classes but they aren't available for independent users yet.

 

That makes sense. My youngest is enrolled in MNVA, while my middle two are still using K12 independent courses for science and LA. The independent courses still use the older OLS (which I prefer), and the older materials kits.

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From what I understand, the concise versions are used in the virtual school classes but they aren't available for independent users yet.

 

Has anyone seen these? Is the layout any better than the original Hakims?

 

Now I'm thinking maybe I should just use the Drama of American History books as a spine. I do like those - it's a lot of pages, but I could keep on reading the spine aloud (what I've been doing all along), and I can get (almost?) all of them from the library. But then what could I do for output?

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Has anyone seen these? Is the layout any better than the original Hakims?

 

Now I'm thinking maybe I should just use the Drama of American History books as a spine. I do like those - it's a lot of pages, but I could keep on reading the spine aloud (what I've been doing all along), and I can get (almost?) all of them from the library. But then what could I do for output?

 

You could have your dd do written narrations of what she reads, work with a timeline. Try to find at least a few quality living books (so engaging she can't help but read it - even if it's nonfiction or interesting, higher level picture books). Maybe outline from an Encyclopedia of American History. Learning Through History magazines may help too. They include built in activities.

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