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4-year History Cycle Throughout, or No?


CAmomof4
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Ok, so my oldest is only in first grade but I'm a "big picture" kind of person, and I like to have a general idea of what direction we're going to be headed in.  That being said, what are your thoughts on breaking up the history cycle amongst your kids?

 

We are currently doing SOTW and we love it, and I do plan to continue using it through 4th grade for my oldest.  I have three other DC behind her, and they are all 2 years apart, so theoretically it would be very easy to stick with the 3x 4-year cycle as SWB advocates.  But beyond SOTW I'm sort of lost as to what curriculum or spine will take us forward.  I would consider moving to TOG when DD gets to 5th grade, since I would like something that incorporates history, geography, literature, and Bible, as much as possible anyway.

 

BUT.  What I would really like to do is Omnibus for 7th-12th.  I could do SOTW for 1-4, then 2 years of American history or world geography, then transition to Omnibus after that.  But that would really screw things up for my younger kids, if we were trying to keep them all studying the same material at their own levels.

 

So my long-winded question is, is it really necessary for one's sanity to keep the kids studying the same point in history at the same time?  If so, why?  It seems like once the student is able to read fairly well, he will be reading the history material on his own anyway.  Has anyone successfully taught multiple kids who were NOT studying the same period?

 

Or, conversely, does anyone have any groundbreaking advice on how to shoehorn Omnibus into a 4-year plan without leaving out too much material?  I like TOG but I prefer the reading lists for Omnibus.

 

* Sigh *  This is what I waste my time thinking about: what we're going to do three years from now.  Just for my peace of mind, I welcome any advice you want to give me!

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Sorry I've got no advice for you.  I'm still weighing the pros and cons of this myself.  Just wanted to show my support as a member of the big picture planning club.  Ducks and rows keep me awake at night.  I've already purchased 2 year plans of TOG, so I'm probably going to have to figure out a way to make that work, if we don't end up *gasp* sending ds to b&m school for high school.

 

Following with  :bigear:

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Well, I don't have things sketched out as far as you, but I have a general idea through 6th/7th, and it does not involve 3 trips through the 4 year cycle.  I am doing Five in a Row right now, with no additional history or social studies (besides what is included in FIAR, which is not chronological).  We plan to use FIAR for another couple of years, then do a one year American HIstory overview (maybe with MFW?) and then do one trip through the 4 year cycle with SOTW.  We'll see beyond that.  So here's my sketch, with kids grades at the front (twins/older):

 

PK/K FIAR

K/1st FIAR

1st/2nd FIAR

2nd/3rd American History

3rd/4th SOTW ancients

4th/5th SOTW middle ages

5th/6th SOTW early modern

6th/7th SOTW modern 

 

 

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You could switch to Veritas Press Cards alongside SOTW then moving to Omnibus will be a smooth transition. I do not think it is important at all to keep the kids together like that. Do what you think is best.

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I thought the 4th year material in SOTW modern was a little heavy for my kids who were 4th, 2nd and preK at the time, so we did years 1-3 twice and then moved on to the 4th the second go around. Also, your children will change so much that you're really just burning rubber if you think about 9-12 at this point. ;)

 

I'd get a good big picture game plan through 4th or 5th then reevaluate as needed or around 4rd grade to plan middle/upper grades, and 7th to plan high school. Otherwise, you'll end up dumping all the plans anyway. truly.

 

:)

 

 

 

 

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I thought the 4th year material in SOTW modern was a little heavy for my kids who were 4th, 2nd and preK at the time, so we did years 1-3 twice and then moved on to the 4th the second go around. Also, your children will change so much that you're really just burning rubber if you think about 9-12 at this point. ;)

 

I'd get a good big picture game plan through 4th or 5th then reevaluate as needed or around 4rd grade to plan middle/upper grades, and 7th to plan high school. Otherwise, you'll end up dumping all the plans anyway. truly.

 

:)

Darn it, I know you're right!

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You are not alone. I can't tell you how much energy I've given to sorting this out. We are doing veritas press history. We are doing year 1 (OT/ancient Egypt) this year in first grade even though they recommended it for second. We actually haven't decided if we will do omnibus or roman roads. I've given our family a deadline of 2017 to figure it out (LOL). Anyways, I wrote out how it would work with either one. I need to keep my kids together for my sanity. If you have the money for the online self-paced I think it would be more doable to have them on different years. We don't have the money for this. I'm hoping we will have a bigger schooling budget by the time we reach 7th grade or so.

So, it will work out for us that our oldest will be done with the history cycle in 5th grade. We will do a transition year that year. VP has a transition guide or you could do just the pages of history vol. 1 & 2 (these look really exciting). For my middle son, he does history with us and listens to our read alouds but I keep it very simple. He will go through with the cards for a second time starting in third and we will pick up the pace and get the whole cycle done again but in 3 years. It will work out for my youngest to start history when boy #2 is doing his second round. His is a little messed up but he will go through the cards twice but in 3 years time each. Then he can start omnibus.

So honestly, I made my own schedule because I needed the ability to have them in the same time periods but I also like the idea of completing the history cycle (it's what drew me to classical education in the first place). I think it's okay to do what fits best. You may end up with a good amount of time for a transition period or a us history/state history/ government.

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Don't worry about that far off. As you get into teaching, your mind will change many times.

 

I say this because I had the giant chart mapping out my kids and curriculum when my oldest was first grade. Then my kid changed my plans. :lol: We'll try TOG year 1 next year when I have 5th, 2nd, and K, but if it doesn't work, I'll figure something out.

 

You may get to 5th or 6th grade and decide that you don't want to do Omnibus after all. Don't base what you do now on what you might do several years from now. :)

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My big boys never did a four year cycle. ;) They both covered history- just not in a four year cycle.

 

With my little guy I am currently planning to do a 3-year cycle of world history in 5th-7th followed by US history in 8th, but who knows how it will pan out.

 

In high school there are many options that are not based on a four year cycle including AP and dual enrollment options. I let my big boys help decide what they did in high school and I plan to do the same with my little guy.

 

Do what works now and worry about the other years when they get here.

HTH-

Mandy

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Well, when we started with gr. 1 and 2 DSs, I assumed we'd do three 4-year cycles. But what with exploring deeper/longer in areas of DS's interests, and adding a year for just U.S. history (ideal for students in the gr. 2-5 range!), plus time for state history/culture, a states & capitals and presidents unit, and an elementary-aged civics unit, our first cycle took 6 years.

 

At that point, we wanted a bit of a break from history, so when DSs were gr. 7 and 8 we did a year of world cultures/geography and comparative religions/worldview year, focusing on Eastern Hemisphere nations. That was so fabulous, I wish we could have taken 2 years in middle school and covered all of the world in depth! It was great to focus on nations and cultures that comprise 4/5th of the world's population, but are rarely studied in high school, as most high school social studies focus on U.S. History, U.S. Government, and Western Civilizations for World History.

 

For high school, I thought we'd finish with a second 4-year history cycle, but due to other opportunities that arose, and allowing DSs to select what history *they* were most interested in, we only managed:

DSs = gr. 8 & 9 = ancient world

DSs = gr. 9 & 10 = 20th century world

DSs = gr. 10 & 11 = American History (plus required Government credit)

DSs = gr. 11 & 12 = medieval world & church history (plus required Economics credit)

 

All that to say, that as you go along, your goals can change; wanting to take advantage of passions and changing interests of your DC can also change your long-range plans; new curricula that you'd like to try may suddenly appear down the line; plus, unexpected opportunities arise that may lead you to set aside History for a time to take advantage of those opportunities...

 

It is a good idea to reassess every few years -- say, when your oldest is somewhere along 4th-6th grade. And esp. good to reassess just before 7th or 8th grade, so you can make a FLEXIBLE plan for the remaining years, by planning backwards. In other words, start with 12th grade and work back through 9th grade of what you *think* you'd like to try to cover social studies wise, and what required credits you may need to cover, and then if you see a hole or an area you'd like to focus on, or if the DC has a special interest, plug that in for 7th or 8th grade.

 

I'm SO glad we did DSs high-interest history periods in the first years of high school, because other opportunities arose and we just didn't have the ability to spread ourselves that thin and end up doing 4 full years of history like the WTM suggests. But, we did what we could, and enjoyed it, esp. since it was what DSs were interested in studying. :)

 

 

BUT... my suggestion at this point is to just take it year by year. Continue with SOTW if you are all enjoying it and just fold in the younger DC as they reach school age. For sanity's sake DO stay all on the same history period up through middle school! Planning out different history for everyone -- or even just 2 different history time periods -- is a killer on you for pulling everything together. SOOO much easier to have everyone together, with youngers listening in on some of older students' books, and olders helping out with younger students' hands-on... Just use more simple/age-appropriate materials for the younger ones. By high school, students are working pretty independently so it's not so stressful to have older students working on a different time period, as they are doing so without so much time needed from you.

 

 

As far as trying to plan whether to use TOG or Veritas for high school when oldest is 1st grade...  :ohmy:  Please don't add that stress to your life! Just work on getting everyone reading, writing, and solid in basic math for the next 6 years! Plenty of time to decide about middle school/high school curriculum then. :)

 

 

Just my 2 cents worth! BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Enjoy your history journey together! Warmest regards, Lori D.

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Honestly, I think a lot of the reading in Omnibus 1-3 is adaptable to high school. The questions, summary essays and other assignments are high-average for middle school, imo.

 

Perhaps what could work is doing Omni for high school, either 1-3 or 4-6, and use something else for logic. You can stretch out

Omnibus, too.

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When I read your post I will admit I laughed.  Not at you but with you because I WAS YOU!   :lol:

 

My best advice is go ahead and plan but know some things:

 

1.  Life will happen and your plans WILL change.  Don't marry them.

2.  No curriculum is perfect and odds are what you love for one child you won't love for another.

3.  By the time your 1st grader is in 5th grade, there will be a whole new generation of curriculum out there, and something will probably be better than what you had your eye on.  Not only that but all the curriculum you're looking at right now for Jr High and High School will probably be revised or maybe even obsolete and you'll have to rethink your whole strategy.

 

Take Sonlight for example.  When we started homeschooling in 2003, they were on their original teacher's guides.  I think they've gone through 4 or 5 rewrites since then?  And, there was a time I never would have considered them for High School, but now, I'm considering them.  MFW didn't even have a high school curriculum when my oldest was in 1st grade, and they weren't done writing their rotation for 2-8th grade, and HOD didn't even exist.

 

God I feel old! :scared:

 

Anyway, I know what it's like to feel the NEED to plan, and it's a good idea if it helps you out, just don't get too hung up on, "THE PLAN."  Maybe look at it in increments.  Plan for next year as you go through this year, and the next year etc, etc.  Or even plan in quarters.  You know you're going to use SOTW for the next 4 years.  Why don't you wait to look at what's out there for the logic state until your oldest is in 3rd or 4th grade?  A lot happens in 3 years, you never know what will come along.  I got so hung up on planning, I sometimes forgot to enjoy the year I was in.  

 

Just remember your goal should be meeting the needs of your child instead of following someone else's plans for their kids. TWTM is a guideline and even SWB has admitted it's an ideal, not always a reality. 

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

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