After SOTW....something meatier?

[macmom28]

Last year was our first year using SOTW vol. 1 and since it was our first year, it worked out well for my 3rd and 5th grader.  The children really enjoyed listening to the readings and enjoyed the activity pages.  Additionally, my youngest (1st grade) learned quite a bit just from listening to the supplemental audio (he was in Montessori last year so wasn't HS'd). 

 

We started school this week and my plan for this year was to use SOTW vol. 2 but today DS (now 6th grade age-wise) mentioned he would like something more challenging.  He is definitely advanced and is an advanced reader but has a bit of a mental block with writing.  I understand how SOTW is laid out using it for the three levels but I was wondering if there might be another text/resource/curriculum that would provide more bulk or meat for DS, while I continue to use SOTW for my now 4th grader and 2nd grader (new to HS this year).

[GThomas]

We switched from SOTW to History Odyssey

 

http://www.pandiapress.com/publications/history-odyssey/

[GThomas]

A little more detail:

 

History Odyessey are study guides. They are a series of lessons and there are books you will need to purchase for their required reading. Level 1 will include chapters from SOTW. Primary reading is from encyclopedias. This is also a literature based curriculum so there will be several books to read throughout the year. And there are writing assignments. A few hands on activities.

 

Level 1 has been light for my son but there is a big jump between level 1 and 2. Level one books have been too easy. He could do level 2 books (hmmm, Imhadn't thought about doing that until now! History is not a focus for us). The biggest jump between level 1 and 2 are the writing assignments. It seems to go from writing a couple semtences to writing essays. (this is only comparing Early Modern Times Level 1 and 2).

 

There are free samples you can download to look at. I would suggest for your oldest to get at least level 2 and then tweak as needed.

 

I find it less enjoyable as SOTW is just so nice to read! But it is certainly meatier. I also supplement with videos.

 

I've heard good things about Beautiful Feet for history as well. If he loves to read, he may like an even more literature based history course.

[GThomas]

Sorry I am posting too many times! This just came up in another forum: history computer games as a supplement. My kids play Civilization but there's also Age of Empire. Someone else posted that this helped their high school student: Europa Universalis IV as it's more detailed on history than the others.

 

There are characters from history. You take on one of them as your persona and you have to develop your empire through the ages. There are history facts presented. You form allies with the likes of Ghandi, Attila the Hun, Catherine the Great, etc. You form strategies to keep your people happy, build your Empire, help others. It gets complicated.

 

Obviously not a core curriculum! But has prompted some interesting dinner conversations about Crimea and Korea recently. :-)

[macmom28]

A little more detail:

 

History Odyessey are study guides. They are a series of lessons and there are books you will need to purchase for their required reading. Level 1 will include chapters from SOTW. Primary reading is from encyclopedias. This is also a literature based curriculum so there will be several books to read throughout the year. And there are writing assignments. A few hands on activities.

 

Level 1 has been light for my son but there is a big jump between level 1 and 2. Level one books have been too easy. He could do level 2 books (hmmm, Imhadn't thought about doing that until now! History is not a focus for us). The biggest jump between level 1 and 2 are the writing assignments. It seems to go from writing a couple semtences to writing essays. (this is only comparing Early Modern Times Level 1 and 2).

 

There are free samples you can download to look at. I would suggest for your oldest to get at least level 2 and then tweak as needed.

 

I find it less enjoyable as SOTW is just so nice to read! But it is certainly meatier. I also supplement with videos.

 

I've heard good things about Beautiful Feet for history as well. If he loves to read, he may like an even more literature based history course.

 

Thanks so much!  I'll check out History Odyssey level 2 and Beautiful Feet.  Haven't heard of that one (BF) at all before!

[deerforest]

This year for the middle ages, we are using a combination of K-12 Human Odyssey, Pandia Press History Odyssey middle ages level 2, and Oxford University Press: The Medieval and Early Modern World.

 

Last year we did nearly same but without History Odyssey. I'm barely using History Odyssey, to be honest. I'm not using Kingfisher; I obsessively matched up the reading from Human Odyssey and OUP with the History Odyssey schedule. I am using some of the books included in History Odyssey, but I've also removed some and added others.

 

Out of all of these, our favorite, by far, is the OUP series. The World in Ancient Times one we used last year is also excellent.

[macmom28]

This year for the middle ages, we are using a combination of K-12 Human Odyssey, Pandia Press History Odyssey middle ages level 2, and Oxford University Press: The Medieval and Early Modern World.

 

Last year we did nearly same but without History Odyssey. I'm barely using History Odyssey, to be honest. I'm not using Kingfisher; I obsessively matched up the reading from Human Odyssey and OUP with the History Odyssey schedule. I am using some of the books included in History Odyssey, but I've also removed some and added others.

 

Out of all of these, our favorite, by far, is the OUP series. The World in Ancient Times one we used last year is also excellent.

 

This sounds awesome!!  But...sounds like a lot of work on your part!  Kudos to you!! I'm going to check out Oxford University Press, too.  

[macmom28]

Sorry I am posting too many times! This just came up in another forum: history computer games as a supplement. My kids play Civilization but there's also Age of Empire. Someone else posted that this helped their high school student: Europa Universalis IV as it's more detailed on history than the others.

 

There are characters from history. You take on one of them as your persona and you have to develop your empire through the ages. There are history facts presented. You form allies with the likes of Ghandi, Attila the Hun, Catherine the Great, etc. You form strategies to keep your people happy, build your Empire, help others. It gets complicated.

 

Obviously not a core curriculum! But has prompted some interesting dinner conversations about Crimea and Korea recently. :-)

 

Well, DS would LOVE this idea!  Are these computer games or some platform?  (Wii, Xbox, etc)

 

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[macmom28]

Question for those doing other than SOTW...

do those curriculums all have their own activities or "plan," or did you do the SOTW plan (timeline, outline, etc.) just with these materials?

 

[EKS]

I love the Human Odyssey series (from K12) for that age.

[deerforest]

This sounds awesome!!  But...sounds like a lot of work on your part!  Kudos to you!! I'm going to check out Oxford University Press, too.  

 

Not at all. I work full time so I don't have a lot of free time. It just took some preparation to lay it out and now it's straight forward.

[macmom28]

This year for the middle ages, we are using a combination of K-12 Human Odyssey, Pandia Press History Odyssey middle ages level 2, and Oxford University Press: The Medieval and Early Modern World.

 

Last year we did nearly same but without History Odyssey. I'm barely using History Odyssey, to be honest. I'm not using Kingfisher; I obsessively matched up the reading from Human Odyssey and OUP with the History Odyssey schedule. I am using some of the books included in History Odyssey, but I've also removed some and added others.

 

Out of all of these, our favorite, by far, is the OUP series. The World in Ancient Times one we used last year is also excellent.

 

You have the series for Oxford University Press?  The price seems a little steep.  :huh: 

[deerforest]

You have the series for Oxford University Press?  The price seems a little steep.  :huh: 

 

Yes, I have both complete series, and they were worth every cent. OUP has sales routinely and I started collecting them in advance. Others I bought on Amazon; some used; some new, just depending on what was available. 

[JumpyTheFrog]

I love the Human Odyssey series (from K12) for that age.

 

Yeah, we started reading vol. 1 in 3rd grade and will finish it by the end of 4th. I bought it used off Amazon for something like $10. I also bought vol. 2 and the American Odyssey as well, although we haven't used them. Several days pay week I read about three pages. We also listen to SOTW in the car and read several chapters of The History of Us (concise editions) per week. No writing, no projects. It works for us.

[Starr]

I would use SOTW with all of them and have the older do more extra reading. Use the History Encyclopedia and books from the time period. Add in bigger project or longer papers etc. Take a look at TWTM and adapt the different grades.

[sbgrace]

I'm using Glencoe Journey Across Time with my same aged child. It's a middle school level text. You can easily match up the SOTW with it if you want (topics will match/you'll just have more topics and information about those topics in  the textbook).

 

It is a textbook, though, not story form. Mine like it. I love the questions in the text. A couple of examples: Describe the similarities and differences between the rule of Hatshepsut and Ramses II; and Why do you think the Assyrians took conquered peoples from their lands and moved them to other places? They have videos and other resources online http://www.glencoe.com/sites/ss_modules/videos/ss_jat_2008/ss_jat_2008.htmlReligion is handled very respectfully in the text. I am comfortable with it as a Christian (it is old earth though in the time frame given for paleolithic people).

 

I do have some OUP's too. My son didn't take to the ones I have like I hoped, but I plan to try again with them when I get to Greece and Rome. A friend didn't have great retention with those and purchased the study guides (pricey!) to see if that helped. So I have coordinated them with the questions from my Glencoe text coverage of the same topics. Anyway, Journey Across Time is a more mature option if he might like a textbook approach.

[Kate989]

It depends on how interested/motivated/accelerated your ds is, but in 5th and 6th grade my humanities-obsessed kiddo LOVED SWB's adult history series.  A recent thread addressed these books; the consensus wasn't in favor of using them with middle schoolers.  But we are huge fans and are so disappointed that he out-read the publication schedule!

[sportsmom]

It depends on how interested/motivated/accelerated your ds is, but in 5th and 6th grade my humanities-obsessed kiddo LOVED SWB's adult history series.  A recent thread addressed these books; the consensus wasn't in favor of using them with middle schoolers.  But we are huge fans and are so disappointed that he out-read the publication schedule!

 

I'm glad to read this!!  That was my thread and I'm still considering them.

[Laura Corin]

I liked the books by Suzanne Strauss Art.  They are designed for Middle School, but I found them quite meaty.  They are based around particular civilisations, rather than eras, so they wouldn't line up too well with SOTW.  We used the two books about China.  Calvin was about eleven, I think.

[GThomas]

Well, DS would LOVE this idea!  Are these computer games or some platform?  (Wii, Xbox, etc)

 

Thanks for all the suggestions!

They are computer games. We play them on our macs but I think they were originally PC games. I don't know if they are also on Wii, xBox, etc. 

[GThomas]

Question for those doing other than SOTW...

do those curriculums all have their own activities or "plan," or did you do the SOTW plan (timeline, outline, etc.) just with these materials?

Panda Press's History Odyssey has it's own activities and plan. We are doing Modern Times Level 2 this year.

 

She starts off reading Around the World in 80 Days. They provide a map (which I printed out in poster format and enlarged it and put it on the wall). DD is to read the book and track their route. She is also to fill in the blank map with countries, cities, and landforms as she goes along. I am having her add on additional landforms and climate information in order to get a full geography credit (the program does say it gives you a 1/2 credit for geography but I felt it was lacking on landforms and climate information).

 

Later this semester she'll be learning about imperialism, British imperialism and British colonization around the world. The program has worksheets on evaluating credibility of sources, comparing different viewpoints, summarizing conflicts, etc. 

 

Because this is also a 1/2 credit for language arts, there are literature books to read and lots of writing (essays, research report, summaries, 4 level outlines, etc.)

 

And there is timeline work. This year we bought their timeline package. It's timelines for all the 4 time periods and stickers to add on it. I've posted it on the wall to complete as she goes along. 

 

Because it's only a study guide, you still have to buy the encyclopedia and literature books.