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What is your favorite high school history curriculum?


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Well, I had planned on using TruthQuest, but my dd respectfully told me (after using TQ for a year) that she really wanted something more linear and straightforward for high school, with questions to answer after each chapter, etc; in other words, the opposite of the literature-based history we've always done. So, we decided on Notgrass (she's doing American history this year). She got her linear style with questions, but I was satisfied with it because it includes literature and a big chunky book of source documents and writings related to each period of history she studies.

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Last year we did US history with Notgrass...only doing the history portion of the course with text and documents. I added the Teaching Companies video series History of the United States 2nd ed. It was a series of 84 lectures taught by 3 different professors. The material was excellent.

 

THis year we are doing 2 history courses, one each semester. We did Ancient History in the fall, covering Ancient Near East, Greece and Rome. We used three different series for this, which I checked out from my local library as it would be crazy expensive to buy this many courses (IMO). We used History of Ancient Rome (48 lectures), Ancient Greek Civilization (24 lectures) and Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations (12 lectures)

 

For the second semester we are studying Renaissance and Reformation History, from about 1300-1700. For this course we are using The Renaissance, The Reformation and the Rise of Nations and we also checked out Sister Wendy's Story of Painting Series.

 

 

If you go over to their website, you can find videos to support just about any period of history that you want to cover. We found the series that we though would best support what we wanted to do and then I just checked all the libraries in my tri-county area. I have also heard some folks say they have found them on Netflix, but I don't use that service, yet anyway!

 

HTH

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I have also heard some folks say they have found them on Netflix, but I don't use that service, yet anyway!

 

HTH

 

That may be our best source. I, too, can't afford to buy my own copy, and it's too far to the suburban library that has the best selection of TTC, if they *did* have something on topic. We'd have to upgrade our monthly plan though...

 

Info "sticks" so much better for ds if it is not in print...something having to do with the way his brain is wired, I guess. (Dh describes it as his own brain "leaking." :) )

 

Thanks!

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Last year we did US history with Notgrass...only doing the history portion of the course with text and documents. I added the Teaching Companies video series History of the United States 2nd ed. It was a series of 84 lectures taught by 3 different professors. The material was excellent.

 

THis year we are doing 2 history courses, one each semester. We did Ancient History in the fall, covering Ancient Near East, Greece and Rome. We used three different series for this, which I checked out from my local library as it would be crazy expensive to buy this many courses (IMO). We used History of Ancient Rome (48 lectures), Ancient Greek Civilization (24 lectures) and Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations (12 lectures)

 

For the second semester we are studying Renaissance and Reformation History, from about 1300-1700. For this course we are using The Renaissance, The Reformation and the Rise of Nations and we also checked out Sister Wendy's Story of Painting Series.

 

 

If you go over to their website, you can find videos to support just about any period of history that you want to cover. We found the series that we though would best support what we wanted to do and then I just checked all the libraries in my tri-county area. I have also heard some folks say they have found them on Netflix, but I don't use that service, yet anyway!

 

HTH

 

Thanks. Great ideas and hope you don't mind me "gleaning" here. I have Netflix but don't see any of these titles. I would love to know if someone has found them on the site.

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Omnibus with Spielvogel whole chapters--this way kids get history within the Great Books, but also get the more straightforward support of the text.

 

Chris,

 

I'm planning on this for high school as well. Do you have any tips or 'btdt' advice you can give? I'm excited about it. DD is looking forward to it but I am still a little scared. Of course the whole high school thing is scaring me right now.

 

Heather

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Heather--

It's been a while, and 9th grade was my first year homeschooling, so I'm not sure I'll either remember what worked or would do the same thing now! lol

What I found with Omnibus was that I really should have read more of the material myself. I notice my own connections that way, and can better guide the discussion, to make it a true discussion instead of a recitation of the answers to the questions in the book. I would require my child to write out each answer--at least for a while, to prepare better for the discussion. That's a lot of work, but in hindsight, I'd probably be less concerned about his comfort and more concerned about upping his academic workload in order to get him used to being truly diligent--I did a lot that first year that I now feel was more to avoid the discomfort I felt when he acted overwhelmed. Now I'm much more likely to let him feel overwhelmed and learn how to deal with it! Guess I'm more of a hardened soul now!! lol

 

I also realize now that there is some material I probably shouldn't have exposed ds to--I feel you can completely skip Suetonius. It's simply too graphic. I think kids do need to know the decadence of the Roman empire (Nero, anyway) but perhaps can hear of it in a milder way than reading about him swimming with the boys and nibbling their privates...On the other hand, I really liked the extra material we added--Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, Cat of Bubastes (because he needed more Egyptian coverage) and Hittite Warrior. We didn't like the Hammurabi Code thing--just spent a day or two. I also skipped the secondary reading, because he was familiar with the Narnia Chronicles, although reading them as a high schooler is a different experience, and a worthwhile one. We are not of the Reform tradition, but I wanted some basic doctrine, so we used Know What (and Know Why) You Believe, two books by Paul Little, to give us a bit of a foundation. I also had ds do a devotion everyday. He chose to read his One Year Bible everyday, and finished it. That had a profound influence on his beliefs and strengthened him as a Christian. I'd recommend that over everything else.

We also skipped the progym exercises, because I'd never even heard of that way of teaching writing (now I have! lol), but I see you are doing CW, so I'm sure that part will be a breeze for you.

 

I really have so much respect for the Omnibus program. It made classical education doable for a brand new homeschooling family--and I've yet to find something so open and go, so well put together, and so darned beautiful! It spoiled me for anything else--even Sonlight didn't satisfy me as much. I hope you enjoy it, and get a lot out of it!

Edited by Chris in VA
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Chris,

 

Thanks so much for all of the input. I definately plan to read alot this summer. Good excuse to sit by the pool :-). I agree that it will help me add to the discussion rather than just read the questions from the book.

 

I'm really looking forward to it. I'm keeping your post bookmarked as I get ready.

 

Heather

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I honesty didn't care too much for Sonlight at the high school level so I can't say I would recommend it. We are currently using Notgrass World History over 2 years - supplementing with biographical material and the Great Books. It is more work than buying a completed package (like Omnibus or MFW), but I used to teach history so I'd rather put it together myself anyway.

 

I also would second the recommendation for the Teaching Company materials - if you can afford them. I am thankful we have many in our library system. They are awesome!

 

Denise in NE

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I'm all for literature-based history, but once in a while it's nice to have a standard text-book as a core. Here are my picks:

 

U.S. History- BJUP with the activity book, tests optional

American Government - A Beka

Economics - A Beka

 

Keep in mind that while these are great texts, A Beka is very conservative Christian.

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Our favorites were Spielvogel's World History: The Human Odyssey, The Teaching Company History of the United States, and a variety of other TTC DVDs. We supplemented TTC History of US with a traditional text book. World History and US history were my high school requirements for the dc.

 

But what was really fun was letting them choose their own TTC courses for the remaining years of history. I'd buy the program they chose and then build a program using the course guidebooks which are filled with suggested books that are matched with the corresponding lecture(s). I couldn't test them like with a traditional course (there's no way I could do all their reading and write tests). I just had them do a lot of writing (essays and answering questions in the guidebooks). They did a ton of reading! They really enjoyed studying what they choose.

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  • 1 month later...
We supplemented TTC History of US with a traditional text book. World History and US history were my high school requirements for the dc.

 

But what was really fun was letting them choose their own TTC courses for the remaining years of history. I'd buy the program they chose and then build a program using the course guidebooks which are filled with suggested books that are matched with the corresponding lecture(s). I couldn't test them like with a traditional course (there's no way I could do all their reading and write tests). I just had them do a lot of writing (essays and answering questions in the guidebooks). They did a ton of reading! They really enjoyed studying what they choose.

 

i like this idea.

i need to look into TTC dvds a bit more.

 

which traditional text did you use for US History?

 

we're going to do a one-year run thru US history next year for 10th, 7th, 3d, and K kiddos.

 

i was looking at Notgrass for highschool, but am not really convinced i NEED it. the price doesn't help. i also want to finish using WriteShop and not overload him w/ too many assignments. Scratch that - i don't want to overload ME as the one who'll need to EDIT all those papers!

 

is Notgrass really THAT great?

is it valuable even if i eliminate most of the writing assignments?

has anyone compiled some optional reading assignments? I'm saving Scarlet Letter for later and we've already done The Giver.

 

should i just stick w/ a basic US History text for him to self-study on his own as we go thru this as a family? i expect he'll be included in lots of mapwork and discussions and activities w/ the younger set, but wanted something 'on grade level' to make sure he's challenged at the high school level too.

 

he'll [probably] be doing BJU Biology, Videotext, Further Up, Further In [w/ his siblings], WriteShop, Dave Ramsey's pers. found. program [co-op], and a driver's ed course.

 

I'm fairly confident that i could take him thru a good US History course w/o a specific text if i needed to, but would like to have a resource on hand if things get bogged down w/ the younger dc. i expect to have plenty of primary source reading material included.

 

ok, so there's my not-really-worried-but-contemplating-anyway post, lol......

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You might want to look at Tindall's America: A Narrative History. It's a college-level text, but very readable. It is currently in its 7th edition. Because it's a college-level text the current edition can be pricey, but older editions can usually be found used for a lot less money. You can look at it here:

 

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/titles/history/usa7/

 

The brief edition is recommended at the high school level.

 

The printed study guides are well done. Sample outlines, timeline lists, people and events to cover, vocabulary words, multiple choices and true/false questions, and suggested essay topics.

 

Study Guide

Charles Eagles, University of Mississippi

Volume 1: ISBN-10: 0-393-92947-7 • ISBN-13 978-0-393-92947-7

Volume 2: ISBN-10: 0-393-92985-X • ISBN-13 978-0-393-92985-0

 

And the web site has a host of extra goodies too - map worksheets, vocab flashcards, tons of options for each chapter.

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/america7/

 

Pair this up with free Hippo Campus Lectures:

http://www.hippocampus.org/?select-textbook=54

 

AND/or link the topics to The Teaching Company's History of the United States

http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/CourseDescLong2.aspx?cid=8500

 

...and you have a ton of Read, Think, Write options. :001_smile:

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

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You might want to look at Tindall's America: A Narrative History. .....

The brief edition is recommended at the high school level.

 

The printed study guides are well done. Sample outlines, timeline lists, people and events to cover, vocabulary words, multiple choices and true/false questions, and suggested essay topics.

 

Study Guide

Charles Eagles, University of Mississippi

Volume 1: ISBN-10: 0-393-92947-7 • ISBN-13 978-0-393-92947-7

Volume 2: ISBN-10: 0-393-92985-X • ISBN-13 978-0-393-92985-0

 

And the web site has a host of extra goodies too - map worksheets, vocab flashcards, tons of options for each chapter.

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/america7/

 

Pair this up with free Hippo Campus Lectures:

http://www.hippocampus.org/?select-textbook=54

 

ooooh....this looks good too...... thanks!

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I like aspects of several curriculums:

 

1. TOG (Tapestry of Grace) - top pick for overall flexibility, selection of books, teacher notes, geography maps, and oddly enough, ease of use once you get through the initial learning curve. Oh, and ability to stick with the same program for 4 years of high school

 

2. NotGrass - wonderful Government curriculum and other years are pretty good, too. Easy to use and great for students that like textbook, reading material, and tests all in one place. Another curriclum that is easy to stick with for 4 years.

 

3. Sonlight - like selection of reading books. Not as crazy about their lesson plans (prefer TOG)

 

4. Veritas - nice selection of reading books. I have not used the omnibus level.

 

5. Beautiful Feet - again, nice book selections. US History is a very challenging year in terms of the quantity of books. Recommend not using all the books or taking more time.

 

6. Truthquest - I like how they incorporate detail to connect one "living" book to another. Nice program if you want reading books without needing tests or lots of detail/background other than what is in their guide.

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Tapestry of Grace is my favorite high school history curriculum. My guys are thriving and learning so much. At least one of my two sons is most likely going to be an engineer, and it comforts me to know that he will have a good knowledge of the flow of history even if he doesn't take much history in college. I also appreciate the way literature is integrated into the flow of history - we have been studying authors and their works in historical context.

Hope this helps!

Blessings,

April

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I was waiting for someone to say TOG . . . . . ;)

 

For me, TOG's biggest plus is that it forces me to sit down and have terrific, face-to-face, in-depth discussions with my high schooler. If I was using another curric., I'm afraid it would only get discussed in passing, just due to our family dynamics.

 

Truthfully, the discussions that I've had with my two oldest have been the highlight of my school year. . . . .

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I didn't see anyone mention the fact that My Father's World now has high school -- two years are out & two are in pilot stages.

 

I used almost everything out there with my dd & am looking forward to using MFW for my youngest. They include some Notgrass, some Smarr, and reading the entire Bible, to name a few. It seems like just what I was trying to do on my own, but it's already portioned out & ready to go.

 

Julie

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We'll be using Road Map to the Last Best Hope by William Bennett.

 

I had been really stuck wondering what to do after reading 48 Liberal Lies About American History and Lies My Teacher Told Me. Textbooks are apparently written with the political slant of the person writing it. The 48 Liberal Lies author, Larry Schweikart, points out several ways to determine the political slant of the author. I've been checking out textbooks throughout the year from our Interlibrary loan (including Tindall's), trying to find one acceptable for us, and I've been truly amazed. So far, American's Last Best Hope (Vols. I and II) seems to be the least politically slanted books IMO. All I want is a textbook that reports History as it happened, not interpreted through the eyes of the author.

 

As always, just my $.02.

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We'll be using Road Map to the Last Best Hope by William Bennett.

 

I had been really stuck wondering what to do after reading 48 Liberal Lies About American History and Lies My Teacher Told Me. Textbooks are apparently written with the political slant of the person writing it. The 48 Liberal Lies author' date=' Larry Schweikart, points out several ways to determine the political slant of the author. I've been checking out textbooks throughout the year from our Interlibrary loan (including Tindall's), trying to find one acceptable for us, and I've been truly amazed. So far, American's Last Best Hope (Vols. I and II) seems to be the least politically slanted books IMO. All I want is a textbook that reports History as it happened, not interpreted through the eyes of the author.

 

As always, just my $.02.[/quote']

 

I thought I had everything "lined up" and realized that I needed a different option for American History. I found these books as well, and they look very good. I'm thinking of using them for Am. Hist. and then perhaps Declaration Statesmanship for Am. Gvt.

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We used Spielvogel's Western Civilization and loved it. You can buy the Study Guides that can help you with test preparation. We also used The American Pageant for American History. My ds didn't want to put these down and was sad when we finished these. Both of these will take more than a year to complete.

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