last History cycle length -- 4yr, 3yr, or 2 yr??

[Kathie in VA]

I know a 4yr cycle is recommended in WTM, but as I think of high school and the last pass thru history I'm wondering about other subjects that I might want to do. I'm thinking that if we do high school history in 3 years then we'd have 1 year for Economics/Finance or Politics/Government or something. If we took a one year world history course and added to it so it takes us 2 years then we'd have 2 years to do these extra courses and maybe even get some 'social studies' type credit for volunteer work or something. Oh, another possible 'extra' course might be a full study of the debates on the Evolution/Creation and Intelligent Design theories, history and politics.

 

Is this crazy? Or is there another way to fit some of these in? I know they can fit in as electives but I'm guessing my kids will also have music & art. The schedule gets pretty full with: math, science, Composition/grammar, literature, vocabulary, history, Foreign Language, not to mention some time to study for SAT, SAT-IIs, ACTs, etc. I'd like to limit their work time to about 8 hrs a day or so.... I think that is reasonable.

 

My oldest is thinking of becoming a doctor, if that makes any difference at this point (she's only in 8th). I know she wants to have time for volunteer work at the hospital and maybe a paying job.

 

:001_huh:

[Carmen_and_Company]

We stayed with the 4-year cycle, but worked through an American Government text over all four years of high school although TWTM years III & IV cover a large portion of American History & government. TTC DVDs came in handy along with The Discovery & History channels. With my next dc, I don't plan to do the separate text, as it was overkill for Taz due to me worrying Taz needed to complete a traditional course in American Government.

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

I think that after you've cycled through history a few times that it is OK to not do a "final cycle" and pick up some other subjects that you , the teacher, feel important. Amercian Gov't, Economics, American History, Geography, etc. If you want to do a "final cycle"... I think a 1 year overview of world history is sufficient.

 

Just my opinion,

Pam

[Kathie in VA]

I think that after you've cycled through history a few times that it is OK to not do a "final cycle" and pick up some other subjects that you , the teacher, feel important. Amercian Gov't, Economics, American History, Geography, etc. If you want to do a "final cycle"... I think a 1 year overview of world history is sufficient.

 

Just my opinion,

Pam

 

Well that's the thing. This will be our second pass thru. :glare: Don't even get me started on that one.

 

I also noticed that WTM history in high school is different in that you don't start with a spine and expand out with lit. Here you start with the literature and then read up on related history. So the lit sequence becomes your spine. Since this is only our second pass, I'm not sure this is wise. I know we already have some gaps ... I'd like to use the history as a spine to ensure we cover them. hmmmm.

[Jean in Wisc]

We did a 6 year cycle (before TWTM days) when my children younger. My children liked the textbook approach in high school, so we dumped the cycle teaching and did:

 

1 year World History

1 year American History

Either 1 or .5 Government

.5 Geography

.5 Economics

.5 Philosophy, World Views, and Ethics

 

We read a lot of biographies and dug in deep those early years of elementary/jr. high. They were relieved to just read something that covered it from a bit of a different perspective and write their essays without doing the whole in-depth coverage AGAIN.

 

It worked for us.

 

Jean

[Kareni]

My now senior began homeschooling as a 7th grader. Since I was uncertain how long we would homeschool, I decided on a three year sweep through history. I'm glad we did. It gave her a good foundation for courses that followed in grades 10 (AP US History) and 11 (AP Comparative Government and Politics).

 

Regards,

Kareni

[MamaT]

We stayed with the 4 year history cycle for high school. My 9th grader is doing Moderns this year. We will go into Ancients next year. I was glad our cycle ending up falling this way, because I feel he will be better able to handle Ancients in the 10th. He had modern works to get used to the more difficult work of high school before he begins tackling Ancients.