Would this be too much history for middle school?

[sagira]

I like to see the big picture. I've been reading many books lately, and planning for the long-term. I also like to decide and plan my own things. These are some of the books I've been reading and re-reading:

 

The Well Trained Mind

The Educated Child

Teaching Children

When Children Love to Learn

Books Children Love

 

I read in TWTM that Guerber's Story of the Romans and Greeks is basically a collection of short segments on topics. Could I combine Ancient and Middle Ages in Seventh and Renaissance and Modern in Eighth?

 

This is the way we'd be doing History from 1-6:

 

1: SOTW 1 and Our Island Story (probably only first few chapters)

2: SOTW 2 and Our Island Story (lots of stories now)

3: The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong and The American History Stories by Mara Pratt, Volumes 1-4 (Our Island Story perspectives)

4: SOTW 3 and Our Island Story

5: SOTW 4 and Our Island Story until it ends

 

6: We may run into 6th while still working on the above. Our catch-up year.

 

Or:

 

1: SOTW 1

2: SOTW 2

3: Our Island Story

4: American History year

5; SOTW 3

6: SOTW 4

 

For both Seventh and Eighth: K12's History Odyssey, all volumes (I've never seen it/read it but it sounds exactly what I'm looking for at this stage)

 

In Seventh I would use: Story of Romans and Greeks by Guerber for Ancients and The Story of the Middle Ages for Medieval Times plus listening to The Story of the World: Ancient Times and Middle Ages on CD.

 

In Eighth I'm not sure yet but perhaps Christine Miller's The Story of the Renaissance and have student listen to or The Story of the World of these periods.

 

Is this too much? What do you think? Please be gentle :)

Edited May 13, 2009 by sagira

[sagira]

Bump :)

[dcjlkplus3]

I totally understand early planning.

You may want to wait and see the way that your kiddos learn best (they seem awfully young for you to be planning 7th and 8th so specifically) and what they like the most.

I try to plan things out one "stage" at a time (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and re-evaluate that plan each year and note any changes for the next child.

[Lovedtodeath]

You also might see a lot of new curriculum and books pop up by then, so I think the basic plan that you have is good enough for now.

[JennW in SoCal]

I'm also a big picture person and a planner. But I'm at the other end of this journey so here's what I have learned along the way about planning and adapting.

 

It is terrific that you have a master plan. I made and remade a master plan over the years and kept a notebook by my computer so I could jot down titles that people recommended. I honestly never followed any of those master plans because my kids as teenagers are their own unique individuals with their unique needs and interests that I never could have anticipated.

 

But those lists of plans and resources aided me in making specific plans each year. From making those master plans I was able to understand my vision of what I wanted to achieve in home educating, and because of that each year was easier to plan. I could see which titles I'd jotted down in my notebook fit my vision and each child.

 

Your plan does not look unrealistic at all for middle school, which is really what you were asking. There will likely be some wonderful new titles published in the next 7 years that you'll want to use instead, so keep that planning notebook handy! Also, there is nothing wrong with adapting the 4 year cycle to meet your needs, or abandoning it for a spell to focus on Asia or world geography or whatever captures your fancy.

 

Enjoy the journey, and rest assured that many of us are chronic planners. I'm not sure what I'll do with that particular itch once by youngest heads to college!