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Help me fill in gaps for world history?


Kfamily
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Hi! This an outline for world history for dd (7th grade). Would you please help me fill in any gaps?

Medieval time period

Main books: The Story of Europe

The Story of France

The Story of England

 

We will be using Bulfinch's Mythology and English Lit. for Boys and Girls too. We are only reading half of the main books and English Lit. for Boys and Girls and the rest is for 8th grade. We will read all of Bulfinch's Myth. this year.

 

Term 1

Poetry-Discoverer of North Cape (Longfellow) relates to King Alfred

Literature- Beowulf

King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table

Biography/HF-?

Essays/Short Stories-? maybe not a needed category

Documents-William of Malmesbury's Account of the Battle of Hastings

Additional Myths/Tales-The Story of Cid

 

Term 2

Poetry-Robin Hood ballads

Pied Piper of Hamelin

Literature-Canterbury Tales (prose retellings)

Biography/HF-The Crusades (West)

In Freedom's Cause (Henty)

Essays/Short Stories-?

Documents-Magna Carta

Additional myths/tales-As You Like It (prose retelling-refers to Robin Hood)

 

Term 3

Poetry-? This time period roughly covers Joan of Arc, 100 Years War, Richard 3rd, etc. give and take some on both sides)

Literature-?

Biography/HF-Joan of Arc (Twain)

Daughter of Time (mystery-Richard 3rd)

Essays/Short Stories-?

Documents-?

Additional myths/tales-?

 

I probably don't need to fill in all these categories but if you see something I've forgotten please share with me. I may add Wagner's operas on Parsifal and Lohengrin (I even have a prose retelling of Lohengrin) since these revolve around King Arthur. We are new to operas so we'll see. Any advice is sooo welcome!

 

Thanks!!

Edited by Kfamily
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We're doing the Middle Ages in the Fall & I've looked at your list a couple of times, but don't think you have any gaps necessarily. That said, I'm not familiar with the main books that you're using, but it looks okay to me. I've been using the Truthquest History guide to plan for next year & it's been immensely helpful - it gives a very solid outline of topics to cover.

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Not having read the main books, it is hard to say. You could use Dante for your third term literature. I haven't planned out the middle ages much but I do plan to have a book on Marco Polo, maybe his book or maybe a biography.

There is Tennyson's Idylls of the King and the Song of Roland. But it is impossible to do everything. You have a great layout already.

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Are you covering the rise of Islam? To me, this seems crucial for this time period since it sets up the reasons for the Crusades.

 

If you're covering knights, do you want to also touch on Samurai (knights) in Japan and events in China (maybe through Marco Polo as mentioned previously)?

 

Here is the summary of what's covered in SOTW 2, though I believe this is a broader time period than you're trying to cover:

Fall of Rome

Christianity Comes to Britain

The Byzantine Empire

The Rise of Islam

The Great Kings of France

The Viking Invasion

The Age of Crusades

The Diaspora

The Ottoman Empire

Exploring New Worlds

Martin Luther

The Renaissance

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I'm having some problems with gaps in World History too. I've resorted to purchasing "Story of the World - Volume 4" book, Workbook, Tests and Audio CD to use near the end of next year.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Story-World-History-Classical-Victorias/dp/0972860339/ref=pd_sim_b_2

 

My worst gaps appear in modern History, where the available material seems to thin drastically. I've had some luck with a Literature approach, but I can't say I'm entirely satisfied.

 

Has anyone else here used the "Story of the World" materials?

Edited by Elizabeth Conley
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Thanks everyone! It is so nice to get feedback! :001_smile:

 

Melissa, I'm still considering Idylls of the King...

We read a good historical fiction two years ago on Marco Polo so I may wait until 10th for that when we will get here again.

 

Ann, you're right about the rise of Islam and the East getting neglected in my outline and while I can use The Story of Mankind to fill in here it might be a good idea to pick a book to add as well. Do you have any recommendations for a good book or two to fill in here?

 

Here is what I came up with last night:

Term 1 Poetry-add Keat's La Bell Dame Sans Merci

Term 3-Poetry-add Kings of France (dd memorized England's Sovereigns last year so I will have her review it)

Term 3-Literature-The Little Duke (a read aloud for her and younger dd (6) to enjoy) and Ivanhoe for older dd

 

So that leaves Idylls of the King maybe... and something to cover the East or the rise of Islam.

 

Thank you so much! This really helps a lot!

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We've read the first two of these and I can recommend them. I had my DD read The Dragon Keeper which is a girl interest story about middle ages China with Shogun's and dragons. She liked it enough to buy the sequel with her own money.

 

The Arabs in the Golden Age - 64 pages, "Describes that period when the Arabs spread their religion, art, architecture, and great knowledge of the ancient world throughout the Middle East and North Africa."

 

700-1500 AD Glorious Age in Africa: "The Story of 3 Great African Empires - 118 pages, This book reveals the magnificent history and heritage of Africa, destroying, once and for all, the centuries-old, still lingering myth that Africa "was a continent without history."

 

1500’s The Samurai's Tale - 234 pages, "In turbulent sixteenth-century Japan, orphaned Taro is taken in by a general serving the great warlord Takeda Shingen and grows up to become a samurai fighting for the enemies of his dead family."

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Hi Elizabeth!

 

I agree, the modern time period is one that can be difficult to fill in the gaps. I will be using a lot more biography and historical fiction here. I really like the Landmark books too. I still have not found a spine that I like for this time period. My dd does not care for SOTW and without it there isn't much left. Memoria Press mentioned at one point that they would be coming out with a Famous Men of the 20th Century. This may be years to come though-I don't know when/if it will be available. We will be using the updated Story of Mankind and adding a lot of historical fiction and biographies. I also find some of the older readers from Google books have selections that have been very helpful to me. I created a notebook filled with essays, poetry and documents to round things out from them.

Are there any curricula that makes good use of the Landmark books?

 

:001_smile:

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I still have not found a spine that I like for this time period. My dd does not care for SOTW and without it there isn't much left.

 

Will you please tell me about your daughter's objections to SOTW? I haven't bought it yet, and it's expensive. I'd love to get her point o view.

 

Like you, I'm not finding a satisfactory spine. I looked at Don't Know Much About History and "Don't Know Much About American History. My friend the Historian warned me that the Author's liberal slant came through to excess near the end. I read both, and I have to agree.

 

Our 7th grade daughter has been doing a lot of biographies and Historical fiction to address the latter 19th and 20th century. It's an imperfect system, but we muddle through. I will say this: she's happy.

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She really just prefers her history to be written in more of a narrative style. She's really excited about the books we're using this year. She actually likes older books.:001_smile: She also loves the Middle Ages. She really likes to read about Queen Elizabeth, Henry the 8th and Mary,Queen of Scots. She's writing a play about this time period for her sister, her best friend and her best friend's sisters. If you haven't read any of the books from Yesterday's Classics, I highly recommend them. My dd loved Children of the New Forest and In the Days of Queen Elizabeth.

 

If I ever find anything for the modern/American time period that I like, I promise I'll share.

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For modern/American, take a look at what My Father's World schedules in years 4 and 5 for some ideas.

 

(See sidebar for link to year 5):

 

http://www.mfwbooks.com/exploration.htm

 

You could also take a look at the numerous TruthQuest guides for American history. I think you really have to have a lot of read-alouds to fill in this time period, because yes, there's sooooo much to cover, and it certainly can't be done in one year!

 

And don't forget that because it's *modern* history, we have many *modern* resources available to us: library microfiche records, newspapers, television and radio recordings, state history centers/museums, TIME, Newsweek, and WORLD magazines, people who are still living.... I also think that studying the country state-by-state is a good way to get modern American history, as well as studying the presidents and what their policies were, the outcomes of those policies (i.e., FDR and the New Deal, Lincoln and the Civil War), and so on. Every president has/had one, and his decisions led to decisions that the following president had to make based upon decisions made in previous administrations. This is a GREAT way to study modern/American history! :D

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