History Odyssey: Pros/Cons? Advice?

[Jackie in NE]

I am a "history lover". I think I would do history all day long, if I didn't also think that is was kind of important for my dc to be able to add. So, yeah we have to do that other stuff too, like math, latin, writing, and grammar. But I really love history. Consequently, my kids love it also.

 

But I don't have time to do all those nifty activities that are out there. With 4 very active kids, an absentee husband, and returning to school part-time myself...... I just don't have the time I used to have. So I'm looking for a history program that is already put together for me. I don't want to have to do any planning.

 

I like a course that's like a big story. We used SOTW last year, which I love, but I didn't even have time to sort through the activities and put them together. There was too much to sort through. I used Veritas Press before that (excellent program), but it stressed out my 9 yr. old because of all the writing. Now, if she sees VP history, she groans. Totally my fault.

 

History odyssey looks like a good mix of nice spines, age appropriate reading selections, and activities. It looks like it's all laid out and I won't have to do any planning.

 

I like the fact that there are timelines that go along with it. We learn really well with timelines.

 

So, am I right? Is this a good fit?

 

What has your experience been?

 

:bigear:

 

TIA for your input, Jackie

[Sunshine State Sue]

I see you have 4 children. Which one(s) were you thinking of HO for? Are you looking at level 1, 2, or 3?

 

My experience with HO 2 was mixed. You may read my review in this thread.

 

YMMV. History is not our best subject here, though I loved it with SOTW.

[nukeswife]

We've really enjoyed HO. I've used Ancients, Middle Ages, and half of Early Modern. I think the amount of activities they add is just right, not too much, but not lacking either. We haven't done a timeline yet but my kids were pretty young. This year instead of a timeline I've set up their history binders like the Level 2 HO suggests with a place for important men and women, art inventions and architecture, maps and then I replaced summaries (which we do orally) with definitions. The HO level 1 guides have a definition for each week so we put those in our binder and then I use the Homeschool in the woods timeline figures which I scale to what they call "wall size" and print out the ones that fit with the other areas of our binder. Then the kids color them and we place them in our binder after the reading is done.

 

So far the kids have had a lot of fun with the history pockets that are added in and remember quite a bit of what we have covered.

[Jackie in NE]

I see you have 4 children. Which one(s) were you thinking of HO for? Are you looking at level 1, 2, or 3?

 

My experience with HO 2 was mixed. You may read my review in this thread.

 

YMMV. History is not our best subject here, though I loved it with SOTW.

 

So I was thinking level 1 "Ancients" with my 2 little boys, and level 2 "Early Modern" for my 5th grader. Last year I tried doing SOTW Middle Ages with all 3. My plan had been to add "extra" stuff in for my 4th grader, but it really fell by the wayside. She balked at having to do extra stuff, and I let her get away with it. (I get a demerit for that one). So I think that she will do a better job if she's doing something completely different.

 

Do you think that would work? Or am I adding a whole other layer with 2 different cycles. (My oldest does Omnibus online, otherwise, I would have 3 different cycles going!) Is it true that History Odyssey is somewhat independent in level 2? I'm kind of counting on that.

 

Now I'm off to read your review.

 

Thanks! Jackie

[coffeegal]

So I was thinking level 1 "Ancients" with my 2 little boys, and level 2 "Early Modern" for my 5th grader.

 

Now I'm off to read your review.

 

Thanks! Jackie

 

Have you looked at the samples for HO level 2? There is a huge difference between level 2 Ancients and level 2 Early Modern. HO builds in difficulty throughout level 2. Ancients introduces the children to outlining, summaries, bibliographies, etc. Early Modern expects the children to be competent with the above and able to write formal essays. My 7th grader is thriving with level 2 Early Modern, but my 5th grader would be overwhelmed. She's thriving with level 2 Ancients.

 

I think running different cycles is fine. My children are spread amoung 3 different cycles.

[fshinkevich]

I love HO - it requires very little planning. There is a checklist page with each lesson that tells you exactly which pages to read, which maps to use (and what page to find it on) and which supplies to gather.

 

They have a "try before you buy" option now. The first several lessons are available as an ebook for free so you can try it out risk free.

[Lovedtodeath]

History odyssey looks like a good mix of nice spines, age appropriate reading selections, and activities. It looks like it's all laid out and I won't have to do any planning.

 

Really? You looked at all of it? From what I have seen they tell you to choose from 3-4 activities, and have a list of supplemental reading just like SOTW AG. I don't see any difference.

[Avila]

Have you looked at the samples for HO level 2? There is a huge difference between level 2 Ancients and level 2 Early Modern. HO builds in difficulty throughout level 2. Ancients introduces the children to outlining, summaries, bibliographies, etc. Early Modern expects the children to be competent with the above and able to write formal essays. My 7th grader is thriving with level 2 Early Modern, but my 5th grader would be overwhelmed. She's thriving with level 2 Ancients.

 

:iagree:

 

Unless you have been doing WTM logic stage history recommendations, including the outlining and summaries, HO EM 2 will be tough to start into. HO builds from Ancients up with those skills, and HO EM expects your child to know them and will not be teaching any of them.

 

Other than that, we love HO. We have only used the Level 2. My 10 yo DD is doing this independently, other than discussing things with me. I only add in what I choose to, and it would still be a full and complete program if I didn't add in anything.

[Brenda in FL]

Really? You looked at all of it? From what I have seen they tell you to choose from 3-4 activities, and have a list of supplemental reading just like SOTW AG. I don't see any difference.

 

Maybe that varies by level and time period? I'm using Middle Ages Level 2 and all the reading and all the activities are planned. There are no pick and choose options in this book.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

Maybe that varies by level and time period? I'm using Middle Ages Level 2 and all the reading and all the activities are planned. There are no pick and choose options in this book.

That's good to know. I looked at the try before you buy for Ancients level one.

[funschooler5]

DD hated History Odyssey (we did Ancients Level 2). The amount of writing assigned was over the top IMO. This year, DD is just doing outlining from Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, plus listening to me read SOTW 2 aloud to DS, and reading extra books on her own. She likes this much better. I do too, because the planning isn't as complicated.

[prairie rose]

We are doing History Odyssey Level 1 Ancients with my 3rd and 4th graders and Level 2 Ancients with my 5th grader. It is pretty much all laid out for me. You do have some supplemental reading and activities to choose from in Level 1 but it's not as overwhelming to me as the SOTW activity guides were. It's usually a choice between 3 - 4 activities and it's not even every week. So far the supplemental reading has been limited by what I can find at the library. I've only been able to find 1 - 2 of the 6 - 10 titles mentioned at the libraries in the two counties closest to me.

 

The level 2 is completely laid out, no optional activities. My oldest son is behind in his writing skills but I still find the amount of writing required doable. He does complain a little about the writing but overall he enjoys it. I like how it starts with "Write a sentence about ....." and gradually increases the difficulty of the writing required. That's just the kind of hand holding I needed and the kind of slowly rising expectations ds needed. The Kingfisher History is a bit dry but so far the most he has been asked to read is a 2 page spread, most of which was pictures.

 

You can try 12 weeks of any of the HO titles before you buy. That was excellent for me so I could spread my curriculum purchases out a little bit. Plus, since we are already using it and like it, I know it won't be a wasted purchase. ;)

[willowcreek]

I just got started using HO Ancients with my sons (which means three levels) Ages separate my kids, and my oldest is an absolute history nut so I decided to let him go ahead with HO 3 just because he needs the challenge. At that level, it tackles his writing and literature very aggressively, but I think it is doable.

 

I may fold my younger two into some activities together. But so far it seems doable, since it is laid out, and my middler can follow directions.

 

I did get a good hint from someone on the boards to use a workbook called "Outlining" available from Rainbow Resource (about $7) as a quick practice to get my middle guy comfortable with outlining before we began. It is quick and clear--that will make him more independent.

 

I like it--we're working along, so far so good.

[Jen+4dc]

So I was thinking level 1 "Ancients" with my 2 little boys, and level 2 "Early Modern" for my 5th grader. Last year I tried doing SOTW Middle Ages with all 3.

Thanks! Jackie

 

We are currently using HO Level 2 Ancients for my olders and level 1 for my youngers. It's working, but I already owned SOTW 1 with the AG. If I were to redo it, I wouldn't buy the level 1 Ancients, I would just take a couple days before we started and match up the SOTW chapters to what the olders were doing. SOTW is one of the recommended spines for level 1 Ancients. If you get the AG you don't need the HO schedule, especially if you love history!

 

But, if you are going to do seperate history cycles and are only doing Ancients with the youngers, HO level 1 would work. Be warned, though, the only activities that you won't have to gather supplies for are the History pockets (but you'll need copies). They list a TON of other activities from "Ancient Egytians and Their Neighbors" and "Ancient Israelites and Their Neighbors" (actually, I think level 1 only uses one of those, level 2 uses the other one). So, you know which activity to do when, but you still have to gather all supplies and get it organized. If you already own SOTW 1, I wouldn't buy HO level 1, I'd just get some fun supplemental books for it.

 

HO Level 2 Ancients could easily be done independently by my 5th grader. I haven't used any other history cycles from HO.

 

HTH!

[Lovedtodeath]

Instead of HO level one you might look at the free curriculum, Bringing up Learners Mosaic. I am not sure if they have Middle Ages out yet though.:001_unsure:

[arcara]

Long story, short...I contacted the author of HO to see if my 5th grader could do HO Level 2, year 3 in 5th grade so that she could continue the history cycle she started in 3rd grade. She said the writing would be too difficult because it's actually written for 7th graders. So, I decided to have my dd do a year of US history in 4th grade and then start over the history cycle in 5th grade with HO Level 2 Ancients.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Long story, short...I contacted the author of HO to see if my 5th grader could do HO Level 2, year 3 in 5th grade so that she could continue the history cycle she started in 3rd grade. She said the writing would be too difficult because it's actually written for 7th graders. So, I decided to have my dd do a year of US history in 4th grade and then start over the history cycle in 5th grade with HO Level 2 Ancients.

I think that's a good idea. I'm glad you contacted the author.

[s.z.ichigo]

I'm gonna go against popular opinion and state that I can't stand History Odyssey. In 1st and 2nd we did SOTW + AG and I thought it would be a little easier to have something already consolidated into a 36 week year. I also liked that it seemed to stick with one geographical area longer, rather than jumping around like SOTW does. I was wrong.

 

It DOES stick to one geographical area for maybe a few weeks in a row, but the flip side it that it jumps around ALL OVER THE PLACE in time. You could cover 300 years in a week and then go right back to the beginning someplace else.

It has you read SOTW completely out of order. For instance, we're in week 17 of school and reading chapter 4 of SOTW. This is hard because SOTW refferenced previous chapters a lot. Comparing the French Revolution to the American Revolution makes no sense if the American Revolution won't happen yet for 2 months. This is also a big problem when talking about one country's dealings with another. Sometimes one person is king of England, then later somebody else is, then the next week it's back to the first guy, or his great-grandfather.

 

The only good thing, and the only reason I'm sticking with HO for the rest of this year, is that the American Revolution gets several uninterrupted weeks.

 

I will also mention that HO is way too expensive for what you get. There is very little map work compared to SOTW/AG and very few coloring pages (my daughter loves those). Very few non-reading activities period. I've noticed my daughter's retention take a nosedive this year. It's a lot of money to pay for what amounts to a reading list (which you get with the AG anyway)

 

They consolidated it into 36 weeks, but I did that on my own with SOTW last year, AND stayed chronological. TWTM recommends chronological history and that's what worked best, and made the most sense, for us. Definitely not using HO next year.