History without Literature credit?

[Kathie in VA]

So what do you consider for history if you already have something for English? We will be doing CW Herodotus next year. This includes writing, literature, some grammar and logic application.

 

I'd like to do a year of either World History or just the last half of World History. This is mainly for my rising 10th and 9th graders but I will have a 5th grader and K in tow. (The younger ones will mainly be doing history from Classical Conversations-Foundations program, cycle 2 which basically lines up with this time period.)

 

I might just sign them up for an outside class, if we can find one. However I'd like find my alternative just in case we can't find a class we like or one that will fit into the schedules. Most of the ones I've looked at include a full credit for literature... once that is included in the program it is hard to ignore, kwim? It all looks so good, but I don't want to overcrowd the schedules again. Does it really make sense to get the whole hist/lit/bible program and not use 1/3 of it?

 

I've looked at:

-Notgrass World History. I feel like we'd miss so much by not doing the lit. It does look straight forward to use though (helpful, since we tend to drop the complicated curriculum fast). I also like that the primary sources are right there.

-Sonlight core 300. Like the idea of multiple books for history but I don't see how to separate the history from the literature here.

-Omni II. Would love this one but I know my kids won't keep up with that one.

-BJU World History. I'd rather not resort to a textbook but I do see that we might be leaning that way.

 

Thanks,

Kathie

 

PS: This year I tried the WTM way, each with their own spine, but it has flopped. They don't work too well on their own yet. Although they do get plenty of history from Dad and the TV choices. ;)

[Lori D.]

-Notgrass World History. I feel like we'd miss so much by not doing the lit...Does it really make sense to get the whole hist/lit/bible program and not use 1/3 of it?

 

 

We're using Notgrass American History this, and I'll assume it's similar to the World History. Notgrass history works great just as a history program and we love the book of source documents; the program is very easy to use; it does not feel or read like a textbook. We made our own American Lit. program as part of our separate English, so we are not using the Notgrass English or Bible portions, and don't feel we're missing much. There's not much to the English portion -- no vocabulary or grammar, no writing instruction, no literary analysis instruction. It is a reading list with a very general schedule, a few comprehension questions, and a few ideas for writing assignments. IMO, you really NEED to use something else for your English (literature, grammar, composition).

 

 

re: missing the literature in Notgrass -- I'd suggest either:

- Assign a few of the books as solo reads for your students.

- OR, pick 2-4 of the Notgrass lit. books, get a good lit. guide for each and include one per quarter or one per semester. That wouldn't be too much extra on top of your CW. I'd suggest going with the classic works -- Julius Caesar, Pilgrim's Progess, Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, Heart of Darkness, or Animal Farm, as the other works are either light historical fiction, or could be done separately as part of a family devotional/Bible study time for theology or inspirational reading.

 

Final assessment: Notgrass is simple to use (read a chapter a day) and engaging. BUT, if you only want to do the last half of World History (i.e. a one-semester course), then the cost of Notgrass would probably not be worth it to you.

 

 

 

Sonlight core 300. Like the idea of multiple books for history but I don't see how to separate the history from the literature here.

 

 

Last year we did 20th century world history, and used a number of the Sonlight 300 books along with a secular textbook (Spielvogel's World History: Human Odyssey). We did it as a one-year one-credit course, but you could adapt easily to make it a one-semester course by focusing just on the 20th century. It was easy -- just read the next pages in the textbook -- and adaptable -- add or subtract additional Sonlight books and others as they fit or didn't fit in our schedule.

 

We scheduled about 3 weeks per decade, and scheduled additional weeks to cover WWI and WWII. As far as which books to use out of SL300, here are the history-based books:

 

Nonfiction

- Visual History of the Modern World (20th century events)

- Our Century in Pictures for Young People (20th century events)

- China's Long March: 6,000 Miles of Danger (1930s, Mao and early communists)

- Labor's Untold Story (labor unions in U.S., 1850s-1950s)

 

Non-Fiction Biography

- Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity

- Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist

 

Fictionalized Biography based on real people's lives

- The Road from Home (Turkey/Armenia, before, during, after WW1)

- The Hiding Place (WWII)

- After the War (post WWII, founding of nation of Israel)

- Red Scarf Girl (Chinese communism in the 1960s)

 

Fiction (these two works are literature, but SO capture the time/place it's worth considering including them):

- All Quiet on the Western Front (WWI)

- Cry, The Beloved Country (1950s apartheid South Africa)

 

 

Final assessment: just using resources from SL and scheduling it yourself allows flexibility and easily do a half-credit/one-semester history -- but you have to come up with writing assignments, discussion questions, tests/quizzes or other administrative details yourself. You could purchase the TM for those details, and then just use the history-oriented books from SL. Somewhat expensive option.

 

 

 

Omni II. Would love this one but I know my kids won't keep up with that one.

 

Not used this one myself, but have looked it over closely. Another history/literature linked program. You could just do the history, but expensive for only using a portion of it.

 

 

 

BJU World History. I'd rather not resort to a textbook but I do see that we might be leaning that way.

 

Textbooks actually allow a lot of flexibility -- you can skip sections or whole chapters as you need; and they usually come with questions, quizzes and/or writing assignment ideas.

 

We've not been big fans of textbooks here, but we used the Spielvogel textbook without any grumbling. We added historical fiction, history documentaries, and feature movies set in specific time frames that matched where we were in the text, which livened up history. And those sorts of additions could also serve to keep the whole family on the same page history-wise.

 

 

 

Another option you didn't mention would be something like SOS (Switched ON Schoolhouse) grade 10 world history computer CD (http://www.aophomeschooling.com/switched-on-schoolhouse/grade-10/), or an Alpha-Omega life pack history worktext series (http://www.aophomeschooling.com/lifepac/grade-10/history-&-geography/).

 

Done solo by the student, esp. the workbook option you could do half of the workbooks (worktexts #4-9, Renaissance through present) for a one-semester option, and still allowing you the ability to add in additional history resources, biographies, literature, etc.

 

 

BEST of luck as you sort this through and find what works for your family! Warmly, Lori D.

[Kathie in VA]

Lori,

 

Wow what great ideas! Thank you for taking the time to write that all out. I really like your ideas on how I could make use of Notgrass World History most at this point. Of course my oldest dd (rising 10th grader) would prefer to take an outside class with a homeschool co-op or with the local Community College so I'll have to look into those options also. But I'm glad I have some ideas for doing this at home.... with my baseline/backup set I can look outward.

 

Is it strange to have part of me to really want to send her out to more outside classes because we both know she produces more with outside accountability and yet still have a part of me that wants to "try again" to keep these classes at home? ug. Guess I'll just prep for both options and see where God leads us.

 

Thanks again for your help. Your posts are always full of great ideas!

Blessings,

Kathie