We're off schedule. What would you do? History cycle

[battlemaiden]

My son 8th grade is finishing up early modern (TOG) this summer. That means we will start Modern History cycle in 9th, which has us taking early modern his Senior year. Is this weird? Or do you think it will be okay?

 

I have thought about going year round and cramming to get modern done so he will at least start part of ancients in 9th, but after twisting myself in knots to make this work, I've come here.........

 

I am concerned about the literature aspect. I'm afraid the Rhetoric offerings for Modern might be essential. What do you think?

 

Thanks.

 

Jo

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[rwjx2khsmj]

We just started homeschooling when my oldest was in 8th grade. That puts us in 9th for beginning the rhetoric stage and studying and medieval and early Renaissance. By her senior year we'll be back to ancients. It seems weird but I figure it will all work out. I'm thinking that I've got four years to monitor and fit in things that I feel are missing yet essential.

[Jen+4dc]

Are you going to do a great books study or just the history portion? Which do you feel is most important? If you really want to get to moderns, do you think it would be better now or his senior year?

 

I don't think skipping moderns and going back to Ancients would be that big a deal, nor would plowing forward from where you are and just not getting to moderns again in high school. Both are good choices, but I haven't btdt yet!

 

At your son's age I would ask him what he would like to do. Also, you might ask on the high school board and see what the btdt responses are.;)

 

Good Luck!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

If you "fix" it for him, won't you end up off again for the next kid? As ideal as it might be to have each kid begin with ancients as they hit high school and end with modern (ideally covering everything up to a year or two of the year in which they graduate, of course), I think that you have to expect a bit of slop. If you are running multiple kids through or your kid is 9th grade but still just peaking through into rhetoric maturity or if you are going to take advantage of your location to specialize in something a little.

 

I would watch for a couple things. Don't get so weird that the high school transcript doesn't meet expectations in some way. So starting with modern is probably fine. But if you get off on a tangent and forget to cover US history, you might have an issue.

 

And watch out for any expectation in the syllabus that a student doing rhetoric for modern must have already done three other years at rhetoric level. I don't know if this will be the case, but it would be something to watch for.

 

You might also want to ask this over on the high school board, where you'll have lots of folks who have dealt with the whole gamut of high school, including the transcripts and college aps.

 

Oh, and when you figure it all out, let me know. I'm only a year or two behind you.