Caesar's Gallic War

[Jen+4dc]

That's it! I just.can.not.read.another.word. of this book! My kids are I are bored to tears and not understanding enough to warrant the boredom.:tongue_smilie:

 

So, any suggestions out there to replace this with? Do I need to replace it? Any good resources to help understand this time period or should I just move on to Augustus' Caesar's World (our next book)?

 

Dd13 and ds11 are using History Odyssey Level 2 Ancients and Caesar's Gallic War is part of it. So, they've read all the KFH readings on Rome up to (and including) Julius Caesar's death. Theoretically we would move on with the rest when we finish Caesar's Gallic War.

 

Basically, I guess I'm wondering if a need to replace this resource or permission to just move on.:glare:

[Ester Maria]

Nearly everyone is bored to death when reading Caesar for a prolonged period of time, especially in an attempt to thoroughly go through the entire work - relax.

And continue reading. :D It's some 650 pages in bilingual edition, which means that it should be around 250-300 for a normal-sized monolingual translation. Speed it up a little, disregard the details, skip a passage or two if you must, basically get it done with and check off the list.

[ScoutTN]

It was boring (though not difficult) when I translated large portions of it as a 9th grader. UGH!

Skim, get the general idea and plot and move on quickly. There are so many interesting history books, don't get stuck on one that doesn't work for you!

[swimmermom3]

I don't see why you couldn't move on to Augustus Caesar's World. We'll probably follow you shortly as we are scheduled to start Caesar's Gallic War on Monday. We are big fans of Olivia Coolidge and are currently reading both her Lives of Famous Romans and her Roman People. However, since my son is in 6th grade, I don't think that CGW is going to hold his interest.

 

Remember, no one is keeping tabs. You can move on if it's not working for you. I hope you are enjoying your time in Rome, not withstanding Gaul. We are. :D

 

ETA: I assumed you meant Coolidge's book and not the "real" book written by Caesar.

Edited May 7, 2010 by swimmermom3

[Ester Maria]

It was boring (though not difficult) when I translated large portions of it as a 9th grader. UGH!

I can relate, I barely forced myself to assign it to my daughters for Latin because I remember incredible boredom from doing it at school. But it is a part of the repertory... and thus it should at least be skimmed / superficially got through, if not "studied".

[Jen+4dc]

Yes, I meant Coolidge!

 

We've finished the entire first section and it's just not worth the pain...I think we'll just read the chapter summaries in the back of the History Odyssey Appendix and move on!

 

I just needed a little reminder that I own the curriculum, not the other way around! :001_smile:

 

Thanks!

[Sunshine State Sue]

We did HO Ancients 2 in 6th grade. I pre-read the books during the summer. I could not make it through CGW. Surprisingly, ds didn't complain.

 

I give you permission to move on.

[Robyn]

We are in the exact same place in HO 2 and I officially gave up and moved onto Augustus' Caesar's World this past week. DS11, who will happily read most anything, was absolutely miserable. Glad to see we aren't alone.

[melmichigan]

I say move on, and don't feel guilty. :)

[Shawna in Texas]

We're supposed to start Coolidge's CGW in a few weeks. So far, we're really enjoying her work. I don't know if I should order a copy or not.

[Jen+4dc]

We are in the exact same place in HO 2 and I officially gave up and moved onto Augustus' Caesar's World this past week. DS11, who will happily read most anything, was absolutely miserable. Glad to see we aren't alone.

 

Me too!!:)

 

We did HO Ancients 2 in 6th grade. I pre-read the books during the summer. I could not make it through CGW. Surprisingly, ds didn't complain.

 

I give you permission to move on.

 

Thanks! I was telling my ds today, this is the beauty of hsing, we can "hit the highlights" and move on! Somehow, I can't take my own advice until I hear it from someone else. Gee, I always wondered where he got his "But we have to do what "they" said because "they" are in charge, Mom.":D

 

We're supposed to start Coolidge's CGW in a few weeks. So far, we're really enjoying her work. I don't know if I should order a copy or not.

 

I don't think it's Coolidge, I think it's Caesar. If you like Coolidge, give it a try. You might try the library first for a copy.

[swimmermom3]

We're supposed to start Coolidge's CGW in a few weeks. So far, we're really enjoying her work. I don't know if I should order a copy or not.

 

Shawna, we are going to start it and see how far we get. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that reading all those passages of the real thing in Caesar's English II helps. Or maybe at the very least it will give us some conversation points. We'll see. My patience level won't be high because we are reading The Eagle of the Ninth after that. Hurray!

[swimmermom3]

Jen, Caesar's book is Commentaries on the Gallic War and Coolidge's book is Caesar's Gallic War. HO Ancients 2 uses the Coolidge book.

 

Since you all are on this thread, I have to ask if you student/students identified more with the Greeks or the Romans? My older son loved the Romans and was interested in the Greeks only for the myths. On the other hand, when Swimmer Dude heard that the Greeks walked around debating where ever they went, he decided that was the place for him. He is far more interested in figuring out how the Athenians appropriated the funds to rebuild Athens then he is in learning about Roman military maneuvers.

Edited May 8, 2010 by swimmermom3

[Rhondabee]

Basically, I guess I'm wondering if a need to replace this resource or permission to just move on.:glare:

 

My 15yo DS (who finished reading it this year) and I give you our blessing to drop it and move on!

 

He even had trouble a little further in the the book, and I had to create a "character list" for him. (Yes, technically, he should have been doing that himself, but...well, you did notice the pronoun "he", didn't you?) He had tried to read it the first time in middle school, but we dropped it then, and he told me he actually found it enjoyable this time around once he got through the character confusion and not to torture his brother with it yet.

 

It also helped that he's in his second year of Latin, and so now he really appreciates all the references to making attacks against the Gauls in Henle - LOL.

[Shawna in Texas]

Shawna, we are going to start it and see how far we get. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that reading all those passages of the real thing in Caesar's English II helps. Or maybe at the very least it will give us some conversation points. We'll see. My patience level won't be high because we are reading The Eagle of the Ninth after that. Hurray!

 

I love it that you're a little ahead of me with history, so I think I'll just follow you around. :D Really though, bump this back up or PM me.

 

I did not know that about CEII. We're actually going to be starting Grammar Voyage in June, so I may start the vocab a little earlier.

 

We really are enjoying Greece now. We're doing it until the end of the month.

[Jen+4dc]

Jen, Caesar's book is Commentaries on the Gallic War and Coolidge's book is Caesar's Gallic War. HO Ancients 2 uses the Coolidge book.

 

Since you all are on this thread, I have to ask if you student/students identified more with the Greeks or the Romans? My older son loved the Romans and was interested in the Greeks only for the myths. On the other hand, when Swimmer Dude heard that the Greeks walked around debating where ever they went, he decided that was the place for him. He is far more interested in figuring out how the Athenians appropriated the funds to rebuild Athens then he is in learning about Roman military maneuvers.

 

Yup, we've been reading Coolidge.

 

As far as which they liked better, um, I'd probably have to say dd13 liked the Greeks better. She loves myths and stories. Ds11 likes the order and structure of Roman life and ds7 prefers Greece because he wants to be a Spartan and go to military school :tongue_smilie:.

 

But, because of Percy Jackson I think they'd all tell you they like Greece better. If I could find such a good series for Rome they might change their minds. Right now they are enjoying "Detectives in Togas" but it just doesn't have the same comedic appeal that Percy does.

 

Totally an aside: Percy Jackson is by no means great literature, but the man can sure title a chapter! My ds7 and I have had so much fun trying to come up with chapter titles for other books whose titles are not as engaging or funny. It's a blast!

[swimmermom3]

Have your younger ones checked out Caroline Lawrence's Roman Mysteries? They're a quick, fun read that details life in Rome fairly well. No quite Piercy Jackson, though.

[Lynn in WI]

We were bored to death as well and skipped it entirely--I think the chapter summaries are there for a reason!

 

I think my boys learned more about the Romans and the Gauls from reading Asterix and Obelix than they ever would have gotten from the Coolidge book. I'm mostly serious when I say that. :tongue_smilie:

[Maisy]

DD (11) and I beat ourselves over the heads with CGW for about 10 days, but then I asked myself, "Why?" We can come back and do this next go around (perhaps even attack it in Latin then). Or maybe we'll just skip it entirely and never tell anyone.

 

I did make her read Eagle of the Ninth, though. That said, we girls over here are tired of reading about men and boys and wars. :tongue_smilie:

 

We're ready to move on to some Medieval princesses! :lol: