elfinbaby Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I'm just going to face facts. My history planning is not working out. It totally fell through the cracks last year. I'm not going to repeat it. I'm looking for something for 6th grade - able to retain and understand above grade level, though. I love using MOH, SOTW, Famous Men, and G. Foster's books as spines - I'm open to others, of course. That's just my personal preference. I want a curriculum w/spine(s) and living books. I'd like it to have reading assignments from historical fiction. In my dreams, I'd cover after the fall of Rome to the Reformation (or thereabouts:)). I've looked at: Simply Charlotte Mason TOG (but for the life of me I can't figure out which books go with it) Beautiful Feet I don't need vocab, geography, etc. I'm just looking for history. I need all the history planned out for me. History just won't happen if it's not. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I think History Odyssey would do what you're looking for. http://www.pandiapress.com/history_odyssey.htm#middleages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I'm just going to face facts. My history planning is not working out. It totally fell through the cracks last year. I'm not going to repeat it. I'm looking for something for 6th grade - able to retain and understand above grade level, though. I love using MOH, SOTW, Famous Men, and G. Foster's books as spines - I'm open to others, of course. That's just my personal preference. I want a curriculum w/spine(s) and living books. I'd like it to have reading assignments from historical fiction. In my dreams, I'd cover after the fall of Rome to the Reformation (or thereabouts:)). I've looked at: Simply Charlotte Mason TOG (but for the life of me I can't figure out which books go with it) Beautiful Feet I don't need vocab, geography, etc. I'm just looking for history. I need all the history planned out for me. History just won't happen if it's not. Thanks! I feel your pain. I'm only sharing my thoughts because when you say you want a spine with living books - that's kind of the way I think too. SOTW - ds listens to the cds all the time - but he's definitely ready to move out of grammar stage and into something more challenging. MOH - My experience with the original vol. 1 has sort of turned me off MOH - I like a spine that is more literary than conversational. I did more recently glance at the book choices for Illuminations for vol 2 and they did not look very challenging to me. BF - I like many of the living books they have chosen, but I was looking for something different for spines. SCM - I love CM and I love the idea of a multi-age plan, but I think they rely on Famous Men books for spines in that program, and to me, those are too disjointed to be a spine. (I'm beginning to think I'm terribly picky about spines!) TOG - Also "should be" a good fit for me as it is Christian and covers multiple ages, but when I tried to plan Ancients last year with it I felt like switching gears every week was "too fast." I just want a narrative spine we read consecutively each week. What I ended up getting is Diana Waring's RRR. There is much I like about it, but it is very loosey-goosey. There are not assigned readings (other than each unit's introductory article and listening to the CDs), but there are suggested resources and lots of research topics to choose from. I think it will give ds a lot to choose from for learning more on his own. As I think about the coming year I'm trying to decide how much other reading to assign to him vs. how much freedom to give him to choose. History Odyssey (suggested by pp) is worth looking at. I decided against it because I didn't want to use Story of Mankind. While I think it does a great job of giving day to day plans for implementing WTM approach to logic stage history, I wondered if it would get a little dry. (disclaimer - I never actually used it!) The good thing is you can preview a pretty good number of lessons on the website which should give you a good feel for it. Please share what you decide to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 (edited) There's Biblioplan. It uses both SOTW and MOH plus many other books. You might take a look at it. There's also Winter Promise's Quest for the Middle Ages (which uses MOH), Veritas Press History (any level can be used for 2nd -6th grade although the website doesn't make that very clear),and Heart of Dakota's Resurrection to Reformation. Hope that helps. Edited June 20, 2010 by aquiverfull correct the HOD program name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I think History Odyssey would do what you're looking for.http://www.pandiapress.com/history_odyssey.htm#middleages :iagree: We're using HO Middle Ages this coming year. We're using level 1, but for 6th grade you'd probably want level 2. I really like how it's laid out and they give great suggestions for books. Many of them are available used on amazon or abebooks.com, but luckily for us our library has many of them. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 (edited) . Edited July 12, 2022 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 (edited) Oak Meadow 6 fits, if you leave out the short grammar assignments. TONS of extra books are suggested for just about every week/lesson. Or History Portfolio would do the trick. How about TRISMS History Makers done sloowly? Edited June 19, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I think History Odyssey would do what you're looking for.http://www.pandiapress.com/history_odyssey.htm#middleages We used Middle Ages Level Two this past school year. It was a WINNER! The try before you buy is an excellent feature - we were able to really get a feel for it and dd was immersed in all of it and THEN it was time to buy -- one gets an ample amount of material to use and consider. Definitely worth a look! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfinbaby Posted June 19, 2010 Author Share Posted June 19, 2010 Thanks so much! I've already gone over your suggestions at least twice:D I'm going to take a break and come back with a fresh brain. I'm getting them all mixed up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I'm looking at Truthquest. I have not used the Middle Ages book, but I have used Ancient Egypt. There is a long list of books in the guide to choose from. It is only history. Just another option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyBC Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Sonlight History Core 6, just the middle ages portion - so beginning about week 19. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 What about Mosaic History? I haven't used it, but it does look pretty well laid out and it's free. http://bringinguplearners.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfinbaby Posted June 20, 2010 Author Share Posted June 20, 2010 I am always amazed at how many choices there are out there. To make matters worse - I picked up TWTM to reread last night. Everything looks so good! Looking over the choices, I think I've refined my requirements and might be settling on WP Quest for the Middle Ages. But I have a question. Does anybody else find it kind of distracting skipping from book to book during history time? 2 pgs. here, a chapter there, etc. We used to use SL and dropped it b/c we didn't like reading 1 Aesops fable (we wanted to finish the book in 2 days:)). I guess it doesn't matter. Finish when you finish but that could get us off schedule. We are wanderers. Perhaps I should just change my perspective and show some discipline! We are LCCers but ds as requested to do history every day b/c he loves it. I don't want to let him down. So, WP is on top for now. I'm also looking at BP b/c they use the sources I love but I think I need an every day schedule. Not weekly. Making up my own will do no good. I know me:tongue_smilie: Hmmmmm, decisions, decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 (edited) Although, I haven't used the WP program you are considering, I did use WP American Story 1. I have also used SL, WP is set up almost identical to sonlight as far as reading snippets from several books each day. Often times we were off schedule because we would read one book faster, one slower, etc. I hate to say this, but I found that the WP guide was not really worth the money spent on it. If I decided to go with WP again in the future, I think I'd skip the guide. However, that would require planning out each book and you said you didn't want to have to do that. For what it's worth, I would buy a SL guide if I chose them again. To me, there was just a lot more in the SL guide....discussion questions, mapping, a bible reading schedule. You won't find those things in WP. Another thing you may want to know is that WP won't have you reading straight through MOH. I've heard that they break it up by culture/place being studied so MOH is not scheduled in order. Would that bother you? I believe there are samples of the guide at the WP site. That may help you decide. I don't want to talk you out of WP if that is what you really want to use, so please don't just take my opinion. Search the boards or ask others here, I'm sure others love the WP guides. :) Edited June 20, 2010 by aquiverfull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Give yourself permission to use the guides horizontally, not just vertically by day. It's OK, really. ;) Mine rarely line up by day. Whatever you choose, make it work for your family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura W. Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Another vote for Biblioplan. They schedule almost all the spines you mentioned. They do provide a daily schedule, but it's for 3 days a week - not 5. If doing history 3 days/week will work for you, you may want to take another look. We're in our second year of BP, and it's been a really good fit for our family. Blessings, Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaAkins Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I would definitely check out Biblioplan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfinbaby Posted June 21, 2010 Author Share Posted June 21, 2010 I'd like to see a better sample of Biblioplan. The sample makes it appear that it's a weekly schedule. Quest for the Middle Ages is still in the lead. Ds is 12 and I'd get the Jr. High independent level. It's really not that much different than the 4/6 level. I like that it's an independent guide and gives him activities to choose from. I also like the idea of him making his own notebook. These are things I like about it but aren't really a requirement. I was just looking willy nilly and liked the guide (samples, anyway:D). aquiverfull, it would drive me crazy not to read straight through MOH but ds is leading the charge here. He's not going to mind. I want so badly to get him a program he enjoys and can take the lead on b/c I'm afraid I'll let it fall by the wayside. Maybe I'm being hard on myself - we had a rocky yr. last yr with family things. He loves history and QMA looks like fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I'd like to see a better sample of Biblioplan. The sample makes it appear that it's a weekly schedule. Quest for the Middle Ages is still in the lead. Ds is 12 and I'd get the Jr. High independent level. It's really not that much different than the 4/6 level. I like that it's an independent guide and gives him activities to choose from. I also like the idea of him making his own notebook. These are things I like about it but aren't really a requirement. I was just looking willy nilly and liked the guide (samples, anyway:D). aquiverfull, it would drive me crazy not to read straight through MOH but ds is leading the charge here. He's not going to mind. I want so badly to get him a program he enjoys and can take the lead on b/c I'm afraid I'll let it fall by the wayside. Maybe I'm being hard on myself - we had a rocky yr. last yr with family things. He loves history and QMA looks like fun. Well then, go for it. :D It sounds like he'd really enjoy it and it would make it easy for you. WP does have a schedule already planned out for your student to use and be accountable for, so it does sound like it would be great for your son. I understand completely about feeling like you're falling short. I'm finding that planning it all out myself isn't nearly as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. I may just have to take back my comment about not purchasing a WP guide. ;) Even just making a schedule of the books to read is a lot of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfinbaby Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 I've been reevaluating BP all afternoon and I think WP is still the winner. Question: I see that WP has reading from history spines and read aloud but no assigned reading? I guess that's fine. I have a list from LCC for him to complete so no biggie I suppose. I'm also wondering how many WP exclusives and extras of timelining and maps I'll need. Perhaps I need to start a new thread (and investigate past ones). Thanks for all of your help:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 WP does have readers and schedules. It is contained in the Language Arts program, but I'm fairly certain you can buy just the books and the reading schedule without the rest of the LA program. Yes, I think you should start another thread to ask your questions as it will be more likely to get responses. Good Luck with whatever you decide. I know how hard choosing something can be. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 I've been reevaluating BP all afternoon and I think WP is still the winner. Question: I see that WP has reading from history spines and read aloud but no assigned reading? I guess that's fine. I have a list from LCC for him to complete so no biggie I suppose. I'm also wondering how many WP exclusives and extras of timelining and maps I'll need. Perhaps I need to start a new thread (and investigate past ones). Thanks for all of your help:D Have you been to the WP boards? I know there are a couple of families who will be using QMA next year and several who just finished. You might be able to find your answers there. We used a WP program last year and the assigned reading is part of the LA program. You can buy just the schedule, the schedule with the readers, or the whole LA set, including worksheets, spelling, vocab, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katiejane Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 Although, I haven't used the WP program you are considering, I did use WP American Story 1. I have also used SL, WP is set up almost identical to sonlight as far as reading snippets from several books each day. Often times we were off schedule because we would read one book faster, one slower, etc. I hate to say this, but I found that the WP guide was not really worth the money spent on it. If I decided to go with WP again in the future, I think I'd skip the guide. However, that would require planning out each book and you said you didn't want to have to do that. For what it's worth, I would buy a SL guide if I chose them again. To me, there was just a lot more in the SL guide....discussion questions, mapping, a bible reading schedule. You won't find those things in WP. Another thing you may want to know is that WP won't have you reading straight through MOH. I've heard that they break it up by culture/place being studied so MOH is not scheduled in order. Would that bother you? I believe there are samples of the guide at the WP site. That may help you decide. I don't want to talk you out of WP if that is what you really want to use, so please don't just take my opinion. Search the boards or ask others here, I'm sure others love the WP guides. :) I am doing winter's promise QAW this year and it has scheduled bible reading and mapping exercises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 We used Winter Promise Quest for the Middle Ages last year and it was great! It was a tad overwhelming so we cut some things out, but the thing I liked most about it was the choices. Book selections were pretty good too. MOH Vol 2 was the main text. www.winterpromise.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 I am doing winter's promise QAW this year and it has scheduled bible reading and mapping exercises. That is interesting. :) Thanks for correcting me. I was speaking from my experience with AS 1, I guess not all the guides are the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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