rookie Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 My dd13 and dd10 want to do the Teaching Company High School history courses (Fertile Crescent to American Revolution and American history to the 49ers). They want to watch, take notes, do additional reading per topic, etc. as their complete history course for the year. It seems simple enough to me but is it ENOUGH as a year-long course? These dds have completed all SOTW1-4 with most corresponding additional lit/history suggestions, and have also read: A Little History of the World and CHOW. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 The high school courses have a workbook to accompany them. There are vocabulary words, comprehension questions and a couple of discussion/essay questions for each lecture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Have you seen these lectures yourself? If not, you might want to take a look before you design an entire course around them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 (Sorry for that short reply above. Had to run for a moment.) I'm going to be using the American History set with dd12 and dd10 this year. But we will be doing them in one semester as I want to get through all of American history in one year. I bought three of the books recommended in the course guide and have a list of additional reading I want accomplished. So, weekly: watch two lectures and take notes do all additional reading at the end of the week - discussion to include all information on the two worksheets that accompany the lectures and all readings one paper per week - dd10 will write a paragraph and dd12 will write a one page essay. I am more focused on paragraph/essay format than subject matter for these papers so they can choose any relevant topic. We will go over how to improve the papers each week, but no rewrites will be necessary. We will also keep a timeline and do a bit of mapwork here and there. Each child is doing a final project as well, but they added that themselves. They are very crafty and felt it was a necessary, missing component to the class. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 I used the videos as a supplement to All American History. We loved the videos and I wish they had produced a set for the Civil War through now. IMO they would be a little light by themselves. I would want to add in all kinds of reading, projects, etc if this were the spine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolally Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 IMO they would be a little light by themselves. I would want to add in all kinds of reading, projects, etc if this were the spine. :iagree:We enjoyed these videos (with the exception of a few overly descriptive explanations of violence--would be fine for older kids but younger ones were often in the same room/car so it bothered me) but I think you'd need to add quite a bit to make it a full course. Just my opinion though--I tend to go a little heavy with history myself fwiw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookie Posted July 22, 2010 Author Share Posted July 22, 2010 Have you seen these lectures yourself? If not, you might want to take a look before you design an entire course around them. I have not. Is there something about them/in them you think I should be aware of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 I have not. Is there something about them/in them you think I should be aware of? They are not so much lectures as performances, meant to entertain more than educate. Many, if not most, of them ramble from topic to topic. He throws out facts in isolation and then moves on without tying things together. For several of the lectures, if I hadn't had a solid understanding of the topic going into it, I wouldn't have had a clue what the was talking about. He seemed to get quite a bit better when talking about battles and weapons. I think he must have a particular interest in and understanding of this area and it shows. One particularly memorable lecture was about Viking warfare. My opinion is that these lectures aren't coherent enough, singly or as a group, to be the backbone of an entire course. But I know that others here have loved them, which is why it might be good to see several of them before you make a decision. They would certainly be fine as a supplement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 I own both of the high school history DVD sets, we are using them as part of our middle school rotation. I would not use them as a basis for a course myself. They are a nice supplement. We use them as more of a fun review, then we are able to pick out the errors too. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookie Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 So, is there something that is better? My dds really like the idea of watching lectures/videos/documentaries, etc. and want to do history that way this year. Like I said, we have done a SOTW 1-4 rotation and they are willing to read lots. Is there a good video series we can consider? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 We really enjoyed Big History, also from the Teaching Company. My son watched it when he was 12 after finishing the first history rotation and enjoyed it. I am actually going to have him watch it again in 10th grade for a one year world history course, paired with Ways of the World (Strayer). But these might be at a higher level than you're looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 (edited) I own both of the high school history DVD sets, we are using them as part of our middle school rotation. I would not use them as a basis for a course myself. They are a nice supplement. We use them as more of a fun review, then we are able to pick out the errors too. ;) Same here. We own both Fertile Crescent and Early American. My older dc watched FC years ago as a fun supplement to our world history studies (along with every History Channel program I could find). Edited July 25, 2010 by Beth in SW WA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 So, is there something that is better? My dds really like the idea of watching lectures/videos/documentaries, etc. and want to do history that way this year. Like I said, we have done a SOTW 1-4 rotation and they are willing to read lots. Is there a good video series we can consider? I have heard of but not used Drive through History, which I believe is DVD's and History at Our House, which is online (not sure if I said that right but it's something like that.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 (along with every History Channel program I could find). Isn't that the truth!?! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyNellen Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 (edited) My 7th and 6th graders used these lectures as their history course last year. We used the workbook and purchased/borrowed almost all of the reading recommendations. Personally, I felt it was plenty of work for my 2 kids (who, by the way, are history-lovers and avid readers). There is a lot of additional reading, if one follows the recommendations. I would agree that the lectures themselves would not suffice as a course, but completing the workbook and additional reading makes a comprehensive course for the middle school level, IMO. Here is what my kids did each week: Monday: watch lecture, take notes, turn notes into an outline, begin reading Wednesday: review notes, complete vocabulary & comprehension questions, continue reading Friday: review notes, complete both essays, complete reading, oral review w/ me The lectures were very entertaining, but also chock full of information. They were a great springboard for sparking an interest in the subject matter for my kids. They chose to do additional reading (above what was assigned) in areas of particular interest. They both had a great year: they enjoyed the course immensely, learned a lot, and greatly improved their ability to take notes, outline, and write coherent essays. It was also a great opportunity for them to better manage the work load independently. I did not assign specific pages, but instead gave them to latitude to complete the reading over the course of the week. They learned some great lessons about procrastination :-) HTH, Edited July 23, 2010 by Nancy in SoCal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Isn't that the truth!?! :lol: I'm so jazzed about the Story of US series on the History Channel right now. So, so good! I just received Teddy Roosevelt: An American Lion Vol. 1 from Netflix today. We'll watch Ken Burns Civil War this year also. (I could go on and on and....) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michon Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Drive Thru History is a fun supplemental video series. drivethruhistory.com They have an ancient history series and an Early American history series. They do have workbooks to go along with them as well. Michon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 I'm so jazzed about the Story of US series on the History Channel right now. So, so good! :) My DVR is full, I am ever so patiently waiting for them to start sending the copies from the teacher's offer the beginning of August. I'm sure I'll drive the mailman nuts until it comes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 My DVR is full, I am ever so patiently waiting for them to start sending the copies from the teacher's offer the beginning of August. I'm sure I'll drive the mailman nuts until it comes. I ordered this months ago also. I hope it comes! Soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.