Has anyone used Gileskirk with an 8th grader?

[maryr]

I thought I would post this here as well as on the k-8 board since there may be more 9-12 grade moms here who have used Gileskirk:

 

 

We have used the Gileskirk humanities dvd series for four years. Our second son did the whole set 9th through 12th grade. I realized too late that the senior year was going to be very hectic and we didn't have a chance to really complete the last Gileskirk Antiquity very well. So with my girls, I have decided to start the 4 year set in the 8th grade and we will do something different for 12th grade. I'm a bit uneasy about doing the Antiquity with 8th graders. I know I will have to gear it down to their level and they won't be doing the reading that our son did in the 12th grade, but I am hoping that we can use the lectures and learn a lot from that.

 

Is there anyone here that has used this with an 8th grader? Our girls are what I would consider true 8th graders. One reads more at a 10th grade level but I would say both of them for comprehension are right at upper 8th grade level.

 

I've pulled out my old Biblioplan (any of you homeschooled long enough to remember this?) and the old VP cards and my Picturesque Tales of Progress and I am trying to put together a plan for using the Gileskirk. I'd love some feedback!

 

Perhaps I should look at the Omnibus to use with the Gileskirk?

 

Thank you ladies,

mary

[MommyThrice]

Mary,

 

I am using the Gileskirk Antiquity lectures this year with 9th, 8th and (very advanced) 6th grade boys. It seemed to line up very well with Omnibus I, which we are using for lit. instead of some of the more obscure Gileskirk selections. We are reading Omnibus primary books only, and skipping all of the Bible since we read that as a family already. I am also adding Notgrass as our history spine.

 

I'll send you my plan for Gileskirk/Omnibus/Notgrass plan for the year if you are interested.

 

Tracie

[MommyThrice]

And did you know the Gileskirk lectures are now available for free?

 

I've been in contact with Matt, who holds the copyright, and he has been working on getting them posted. The webiste isn't finished, but here is a direct link he gave me. He is hoping for donations, but I don't see a donation button yet.

 

http://gileskirk.com/MP3/

 

I would love it if he would also post the PDF / teacher files. I think he's planning to do so, but seems to be sidetracked. Maybe if he starts getting emails asking for them it would help?

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

And did you know the Gileskirk lectures are now available for free?

 

I've been in contact with Matt, who holds the copyright, and he has been working on getting them posted. The webiste isn't finished, but here is a direct link he gave me. He is hoping for donations, but I don't see a donation button yet.

 

http://gileskirk.com/MP3/

 

I would love it if he would also post the PDF / teacher files. I think he's planning to do so, but seems to be sidetracked. Maybe if he starts getting emails asking for them it would help?

According to those on the Yahoo group who work for Gileskirk (now King's Meadow) that isn't true. You could copy Antiquity and American Culture until August but those were the only ones permission was given for and it was for a limited time. I would be very sure he actually owns the copyright to them before downloading them or sending any kind of donation.

[MommyThrice]

Cheryl,

 

That is interesting. I didn't know King's Meadow was doing this. I feel pretty certain that Matt Ruff retained the copyright to the original lectures. I found him through the old Gileskirk website that is no longer in existance.

 

It looks like King's Meadow is re-creating the curriculum. The sample notes are completely different from the originals. I could not get the audio sample, but I would guess they are probably different (but similar) lectures that Dr. Grant has given more recently. I never understood why he didn't get the original copyright.

 

Tracie

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Cheryl,

 

That is interesting. I didn't know King's Meadow was doing this. I feel pretty certain that Matt Ruff retained the copyright to the original lectures. I found him through the old Gileskirk website that is no longer in existance.

 

It looks like King's Meadow is re-creating the curriculum. The sample notes are completely different from the originals. I could not get the audio sample, but I would guess they are probably different (but similar) lectures that Dr. Grant has given more recently. I never understood why he didn't get the original copyright.

 

Tracie

 

Hi Tracie,

 

I heard back from King's Meadow and Dr Grant said that Mr. Ruff doesn't own the copyright to his lecture material. I think someone official will eventually post (I forwarded them the link to this thread) but don't know how soon that will be so I wanted to let you know what I found out.

[Guest Reformy]

Grace and peace.

 

Dr. Grant holds the legally–registered copyrights to all his lectures and Gileskirk courses.

 

Because they aren't available, and won't be for awhile, permission was granted to make copies of the Antiquity and American Culture courses. This permission expired on August 1st.

 

The lectures that were mentioned earlier are unsanctioned copies, being made available without Dr. Grant's permission. If you have any additional questions, feel free to send me an email at aaron@kingsmeadow.com.

 

Blessings!

 

Aaron Johnson

Asst. Director, King's Meadow Study Center

Coordinator of King's Meadow Humanities Curriculum

[maryr]

Tracie,

 

I already own the lectures so that's not an issue. I would love to see how you are incorporating all three resources. Do you feel like Omnibus is appropriate for your 8th grader? I was looking over it again this week and I'm not sure if I want to go that intense for the 8th grade. My girls are looking forward to reading for Antiquity, especially the Greek and Roman myths, so I don't want to overwhelm them with works that are way above their head and discourage them.

I'm not familiar with Notgrass history, do you mind giving me a brief description of it and why you use it?

 

 

thanks,

mary

 

ps i followed the issue with Matt and Dr. Grant a couple of years back and unfortunately it looks like they separated on bad terms. From what I understand, any copies that Matt tries to sell at this point are~ if not unlawful for him to sell, at least unethical for him to sell. It was too bad because it really impacted families being able to get these quality lectures. As it is now, they are re-releasing the lectures but only as audio, not video.

[MommyThrice]

Mary,

This is only our first week back in school, but I think the works I've chosen won't be too difficult. We are listening to the Odyssey on CD as we read along. We are focusing on:

 

Gilgamesh

Code of Hammurabi

Odyssey

Histories, Herodotus

Plutarch's Lives

Early History of Rome, Livy

Julius Caesar, Shakespeare

 

I am skipping the Bible, Oresteia, Last Days of Socrates, Aeneid and Twelve Caesars. I'm adding Josephus and Augustine's City of God at the end to get to the end of Gileskirk Antiquity.

 

I have come across more graphic descriptions in Gilgamesh than I was prepared for. :blush5:

 

Notgrass is a history curriculum written from a Christian point-of-view. It makes a nice spine and has a seperate book with source docoments that go along with the reading. I used it last year for American History, which was difficult, but the World History is much easier reading. An 8th grader would have no problem. I like it because it is just the facts, but not dry like Streams of Civilizations or Spielvogel.

 

http://www.notgrass.com/world-history-high-school-curriculum.php

[maryr]

The Notgrass sounds like something I could use. I'm with you about the Streams of Civ. I really don't like that book, it is so dry and dull!

 

Do you worry about overwhelming your 8th grader with such serious books? Or does he/she like to be challenged? What is your 8th grader's opinion of the course you have laid out for him?

 

I vacillate back and forth between challenging material versus moderately challenging material~you know~like the VP 6th grade material! :0)

 

mary

[MommyThrice]

Maybe I should have told you that we are doing almost all of this reading TOGETHER... ALOUD. I guess that makes a very big difference. I don't think my younger two could do this independently, although I do plan to have them read some on their own. They still have their own secondary reading (nothing from Omnibus, just whatever fun books or historical fiction they like. One of mine is about to start on the James Herriot books, one is reading the Duncan's War series.)

 

Right now we're reading Gilgamesh together every day after lunch. We can do this in 5 days, 30-45 minutes per day. Everyone has their own copy, and I'm showing them how to annotate as we go along... underline, make notes in the margin, etc... Next, we'll listen to Odyssey on CD as we read along and annotate. Omnibus has really good discussion questions, although there are way too many. Then we move on to Herodutus in our 5th or 6th week of school. I hope by then we can read some together each day (again, everyone has their own, cheap, paperback copy) and I can assign more for homework. The next day we'll discuss, read a little more, then assign a little more homework.

 

All the while, we are listening to Gileskirk lectures that correspond to the great books we're reading.

 

I think Omnibus would certainly be overwhelming for a 7th grader (for which it is intended) but we're only reading about 1/2 to 2/3 of the literature, and we are doing it together, so I think we'll be just fine.

 

I'll give you my spreadsheet, but I couldn't find a way to email you from your profile. You can give me you email addy or email me from my profile page.

 

Tracie