Tell me it will be ok to skip a globe trotting year

[DawnM]

I am realizing that we will simply not have time to do a Galloping the Globe or Sonlight Core 5, or similar curriculum year.

 

I have several of the Core 5 books, but I just don't see us having the time to do them.

 

My oldest is technically 7th grade this year, although we are really having him do 6th grade as he is behind. I don't know if he will catch up before age 18 or not and I am not too concerned if he graduates at 18 or 19.

 

But, I want to do World History after we finish Core 4 this year and I am thinking of just going to Core 6 and 7 (or a similar program/curriculum choice, not necessarily SL).

 

How many of you skipped a Geography year?

 

Thanks,

 

Dawn

[patchfire]

I never even considered doing a geography year. I had one of my own in school and honestly felt like I didn't learn anything in the course that couldn't have been easily integrated into history. As it is, I decided to deviate from the four-year rotation just enough to fit in a dedicated year for US History once... and ultimately I value US History more than geography.

[skueppers]

Of course it will be OK. It is not possible for our children to learn everything there is to know while they are in school. They have their whole lives for that.

 

So it depends on your priorities. It sounds like, based on your thoughts on using Sonlight Core 6 & 7, that world history is more important to you than Eastern Hemisphere cultures and civilizations (Sonlight Core 5).

 

That's totally OK!

[DawnM]

I don't know that it is more important, well, maybe it is.

 

I just know my oldest will start high school before I realize it and I need to try to get what I can in by then. I just don't think I can fit it all in. And, since I see World History taking 2 years min. (I don't think we will do the 4 or 5 year loop, but that is somewhat undecided at this point), I just can't see how I can fit it in.

 

I had hoped to as Core 5 looks fun!

 

Dawn

 

Of course it will be OK. It is not possible for our children to learn everything there is to know while they are in school. They have their whole lives for that.

 

So it depends on your priorities. It sounds like, based on your thoughts on using Sonlight Core 6 & 7, that world history is more important to you than Eastern Hemisphere cultures and civilizations (Sonlight Core 5).

 

That's totally OK!

[Mom0012]

Dawn -

 

I've been hanging out on the SL boards a little bit recently and it seems some people put off core 5 until after cores 6 and 7 or they add a lot of the core 5 books into other cores. I'm not sure how they do that, but I wonder if that would be an option for you?

 

I've been wondering if we will do core 5 next year or not and another option that's been recommended to me is to do Alt 7 instead of cores 6 and 7. That way I can get core 5 and SL 100 in before high school for my son. (I'm thinking I'll use something else for him for high school like MFW, but I'd really like to do those cores before moving on.)

 

Lisa

[DawnM]

I did think I would do Alt 7, but now that I think about it, I would rather do 2 full years of world History.

 

Will you then do SL 200, 300, 400, and 500 for high school if you stay with SL?

 

I have lost my SL forum access and don't want to pay.

 

I think this will be our last year with SL. It just isn't working well for us. My boys aren't strong readers nor do they want to be!

 

I am looking at WP as a possibility. I would love to do WP American Culture this year instead of SL Core 4 but since I already have Core 4 I can't justify the expense.

 

Dawn

 

Dawn -

 

I've been hanging out on the SL boards a little bit recently and it seems some people put off core 5 until after cores 6 and 7 or they add a lot of the core 5 books into other cores. I'm not sure how they do that, but I wonder if that would be an option for you?

 

I've been wondering if we will do core 5 next year or not and another option that's been recommended to me is to do Alt 7 instead of cores 6 and 7. That way I can get core 5 and SL 100 in before high school for my son. (I'm thinking I'll use something else for him for high school like MFW, but I'd really like to do those cores before moving on.)

 

Lisa

[Mom0012]

Dawn -

 

I think it's possible that I will use the upper levels of SL for my daughter. She is a very strong reader and enjoys everything I give her. At this point, I don't use SL's LA, but I could see adding that in for her once she gets to that level. The reason I wanted to kind of "rush" things was because I use one core with my kids, so my son is always a grade level ahead of the core. I really like the looks of core 100 but I don't want to use it for him for high school. I want to start fresh with whatever we're going to use in 9th grade. I was also worried about doing ancients, middle ages, and then ancients again if we move onto MFW in 9th after doing cores 6 and 7.

 

I want to do Core 6 and 7 as well rather than Alt 7. I'm really looking forward to using SOTW again and I know my kids will love that. For my son, I'm thinking of either moving on to MFW for high school or possibly even the BJU dvds. We'll see. It's still a few years away.

 

I was tempted by WP's American history this year and even bought a used guide, but, after looking at the books, I didn't think I'd be as happy with them. What really clinched it for me was I got a lot of the WP history books from the library and showed them to my kids and asked them how they'd like to use them instead of the Landmark book and they were not interested at all. That really surprised me because I thought the WP books would be very appealing to them.

 

Lisa

 

I did think I would do Alt 7, but now that I think about it, I would rather do 2 full years of world History.

 

Will you then do SL 200, 300, 400, and 500 for high school if you stay with SL?

 

I have lost my SL forum access and don't want to pay.

 

I think this will be our last year with SL. It just isn't working well for us. My boys aren't strong readers nor do they want to be!

 

I am looking at WP as a possibility. I would love to do WP American Culture this year instead of SL Core 4 but since I already have Core 4 I can't justify the expense.

 

Dawn

[DawnM]

WP doesn't have a payment plan like SL do they?

 

I have never bought an entire core new and probably won't with WP either, but just curious.

 

I also don't like their resale policy, in fact, I think it is downright ridiculous, but they can do whatever they like as it is their company.

 

Dawn

[Kim in SouthGa]

I did a geography year when the kids were little (4, 5, 8) and it was sooooo much fun. I really wanted to do it again now that they are older, but I don't think they would find pretend passports and stickers as interesting. Our homeschool group hosts International Day every year, where each child or family picks a country and learns about it. Everyone does a display board, has books, maps, money, whatever they like from that country displayed, and a dish or two. We have a scavenger hunt, question and answer session, and then lunch. It is my favorite activity of the year, and the kids have learned a ton.

Another option would be to use something like Trail Guide to World Geography, which is pretty painless and could easily be done in 15-20 minutes a day. We did Trail Guide to US Geo. and the kids like it.

I think that we are going to try picking a country a month and just spend 15 minutes or so one or two days a week on it. I recently bought the Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide, and it has tons of information on incorporating geography into your school time. It is not a "step by step" curriculum, so it is taking me some time to absorb it and figure out exactly what to do, but I think it will be well worth it.

[meet me in paris]

Dawn -

 

I've been hanging out on the SL boards a little bit recently and it seems some people put off core 5 until after cores 6 and 7 or they add a lot of the core 5 books into other cores. I'm not sure how they do that, but I wonder if that would be an option for you?

 

 

We did 3, 4 and 6 before going to Core 5 this year because the workload in 5 is a bit heavier (the reading load is not, but the written work is, and that's where we struggle).

 

You could easily do 6 & 7 or Alt7 and then 5 if you wanted to... the question is whether you want to. It doesn't sound like it's a priority to you to do a year of "globe trotting". Personally, I think it's important. Even if it's not your only social studies/history that year, looking at cultures other than your own is mind-expanding and produces empathy and good citizenship.

 

Of course, my master's degree concentration was on multicultural lit, so take that with a grain of salt. ;)

[DawnM]

Susan,

 

I grew up in Africa as a child of missionaries and missions is already a huge part of our discussions and basic family life, so empathy towards other cultures is not really a concern from that standpoint. My concern for me was more geography and specific cultural learning (learning about specific counties).

 

I will also add that I am thinking of leaving SL after this year as my BOYS are just not the readers SL curriculum tends to lean towards. I am considering Winter Promise at this point once we finish up US History, but I am still working on that.

 

We have just always done Sonlight, but that is because *I* like it. :001_smile:

 

Originally I was planning to do some sort of globe learning year, even if it isn't SL. Just thinking this through as time constraints are tightening!

 

Thanks,

 

Dawn

 

We did 3, 4 and 6 before going to Core 5 this year because the workload in 5 is a bit heavier (the reading load is not, but the written work is, and that's where we struggle).

 

You could easily do 6 & 7 or Alt7 and then 5 if you wanted to... the question is whether you want to. It doesn't sound like it's a priority to you to do a year of "globe trotting". Personally, I think it's important. Even if it's not your only social studies/history that year, looking at cultures other than your own is mind-expanding and produces empathy and good citizenship.

 

Of course, my master's degree concentration was on multicultural lit, so take that with a grain of salt. ;)

[Homemama2]

We did a geography year last year. We had fun, but personally I don't think it's necessary now that we did it. We had incorporated most of the same stuff with our regular history program the year before, (except recipes from different countries....and my dc didn't like 90% of those anyway:tongue_smilie:). Especially since you have a missions background, I wouldn't be too concerned.

[DawnM]

Ah, maybe we can just pick 10 local international restaurants and visit one per month!

 

I can tell DH it isn't out of our food budget, it is part of schooling! :D:lol:

 

Problem is, I think we have already gone to all the local international offerings! But don't tell DH we have already done it! ;)

 

My kids like most of it. They weren't crazy about Ethiopian, but I can't think of any others they haven't liked.

 

Dawn

 

We did a geography year last year. We had fun, but personally I don't think it's necessary now that we did it. We had incorporated most of the same stuff with our regular history program the year before, (except recipes from different countries....and my dc didn't like 90% of those anyway:tongue_smilie:). Especially since you have a missions background, I wouldn't be too concerned.

[scrapbookbuzz]

I realize this is an "old" thread but felt I should bump it just in case some folk were more recently pondering this. We love Sonlight; well, most of it. I use other LA and Science programs. That being said, Core 5/G did NOT work for my 6th grader this year and it wasn't the wonderful experience I thought it would be. I was SO excited for a year and a half before we could actually get to it that the effort I had to put forth to have us "get it done" was disappointing. It truly was not Sonlight's fault. It just was different.

 

After much prayer and contemplation, I decided to "shelve it" as a core and simply have it available as a reference when we want to dig deeper into those countries, as we come across them in history. Let me tell you, my days go a lot easier now! I've read, repeatedly, that Core 5 should be "saved" for when they're older (like about 8th grade and up). I may go back to it then or I may still use it as reference. But for right now, I just like having it for a reference point and a digging deeper resource. HTH!

[KarenNC]

I'm doing a basic geography overview with my current 5th grader (it's going to end up extending into 6th grade). It's a separate subject (we're doing ancients for history) which consists primarily of some mapwork and watching lots of travel videos. My goal has been to give her an idea of where the countries are and a little glimpse into what life looks like there. I am taking it by continent. So far we've done South America, North America, Asia and are currently in Europe.

 

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com has some good online games. I've also used a sticker atlas of flags that she puts on outline maps, labels outline maps, etc. We also make an attempt to hit as many cultural festivals, etc as we can locally. We already enjoy going to a lot of different ethnic restaurants. :)

[Mom0012]

I realize this is an "old" thread but felt I should bump it just in case some folk were more recently pondering this. We love Sonlight; well, most of it. I use other LA and Science programs. That being said, Core 5/G did NOT work for my 6th grader this year and it wasn't the wonderful experience I thought it would be. I was SO excited for a year and a half before we could actually get to it that the effort I had to put forth to have us "get it done" was disappointing. It truly was not Sonlight's fault. It just was different.

 

After much prayer and contemplation, I decided to "shelve it" as a core and simply have it available as a reference when we want to dig deeper into those countries, as we come across them in history. Let me tell you, my days go a lot easier now! I've read, repeatedly, that Core 5 should be "saved" for when they're older (like about 8th grade and up). I may go back to it then or I may still use it as reference. But for right now, I just like having it for a reference point and a digging deeper resource. HTH!

 

What didn't work for you with Core 5? Was it the EHE? Just curious because we are going to be doing Core 5 in the fall. It seems people refer to Core 5 as their best homeschooling year ever or a total disaster.

 

Lisa

[kolamum]

WP doesn't have a payment plan like SL do they?

 

I have never bought an entire core new and probably won't with WP either, but just curious.

 

I also don't like their resale policy, in fact, I think it is downright ridiculous, but they can do whatever they like as it is their company.

 

Dawn

 

I believe they do but you must pay x amount of dollar. They also have a used board and while they request people not to sell their stuff people do.. right on the message board. The one thing I don't like about WP is their resale rules and their lack of refunds once products are purchased. SL beats them hands down on that!