OK ladies I NEED your HELP- this is IMPORTANT

[Heather in Neverland]

So you may or may not have read about my nefarious plan to convert the school I work in to a more classical model. So far I have changed the entire k-12 science program to a cyclical plan a la WTM....AND my 1st-4th grade classes started using SOTW this year for "social studies"!!!

 

Well TODAY I got the middle school (grades 5-8) to buy into a 4-year history cycle as well PENDING appropriate resources. So I am looking around and the things I am finding are not for four-year cycles (or don't have it ready yet). Like the Mystery of History only has 3 years done and no idea when the 4th will be ready.

 

SO I NEED YOUR HELP.

 

What are some great resources/books/series to use for the 4 year cycle in grades 5-8? It does NOT have to be a christian resource (although that would be great).

 

PLEASE HELP BEFORE THEY CHANGE THEIR MINDS... :D

[bluemongoose]

Tapestry of Grace is a 4 year cycle. Or are you looking for only books and not curriculum?

[Laura Corin]

I had planned to use Suzanne Strauss Art's books for part of a middle school cycle, but that would be much too messy to use in a school.

 

Other possible books: Story of Mankind by Van Loon or A Little History of the World by Gombrich. Neither forms a curriculum and you'd need to check on the religious aspects. Perhaps one of those plus Kingfisher?

 

Laura

[Sebastian (a lady)]

So you may or may not have read about my nefarious plan to convert the school I work in to a more classical model. So far I have changed the entire k-12 science program to a cyclical plan a la WTM....AND my 1st-4th grade classes started using SOTW this year for "social studies"!!!

 

Well TODAY I got the middle school (grades 5-8) to buy into a 4-year history cycle as well PENDING appropriate resources. So I am looking around and the things I am finding are not for four-year cycles (or don't have it ready yet). Like the Mystery of History only has 3 years done and no idea when the 4th will be ready.

 

SO I NEED YOUR HELP.

 

What are some great resources/books/series to use for the 4 year cycle in grades 5-8? It does NOT have to be a christian resource (although that would be great).

 

PLEASE HELP BEFORE THEY CHANGE THEIR MINDS... :D

 

Well, how are you implementing science? There isn't a packaged curriculum for that either is there?

 

Couldn't you take the recommendations in the WTM along with the directions on outlining and summarizing and use that. Repeat as necessary to fill up the weeks that you have. So I guess that would involve a classroom set of Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and a lot of great library books for further research.

 

Or are you looking for something that will lay out the topic and assignments for each week?

[nansk]

SO I NEED YOUR HELP.

 

What are some great resources/books/series to use for the 4 year cycle in grades 5-8? It does NOT have to be a christian resource (although that would be great).

 

Sounds like an exciting task :-) All the best.

 

How about History Odyessy Level Two? I have never seen it, but they appear to have 4 books in each level, and they say "Each study guide is intended to lead the instructor and student through a year-long study of the Ancients, the Middle Ages, Early Modern, or Modern time periods."

 

HTH

[Kim in SouthGa]

Are they wanting just a straight text? If not, My Father's World books or History Odyssey could work. Or perhaps the Streams of Civ books broken into 4 year cycle (two years for each book). I know they are supposed to be HS level, but my son read them easily in late elementary/middle school.

[Heather in Neverland]

Well, how are you implementing science? There isn't a packaged curriculum for that either is there?

 

We are using Prentice Hall Science Explorer in the MS years--the brand new ones that cover a single area of science and we are doing it in 3-year cycles (Physical, Life, Earth) so the kids will hit those topics 4 times from k-12

Or are you looking for something that will lay out the topic and assignments for each week?

 

I do need something that is a little more laid out for them. They are a little nervous about the switch so the easier I can make it for them the better.

/

[silver]

When do you need this for? If it's for the 2011-2012 school year, you could do Diana Waring's History Revealed series. It's only a 3 year series, but you could take the 4th year to focus just on American History.

 

Vol I:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/catalog/Vol-1-Ancient-Civilizations-the-Bible,383.aspx

 

Vol II:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/PUBLICSTORE/catalog/History-Revealed,384.aspx

 

Vol III (currently has a release date of Summer 2011):

http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/catalog/Vol-3-World-Empires-World-Missions-World-Wars,386.aspx

 

The 3rd volume is available for preorder here:

http://www.dianawaring.com/www/index.html

[siloam]

So I am looking around and the things I am finding are not for four-year cycles (or don't have it ready yet). Like the Mystery of History only has 3 years done and no idea when the 4th will be ready.

 

Roughly 2013-2014. I wouldn't expect it to be later than 2014-2015. Linda is over half way through writing the book, then it takes a year to a year and a half to publish. Re-writing volume 1 really threw things off, IMO.

 

Thus I would think it would be available, but you might want to talk to the publisher. Send me a note if you want her e-mail.

 

Heather

[Corraleno]

When do you need this for? If it's for the 2011-2012 school year, you could do Diana Waring's History Revealed series. It's only a 3 year series, but you could take the 4th year to focus just on American History.

Or Malaysian history ;)

 

Jackie

[silver]

Or Malaysian history ;)

 

 

Ooops! Didn't pay attention that she's in Malaysia! :tongue_smilie:

[specialmama]

I second History Odyssey, level 2 for middle school. Although I've never used it, it seems to have what you're looking for.

[Brindee]

MFW has a 5-year cycle for grades 4-8, but the 4th and 5th years are US History. You could switch that out for Malaysian history for the 4th year, making it a 4-year program. Since it includes all the Lesson plans and teachers materials, it's fairly easy to implement.

 

http://www.mfwbooks.com/2-8_home.htm#fiveyear

Edited September 16, 2010 by Brindee

[Heather in Neverland]

So far it looks like Streams of Civ or maybe MOH would be closest. It needs to be something that is more history focused and not unit study as the classes are separate at that age.

 

Any other ideas?

[EKS]

You can use The Human Odyssey (from K12) over four years. But you would have to come up with the assignments yourself. It is a three volume world history series. You could also use it over three years and use the fourth year for more local history/geography (perhaps the 5th grade year?).

[Verity]

My background is in secondary education. This is the third year I'm hsing my oldest son, and second year for my middle son. I tried alot of different curriculums last year. I switched out several subjects two or three times. So far this year I've been very happy with what I'm using, just doing a little bit of tweaking here and there.

 

I'm using History Odyssey level 2 for my 6th grader and matching it up with my 3rd graders SotW chapters. I like that some lessons in HO are heavier and some are lighter, when I'm lesson planning I usually make a harder week in another subject if history is lighter. Also those light weeks are good times to add in work on a timeline or other history projects.

 

Noeo science has been a good fit around my house this year as well. It seems to fit in perfectly with a classical model, I find it easy to adjust for the needs of my students (both have some ld's). I love, love having the lessons set up for me so I can just work on accomodations and enrichment activities but both are non-textbook oriented.

 

Good luck with finding the right fit for your school and students - what a challenge but how rewarding!

[Jane Elliot]

I recommend you PM Janie. I don't see her here much anymore, but I gleaned a lot from her posts years ago. She homeschooled her own children till they were finished and now teaches middle grades at a Christian school. She revamped the school's curricula to be more classical/WTMish. Her blog is here: http://seasonalsoundings.blogspot.com/

[Heather in Neverland]

You can use The Human Odyssey (from K12) over four years. But you would have to come up with the assignments yourself. It is a three volume world history series. You could also use it over three years and use the fourth year for more local history/geography (perhaps the 5th grade year?).

 

This looks pretty good! Do you think it is too difficult for middle school? It looks like it is commonly used in high school.

[Matryoshka]

This looks pretty good! Do you think it is too difficult for middle school? It looks like it is commonly used in high school.

 

No, it's a middle school series. We're using it here, and it's wonderful. It's a pleasure to read - I don't think I've ever said that about any other textbook!

[Heather in Neverland]

No, it's a middle school series. We're using it here, and it's wonderful. It's a pleasure to read - I don't think I've ever said that about any other textbook!

 

That is awesome! Are you using all 3 volumes in the series? Does it have any end-of-chapter questions? activities? teacher's guide? etc.

 

Thanks!