Lovedtodeath Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Okay, I know nothing about what the different history programs out there. But I want to focus on how life has changed for the average person, not who owns this land and how this person supported the war effort. I am looking heavily into Sonlight and Tanglewood. I really want to follow Sonlight's Schedule (2 years of World History, 2 years American, SOTW in 6th and 7th grade). It looks like many of the read alouds have to do with the revolution and the civil war and individual's in the war and I don't want to focus heavily on that. What are the history texts like? Any thoughts are appreciated. I said Sonlight because it is what I am most interested in, not because I think it focuses on wars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I'm looking at Trisms. This is one of the positives about the series, the focus is on inventors (science), the arts, and culture of the time vs. all the wars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca in VA Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 a very similar topic moments ago. Anyway, I used TOG Year 4 with my third-grader two years ago, and we loved it. We did a huge, huge amount of study on what was going on culturally. We studied inventors and explorers. It was great. Now we're back in ancient history, and it's wars and pagan gods all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdeno Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 It doesn't glorify all of the wars. I have not looked at it yet. It is good to hear of these other options :-) Kdeno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmsurbat Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 which is *not* at all war-based. It is very much a social history; we enjoyed using this text very much. Many of the readers are historical fiction, so they may take place during a war, but the focus is generally not on the war, but on the people and some other plot line. Others which do focus on famous people usually do so because they are considered a "hero" and the book will focus on those actions which should (hopefully) inspire our young ones. So, I don't think you have to rule out Sonlight just yet. But if you want to use a traditional text, I think you will need to look at CLE or Rod and Staff..... HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 If you can give me any specifics of which texts are what I am looking for in Sonlight, I am really wanting to use it. I was hoping to get 3+4 and then stretch it out, so that we are not bogged down, but I might just pick and choose in both cores. It's funny because I was not planning on using Landmark History, but just The Story of the USA to trim it down some more, plus I was afraid that Landmark would be too difficult for a 9 year old to understand and may have the dark information in it that I was told Sonlight American History has. Any more info on Sonlight would be great! I will look into the other programs as well. Any program that includes religious teachings such as heaven, trinity, being saved (Abeka) or anything like that would not be acceptable. This worries me when I look into programs I am not familiar with, so if anyone can enlighten me on that I would appreciate it. Thanks so much everyone!! :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 What is TRISMS? I looked in the sticky but didn't see it. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 If you can give me any specifics of which texts are what I am looking for in Sonlight, I am really wanting to use it. I was hoping to get 3+4 and then stretch it out, so that we are not bogged down, but I might just pick and choose in both cores. It's funny because I was not planning on using Landmark History, but just The Story of the USA to trim it down some more, plus I was afraid that Landmark would be too difficult for a 9 year old to understand and may have the dark information in it that I was told Sonlight American History has. Any more info on Sonlight would be great! I will look into the other programs as well. Any program that includes religious teachings such as heaven, trinity, being saved (Abeka) or anything like that would not be acceptable. This worries me when I look into programs I am not familiar with, so if anyone can enlighten me on that I would appreciate it. Thanks so much everyone!! :grouphug: I don't think SL core 3+4 is dark necessarily. I did a beefed up version with my son when he was 12, and we loved Landmark. I do think it might be boring for a 9 yr old, but maybe if you summarize some, it would be fine. There are a few books that might feel a little scary to some kids, like The Matchlock Gun, not because they're dark but because they're suspenseful. My middle two are sensitive so I'll hold off on core 3 until they're 4th or 5th grade. I've heard that Incans, Aztecs and Mayans in Core 3 is gruesome, with descriptions of human sacrifice, but if you're doing 3+4, it doesn't come in that core. Plus, that one is from a Biblical perspective, so you'd want to skip it anyway. LMK if you have any specific questions about the core, and I'll take a look at our books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paula j Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 We are using core 4 this year and nothing too dark there. Not too much war coverage, barely touches on the World Wars. A little more time is spent on Civil War but not much. There are a couple of books that include some reference to christianity, William Wilberforce comes to mind, but you could read over them yourself and easily skip them if they make you feel uncomfortable. I think core 3/4 would be a great place for you to start out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmsurbat Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 The Landmark Book (used in Sonlight 3 and 4) is really a very good book. I don't know your 9 year old, but my nine year old enjoyed most of it when we used it several years ago. The beginning is a little deep (talks about why the Pilgrims came to the New World, plus the "stuck in the mud" ways of the Old World and how different America was) but most of it was quite informative. I don't know whether I followed Sonlight's schedule with it or not, but as long as you don't read too much at a time, your child should do fine. The second half, especially, takes the approach you talked about with some great chapters on the effect of the railroad, innovations of Americans, immigration, industrialization, and more. Sonlight 3 and 4 make a great start to history studies! HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 Trisms?? Thanks to all for the Sonlight info!! I might still try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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