Is TRISMS difficult to administer?

[littlebug42]

My sister and I were discussing this curriculum this week. I am thinking about using the HIstory Makers with my dd next year. My sister thought I was nuts because she thought the examples online looked like it would be very difficult to administer. Has anyone who has used it found this to be the case? I would not be using the IEW component if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks

[Michelle in AL]

We are just starting it for the 1st time this yr. We're finding it VERY disjointed. I don't know how it could not be disjointed since it doesn't have a spine.

 

For example, this week is about the 100 yrs war along with the city-states of Italy and the artists they fostered. One it is very hard to cover this in 2 weeks. Unless you use a history text, it is very difficult to get a general overview of the 100yr War without reading a lengthy book or extensive research. Without having some sort of background info which you would get from a text, I feel you are missing the foundation of what you are researching. I hope this makes sense.

 

I also could be using it wrong. I know many others have used and enjoyed it.

 

We also do a separate lit and writing program, so maybe others use it for both lit and history, put more time into it, and therefore get more out of it.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

I LOVE TRISMS!! Though I didn't care for History Makers nearly as much as I do the high school volumes. So far we've done Discovering the Ancient World and almost the first 1/4 of Expansion of Civilization. The only time I found it difficult was in the beginning of DAW because there isn't as much available for early/little known civilizations but it was so worth the digging because we learned so much!

 

ETA that it is a very different program, almost more of a syllabus than a "curriculum" for the history part because it is the instructions for what to research but you still need to have resources to research. One of the beauties is that students learn how to research (very important for high school) but also because you can use whatever resources you want for this research and learning. The possibilities are endless and can have any focus/worldview/etc you want for your homeschool. I love using King's Meadow's history/humanities curriculum (formerly Gileskirk) and am using that with TRISMS. I also have a variety of texts and other resources we use for research. Since it's a unit study it weaves in literature, composition, and many other topics which vary from volume to volume.

 

All that to say that it is different and may take getting used to but it's excellent and so worth the time put into it, IMHO.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Cheryl in SoCal

[ereks mom]

We are just starting it for the 1st time this yr. We're finding it VERY disjointed. I don't know how it could not be disjointed since it doesn't have a spine.

 

 

The author does recommend using a history spine--look in the Resource & Reading List in your TM. The author provides a list of several helpful books, and you should choose at least one of those to use as a spine. We've used TRISMS for several years, and we usually keep several books from the list on hand to use for researching, and we use the internet as well. The spine that we have found most helpful for TRISMS is Streams of Civilization. It is one of the books on the list. We also frequently use another of the books on the list: The Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World.

[Wendy in ME]

I love the idea of using Kings Meadow with it. Both of these programs are on my radar for high school next year.

[Michelle in AL]

Thanks Erek's mom. I must not have read this TM thoroughly! We just started using Streams as a spine this week.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

I love the idea of using Kings Meadow with it. Both of these programs are on my radar for high school next year.

So far it's been a very good fit :001_smile: Since King's Meadow/Gileskirk isn't as strictly chronological as TRISMS I've had to make a schedule showing which lectures go with which TRISMS volume/unit. It was pretty easy with the new (King's Meadow) because the teacher materials are so much better but was more challenging with the old (Gileskirk), and I won't know if I have them all right until we go through them all. I'd be happy to share my schedule if you end up using them together.

[Wendy in ME]

Thank, Cheryl. It's a year away, but time flies. I will save this post and maybe get back to you in the spring. I think this particular ds would like the combo, and I know I would learn a lot along with him.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Thank, Cheryl. It's a year away, but time flies. I will save this post and maybe get back to you in the spring. I think this particular ds would like the combo, and I know I would learn a lot along with him.

You're welcome:001_smile: I so agree with you about learning with them. I've learned SO MUCH, and am enjoying (and really understanding) history for the first time!

[littlebug42]

I forgot to say thank you earlier after I posted this but thanks to all who responded. I keep coming back to Trisms for next year with my oldest dd who will be 5th grade next year. We are going to begin a slow journey through History Makers.