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We've been using MOH for the last 2 years and it has been a great fit for us. We are about to finish up book 2 and move on to book 3. However, it looks pretty likely that we will be moving to China in the next 3-6 months and so I was thinking maybe I'd be better off dropping MOH and moving to some sort of focused Chinese (or at least Asian) history study so we could take full advantage of our move. We have learned some Chinese history through MOH, but since the program is set up strictly chronologically, it is sometimes hard to piece together the history of one country or people group.

 

Does anyone have any ideas of something I could use that would be similar to MOH but focus on China? Just so you have an idea of what we love about MOH..... the daily reading (already divided into daily reading chunks), timeline, mapwork, and doing a quick notecard each day about something they learned or found interesting from the reading. We don't need the crafts and extra activity suggestions (they don't get done anyway:blushing:).

 

I know that Sonlight has a program but I'm thinking it may be too much. Is SOTW organized more by cultures/countries within the different time periods? Could I just get all 4 and easily pull out the Chinese culture sections to make a full study?

 

Thanks!

 

Oh, and I'm using this with a full range of elementary kids.

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We did a Chinese history year. What I designed is best suited for middle school, but there are lots of good books for youngers too - my Hobbes was tagging along. A lot of the books are here and the (rough) curriculum is in the side bar of my blog.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

Laura,

It is a wonderful list. I will have to read to my half Chinese kids those books.

J

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We started Sonlight Core 5 as we moved to Japan and I thought it was wonderful. You might want to start with the books listed in the catalog for that year.

Different people have different success with the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer. We got a lot out of it, but didn't allow it to become our master.

 

Here are teaching kits from the Hong Kong Museum of History, that you might find useful.

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Sabastian,

 

Thanks for the link to the kits, I will check them out.

 

When you used Sonlight, did you use the IG or did you just get the books and go through them on your own? Also, how much of the program is devoted to China versus the other countries? Finally, is it mostly history or is cultural study mixed in as well?

 

Thanks!

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  • 4 months later...

We are going to be using A Heart for You China by David and Shirley Quine. It has a lot of Chinese history,language and worldview studies which looks amazing. It is geered towards 3rd through 8th and does have a lot of copywork. I have perused it and can't wait to use it.

 

http://www.cornerstonecurriculum.com/Curriculum/Heart4You/Heart.htm

 

 

Enjoy China.We all would LOVE to go!

Jenifer

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We are going to be using A Heart for You China by David and Shirley Quine. It has a lot of Chinese history,language and worldview studies which looks amazing. It is geered towards 3rd through 8th and does have a lot of copywork. I have perused it and can't wait to use it.

 

http://www.cornerstonecurriculum.com/Curriculum/Heart4You/Heart.htm

 

 

Enjoy China.We all would LOVE to go!

Jenifer

 

Oooh, something new! It sounds good, I'm off to check it out.

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Another interesting group of books about the Chinese written language are by Huy Voun Lee . I was able to get them at my library. My kids loved them. They break down the Chinese written language by starting with a character and adding to that character to create new words. It is like a logical progression that is easy to understand. You will not walk away conversing in Chinese but will definitely have an understanding and appreciation of their written language.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Huy-Voun-Lee/e/B001JS0DLS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

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Another interesting group of books about the Chinese written language are by Huy Voun Lee . I was able to get them at my library. My kids loved them. They break down the Chinese written language by starting with a character and adding to that character to create new words. It is like a logical progression that is easy to understand. You will not walk away conversing in Chinese but will definitely have an understanding and appreciation of their written language.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Huy-Voun-Lee/e/B001JS0DLS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

 

Thanks, these look great! I had a couple of other questions about the Heart for China program you linked before. I couldn't find anything on the website about how long it should take to complete the program.... do you have any thoughts as to the number of weeks it will take to complete? Also, how much of it is devoted to the Biblical worldview/evangelism side compared to the cultural/history aspect of the program? Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I'm a bit concerned since the stuff going in our moving shipment will likely be inspected at customs and I'm not sure how the gov't would respond to seeing this in our shipment. Like I said, maybe I'm just overly paranoid, but I don't want to be flagged going into the country.

 

Thanks!

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I wish I could get the guide to you. It does have Chinese Bible translation and a copy of the Chinese/English Book of John. It also discusses Hudson Taylor and several other missionaries to China. There is also the prayer calender. I don't know how much of a focus there is on evangelism as much as seeing the people as God sees them,understanding their cultural heritage over the centuries. It may be too much,I really don't know. From looking through it I appreciate the focus on the culture and history and I have to say it is apptly named A Heart for You because that really pours through it is definitely packed with Worldview.I wish I had already done it so that I could be of greater help. This is a web link used in the book.

http://www.wbschool.org/Chinese.swf

 

It is definitely Christian content but interesting.

 

I forgot to include that the study takes 36 weeks to complete.

 

 

When are you going?

Edited by 4Hisglory
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We did a Chinese history year. What I designed is best suited for middle school, but there are lots of good books for youngers too - my Hobbes was tagging along. A lot of the books are here and the (rough) curriculum is in the side bar of my blog.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

I checked your blog and saw the China study schedule. However, it is hard for me to see what books you scheduled. Would you mind listing the books either here or in your blog? Those look really good. When I went back to China to visit my family and friends, my former coworker gave me two sets of Chinese history books in CHINESE. It is hard for me to teach my English-speaking kids from the books. I think I will do a Chinese history year after we are done with SOTW 4. Thank you, Laura!

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I don't have anything to add (except that I am SO excited for you - what an amazing opportunity!!!), but I did want to say thanks to everyone for your suggestions. My daughter is adopted from China, and while she is only 4, I do hope to do a study on China in our homeschool when she is older! I'll be bookmarking these sites - Thanks!! :)

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I wish I could get the guide to you. It does have Chinese Bible translation and a copy of the Chinese/English Book of John. It also discusses Hudson Taylor and several other missionaries to China. There is also the prayer calender. I don't know how much of a focus there is on evangelism as much as seeing the people as God sees them,understanding their cultural heritage over the centuries. It may be too much,I really don't know. From looking through it I appreciate the focus on the culture and history and I have to say it is apptly named A Heart for You because that really pours through it is definitely packed with Worldview.I wish I had already done it so that I could be of greater help. This is a web link used in the book.

http://www.wbschool.org/Chinese.swf

 

It is definitely Christian content but interesting.

 

I forgot to include that the study takes 36 weeks to complete.

 

 

When are you going?

 

Thank you so much for this input. This program looks really great and I really want to do it. However, I'm still not sure how comfortable I am with taking this program into China with me. I'm sure it probably isn't an issues, it is just that this is all new to me and I know that there are boundaries we can't cross when it comes to our faith. I think I'm going to talk it over with dh a bit more tonight and get his take on the issue.

 

Thanks!

 

ETA: Oh, and we are planning on leaving at the end of the month. Still waiting on a few immigration things, so that could change, but we are hopeful that we will be in country by the 1st of April.

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I checked your blog and saw the China study schedule. However, it is hard for me to see what books you scheduled. Would you mind listing the books either here or in your blog? Those look really good. When I went back to China to visit my family and friends, my former coworker gave me two sets of Chinese history books in CHINESE. It is hard for me to teach my English-speaking kids from the books. I think I will do a Chinese history year after we are done with SOTW 4. Thank you, Laura!

 

Just jumping in here to see if I can help. When you click on her "rough curriculum" link, it takes you to a yellow, spreadsheet style page. If you go to the top of that page, there are 3 links: plan (which is highlighted), notes, sheet 3. If you click on "notes" it will take you to a page with a list of books with authors, isbn, and descriptions.

 

HTH!

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Sabastian,

 

Thanks for the link to the kits, I will check them out.

 

When you used Sonlight, did you use the IG or did you just get the books and go through them on your own? Also, how much of the program is devoted to China versus the other countries? Finally, is it mostly history or is cultural study mixed in as well?

 

Thanks!

 

The IG schedules the reading for readers and read alouds. I think that we spend 3-4 weeks on China (including Taiwan and Tibet).

 

Other countries/regions scheduled included Japan, Korea, India, Vietnam, Australia, the Middle East, and South West Asia. (I might be leaving something out.)

 

One of the main resources was something called Eastern Hemisphere Explorer. This was sort of like a guide for the year long unit study, with projects, timelines, biography questions, historical questions and essay topics. I thought this was really good, but I know others who were nothing but frustrated with it. The main complaint was that it required too much time with the World Book Encyclopedia program and that some parts were just too hard to figure out.

 

It is very much cultural studies mixed in with history and geography.

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My youngest child is adopted from China. I have several books about China...both fiction & non-fiction. Here's a list:

 

The Seven Chinese Brothers

A Grain of Rice

Granny Han's Breakfast

Little Pear

Shen of the Sea

China's Son (Growing up in the Cultural Revolution)

Count Your Way through China

Chinese Fairy Tales

The Story of Mu-Lan

Ruby's Wish

The Bellerophon Ancient Book of China

The Great Wall of China

A Taste of China

When You Were Born in China

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Imperial China

Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats

(Kingfisher) Beijing: Through Time

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I checked your blog and saw the China study schedule. However, it is hard for me to see what books you scheduled. Would you mind listing the books either here or in your blog?

 

Couldn't you open the spreadsheet? If you can, click on the tab that says 'notes' and the books are listed with ISBNs.

 

Laura

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