Guest aquiverfull Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Feel free to share the 'whys' behind your choice. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 4 year cycle. It just makes more sense to me, and I like knowing that we'll be back to a particular time period again, so I won't feel like we have to get it all the first time around. I also feel like if we follow a 4 year history cycle I won't leave anything out, or forget a time period like I might if we weren't doing a cycle at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Thanks for your input Jennifer. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 4 year cycle. It just makes more sense to me, and I like knowing that we'll be back to a particular time period again, so I won't feel like we have to get it all the first time around. I also feel like if we follow a 4 year history cycle I won't leave anything out, or forget a time period like I might if we weren't doing a cycle at all. :iagree: The multiple exposure also allows them to gain a deeper understanding each time they return to the material. We are doing our second round of ancients this year and it is so much fun! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyagain Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Well, I chose 4yr but starting in 5th grade. I don't think kids really "get" chronology before then so I'd like to do more interest led and American history.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 In theory, I stroingly prefer the 4 year cycle. It's neat and tidy, and makes a lot of sense to me. However, I did a 4 year cycle with my older 2 boys. The 5th year we did ancients again. As I was looking at my long term plan, I realized that for the older 2 to start Omnibus in 8th/7th, I'd need to get them through world history in 2 years. So we're doing SL 6 & 7 to get us through history in 2 years. This means my younger sons got whatever part of the first rotation they happened to pay attention to--I start requiring them to sit in on the reading around age 5, but some listened before that, and they're getting the 2 year tour right now. I really should sit down and formulate a longterm plan for the younger boys, but the thought makes my brain itch at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts. JudoMom, you and I are thinking along the same lines. :) I need to figure out a plan for my younger dds. My oldest (that I've homeschooled) hasn't really had a neat and tidy history cycle. We've just went with whatever. I'd really like to have a nice plan for my youngers, even though I realize things might change. I just can't decide what version of the history cycle I like better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Right now I'm planning a 4-year cycle. Now that might change as our needs change. I have no curriculum choices made for middle school or high school, since the available curricula may be vastly different than what it is today. Plus I have such a hard time finding history that I like to begin with, so I'm waiting to see if something I really like shows up. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 (edited) . Edited July 12, 2022 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 We started on a 4-year cycle with SOTW, but do "history club" with two other families and due to various delays have found that it takes us about 18 months to complete a book. We went through SOTW1-3 and have now restarted with ancients for the 1st graders to join in. Although I find it a bit frustrating that we got behind, the benefits of doing the activities from the AG together in a group once a week far outweighed this negative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 In theory, I stroingly prefer the 4 year cycle. It's neat and tidy, and makes a lot of sense to me. Yep. I am a big fan of 4 year history cycle. However, my dd felt rushed through ancients and hated middle ages and then really wanted more American history. I realized that her having a love for history was more important than finishing three four year cycles. She much prefers to linger in an area than rush through. With my younger, I have a different plan. We aren't starting history until 4th grade. Until then we will do an overview of history with stories, folk tales, unit studies related to travel, biographies and STOW audio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 For me it is easier to find a history curriculum I like and follow it. That is much easier said than done. :glare: I've used Beautiful Feet, Sonlight, SOTW, MOH, VP, and TruthQuest. Most of those I've tried, shelved and then tried again. I've seriously considered Tapestry and MFW. As you can tell I've really struggled finding a history that I like probably because I don't know exactly what I'm looking for. I just know when it's not jiving. Anyway, in the end I cycle based on how the plan I follow cycles. In theory I would cycle however I like and then find or tweak materials to fit that. But I find so much else to tweak that fiddling with their cycle is not something I want to fool with. Just this year I started school off with SOTW (my 3rd try here) which would put us on a 4 year cycle, but after Christmas I switched to TruthQuest (2nd try) ...a series of 7 books. That is not a pretty cycle, let me tell you. :lol: But I did sketch out a plan for my dc that I like, even though it is quite odd and unconventional. It looks good on paper, but I'll have to live it out for a few months to see if it's working for us. I voted other. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I'm an "other" (and I feel like I belong on an episode of LOST:)), I started with a four year cycle, but found that rushing through the material just so that I could finish ___ in one year was too much. I know, for the little guys, it's about exposure, not mastery, but I always felt I was just plowing through all this great stuff and not taking time to enjoy it enough. So we now do a longer, slower, two stream history approach, and we are enjoying it greatly, even if it is not all neat and tidy like the four year rotation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I'm in the "other" category. I like SOTW and would love to stick with a 4 year cycle, but my kids want American History and lots of it. We did SOTW1 when oldest was in 2nd and dd was in preK, then tried SOTW 2 the next year and never finished it. We tried SOTW 3 for the next 2 years and never made it very far. I love the idea of many curricula out there (SL, TOG, HO, and others) but none of them fit, either they are too religious, or like HO they go geographically which was hard for me to wrap my brain around. This year we're using the Time Travelers CDroms and will just make our way through them at what ever pace my kids find comfortable. They like to really dive into things, so I think the more unit based approach (explorers, colonial times, revolution, etc) will be more up their alley. We'll most likely do the 4 year cycle in high school which is when it seems to make the most sense to us. My youngest will just tag along until he decides to jump in, he's only in K now so I'm not real worried about history for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 We are doing a 3 yr rotation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabelneri Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 We started on a 4-year rotation in 1st grade and covered all of SOTW1. This year we started doing Ambleside Online too, and I decided to switch to the 6-year cycle (specifically AO's 6-year cycle) for a couple reasons: 1) Sweetie likes to really delve into topics, even at this age. Slowing down by two years is going to give me time to let her do that, plus we can really examine English, American, and Californian history at the same time as covering world history. 2) My younger daughter is 5 years younger; if I were to stick with the 4-year cycle we would be doing modern history while she was 4 and old enough to understand what we were talking about. I don't find modern history to be age-appropriate for a 4-year-old. Using the 6-year cycle, she'll be in 1st grade and starting her own study of the ancients while Sweetie and I do a quick run through the 20th century and then start back over with the ancients in the 2nd half of 6th grade. 3) AO does this interesting thing where they manage to do ancient through modern history starting in the 2nd half of 6th grade and ending during 11th grade. Then in 12th grade they really get into the ancients again, which is a perfect age to read Plato and other philosophers. Dh in particular is totally excited for that (he likes philosophy). So it comes down to fitting my family's needs. My particular child-spacing really lends itself to the 6-year cycle. (Sometimes I think if we have another baby I should try to line it up with our history cycle :tongue_smilie:). Have fun choosing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I don't have everything planned out. We take one year at a time. I originally decided to do cycles, but it has worked out better to explore historical periods in depth. For instance this school year we have been exploring ancient Egypt and will be learning about ancient Egypt for probably another month. We started with prehistory last school year and will probably get to modern history by the end of 8th grade. I figure high school can be a time where they either do a general overview of history or in depth studies of historical periods of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophiaH Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 (edited) I'm an "other" (and I feel like I belong on an episode of LOST:)), I started with a four year cycle, but found that rushing through the material just so that I could finish ___ in one year was too much. I know, for the little guys, it's about exposure, not mastery, but I always felt I was just plowing through all this great stuff and not taking time to enjoy it enough. So we now do a longer, slower, two stream history approach, and we are enjoying it greatly, even if it is not all neat and tidy like the four year rotation. :iagree: In theory, I prefer the four-year cycle. It's so neat and tidy! However, we did two years of a four-year cycle and it all felt like such a whirlwind. We're now moving more slowly through American history. I love two-stream history ala LCC and LBC, so I think that's what we'll move to next year. (We've always kept "Classical Studies" going on the side anyway, like LCC first edition suggests.) That would basically be a 6-year cycle, I guess. But I chose other, because like another poster said it's so hard to find a history program that I like that I choose to decide on a program and just follow whatever cycle they use, although I try to at least keep us moving somewhat chronologically. :001_huh: Wow, that's confusing. :lol: Edited January 18, 2011 by mommahawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I appreciate all the responses. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading through them and can completely relate with many of you. I've always found it hard to find a history program I like as well, hence the messy mish mash of history time periods my oldest has been through. In theory, I love the idea of a 4 year cycle. Like you all mentioned, it's nice and tidy and easy to jump into many of the Pre-made curricula out there. Many revolve around the 4 year cycle. Yet, I have also experienced the feelings of being rushed and wanting more American history. I've been considering the "2-Streams of history" approach mostly because it seems like it would be the best of both worlds. I'm also drawn to a CM education and I know many of those available use a 6 year cycle. I think I'm going to have to go mostly on my own or use something that is tweakable without it affecting the overall product too much. I'm just not satisfied leaving it well enough alone. I'd love to hear from more of you. :) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 If I had one child, I think 2 cycles of 5 years would be best. Focus on the 3Rs up to 2nd, then do history from 3rd-7th and again 8th-12th. But I have several, I'm trying a dual stream (classical and American) 4 year cycle for the rest of this year, if that flops I'm going to a 6 year. Clear as mud. :D Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 If I had one child, I think 2 cycles of 5 years would be best. Focus on the 3Rs up to 2nd, then do history from 3rd-7th and again 8th-12th. I really like this plan too. I do think it will work for my 3rd, but I am not sure how I am going to fit my 4th into it ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 For me it seems like the more kids I add in the mix, the more the 4 year cycle seems to fall apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 When you talk about a 6 year history cycle, what are you adding to the traditional 4 year cycle? I was thinking of doing something similar and adding a year extra of just American History and a year of "other history"...Asia, South America, Africa, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Kristinannie, I'm not sure if you were specifically asking me or not... When I included the 6 year cycle in the poll, I was thinking along the lines of what Ambleside Online and Simply Charlotte Mason do. You can read more about AO's History Sequence here, and SCM's here. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I like the four year cycle because it just makes sense to me and so far it's working good for us :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 When you talk about a 6 year history cycle, what are you adding to the traditional 4 year cycle? Well, I just talked about a 5 year cycle, but my plan is to make years 3 and 4 take 3 years by adding in more american history. I am pretty sure that the 6 year cycles just strech out the regular chronological cycle, not really add another year. Many add a lot of extra bible or ancient history to the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3MonkeysMama Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 We do a 4 year (currently in year 2) with MOH. I like MOH for the most part but do feel it moving fast. My son LOVES history and begs for me to keep reading everyday. My two main concerns with staying with MOH is 1) Not enough American history which I know my boy would love and I think is needed. 2) DD will come into our 4 year rotation in year 3 which isn't ideal, but I guess in the end she will get the same number of rotations just in a different order? I am going to check the other links out and do some research. We might have to make some changes :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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