Laura in STL Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I'm thinking about HO for next year's middle ages study. I will have dd in 4th and ds in 6th. Both are above grade level readers, and their writing is probably on grade level. I'm wondering if I should buy level one and level two? I definitely want level two for ds, but can't decide about level one. Im a little concerned that they don't line up lesson by lesson. We like to work together with their ages so close, so I might just have dd do SOTW 2 and try to follow the topics from level two. I haven't used HO before, so if you have any experience with it I would love to hear. Do you think we would be missing out by not using level one with dd? My main reason for getting HO is that I don't think we are doing enough logic level work in history with ds, and I think the structure will help us. I also like that it is secular, because we have our religion covered with another program. Thanks for any ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I would definitely go with level 2. Adapt as necessary (eliminate some of the writing) for the 4th grader. I'm not really a fan of level 1. I'd rather just use SOTW (and the AG a bit for readings) rather than HO1, and since the lessons *don't* line up at all, there's just not motivation to do HO1. ... But I think you could either do HO2 for the 6th grader and lighten some of the requirements (mostly writing-related -- a strong 4th grader could do all of the reading in HO2) for the younger one, or you could do HO2 and SOTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Im a little concerned that they don't line up lesson by lesson. We like to work together with their ages so close, so I might just have dd do SOTW 2 and try to follow the topics from level two. If this is an issue, I'd definitely go with level 2 and use the advice the PP gave. The HO levels do *not* line up at all. I've not heard many good reviews on HO's level 1 products so I would just save your money and skip that level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiKC Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 My son is in 5th grade and we're using level 2. I definitely think a 4th grader who's a decent reader would do fine with it. I expected there to be more writing. It really guides the student through outlining, even suggesting the main topics and asking the student to come up with two sub-topics for each main topic. The other writing assignments are mostly short summaries for various people - and by short I mean that a few sentences are suggested, maybe a paragraph once in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elinnea Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I have a similar situation. My boys are in 4th and 6th grade this year. Both read well above their grade levels. We started using HO last year. I had my older ds use Ancients Level 2 and my younger ds use Ancients Level 1. Loved Level 2 but didn't care for Level 1- it seemed to young for my ds. This year older ds is using HO Level 2 Middle Ages and he loves it. I wanted to combine both boys but Level 2 seems too advanced for my 4th grader. I think he could handle the reading just fine but there is a lot of summary writing and other writing (a biography and a short report) and he's just not there yet. I looked at Middle Ages Level 1 but that didn't look challenging enough so we're doing SOTW 2 with him plus a lot of extra reading. I would highly recommend going to the Pandia Press website and using the try before you buy feature. That might give you a better idea of whether it will work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiKC Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 My son is in 5th grade and we're using level 2. QUOTE] Should probably add that we're doing Ancients. From what I've seen of the samples, it does not seem as challenging as Middle Ages. I guess they are probably assuming that you'd begin with Level 2 Ancients (where they step the student through learning to outline) and then the next year you're on to Level 2 Middle Ages. So not sure about Level 2 Middle Ages for 4th grade, but think the Ancients would be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in STL Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Thanks for all the suggestions! I think I'll take everyone's advice and not bother with the level one. I saw another thread with SOTW lined up to the HO level 2 plan, so that is already done for me! I may have 4th grader do the literature, so we can still discuss as a family. That's her strong area, so it shouldn't be a problem. For writing I'll just stick to SOTW narrations for her, since it sounds like the Middle Ages summaries are a bit more advanced. We are doing IEW, too, so writing should be covered. History was my last thing to figure out, so now I can start buying and planning for next year! Yay!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 ...I expected there to be more writing. It really guides the student through outlining, even suggesting the main topics and asking the student to come up with two sub-topics for each main topic. ... There's not as much direction in the Middle Ages year though, because HO assumes a child has done the Ancients level. It's quite doable, but you may need to do a little more hand-holding at first when stepping in at the MA year with a child who hasn't done much outlining yet. ETA: Oops, and now I see that Heidi already mentioned this in her follow-up post. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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