Our Overseas Adventure

[Penguin]

We are about to move to Denmark for a few years and our DS10 will attend an international school there. He has been in a wonderful Catholic school up until this point. Now I am eagerly putting together my afterschooling plans.

 

Here is what I have figured out so far:

 

I will make sure that he continues to learn US history. I purchased Seton's Grade 5 history book, "America's Catholic Heritage." The 23 chapters cover the span of US history from the Articles of Confederation through the Reagan era. This will be our spine and I think it will be very cool to overlay this book with all the European history that will surround us.

 

To supplement, I also bought :

 

Seton's Maps/Charts/Graphs workbooks that focus on North America. He will enjoy doing these workbooks.

 

Some relevant biographies (DS10 enjoys reading biographies).

 

Two Genevieve Foster Books. I'd love to have all of them!

Paddle to the Sea & Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling.

 

It is tempting to buy, buy, buy. I am so excited about this adventure as long as I don't think about having library-withdrawal :) But I have to exercise some restraint!! And I do have a Kindle, so that can come into play as well.

 

I've also made some plans and preparations for his religious education and art appreciation but this post is probably long enough already so I will save those details for another time :)

 

We will travel as much as our budget allows and we will be a bit unschooling-y. I will insist that he keep a travel journal but I won't dictate what has to go in it. And I will keep my own travel journal, too.

 

Any ideas are appreciated.

[EmilyGF]

I was an exchange student when I was 16 (junior year of high school). My parents found out the list of books that my class in school was reading for English and sent them to me. I loved them - probably because they were my last link to the USA and its culture.

 

I think you get tons of American history in US schools - I wouldn't worry missing out on that.

 

Emily

[regentrude]

You do not need to take all that many books with you - it is very easy to buy books in English in Europe. Amazon.uk ships very fast.

[stripe]

I am so excited about this adventure as long as I don't think about having library-withdrawal :) But I have to exercise some restraint!!

Don't they have libraries in Denmark?

 

Hjorring (Denmark) Public Library

<-- this one looks fantastic!

http://www.youthservicescorner.com/2009/library-spotlight-aarhus-public-library/

<-- so does this one, with all these services for teens

 

I'd download any old vintage books from Google while you're still in the US and bring along any beloved chapter books, as one is often so attached to those favorite stories (and the treasured copy, not some other one with a different cover).

 

Sounds fun. I'd love to go to Denmark.

[Penguin]

@Emily, I love the image of you reading those books that came from home. I can imagine how important those connections to home might be for a 16 yr old away on an exchange program. My DS10's international school is not a US-based curriculum so I do expect that I will have to fill in some gaps. But I certainly don't have to do the whole spectrum of US History in one year, which is how 5th grade social studies is taught in our current system.

 

@regentrude, thanks for the thoughts on Amazon UK.

 

@stripe, you made me giggle. Of course they have libraries in Denmark but I have no idea how many books we will find in English :) A great list you gave me - thanks.

 

We have always been traveling fools, so DS10 is already a good little traveler. We have older children, too but they are old enough now to be beyond the scope of this forum. But they are the reason that I own a first-edition copy of the WTM :) I never homeschooled but I sure did draw plenty of benefits from the book and its educational philosophy anyway. I've been afterschooling in one way or another for a VERY long time!

[Penguin]

Some updates: We had the opportunity to visit Denmark over spring break. I went to a few bookstores and the library. The bookstores had very few (if any) English language books. The library has a very small selection of English language books. Perhaps it is different in Copenhagen... I don't know. But now all of the cartons of books that I have packed to go to Denmark will indeed go to Denmark. As I was packing, I was hesitating. Do I really need to bring all of these books? Yes, in fact... I do!! And the little buying spree that I have been on seems kind of justified, LOL. However, I did discover that Amazon.uk offers free shipping to Denmark if you spend 25 British pounds, so that WILL be an option! And we were able to purchase some children's books that will jump-start his Danish. I had been unable to find Danish language instruction materials for children in the US.

 

I have decided to cover US history with DS10 over a two-year span. We will aim to reach the Civil War by the end of the first year.

 

But I want to capture the excitement of living in Denmark right away, so I am planning for him (us!) to do spend time learning about Scandinavia & European geography over the summer. We will ease into the US history as we get closer to the start of the school year. I love the concept of Genevieve Foster's "Horizontal Histories" and these will help him correlate US history with the rest of the world's history.

Edited April 27, 2011 by Penguin
clarity

[Giraffe]

I've been lurking on this thread and am so glad you got to go to Denmark and get a feel for the situation. And I'm glad your buying spree was justified and all those books will get good use!

 

Signed,

Another peripatetic mom who's probably going overseas in the next few years too and will have to home school US history and literature, at a minimum, and bring all the material with me!

[stripe]

How are you getting your stuff there?

[Deb in NZ]

For literature to go along with your American History studies look at the readers & read-alouds that Sonlight uses in their Intro to American History cores (cores D & E in the 2011 catalog) I used the one year condensed core D+E with my dc to supplement our world history study when we were covering 1600-today. The Sonlight books were loved by all my dc (14, 12, & 8 when we used them) I combined core D+E (one year condensed intro to American History) with core H (World History, year 2). I read both sets of Read-Alouds to all my dc. Dd (then 14) read the readers in core H. Ds#1 (then 12) read the readers in core D+E. Ds#2 read the grade 3 readers. We only used the History books from core H as I did not like the books SL chose for the history section of core D+E.

 

Have a look at http://www.sonlight.com to get a few ideas for literature to go along with the American text you've chosen.

 

Blessings,

[jeri]

We have great friends in Denmark and I was an exchange student to Sweden way back in 81-82. Denmark is a great place to live! You will have so much fun!

 

Jeri

[Lizzie in Ma]

Completely not answering your question but wow! Our dd is going over next July for a year abroad and staying with friends. She will be going to Sonderborg State School!! Where are you going to be?

[Penguin]

You might like http://www.toporopa.eu/en/index.html for your studies we used this, this year with our study of Europe.

 

An very cool resource. Thank you so much.

[urban mama]

And we were able to purchase some children's books that will jump-start his Danish. I had been unable to find Danish language instruction materials for children in the US.

 

.

 

How about Rosetta Stone?

[Penguin]

I am updating my old thread about afterschooling an American 5th grade boy in Denmark. We have lived here for 6 months now and I have a much better feel for what we need to do. I have grown children so I have a very, very good idea of where my son needs to be by the beginning of high school. My goal is to ensure that he would be well-prepared to enter the private high school that my older children attended. Danish school days are short compared to the U.S., and homework is minimal (thank you!). So we can do a lot.

 

Math: I am using Math Mammoth. Love it. Besides working on fractions and decimals and normal 5th grade math stuff, my son is working his way through the Metric System worktext. I'm also planning to do more Living Math and I am excited about the prospect. Goal: Algebra 1 in 8th grade.

 

Grammar: I had not planned to afterschool grammar, but he is not getting enough grammar. There are children in his class who only speak basic English and there are native speakers. I think it is just really hard for the teacher to service all of those levels. But my older children had very rigorous grammar during 5th through 8th grade and it SO paid off for them in high school. Rod & Staff Grammar, here we come!!

 

I think I have figured out a long-range plan for History from now until HS. We will weave history, religion/church history and reading together. Using Mater Amabilis as a guide, I've decided to do two tracks of History at once, and I am contemplating a block schedule.

 

2012 (2nd semester of 5th through 1st semester of 6th)

U.S. - up to the Civil War

*Ancients through Greece

 

2013 (2nd semester of 6th through 1st semester of 7th)

U.S. - Civil War to present

*Romans through 1066

 

2014 (2nd semester of 7th through 1st semester of 8th)

* 1066 through 1700

 

2015 (2nd semester of 8th plus a summer)

World History from 1700 to present & filling in the gaps of American History.

 

*These correspond to Volumes 1,2 and 3 of the Catholic Connecting with History program.

 

I would love your comments!

[EmilyK]

I'm envious in so many ways. I loved Denmark when I spent a summer there and would love to take the kids there. Are you doing a lot of viking field trips?

 

I'm also envious of a short school day etc that leaves lots of time for afterschooling. Not true here but we are having a great year and so I am thankful.

 

Question and I hope this isn't taken as a criticism, because I'm really curious (so I decided to take a risk and ask): I went to a wonderful Catholic girls' school for grades 7 to 12 but we didn't use a Catholic focused history curriculum. Or really any other Catholic focused curriculum outside of possibly religion -- and even there I took classes on things like comparative religion. But of course this was back in the 70s and maybe it wasn't available? in fashion? The values in that school follow and influence me to this day, however. Anyway, the part I'm curious about is the Catholic curriculum. Is that what your son would be doing if still at his old school? Are you feeling like, well, if I'm afterschooling, I might as well align it with our values? Anyway, sorry if this is off-topic or none of my business.

 

I do think your history and other plans sound wonderful.

[Penguin]

Emily,

 

Gosh, I don't mind your question one bit. I appreciate your interest. I decided to make up my own history / religion curriculum. It is probably overly ambitious...oh, well!

 

I'm going with the guess that we will be in Denmark until my son starts high school. I'm using the school that my oldest boys attended as my benchmark just because it offers a quality education and I know what ready-for-high-school-success looks like there.

 

The need to cover US history and geography is kind of obvious. He goes to an international school, not an American school. Many of the kids study their own language, history and religion (if they have one) outside of the school.

 

I want religion (and comparative religion) to be within the context of history, and while I am still working it out in my head (and on paper), my ideas are influenced by:

 

St. Jerome School's Classical Curriculum

Connecting with History

Mater Amabilis

 

We didn't do as much history as I had hoped the first six months, but we are more settled in a routine now. We have done quite a bit of traveling/field trips, so that counts. By the way, the school days are shorter but the kids have approximately four more school weeks per year.