feedback on this history plan

[Ann@thebeach]

I'm trying to flesh out a plan for middle and high school history.

Our past history has consisted of SOTW CDs, historical fiction, and "A complete world history" for grades 4-6 (just a typical basic text)

This is for an "average" boy who reads well and needs a little more variety with his studies. I'm trying to mix more related books/videos/audios in with his subjects when possible.

We use mostly secular materials or make christian programs secular for our needs as an FYI.

 

For 7th gr this fall: Hakim's History of the US using Hewitt's syllabus http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/book/bsingle.asp?i=2852

 

8th grade: Possibly Sonlight's core 5/Eastern Hemisphere-looks interesting and a unique program and books

 

9th grade: SWB History of the Ancient World + related materials (syllabus for more materials?)

 

10th grade: SWB History of the Medieval World + related materials

 

11th grade: ? maybe SWB will have another book out? or Notgrass or other

 

12th grade:Amer govt/econ-resources??? don't have a program yet

 

I really like the idea of the Notgrass American History program because of the lit supplement. We would just leave out the bible portion. But I'm not sure when we'd fit this in? Maybe 11th grade?

 

I originally thought of moving to Sonlight and starting with core 5/Eastern Hemisphere and moving through the cores through high school (except for bible) just so we'd have a "plan." But I've read so many differing reviews on their high school cores that I thought maybe this plan might be a better place to start.

 

I will also be adding in geography in 7th, 8th, and determine after that where else to add it in. I'll be using Trail Guides for World Geography for sure, not sure what else is good?

 

I'd appreciate any feedback or ideas you might offer.

Thanks!

Edited April 25, 2011 by Ann in IA

[LatinTea]

I've got a minute and thought I would send your post back to the top. :)

 

Two things I wanted to mention. One, you've probably looked at Sonlight 100, but since you are using Hakim in 7th, why not use SL? The literature is perfect for that grade level. Anyway, and as far as Notgrass goes, you mentioned the literature supplement. I would say that the books are good in themselves, but there isn't any lit analysis, just a very few comprehension questions. There is a nice intro to the authors, and possibly some essay questions that I haven't seen yet.

 

I know it's hard; I'm still trying to figure out my dd's next history course for 10th grade! Hang in there; hopefully you get some better replies than mine. :)

[Ann@thebeach]

Thanks, I had not thought about SL Core 100 but it looks really good.

[LatinTea]

I should have mentioned that many who do use Core 100 use those tests from Hewitt alongside the core so I know it's a good fit! :)

[Carol in Cal.]

I have an old version of Core 5 that I bought used, and it's really too elementary for 8th grade. I think that you could maybe use Core 5 for 7th and Core 100 for 8th and be happier with it. Honestly, though, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

[Ann@thebeach]

I have an old version of Core 5 that I bought used, and it's really too elementary for 8th grade. I think that you could maybe use Core 5 for 7th and Core 100 for 8th and be happier with it. Honestly, though, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

 

Yes, I thought of this too and thought it made sense to switch Core 5 to 7th grade, esp if I was going to use the Core 100.

 

Can you list a few things you didn't like about it? Always curious to hear other views!

 

Thanks!

[Carol in Cal.]

Yes, I thought of this too and thought it made sense to switch Core 5 to 7th grade, esp if I was going to use the Core 100.

 

Can you list a few things you didn't like about it? Always curious to hear other views!

 

Thanks!

 

You know, it's really pretty good, but I guess that I was SO overly excited about it that it couldn't live up to the hype in my own mind. I thought that the encyclopedia sections were pretty boring, and instead of those I bought the "Enchantment of the World" books for each country. That got pretty expensive. The other thing is is that a bunch of the books were about boys coming of age, and that whole 'I discovered my inner courage' thing got a little old. Esp. for my DD. Although, they were well-written. OTOH, the other non-fiction was really good, especially the books about Japan.

Something to be aware of is that the fiction presents other faiths 'from the inside', which might need some discussion if you're not a universalist (I'm not).

 

So, really, it was pretty good, but just not as totally over the top great as I had pictured. I really really really liked the Tiner books, which I had not heard of before. I bought the core used, and they came with it, and I was very glad to have them and ended up hunting down more to use.

 

If I were doing a traditional timeline, I would have liked the timeline figures, but our timeline is in a book with only writing in it, so we didn't use them. They were nice, though.

[Carol in Cal.]

I should probably add in how we actually used this.

 

We sorted out the books by country or region. We read about each culture in the enchantment books, and then DD read all the other books about that culture, usually including some extras that I already owned or found. When we read about Japan, we tied it up to the present by reading some stories about WWII from a Hawaiian Nisei perspective, and also the description of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in the Marrin book about the Pacific front. This is because DD had a choral tour to Hawaii coming up, so it tied in really well.

 

For field trips we visited ethnic grocery stores and local ethnic sites. This was pretty easy since we live in CA where there is a ton of diversity. I also called DD's attention to people we knew from the different places, or whose families were from there. We talked about characteristics that we noticed in the books and those people.

 

I separated the science completely.

 

For chemistry we revisited RS4K1 chemistry, bought some kits to do experiments (never my strong point, darn it), and read the Tiner book. The next year I ran a coop chemistry class where we reviewed the periodic table properties, modelled the Rutherford experiment using ping pong balls (I should really write that up sometime. It was VERY effective.), talked about research methodology and working in research teams, designed experiments to test pH, made cabbage indicators, and tried them out. So basically we did a big general chemistry unit. We covered just a tad of organic chemistry, but no biochem at all.

[Ann@thebeach]

Thanks so much for the feedback! I have a boy so he'll probably like the "inner courage" books but I see what you mean.