Help needed for 7th grade Am. History (SL related question)!

[Blessedchaos]

DS is 12 and a rising 7th grader. He will be attending his PS part time and doing history at home this year, and it *may* be his only year doing this. We want to do American History, but I'm having a hard time finding an American History program designed for middle schoolers.

 

My two younger dc (ds, 10, rising 5th grader and dd 8, rising 3rd grader) will be doing Sonlight's Core D (formerly 3). I'm kicking myself because I was originally planning to do the condensed (3+4) core but couldn't find a used IG, so I decided to go ahead and do the 2 cores separately and purchased a used Core D (3) IG.

 

One option would be to have him do Core D along with his siblings, but the Sonlight catalog does specifiy up to grade 5 (core 3+4 was up to grade 7). I could bite the bullet, resell my Core D IG, and just buy a Core 3+4 IG new and combine all three. Or I could find another American History program ideally written to be done by the student independently (anyone know of one like this??). Another option would be to scrap American History altogether and have him do something like Core F (Eastern Hemisphere), but then he most likely wouldn't cover American History until high school.

 

I guess I really would prefer to have him working separately from his siblings as this just seems to work better, but I really am at a loss for what to use. Aaagh! I'm not good with decisions.

 

Help!

[Running the race]

I'd do Core F, Eastern Hemisphere. It's a great core filled with books you won't get anywhere else.

[melmichigan]

You should have everything you need to do a 3+4 combination, the books are pulled from the two cores so you should have them all. Just take the catalog and pull out what books they are using in 3+4 and put them in order.

 

My 7th grader is using a combination of Cores 7 and 100 again this year in addition to her TOG Y3 Dialetic studies (very avid reader). IMO Core 100 is perfect for middle school. The only exception for us is Hakim, my DD begs not to do those anymore so we leave them for Upper Grammar, not middle school. With that in mind any additional books you would pull from Core 100 would also be very appropriate, your library should carry many of them.

 

I have a hard time with the thought of 3+4 being 7th grade level as written, I think it would need supplement. We are using a large majority of both cores with my DD8's with their TOG.

[Chris in VA]

Just recommended Notgrass' Am The Beautiful. Have you seen it?

[amtmcm]

We're doing American History this year. My DD 6th will use A Beka's 8th grade America:Land I Love. It's colorful and fairly engaging and I know it will get done. I'm adding a book every week that is related to the topic in the text. We're keeping it very low key.

 

From your previous post about science, it sounds like your DS is advanced? Have you considered using Omnibus? My DD 9th will be using Omnibus 3 this year. Omnibus 2 this past year was excellent. I'm not sure I'd have a 12 year old do Omni 3 as they read Mein Kampf, Communist Manifesto and 1984, but I suppose you could skip those or cover them superficially.

 

Veritas Press uses BJU 11th grade US History to accompany Omni 3. BJU also has an 8th grade US History that I considered for DD 6th, but it looks a lot more in depth than I thought she could handle yet. It might be perfect for your DS. You can see a sample of the first chapter on BJU's website.

 

We've also tried All American History in the past but found it too dry for us.

 

I hope this helps give you some texts to consider. I'm sure other posters will have some additional suggestions.

[Blessedchaos]

Thanks for the suggestions! I forgot to mention that I would prefer largely secular materials. We are not religious, so while I want to teach my dc about all religions, I don't want overly religious materials. I think Notgrass looks pretty good, but maybe a little too religious and I know that Omnibus wouldn't work for us for the same reason. I am still considering SL Core 100 (but oh, the expense and time of two cores!). Something like History Odyssey, but with a focus on American History would be ideal. Something interesting, but short and to the point, yet challenging. Tall order right?

 

Yes, DS is very advanced, but very impatient also. He learns and wants to move on to the next thing right now.:001_huh:

 

Keep the suggestions coming. There has to be something that will work for us.

[amtmcm]

For completely secular, how about The History of US? Doesn't one of the Sonlight levels use it? I think Kolbe Academy also has a schedule you can buy.

 

Maybe add some of the more advanced SL 3+4 and SL 100 books and the videos from the History of US TV series.

[Donna T.]

We used Core 3+4 last year with 3rd and 6th graders. I would use the Core that you have for your younger two and use Core 100 with your 7th grader. He could read the history from Core 100 and sit in on the Core 3 read-alouds and read the Core 100 literature for himself. I was able to make Core 3+4 work o.k. for us but my younger son would have gotten much more out of it if we had done Core 3 for him. My oldest son ended up reading quite a bit of Core 100 and in the end, I thought it would have been better for us if we had done the Core 3 and Core 100 instead of the combined core for both of them.

 

Core 3+4 is GREAT!! Oh, my goodness, all of us loved it, but I will be doing American History again this year with my youngest just because it did move so fast. I'm not sure what he retained. My oldest loved Hakim's books. I think they are perfect for 7th graders. You could probably get them from your public library. My library has all of them. Or, you could buy them as you go. You really could get by without the SL IG if money is a concern.

[Donna T.]

For completely secular, how about The History of US? Doesn't one of the Sonlight levels use it? I think Kolbe Academy also has a schedule you can buy.

 

Maybe add some of the more advanced SL 3+4 and SL 100 books and the videos from the History of US TV series.

 

:iagree:

[Blessedchaos]

Super helpful - thanks! I checked and yep, my library does have them. Also, I either own or have access through the library to all but one of the books in Core 100. All I would need is a used IG and I'm set:). This is definitely the direction I'm leaning..

 

 

 

We used Core 3+4 last year with 3rd and 6th graders. I would use the Core that you have for your younger two and use Core 100 with your 7th grader. He could read the history from Core 100 and sit in on the Core 3 read-alouds and read the Core 100 literature for himself. I was able to make Core 3+4 work o.k. for us but my younger son would have gotten much more out of it if we had done Core 3 for him. My oldest son ended up reading quite a bit of Core 100 and in the end, I thought it would have been better for us if we had done the Core 3 and Core 100 instead of the combined core for both of them.

 

Core 3+4 is GREAT!! Oh, my goodness, all of us loved it, but I will be doing American History again this year with my youngest just because it did move so fast. I'm not sure what he retained. My oldest loved Hakim's books. I think they are perfect for 7th graders. You could probably get them from your public library. My library has all of them. Or, you could buy them as you go. You really could get by without the SL IG if money is a concern.

[melmichigan]

Sounds like a good plan. :)

[abbeyej]

I'd be happy to send you our history assignments from the past year -- but we worked on American (and a little world) history to 1850. (We're doing 1850-present this coming year.) I wrote them out for two 7th graders (my own and a friend of ours) using history spines recommended by WTM and 4 of the Hakim titles, among other things. They did literature separately (using books that fit in the time period), so you'd have to add that in. But I'm happy to forward you our history if you'd like. Just PM me your email address. (I'll share with anyone else as well. Just PM your email address.)