History & Science-combining planning question

[noashmam]

First of all, my apologies for this being so long and drawn out.

 

I have 3 dc. DS 7th, dd 5th, and dd 1st. We came into WTM late beginning 3 years ago when my ds was in 4th. We started with SOTW 1. This past school year, we finished SOTW 3 in May. I had plans to do SOTW 4 this next school year with my two oldest. However, now that my youngest dd is ready for the cycle, I have been toying with the idea of returning to Ancients both because of the mature content in SOTW 4 as well as then both dd's will be in the right place of the WTM cycle. In order to do that I had the bright idea that I could just read SOTW 4 to us this summer as a story without the additional outlining, etc. so that we had been exposed atleast to the Modern stuff. Then we would be ready for Ancients in the fall.

 

I already own a SOTW 1 (I need to get pdfs of the student pages). And then I read about K12 Human Odyssey and ordered all 3 books because it sounded so wonderful. So my plan was to use SOTW 1 with my 5th and 1st, requiring outlining from KF from my 5th and additional reading. Younger dd could do coloring pages and maps. My older ds would read K12 Human Odyssey Prehistory on his own. He could listen to SOTW 1 for fun if he wanted. I also have a HO student workbook that goes with the text book. But I still haven't decided whether I want ds to read this book and outline from KF or use student workbook from HO and no outlining (since we have a pretty intensive writing curriculum with CW Homer B).

 

Anyway, this was my plan until now..... and here it is... the summer break is almost over and we haven't finished SOTW 4! School starts back Aug 22 and we are only on Ch. 10 of SOTW 4. Also, I have found this book is more difficult to "listen" to than the others. Did anyone else have that experience? I'm thinking that my older kids might actually benefit from the additional outlining in KF to cement all the information in SOTW as well as just plain reading SOTW 4 themselves, rather than me reading it aloud. (This would mean either I need to buy another book or they share?).

 

The problem is I REALLY want to do Ancients! I REALLY want my ds to read K12 HO. It looks so good. i actually have all 3 volumes so he could begin reading them each year and then get to Modern his 9th grade year. Or perhaps he could read them all in two years? I dunno.

 

But then he wouldn't have read SOTW 4 at all.

 

One idea I had would be to use a LCC model and have a Classical History block, and Modern History block and do both periods this year. But I'm concerned that this would be too much. Plus, which period do I expect the outlining, etc. from. Both? One?

 

I'm also unsure what to do with my ds for Science. I had planned to do Apologia General with him and get him used to reading textbook and notes and tests, etc. But i will be using Elemental Science Biology for the Logic Stage with my dd. Part of me wants to have ds do this too! We haven't done Biology yet. We've done Astronomy, Chemistry, Botany, and some Physics. He said Biology sounds fun. The idea of a microscope and experiments together sounds fun to me. It also sounds doable with our History Schedule if we attempt both periods. Elemental Science can be done in 2 days whereas Apologia is 4 a week.

 

Here's what we have for school planned next year.

 

ds 7th

Writing: Classical Writing Homer B

Lit: taking a class meets 1x weekly with other homeschoolers

Spelling: Spelling Workout G

Grammar: Rod and Staff 7

Latin: Lively Latin 2

math: TT PreAlgebra

Science: Apologia General or Elemental Biology

History: SOTW 4 and K12 HO Prehistory to Medieval

Logic: undecided-suggestions?

Music: 4th year of piano attempting Certificate of Merit for the first time

He is also playing Fall Baseball and is in Boy Scouts

 

dd 5th

Writing: Classical Writing Aesop B

Spelling: Spelling Workout E

Grammar: Rod and Staff 5

Latin: Lively Latin 2

Math: TT 6

Science: Elemental Biology

History: SOTW 4 and SOTW1 (which one do I have her outline though?)

Logic: Mindbenders

Music: 4th year of piano and attempting Certificate of Merit for 1st time

Ballet: 3 times a week and just joined the studios Performing Company

 

dd 1st

Phonics: MFW 1st grade

Math:RS B

Science: Elemental Science Biology Lapbooking

History: SOTW 1

 

 

Am I crazy for thinking of doing both History periods? And if anyone out there thinks it's doable, do you have any suggestions? Like which one to outline and which one to read and just answer questions? Or ??????

 

And what about Science? Is Elemental Science Biology too easy for my ds 7th? I have been reading the Science threads and saw where some said in high school there isn't a foundation that is expected since they start at the beginning again. I really want to make the most of what time I have left with my ds before he hits those tough high school years. Also, if i did Elemental Science with him, he will be pursuing Merit Badges for Boy Scouts and many of those are Science Related. He is taking a couple of courses on the weekend at a Scout place to earn some Science related badges so he would have more Science exposure there too....

 

i don't know why but this 7th grade year is stressing me out more than the others!!!!! I feel like he's getting so old! And it was always important, but I'm feeling it is more important now?!?!?!??!

 

Anyone BTDT? Also, when the kids get in Logic Stage do you buy them their own books? So two KF's and two Science books, etc? Otherwise, how do I schedule that? Right now, I write down in their planners what they need to do for the week, and they work what they can independently. Sharing the KF adds another thing they have to figure out how to time. YKWIM?

 

Thanks,

 

Kim

[coffeegal]

Anyone BTDT? Also, when the kids get in Logic Stage do you buy them their own books? So two KF's and two Science books, etc? Otherwise, how do I schedule that? Right now, I write down in their planners what they need to do for the week, and they work what they can independently. Sharing the KF adds another thing they have to figure out how to time. YKWIM?

 

Thanks,

 

Kim

 

A few thoughts... Hand SOTW 4 to your 7th grader and let him read it before school begins. Don't assign anything, just let him read it then hand it to your 5th grade dd and let her read. On Aug. 22 start the whole family on ancients. :D Either that or pick up the audio SOTW 4 and listen to that as a family over the next couple weeks.

 

I had 3 children in the logic stage last year. They shared all resource books and spines. Somehow it all worked out although we had some periodic moodiness, but I think that goes with the territory. :lol: Seriously I had a backup plan for scheduling KFH, but the children worked it out for themselves.

 

Personally I found my first child hitting 7th grade to be stressful. High school was right around the corner! Go ahead and have fun now... include the Boy Scout badges and plenty of books from the library. Reread TWTM logic stage science plans and go for it. :D

[Jen+4dc]

Science is my nemesis so I can't help you there:tongue_smilie:.

 

But, as far as outlining goes: did you know the Activity Guide for SOTW 4 is mostly skeleton outlines? It's designed to help teach outlining and help the child transition into logic stage. There are also coloring pages to go with it that you can buy for your 1st grader. If you continued with SOTW 4 your 5th grader could use the AG to learn outlining easily.

 

If your 7th grader has a good grasp of outlining it would be simple to just have him finish reading SOTW to himself for enjoyment/exposure to the time period. Then, he could study and outline and work on the Ancients time period from k12 Human Odyssey. k12 HO is great for outlining, that's what my olders did this year. So, if your dc are used to outlining then k12 might be the way to go, you can require whatever level (one, two, three, etc.) they are ready for.

 

As far as buying two of every book they are sharing: I've never done that. If I have enough money for another book then I want a different book;). I have just had my kids do their work at different times during the day (one does history before lunch and the other after).

 

HTH:D

[noashmam]

Personally I found my first child hitting 7th grade to be stressful. High school was right around the corner! Go ahead and have fun now... include the Boy Scout badges and plenty of books from the library. Reread TWTM logic stage science plans and go for it. :D

 

This is exactly how I feel! High school is right around the corner!! One clarification.....you said include the Boy Scout badges, etc. Do you mean then that using the Elemental Science Biology Logic is okay for him and then add in the badges and books? Or just boy scout badges and books?

 

We are going on vacation and I will see if I can find SOTW 4 audio (I only have the book) so we can listen in the car on our 9 hour drive! Thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my long post and offer your suggestions.

[Jen+4dc]

A few thoughts... Hand SOTW 4 to your 7th grader and let him read it before school begins. Don't assign anything, just let him read it then hand it to your 5th grade dd and let her read. On Aug. 22 start the whole family on ancients. :D Either that or pick up the audio SOTW 4 and listen to that as a family over the next couple weeks.

 

 

This is a great suggestion! The modern time period would be more difficult to do with a first grader so letting the olders have the exposure between now and school starting then diving in with everyone on Ancients would be a lot of fun. You could use SOTW 1 with your 1st grader and k12 with the older 2. My ds did k12 HO Ancients in 5th grade and loved it! You'd have to teach outlining, but you've obviously been doing that with your 7th grader already so you know what you're doing. The only hitch would be that k12 and SOTW 1 don't line up chronologically so you'd have to coordinate that. But, plenty of folks on here have schedules already done for that. So....Go for it!:001_smile:

[coffeegal]

This is exactly how I feel! High school is right around the corner!! One clarification.....you said include the Boy Scout badges, etc. Do you mean then that using the Elemental Science Biology Logic is okay for him and then add in the badges and books? Or just boy scout badges and books?

 

 

I meant using Elemental Science Biology Logic is all right for him. Add in the badges and books. You could even have him do a few short research papers for good measure. TWTM has great suggestions for covering logic age science so you can check there for more ideas. :001_smile:

[noashmam]

This is a great suggestion! The modern time period would be more difficult to do with a first grader so letting the olders have the exposure between now and school starting then diving in with everyone on Ancients would be a lot of fun. You could use SOTW 1 with your 1st grader and k12 with the older 2. My ds did k12 HO Ancients in 5th grade and loved it! You'd have to teach outlining, but you've obviously been doing that with your 7th grader already so you know what you're doing. The only hitch would be that k12 and SOTW 1 don't line up chronologically so you'd have to coordinate that. But, plenty of folks on here have schedules already done for that. So....Go for it!:001_smile:

 

So can you tell me more about how you did K12? Did you read it aloud to your logic stage kids or did they share the book and read it independently? Also, did you have the student workbook or strictly outline the K12 HO? Thank you so much!!!

[noashmam]

I meant using Elemental Science Biology Logic is all right for him. Add in the badges and books. You could even have him do a few short research papers for good measure. TWTM has great suggestions for covering logic age science so you can check there for more ideas. :001_smile:

 

Great! Thank you. :001_smile:

[foxbridgeacademy]

K12 HO is a "don't miss" we love it. If you can't finish up Modern History I wouldn't worry to much. Go ahead and start over. The last 100 years or so and the effects from it come up in regular conversation(you could also watch some Doc's on netflix). I'm sure he has a general idea of events. As for Science, I'd try to do as much together as you can and biology is always fun, especially if you can take the whole family on nature walks.

[noashmam]

Jen+4dc, I just want to say that I read your post more carefully and realized that you answered my other question..... you assign the history one in morning and the other child in the afternoon. That is a great suggestion. One more question, how many days of the week did you assign K12 HO? I have a student workbook and it hs 180 lessons. I would prefer two or three days a week. I am thinking just have them read and outline ala WTM. Is this what you did? Thank you for your suggestions!

 

 

Science is my nemesis so I can't help you there:tongue_smilie:.

 

But, as far as outlining goes: did you know the Activity Guide for SOTW 4 is mostly skeleton outlines? It's designed to help teach outlining and help the child transition into logic stage. There are also coloring pages to go with it that you can buy for your 1st grader. If you continued with SOTW 4 your 5th grader could use the AG to learn outlining easily.

 

If your 7th grader has a good grasp of outlining it would be simple to just have him finish reading SOTW to himself for enjoyment/exposure to the time period. Then, he could study and outline and work on the Ancients time period from k12 Human Odyssey. k12 HO is great for outlining, that's what my olders did this year. So, if your dc are used to outlining then k12 might be the way to go, you can require whatever level (one, two, three, etc.) they are ready for.

 

As far as buying two of every book they are sharing: I've never done that. If I have enough money for another book then I want a different book;). I have just had my kids do their work at different times during the day (one does history before lunch and the other after).

 

HTH:D

[noashmam]

K12 HO is a "don't miss" we love it. If you can't finish up Modern History I wouldn't worry to much. Go ahead and start over. The last 100 years or so and the effects from it come up in regular conversation(you could also watch some Doc's on netflix). I'm sure he has a general idea of events. As for Science, I'd try to do as much together as you can and biology is always fun, especially if you can take the whole family on nature walks.

.

 

This makes me feel much beter. I am so excited about k12! Question....Did you read aloud or did your dc read independently? Thanks!

[Jen+4dc]

Jen+4dc, I just want to say that I read your post more carefully and realized that you answered my other question..... you assign the history one in morning and the other child in the afternoon. That is a great suggestion. One more question, how many days of the week did you assign K12 HO? I have a student workbook and it hs 180 lessons. I would prefer two or three days a week. I am thinking just have them read and outline ala WTM. Is this what you did? Thank you for your suggestions!

 

I did not read Human Odyssey to them, they read it independently. I did read it when I made my lesson plans (to tell the truth, I found it fascinating!). I would just choose 2 or 3 people/things that I wanted them to narrate from each chapter and one section to outline. The level of outline and length of passage to outline depended on the kid.

 

I did not use any other k12 materials so I can't speak to the student/teacher materials, sorry.

 

We did history 2 days one week and 3 days the next (science was done on opposite days from history). There was also supplemental readings to do so often dd would do Human Odyssey and ds would do supplemental stuff that day then they'd switch the next history day. We would discuss most of this together at dinner. (I'm schooling four right now, mom time is at a premium!:tongue_smilie:)

 

HTH

[noashmam]

Okay, this sounds good. One more question! (Again, thanks so much.) How did you come up with supplemental reading? Did you use WTM list or some other list?

 

I did not read Human Odyssey to them, they read it independently. I did read it when I made my lesson plans (to tell the truth, I found it fascinating!). I would just choose 2 or 3 people/things that I wanted them to narrate from each chapter and one section to outline. The level of outline and length of passage to outline depended on the kid.

 

I did not use any other k12 materials so I can't speak to the student/teacher materials, sorry.

 

We did history 2 days one week and 3 days the next (science was done on opposite days from history). There was also supplemental readings to do so often dd would do Human Odyssey and ds would do supplemental stuff that day then they'd switch the next history day. We would discuss most of this together at dinner. (I'm schooling four right now, mom time is at a premium!:tongue_smilie:)

 

HTH

[Jen+4dc]

Okay, this sounds good. One more question! (Again, thanks so much.) How did you come up with supplemental reading? Did you use WTM list or some other list?

I used the WTM list and several other lists I've gotten here and there. I found stuff at the library that applied, I asked here on the boards and irl friends....there's no lack of supplemental stuff out there. I recommend the "Famous Men of..." series From Memoria Press. (scroll down the linked page to see them). I didn't do the student/teacher stuff Memoria Press offers but we just read the biographies. They were well-done and Memoria Press has done a great job with the layout and adding pictures.

 

HTH:)

[johnandtinagilbert]

Ditto on let them read SOTW4 solo and start as a family in Ancients.

 

Apologia Gen Sci was the most boring we've done in 12 years of home schooling. So much so, I will not use it again. Go with ES and beef it up with a science ency worth of 7th grade.

 

Think depth and shoring up skills for logic stage....skill and content versus volume.

[noashmam]

Ditto on let them read SOTW4 solo and start as a family in Ancients.

 

Apologia Gen Sci was the most boring we've done in 12 years of home schooling. So much so, I will not use it again. Go with ES and beef it up with a science ency worth of 7th grade.

 

Think depth and shoring up skills for logic stage....skill and content versus volume.

 

Thanks for chiming in! I just finished photocopying ES Biology for my ds and I ordered a microscope! I'm getting excited about the year now! Thanks so much, ladies, for sharing your words of wisdom here. I love these boards. I don't post very often but have learned so much from so many of you. Big thanks to SWB for these boards!!!!!!