Number of Years in History Cycle (4 vs 6)

[TolleLegeAcademy]

I am trying to lay out a plan for history for grades 1-12....just a general outline of years/time periods to cover. Since we are at the beginning of our schooling, I'm really not sure what will work out best. I've read the WTM cycle, and also Ambleside Online's, Simply Charlotte Mason's and LindaFay's at Higher Up and Further In. Plus the Sonlight way of looking at it. (and TOG and Veritas Press for that matter. Yep. Lots of time spent looking around here.)

 

I know I can make changes as we go along, but I'd really like to decide between a 4 year or a slower paced 6 year type of cycle and I'm wondering if any of you would like to share what you've done/are doing and pros/cons that you see to either.

 

I am NOT strong in history and so I know nothing about pacing of topics and such, but I think that if I can just get this decided, I can then make decisions about how in depth to go on the first cycle and what kinds of resources to use. (because I'm a book-junkie and I know I can't use it all! LOL)

 

Thanks a bunch!

[Riverfront Headmistress]

I believe it is personal decision. For me, I like the four year rotation because it is a bit facer paced. I was telling dh last night that I have a 10-day maximum before I'm bogged down and ready to move on.

[Verena]

My kids are still on the young side, too- but for us I'm shooting for 2 history cycles total for gr. K-12. Whether or not that shakes out to be 2x 4 y. cycles or 2x 6 year cycles, I don't know :).

 

My general thinking for the elem. years is that less is more. I'm going to concentrate on the 3 R's from K-4 (at least), history being less important a subject (we currently do SOTW 1, twice/week for 1st and 3rd gr.). Plus, I'd like the freedom of going on rabbit trails if we feel like it- and I think the grammar years are best suited for that.

 

Fwiw, we started with Amer. history for 2 years (oldest was in gr. 1 and 2), we're now doing SOTW 1 and will continue with that series and TOG as a combo in the following years. Eventually, we'll do TOG by itself. I know that TOG Yr. 2 is a big year (lots of history to cover), so I'll probably shoot for 1. 5 years to finish. And then go on from there.

 

I really think it'll depend largely on which program you'll use. TOG, f.ex. is so much more than just history, so I can easily see us doing each year in 1.5 years. I think it also depends on what kind of emphasis you place on history. Is it going to be the driving force? Or is it more of an add-on?

[Chris in VA]

For us, the first go thru of history is not for mastery, just exposure. I want dd to remember some things, but I'm not terribly concerned what. We will probably go more in depth in the later years, and I'm fine with even taking a year for American History in high school. Ds is doing 20th Century as a jr, and it goes into some depth, but you can always go deeper.

My goal is to graduate a child who knows the flow of history, who can name some of the causes and "beginnings" for things like our government and the Church. I want her to know some of the colorful stories of history, and the literary, historical and biblical references that show up again and again in our culture.

4 years? 6 years? Got me. I don't know how deeply she will explore after high school, either. I just want her to love learning, so she won't be intimidated as an adult to further explore, and I want her to be able to tell the story of our faith, our government and our culture to her children.

I guess I'm not very practical! lol

[Jodi-FL]

and I don't think I'd do it again. My oldest is a senior, and my youngest is 2 (7 kids in there total) and I'm seriously thinking of slowing down the pace to a 6 year cycle. We can always speed up the parts we're tired of, and slow down where we want more depth (like the Civil War!).

 

I didn't think when I started so many years ago that my kids would remember so much after 4 years. They are so tired of Ancient Egypt/Greece/Rome because we've done it 3 times! and the oldest 3 at least (all teens now) really do remember. So, we finish the 3rd round of the 4 yr history cycle next year, and I think we'll still do Year 1 in one year, but slow the pace down after that.

[Lenora in MD]

We started off aiming for a four year cycle but ended up doing six. Ancients and even middle ages can easily be done in one year each, but the most recent time periods contain much more and I think are better suited to two years each. When you get up to the age of discovery, you are also hitting american history and can spend more time on that during those years. I am glad that we have ended up with a six year rotation, I think that for us three cycles of the same thing would get boring. It was more interesting and relaxing to go through slowly the first time. I think we will get in depth enough the second time around for my up and coming high schooler.

 

Also, I used sotw for the first six years. I added in truthquest for the last year, the more modern time period. I plan on using truthquest for the next six years, through high school for my oldest, with youngers added in. I will also go through sotw again for my youngers.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

with kids in 1st and 3rd. Like you when I was getting ready to start I looked at several different history curriculum out there and the different history cycles. We chose to start with the 4 year cycle for several reasons.

 

1. The longer cycles tend to spend more time in ancient history. I preferred to limit the amount and depth of exposure to this time period our first time through.

 

2. Starting with a 4 year cycle gives you more flexibility. Shorter term we can spend more time than I plan on a given topic without feeling like we are getting behind. I personally felt that if we chose to start with a 6 year cycle that we would be locked in to that schedule because I want to cover history at least twice. If my 4 year cycle were to stretch an extra year or so it wouldn't matter as much. Longer term, I can choose to continue the 4 year cycles when my oldest is in 5th. I could slow down to a 6 year cycle and have two years to specialize with geography or allowing her to pursue topics that interest her more in a greater depth.

 

3. Having 3 children at the time, I wrote out what each child would be studying for history in what year for both of the cycles keeping all 3 of them on the same topic. I felt that the flow of the four year cycle would work better for combining.

 

HTH

[PeterPan]

I don't think it matters one particle if you do a 4 year or 6 year cycle. Pick the materials you like best and follow whatever progression they use. You could get into it and decide you want to slow down because you like the topic so much. You could get prego or have a life change that alters things. The only really important things are:

1) have a progression. As long as you're on a path, it doesn't matter if it takes you a little longer or a little shorter to get there,

2) find materials you click with. It may take you a while to find the materials that you most feel comfortable teaching and that best mesh with your dc. It may vary from dc to dc what fits best. You might have one dc who should do VP and head for Omnibus while another whom that will never suit.

 

No matter what, you have to be able to TEACH the materials. I've found my match in VP history, which is streamlined and not overwhelming, flexible enough to let me bring in whatever I or my dd want, and clear enough to let me see the big picture. If teaching SOTW were my cup of tea, then that's what I'd use. 4vs.6 doesn't matter,only whether you have a plan and whether you're comfortable teaching it.

 

Just to throw some more things at you, VP's initial history cycle is 5 years, not 6, but can easily be done in 4 by combining OTAE and NTGR. If you do that starting in 2nd, you get a year to do something like SL5, with its emphasis on missions, that many people like. VP encourages a study of geography and local history in 1st, which you could use MFW Adventures for. You could do WP AS1 and 2 in 1st and 2nd grades and then start VP in 3rd, combining NTGR and OTAE, and still make Omnibus in 7th, on schedule. So very little is written in stone. It's more about finding the progression of what you want to study. My dh expressly wanted me to do american first, so we did. It's possible to do that AND get in several cycles of history. So focus on the materials that fit your values and teaching style and let the length of cycling take care of itself, that's my two cents. :)

[Deb in NZ]

It took five years the first time through & this year we are focusing on world geography. This is about right as it allowed time to sit on an era you wanted to go deeper in. You could put geography in 1st & 7th, then the 5 year rotation 2-6 & 8-12, allowing for more maturity when you hit the 20th Century on each rotation. And geography gives a framework to historical events. Galloping the Globe would be a fun unit study to do in 1st while you focus on math / phonics / etc.

 

JMHO,

[rafiki]

.

[Lori D.]

Originally planned to do three 4-year cycles. But we so enjoyed following "bunny trails", and didn't like getting so "heavy" into history every single day, that first 4-year cycle turned into 6 years! So, we took the 7th year and enjoyed a world culture/geography and comparative religions year, and will finish with a 4-year cycle in high school.

 

Glad I was flexible -- it's keep history and geography very enjoyable here, and given us freedom to either deeply pursue a topic, follow a side topic, or set history aside for a week or a month, as needed.

 

BEST of luck in finding what works best for your family! Warmly, Lori D.

[Excelsior! Academy]

We do VP. We did not find it until our 2nd year of hs, so our actual 1st cycle will take us 6 years. We are shortening this to a 4 year cycle when the older two hit Omnibus. Our plan is to line up the 5 year cycle for the younger two with Omnibus and have the older two do a year of modern "classical" literature like the Scarlet Letter and Gone With the Wind.

[prairiegirl]

For me, what is more important is that we do history chronologically. I don't care how long it takes us as long as we are learning about it in order. We are in the last year of our first cycle through. It will take us 4 1/2 yrs. I have no idea how long it will take us the second time, but seeing that we will have three children along for the ride this time, I am thinking that it will take us longer. That's okay by me. I have enough pressure in my life. I don't need to borrow any by trying to get history done by a pre--arranged time. ;)

 

 

Julia

mom of 3 (8,7,5)

[Kathy in MD]

1st and 6th. 6th grade is still too young to take on the richness of the ancient writers. If I didn't want to do 3 cycles, I'd be more likely to do ultra light history combined with geography for the first 4 years.

[TolleLegeAcademy]

I really appreciate you all sharing your experiences with me. I just want to be sure that our dd knows more than I do at my age! :) That she feels comfortable discussing historical matters; and enjoys learning over the years.

 

You all have really given me some things to think about further and to talk with my dh about further, and I may come back with more questions. It helps to hear from those who have gone before. Most of all, I know I should not worry over the *time*, and just have a plan to go with!

 

There is just so much out there to choose from, which is both good and a little overwhelming. LOL So I shall work on finalizing a plan from which to start, and just enjoy the journey. (Said with a little trepidation, and wishing it was as easy as it sounds, because I've been trying to do just that. :rolleyes: )

 

Thank you again!

[mcconnellboys]

I prefer 4 years, so that you can cycle through 3 times, studying more in depth each time. Three times is the charm for learning info!

 

Regena

[Tina Duke]

we used Konos when ds was in K and some of 1st grade, hmmm..can't remember what I used for the rest of 1st and some of 2nd grade.. I"d have to look back in our portfolio.. but I think I did some other unit studies...

We started SOTWin 3rd..I intended on doing each volume in a year but it took 1 1/2 years to do each of the first 2 volumes....we got half way into volume 3 and decided to try Sonlight... didn't work for us... we zoomed through the last rotation quickly..using Truthquest and my own plan.... so havent' spent much time there.

So it took us about 5 years the first time through... In 6th grade we started the rotation over (again using SL which we dumped a second time)... we went through the first two rotations in 6th and 1/2 of 7th grade. We just started Biblioplan (third year of the rotation) and plan on taking the rest of this year (7th grade), 8th grade and all of 9th grade to finish the rotation (so, again about 1 1/2 years to do one rotation...)... I thought about trying to zip through it again so we have 4 years in high school to go through the whole rotation again.. but decided that since we zipped through it (the last rotation) last time that I'd rather delve in now... so basically it looked like this:

 

K and 1: Unit studies

grades 3, 4 and 5 : year 1 and 2 of the rotation

grade 6 and 1/2 of 7 went through year 1 and 2 of the rotations

grade: rest of 7th, 8th and 9th doing years 3 and 4 of the rotations...So I'll call 9th grade Modern World History or 20th century history...

 

My plan (unless I change my mind) is 10th grade Notgrass World History, 11th grade: Notgrass American History, 12 grade: Government and Economics..

 

Although I'd like to do Sonlight's church history so I *may* take this and spread it out over 9th and 10th grade or 10th and 11th grade as an extra...

 

With my middle (he's in K now)... I"m going to use Bibliplan and keep them on the same topics...that way by the time my oldest hits Ancients again (in 10th grade) my K will be in 3rd... I plan on using SOTW with him again I think.. though I"ve heard good things about MOH as well so we'll see...