QuirkyKidAcademy Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 We've homeschooled thru most of 3rd and all of 4th grades. We touched on Ancients this year, but I gave it up and settled into world geography instead. Yes, for us it had to be "either/or", not "in addition." So I'm planning 5th grade - and had planned to pick up Ancients again. But I'm really leaning toward American History instead. We haven't followed a WTM schedule - I've just been trying to keep my head above water mostly. I honestly don't know if we will homeschool beyond 5th or 6th grade. I don't have the spousal support I'd like in order to commit that far ahead. In that case, does it really matter if we study ancients or US history? (Mostly I'm just talking out loud. Opinions and feedback welcome but not necessary. Thanks for listening.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I would vote for American history because I think it is very important for kids to have a solid foundation in the history of their own country. I see a fair number of homeschoolers who get bogged down in Ancients and either don't make it all the way to American history or only cover it marginally. IMO it is better to be grounded in American history first and then go back to cover Ancients and the other time periods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Tammy, I'd vote for going to the Ancients again. Why? Historical cohesion, the ability to create comparisons & critical thinking, opinion -and I'm learning it seems, everything in historical order as the framework seems to really build a solid foundation for everything after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful_Journey Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 After completing the 4 year cycle through history, we took last year to focus on American history. While SOTW hits many of the major American historical events, I think kids need to have at least a year of solid American history. It was terrific to spend a year focusing on the history of our country. We are now ready to turn our attention back to Ancients and begin the cycle again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueTaelon Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Were going to use K12's HO for World History for 5th and 6th then worry about US history in 7th. Can't wait for the book to get here to get started:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I think it's fine to sub out U.S. history for modern world history but I would start with ancients. It's hard to understand the founding of this country unless the student has studied the 3 civilizations that the Founding Fathers looked to for inspiration (Greece, Rome, and the Judeo-Christian tradition). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKidAcademy Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 Several good points to consider.... Thanks, everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I am not a strict WTMer either. I vote Ancients. 5 - Ancient part 1 6 - Ancient part 2 7 - Middle up to Colonization 8 - American History 9 - American History 10 - World History Eastern 11 - World History Western 12 - Eco and Gov HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 If you are not sure whether you will continue to homeschool, that would be a strong point in favor of doing Ancients. If your kid goes back to school, he will be taught plenty of American history, but most likely no Ancient history whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 As I thought about this ... I would not do any of the associated work with any resource and simply read your way through from beginning to end. If you are not going to proceed, I would choose SOTW and read all four volumes as a group read. You could add mapping and few things, but just read. You will lay an excellent foundation for PS in this manner too. If I remember the standards, world history is 7th or 8th grade, and they study the ancients broadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 As I thought about this ... I would not do any of the associated work with any resource and simply read your way through from beginning to end. If you are not going to proceed, I would choose SOTW and read all four volumes as a group read. You could add mapping and few things, but just read. You will lay an excellent foundation for PS in this manner too. If I remember the standards, world history is 7th or 8th grade, and they study the ancients broadly. Doing something like this is a good idea since you may only have one more year of homeschooling. I plan my history in this manner. Every year, we cover world history for the first half of the school year and American history for the second half. Epi Kardia also covers history this way, going through world history all the way through American history every year. You may want to look into what they have for 5th grade. For world history, I have used A Child's History of the World and Builders of the Old World as my world history overview spines. Both of these books are excellent and could work well. For American history, you could use about anything. If you plan it out, you can usually get through world and American history by reading one chapter of your main history spine per school day. If you add a few projects such as lapbooks, notebooking, and/or a timeline, that would help cement the history learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 If you are not sure whether you will continue to homeschool, that would be a strong point in favor of doing Ancients.If your kid goes back to school, he will be taught plenty of American history, but most likely no Ancient history whatsoever. That's exactly what I was going to say. We studied European history from the fall of Rome onward, and plenty of American history, in middle and high school, but we never even touched ancient history. We'll be doing our first run through ancient history next year with our 10, 7, and 4yo's, and *I* will be learning right alongside them, even having had a good history education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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