redsquirrel Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 We are finishing up year 2 in the 4 year cycle, and I need to get ready for year 3. Only, I am not sure what to use for readings. I own the K12 History Odyssey books 1&2. I am planning to get my hands on the 3rd. I have used the Oxford series for year 1 and 2. They came in very handy for extra reading, or when K12 didn't have what I needed. So, what can I use for the next two years? I also own the Spievogel high school book, and the Hakim History of US series. Anyone here have any advice/experience/plans/insight they would like to pass on? Thanks for reading :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 bumping this up. Someone must have done year 3 in the cycle. What did you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oraetstudia Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 I haven't used most of those books, but I do own Human Odyssey 2 and you wouldn't need vol. 3 for the Early Modern period, since vol. 2 goes up to about 1900 and Early Modern usually ends at 1850. I'm working on my own Early Modern plan right now using History Odyssey as a springboard, but most of my son's reading will come from a Catholic textbook with some stuff from various other sources, including K12's Human Odyssey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 My dd is just between your two in age; I don't know if our approach will be helpful, but for what it's worth . . . We're using SOTW 3 as a spine, and I have the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia keyed to it. When we get to American History chapters, we supplement SOTW's coverage by reading from The Making of America and A People's History of the United States. I have biographies and history supplements keyed to the chapters, as well, these are mostly recommendations from WTM and other sources. And I have historical fiction keyed to this as well. We study literature separate from the history chronology, but dd is an avid reader and historical fiction deepens her understanding of the topics we are studying, so she almost always has a chronologically linked historical fiction going. I have all this in an excel spreadsheet, which I'm happy to share if you pm me, I haven't sorted out how to use google docs yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thank you so much. I will think about using SOTW. We have already been through it once and his little brother will be using it so I don't know if he is all that excited about it. But, I am interested in working People's History into the schedule. Maybe my problem is that I find this part of history to be particularly..drab? boring? uninspiring? I don't know. Maybe it just seems drab in comparison to the previous two years? I always feel like I am lacking 'hooks'. No glory and grandeur, no knights and castles. I do love the enlightenment.... maybe this will be a good year to delve more into the Story of Science books? There is certainly a lot going on in that realm. Hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thank you so much. I will think about using SOTW. We have already been through it once and his little brother will be using it so I don't know if he is all that excited about it. But, I am interested in working People's History into the schedule. Maybe my problem is that I find this part of history to be particularly..drab? boring? uninspiring? I don't know. Maybe it just seems drab in comparison to the previous two years? I always feel like I am lacking 'hooks'. No glory and grandeur, no knights and castles. I do love the enlightenment.... maybe this will be a good year to delve more into the Story of Science books? There is certainly a lot going on in that realm. Hmmm... Oh, I dunno - you've got the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the English Revolution, oh my! Lots of heroic speeches, head rolling, and all . . . :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Well, I would guess you're already aware of Guerber(Miller) and Foster books as possible extra reading. Also, there may be some Albert Marrin books that fit in Early Modern - but they would be specific to a person or war, not a complete spine. Also, I have a book called Witness to History - the French Revolution by Sean Connolly. It is thin, paperback, but has lots of excerpts from letters, speeches, etc. There are a couple other books in the series - The Industrial Revolution, and looking ahead - World War I, and World War II. Speaking of lots of "heroic speeches" you could look at Ambleside Online for links to speeches and other primary sources available online. I agree there are not as many spine-like books as you go forward in history, but maybe we just have to make use of more books specific to each topic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Speeches and going more in depth into the revolutions is a great idea. You are correct, that will make things much more exciting. It is the lack of a great 'spine' that is throwing me. I have leaned very hard on the combo of Human Odyssey and the Oxford books. Between the two, I didn't have to do much work. I still have HO, but I guess I have to do some actual work to find everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom25girls Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 I'm appreciating this thread because I find myself in a similar position for next year. In all honesty, I LOVE teaching the Ancients and Medieval is fun BUT I don't really enjoy early Modern and Modern rotations. I'd love to do a year of American History (our last American History attempt was the fourth rotation last time. We had an AMAZING year but only got to the Civil War). I have Human Odyssey and SOTW but I'm floundering. My girls will be in 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th grade (and one will be a freshman in college so I don't have to worry about her curriculum options). Sigh...In my experience, finding exciting materials for the middle grades is most challenging. Hoping that you get some amazing responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 We are currently doing Year 3. I, too, am not finding any program that is all that fun or interesting. Here is what we are doing: We pretty much follow the sequence of the Usborne Internet-Linked History Encyclopedia. The boys read a section and make a fact list. They write the important events into their timeline. Once they are done with this part it varies greatly. Often we read corresponding chapters in SOTW world. We try to write short summaries of most important people and/or events. We read other books on related subject which interest us. We do projects etc. Sometimes we work through a Jackdaw kit. Often we spend more than one week on a section because the encyclopedia doesn't actually have enough section for Year 3. However, I think this is also why it works for us. It allows us to choose whatever books or projects we'd like to spend extra time on. This is what makes it fun for us. Next year we will have to switch to a different enyclopedia. I haven't decided yet which one. I am pretty sure I was not at all helpful. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Create Your Ritual Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I can't think of what the Guerber (Miller) and Foster books are .. can you share the title names with me please? As I mentioned in another thread, I am rather uninspired for next year .. I too want to make it more exciting, but I am floundering without a clear text. I am thinking HO Level 2 Early Modern, but would love to add a few things to it like I did with OUP and HO this year for Middle Ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 I know "George Washington's World" is one. There is another bio of Lincoln by the same author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 I have opted to focus on Canadian history/US history for early modern. We are still reading through SOTW 3 to see what world events were going on at the time. When it comes to the US history portion we are finding Time Travelers cd-roms provide many many activities and keep it fun. My Canadian history selections are not quite as engaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 I can't think of what the Guerber (Miller) and Foster books are .. can you share the title names with me please? H. A. Guerber's are The Story of the 13 Colonies, and The Story of the Great Republic. The originals can usually be found for free in PDF or Kindle format. These focus on American history. Memoria Press sells them both in one volume. The Genevieve Foster books are George Washington's World and Abraham Lincoln's World. These cover American history well, and include what's happening all over the world at the same time. Similar to SOTW, but more age appropriate for logic stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I'll be watching this thread, as I will need something in a couple of years to follow up on the OUP books. I kind of like the idea of George Washington's World, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Don't know if you are interested in classic historical fiction, but here is my list for early modern for 7th grade. Early modern: Europe Three Muskateers, Dumas Twenty Years After, Dumas Man in the Iron Mask, Dumas Rob Roy, Scott Mutiny on the Bounty, Nordhoff Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas The Scarlett Pimpernel, Orczy Tale of Two Cities, Dickens Coral Island, Ballantyne Early modern: America The House of the Seven Gables, Hawthorne Autobiography of Ben Franklin Autobiography of Fredrick Douglas Red Badge of Courage, Crane Gone with the Wind, Mitchell Huck Fin, Twain Pudd'nhead Wilson, Twain Innocents Abroad, Twain HTH, Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Create Your Ritual Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Oh I like that list! Thanks Lewelma. The only one that was already on my list was the Red Badge of Courage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 The Story of the World activity book has good suggestions for extra reading. Does anyone have movie suggestions to go along with the chapters in SOTW Vol 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I think there's a list of movies on Paula's Archives, but I 'm not sure. There's another thread that popped up yesterday on movies and SOTW. Might check there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom25girls Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Oh THANK YOU for the list!!! I really appreciate it!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I switched my spine to Hakim's History of US in early modern and interweave relevant chapters from k12 HO. I'm also using lectures from the Teaching Company high school early American history lecture series, the Critical Thinking in US History books from Critical Thinking Co, and various other bits and pieces. One example of the "bits" is that we took a side trip to focus on Shakespeare more heavily for about a month, pulling from the Standard Deviants Schools Shakespearean Tragedies videos and watching the plays. I have the k12 5th and 6th grade US history student/teacher workbooks to use as a jumping off point for division of lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 the Critical Thinking in US History books from Critical Thinking Co, I have just acquired the first two, plus teacher's books for this coming year. I think they are going to be useful. I was moaning about the cost of the discussion books for the Hakim series, and these seem like they will be helpful. They don't look particularly intuitive to use, so that will take some time. That is what I need. I need some guidance for discussion. I need something that will elicit a response after he has done his readings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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