Combining History Curriculums (SL, BF, TQ)

[iafrmgrl77]

I cannot make up my mind!!! We have used Sonlight in our homeschool from the start, but I am not satisfied with it any longer. I am looking for more Biblical teaching/history woven throughout. I thought I had decided on Truthquest, then I started to love the looks of Beautiful Feet, and I still long to get my hand on SL Core D!

 

SO, could some of you out there who do a combination of these (and I know there are lots of you!) give me an idea of how you do it? I am more stressed this year than ever before over planning for next year, and I would love a glimpse of how others make this work!

 

Thanks!

[KellyMama]

We're planning to combine SOTW 2 with books from sonlight and BF as well as History Odyssey 2. I want to see the HO level 2 guide before I decide exactly how our study will go, but I basically went through the book titles recommended by each company for the era we plan to study, and selected ones I felt were good for our family (ie that my kids would enjoy).

 

I plan to use SOTW as our spine and then HO for my 7th grader to do some writing activities etc that will give her a more in-depth look at the events studied. I will likely assign a few specific books to her and a few for my 5th grader (they read on the same level) and have them create book reports, since obviously the SL books won't be referrenced in the HO study guide.

 

My 3rd grader will just complete the activity guide narrations from SOTW and maps etc. If we do any of the BF or SL books as read-alouds, he will participate there.

 

No idea how this will turn out, but it's my current vision! :)

 

ETA I have also considered using the BF guide rather than HO but just haven't made the commitment either way yet! The BF guides are just soooo prettty! I really want to try them but HO is very easy to 'line-up' with a SOTW spine.

Edited May 24, 2012 by KellyMama

[classics4us]

We are using My Father's World Exploration to 1850. MFW weaves the bible beautifully into their curriculum Especially in Creation to Greeks and Rome to Reformation. This year MFW has us memorizing the entire book of James (at least that's the goal ;))

I also plan on using Sonlight books from core D instead of book basket books (book basket is used in MFW, it's basically a weekly list of books that correspond with that weeks lesson)

[4maybabies]

:bigear:

 

Yup, same 3 here that I can't decide between. I'll be using all 3 as well, though I am not quite sure how yet:D

[iafrmgrl77]

Thanks Mandie and Kelly! I think that whatever we choose, I will definitely look to Sonlight for readers. That is a great idea and will save a lot of time and stress in trying to decide which titles to choose. I agree, Kelly, that the BF guides are, well beautiful! And Mandie, I really haven't looked at MFW, but it sounds as though I should.

 

4maybabies~Maybe we will get some more input to help us make our decisions! :)

[iafrmgrl77]

:bigear:

[momto2blessings]

We use Truthquest. Love the biblical commentary. To narrow the many book choices, we use the free curriculum guide from http://www.simplycharlottemason.com. They even have $11 guides if you want Bible/History/Geography planned out. It's not too heavy, so it's also easy to add in other books from your favorite curriculums:) I think Truthquest can very easily be added on to any curriculum...just pick one and pencil in where the TQ commentary fits! Blessings, Gina

[iafrmgrl77]

We use Truthquest. Love the biblical commentary. To narrow the many book choices, we use the free curriculum guide from http://www.simplycharlottemason.com. They even have $11 guides if you want Bible/History/Geography planned out. It's not too heavy, so it's also easy to add in other books from your favorite curriculums:) I think Truthquest can very easily be added on to any curriculum...just pick one and pencil in where the TQ commentary fits! Blessings, Gina

 

Thank you! I think that is exactly what I will do! I really feel the Lord is nudging me towards Truthquest, but I LOVE the looks of BF. So maybe I will try a combo of these two and use readers from Sonlight. Thanks!

[AnnaM]

We are combining SL with Mystery of History. I love the way MOH teaches "secular" history with biblical history and the lessons are short and enjoyable.

[Mommy2Many]

This is not an experience - this is a going in, so take it for what it's worth. :)

 

I am going to be using Mystery of History volume I for bible and world history (we will pick our memory verse for the week from the lesson, I am getting the quiz cards, and I found free notebooking resources for it from http://marinecorpsnomads.com/2011/08/mystery-of-history-notebooking-pages.html that I intend to use, family style. )

 

We will also be doing some geography, map reading, and map making from this resource, as well as geography from

 

Then.. for american history... BF Early American for Primary grades. I have an entering fourth grader who is a struggling reader and a budding first grader who has been cvc reading for two years, so I think the primary grade book will do great for us.

 

My high schooler is going to school Online, but she's still doing MOH with us.

[Mommy2Many]

This is not an experience - this is a going in, so take it for what it's worth. :)

 

I am going to be using Mystery of History volume I for bible and world history (we will pick our memory verse for the week from the lesson, I am getting the quiz cards, and I found free notebooking resources for it from http://marinecorpsnomads.com/2011/08/mystery-of-history-notebooking-pages.html that I intend to use, family style. )

 

We will also be doing some geography, map reading, and map making from this resource, as well as geography from KnowledgeQuest - http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/GlobalmaniaRev.pdf

 

Then.. for american history... BF Early American for Primary grades. I have an entering fourth grader who is a struggling reader and a budding first grader who has been cvc reading for two years, so I think the primary grade book will do great for us.

 

My high schooler is going to school Online, but she's still doing MOH with us.

[She Reads a Lot]

Hi, OP! I think you bought my TQ living books last week, didn't you? Small world :D. As someone who used TQ last year for the first time (so I'm clearly not an expert), I'll try to add in some ideas for you, though I think so much depends on your family's preferences/style when it comes to history.

 

Two questions to ask yourself as you decide which resources to use and how to combine them are, How deep do you want to go? And how much time do you want to spend on history each day/week?

 

I found that the BF guides are quite beautiful but the pace they set was too slow for us. The BF guide spent more than a week (maybe even 1 1/2 weeks? I'm going from memory here) on one D'Aulaire book, which we read in 1 or 2 days. It turned out that I wanted to cover a lot more books than BF did with less of the coloring/copying they recommended (b/c ds strongly dislikes coloring). So I used all of the BF book package for Early American History (primary) but I added those books in with other TQ books and followed the TQ guide for commentary/order.

 

We ended up reading 89 books last year for history, almost all of which I read aloud to ds. That is a lot of books and ds (and I) loved it. But other families might strongly prefer to cover fewer books each year and cover each book more thoroughly. We spent about an hour reading history each day and we did history 4 to 5 days each week, depending on if we had our co-op. For us, history was a main subject b/c ds loved it so much and I did, too!

 

BF is wonderful and might be perfect for you--I'm not trying to slam it at all. I just ended up wanting to cover more books quickly instead of fewer books slowly, so TQ was a better fit for us as our main program/guide.

 

It may be that until you actually start history, you won't know what you want/how you want it to flow, though I guess that's not super helpful...

 

I hope this helps at least a little bit!

Christina

[iafrmgrl77]

Hi, OP! I think you bought my TQ living books last week, didn't you? Small world :D. As someone who used TQ last year for the first time (so I'm clearly not an expert), I'll try to add in some ideas for you, though I think so much depends on your family's preferences/style when it comes to history.

 

Two questions to ask yourself as you decide which resources to use and how to combine them are, How deep do you want to go? And how much time do you want to spend on history each day/week?

 

I found that the BF guides are quite beautiful but the pace they set was too slow for us. The BF guide spent more than a week (maybe even 1 1/2 weeks? I'm going from memory here) on one D'Aulaire book, which we read in 1 or 2 days. It turned out that I wanted to cover a lot more books than BF did with less of the coloring/copying they recommended (b/c ds strongly dislikes coloring). So I used all of the BF book package for Early American History (primary) but I added those books in with other TQ books and followed the TQ guide for commentary/order.

 

We ended up reading 89 books last year for history, almost all of which I read aloud to ds. That is a lot of books and ds (and I) loved it. But other families might strongly prefer to cover fewer books each year and cover each book more thoroughly. We spent about an hour reading history each day and we did history 4 to 5 days each week, depending on if we had our co-op. For us, history was a main subject b/c ds loved it so much and I did, too!

 

BF is wonderful and might be perfect for you--I'm not trying to slam it at all. I just ended up wanting to cover more books quickly instead of fewer books slowly, so TQ was a better fit for us as our main program/guide.

 

It may be that until you actually start history, you won't know what you want/how you want it to flow, though I guess that's not super helpful...

 

I hope this helps at least a little bit!

Christina

 

Hi Christina! Yes, I did purchase those books from you! And you gave me some helpful advice when we were pm'ing! I think I posted this thread before I purchased from you, but I am still looking for input!

 

Like you, we want to do LOTS of reading! Having used SL for the past few years, one thing I know with BF is that we would have to add lots and lots of books. I think I have pretty much decided not to purchase their Early American History guide, but I will definitely be trying to include the books that they use. We are so used to reading and discussing that I don't think we need another guide to help us!

 

I have also been purchasing SL books from core D to use as read-alouds/readers. One thing making me a bit cranky is that we are moving from TX back up to AK in August. I am a real planner, and if we were settled, I would be figuring out which books I was going to be able to get from the library, putting them on reserve, etc. Trying not to let that bug me, but it does! I enjoy the "book gathering" part of planning.

 

SO, it looks right now as thought TQ is going to be the star of the show, with books from BF and SL coming alongside. I do prefer to do a 3-year history cycle, and I haven't figured out how I am going to do that yet, but I am hoping I will get some help from the TQ forums! Maybe that's a topic for another thread! :)

 

Thanks so much for your help! I think you and I must be a lot alike in our homeschooling styles!!!

[She Reads a Lot]

One thing making me a bit cranky is that we are moving from TX back up to AK in August. I am a real planner, and if we were settled, I would be figuring out which books I was going to be able to get from the library, putting them on reserve, etc. Trying not to let that bug me, but it does! I enjoy the "book gathering" part of planning.

 

I think you and I must be a lot alike in our homeschooling styles!!!

 

You nailed it! We are definitely alike in our HSing styles. I've been planning our AHYS II year and just ordered a bunch of books for the fall (after spending days going back and forth between the TQ guide and my spreadsheet and our local library's Web site and Abebooks.com). I've got a pile of boxes and bags that arrived just today that I'm about to delve into. I love it!!

 

It's funny that you mentioned the four-year vs. three-year history cycle. I just read the WTM this past few weeks and the idea of the four-year cycle has thrown me for a loop. I thought I was set to use TQ through high school for ds. We LOVE it so much! But hubby really likes the idea of our kiddo getting two rotations through the four-year cycle (which I could pull off after we finish the full AHYS series). So now I'm in a quandary and doing a bunch of research/digging to figure out if I should switch to the four-year cycle and if so, how the heck I would accomplish it. EEK!!

 

Take care,

Christina

 

P.S. Do I know your first name yet? I don't think so...care to share?

 

P.P.S. Sorry to hear your upcoming move is wreaking havoc with your planning. That is no fun!

[iafrmgrl77]

You nailed it! We are definitely alike in our HSing styles. I've been planning our AHYS II year and just ordered a bunch of books for the fall (after spending days going back and forth between the TQ guide and my spreadsheet and our local library's Web site and Abebooks.com). I've got a pile of boxes and bags that arrived just today that I'm about to delve into. I love it!!

 

It's funny that you mentioned the four-year vs. three-year history cycle. I just read the WTM this past few weeks and the idea of the four-year cycle has thrown me for a loop. I thought I was set to use TQ through high school for ds. We LOVE it so much! But hubby really likes the idea of our kiddo getting two rotations through the four-year cycle (which I could pull off after we finish the full AHYS series). So now I'm in a quandary and doing a bunch of research/digging to figure out if I should switch to the four-year cycle and if so, how the heck I would accomplish it. EEK!!

 

Take care,

Christina

 

P.S. Do I know your first name yet? I don't think so...care to share?

 

P.P.S. Sorry to hear your upcoming move is wreaking havoc with your planning. That is no fun!

 

So sorry! My name is Corie. I need to add that to my signature! I have hear/read that there are families on the TQ forums who share how they use TQ on three and four-year cycles. I haven't looked yet, because I sent a message asking to join but didn't get a response. I need to contact them again. If you get a good schedule figured out, please let me know! It is so great to have met you! I am sure we will be in touch! :)

[She Reads a Lot]

I think it took a few days before I heard back from the TQ moderator that I could join the group. Kimberly seems to run really busy and it's a busy group, which means a lot of posts for her to vet. Hopefully she gets back to you soon. I really enjoy the posts and read more of them than from any other Yahoo group I'm a part of.

 

I searched on the TQ Yahoo group site for "four year cycle" but didn't find much before I got interrupted. I'll have to try again. And I'll go check out that section of the TQ Web site now, too. I'd forgotten about that.

 

I've got one to two years before I'd have to switch gears majorly if we went with the four-year cycle, but I'm too Type A to leave this that long. I need to know NOW what we'll be doing for history in eight years ;). Yes, I realize how ridiculous that is. Oh well...

 

Thanks for the idea about the TQ site, Corie! Nice to "meet" you!

Christina

[ByGrace3]

Thanks for the info on the TQ 4 yr cycle... I think I will go join their yahoo groups now! :tongue_smilie: I am thinking to Switch to TQ next year (2013) for american history (w/SL books) and then hopefully use TQ in a 4 yr cycle... I am really liking what I am seeing...

[iafrmgrl77]

Christina~It has been a week or two since I sent a request to the Yahoo group. I was wondering whether maybe she was taking a little bit of a summer break. Running the group has to be a lot of work. I will try again soon if I don't hear anything. I understand wanting to plan years ahead. After reading a lot on the TQ site, I am trying really hard to relax a bit. It isn't easy, though!

 

Nicole~I am really excited about TQ! I hope it works out for you!

[She Reads a Lot]

Christina~It has been a week or two since I sent a request to the Yahoo group. I was wondering whether maybe she was taking a little bit of a summer break. Running the group has to be a lot of work. I will try again soon if I don't hear anything. I understand wanting to plan years ahead. After reading a lot on the TQ site, I am trying really hard to relax a bit. It isn't easy, though!

 

Nicole~I am really excited about TQ! I hope it works out for you!

 

Hmmm, if it has been that long, I would send a new request. Did you put in the info they requested about your full name and mailing address (to prevent fraud)?

 

That does seem awfully long to wait.

 

BTW, I couldn't find anything about the four-year cycle on the TQ site (send me a link if you find something!!) but I think I'm just going to let that go for now and reassess after we finish AHYS II and III in two years. I'm not going to "fix" what isn't broken, and history is ds's favorite subject with TQ. So for now, we run with it. I'm just going to have to relax about that four-year cycle. It's not like we are actually doing a classical education anyway. We are a hodge podge that uses almost all living books with ideas from the WTM thrown in, so why am I getting hung up on that one way of doing things??

 

Christina

[iafrmgrl77]

Hmmm, if it has been that long, I would send a new request. Did you put in the info they requested about your full name and mailing address (to prevent fraud)?

 

That does seem awfully long to wait.

 

BTW, I couldn't find anything about the four-year cycle on the TQ site (send me a link if you find something!!) but I think I'm just going to let that go for now and reassess after we finish AHYS II and III in two years. I'm not going to "fix" what isn't broken, and history is ds's favorite subject with TQ. So for now, we run with it. I'm just going to have to relax about that four-year cycle. It's not like we are actually doing a classical education anyway. We are a hodge podge that uses almost all living books with ideas from the WTM thrown in, so why am I getting hung up on that one way of doing things??

 

Christina

 

I just sent a request again this morning. I didn't see anything about putting in my full mailing address. There was just a code to enter. Hopefully they will contact me if there is something more I need to do.

 

I thought for sure the TQ site said something about there being info on the forum from families who cycle through history. Maybe they just said that families do in fact us TQ in this manner. I will have to look again. Either way, I think you are right to stick with what is working for your family. We did Classical Conversations for a few years, and I loved the idea of coming back around to the same info and building on it. I have already noticed my older two hanging new info on the "pegs" they placed during their first rotation through the three cycles. However, if we fall in love with TQ, I may just continue to cycle through the CC memory work while doing TQ history in the order it is laid out.

 

I wouldn't call us completely "classical" either. I think sometimes we seek to find a label for ourselves, and then we try to squeeze into that particular mold. If asked, I have usually said that we are classical, with a little bit of CM thrown in, but we are definitely heading in a more CM direction as time goes on. I love that! Really, we just do what works for our family!

[ByGrace3]

I really really like the idea of the 4 yr cycle. Not because it is WTM/Classical, but because it makes sense to me. I just don't see my dc remembering everything about something no matter how thoroughly we covered it in fifth grade. I want them to see that again. I think we may have abandoned the 4 yr cycle on the first go round :tongue_smilie: in favor of a SL rotation (2 yrs world/ 2 years American). Only, I think we are going to use a TQ/SL combo. :) I do plan on jumping back on the cycle for logic stage though. . . but I am really loving the look of TQ and the extras are exactly what I want, so I am pretty sure we will be moving in that direction even if we combine it with something else...