DaisyMay Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 (edited) My son is going into 9th grade. I have everything set for him except history. We have BJU Geography with dvds to use, but it just doesn't really look that great to us. He would prefer studying ancient history this year, and we've done lots of geography through the years. He is a smart boy who sometimes struggles. He has dyslexia but reads well and loves to read (after years of hard work!). We used IEW SWI B this year and it really helped his writing, so we plan to use IEW SICC B to continue his success. We will also be doing literature with BJU Lit. dvds, so we don't need writing or literature with our history program. I am thinking about using Notgrass, but would rather do world history in two years than one. I like the looks of MFW AHL, but don't need the extra lit. and Bible. I think that might be overwhelming to my son. He is also taking an honors science class and an elective at our high school, so he is going to have a lot on his plate as it is. History can be a bit lighter, I think, and not the focus of his day. This is his course line up: Bible- BJU Bible Truths (Old Testament)-- we don't have to do this if Bible is included with history English- BJU Writing and Grammar 1st sem.(for grammar only), BJU Lit. 2nd sem., and IEW SICC B Math- BJU Algebra 1 (or TT Algebra 1-- not sure yet) Spanish- BJU Spanish 1 Spelling - Phonetic Zoo (this is where his dyslexia is still evident-- he really needs spelling instruction) Science- honors integrated science at the high school Electives- Computer Tech 1 sem, and Science of Flight, 1 sem. at the high school He'll be at the high school from 11:30 - 2:10 daily, plus sports there. That's going to really shorten our school time at home! We start our school day at 7, though, so we have a few hours. He would like to continue with Latin, but I don't think he'll have time for that. He'll probably read The Fallacy Detective as a supplement as well. I also have an upcoming 8th grader who might do history with my son. She and my ds have always worked on the same subjects together, but it appears that MFW AHL would be too much for an 8th grader. I just don't know what to use for history. He needs something direct and independent, like MFW, but would that be too much with what we already have scheduled? We could drop BJU Bible and do Bible from the MFW guide. Could we drop the MFW Lit portion? All the BJU classes we use are with dvds, as he really benefits from direct instruction. He also enjoys them. They are pre-recorded from when they had HomeSat, so they don't cost any extra for us (beyond the subscription fee). My thoughts on options for history are: A. Use BJU Geography with dvds-- boring, but a history credit without a lot of extra work. Not my first choice. B. Use Notgrass World History alone-- ok, but we want to do world history in 2 years. It also looks like it could use some extra readings, but I don't want to have to "reinvent the wheel". C. Use MFW AHL -- looks really good, but kind of heavy. Would he have time for all that with his other classes? It's also a lot of money just for history. D. Other ???:bigear: ETA: I really want history to be from a Christian perspective. If you've read this far, THANK YOU! Please tell me what to use for history! :confused: Gayle Edited June 24, 2012 by DaisyMay Added info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 What about Mystery of History? It could be used together with your 8th grader, and there are assignments for high school included in the book. The Old Testament is a focus, along with other ancient history in the area and in other parts of the world. You might check the samples at their website and see what you think. We're going to use it for 8th grade next year for the first time, but it looks like it would fit your criteria. We tried BJU Geography and found it very dry and ineffective -- felt like reading encyclopedia entries about the various countries, but we were used to more of a living books approach. So, we dropped it after only a couple of months and created our own geography program. We weren't using the DVDs though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtroad Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I recomment Bauer's History of the Ancient World for a supplement to any curriculum you chose.... just simply because it is thorough and can challenge them on many levels. No test, worksheets, etc.... but excellent reading! I love Mystery of History (as mentioned) Another one to consider is curriculum by Diana Waring (Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries is one of her works). Much like Mystery of History... but a little less "sunday school" feeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtroad Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Another encouragement.... don't count BIBLE as school time. It is a life skill and part of good living habits or daily habit. Not really school in regards to high school. That might help with planning the school day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txhomemom Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I am going to throw out some "other" options for you: -Trisms DAW (Discovering Ancient World) - they actually use IEW so it might work great for you. It also includes language arts so you could either continue to use BJU and skip those parts in Trisms or do all the LA through Trisms -Beautiful Feet Ancient History Guide - it could easily be used independently and it is inexpensive, might be good if you are short on time -Biblioplan - I do not have personal experience using this, but you could give your ds this schedule to follow and I think it schedules Mystery of History for you There are also other texts out there if you are really wanting to use that method, Spielvogel has a good one, World History and you could split it up into 2 years. I think there are some Spielvogel texts that are actually split up into 2 years of world history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I'll toss out another idea. We plan to use BJU World history but break it up into 2 years. The first year will be ancient history with additional literature and writing added. I'll go as far on the timeline as the first BJU World History book goes that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyMay Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 What about Mystery of History? It could be used together with your 8th grader, and there are assignments for high school included in the book. The Old Testament is a focus, along with other ancient history in the area and in other parts of the world. You might check the samples at their website and see what you think. We're going to use it for 8th grade next year for the first time, but it looks like it would fit your criteria. We tried BJU Geography and found it very dry and ineffective -- felt like reading encyclopedia entries about the various countries, but we were used to more of a living books approach. So, we dropped it after only a couple of months and created our own geography program. We weren't using the DVDs though. We actually did MOH a few years ago. I kind of thought it was a little light, even though we did the note cards, some of the projects, and timeline activities. Maybe the updated version is a little meatier. I know what you mean about the BJU Geography. I have it on my desk, and I just get glazed over every time I look at it. I can't imagine a whole year of it. I'm sure it's very good, but my son and I aren't excited about it at all! Gayle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyMay Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Another encouragement.... don't count BIBLE as school time. It is a life skill and part of good living habits or daily habit. Not really school in regards to high school. That might help with planning the school day. I recomment Bauer's History of the Ancient World for a supplement to any curriculum you chose.... just simply because it is thorough and can challenge them on many levels. No test, worksheets, etc.... but excellent reading! I love Mystery of History (as mentioned) Another one to consider is curriculum by Diana Waring (Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries is one of her works). Much like Mystery of History... but a little less "sunday school" feeling. Good idea about not counting Bible. We have been doing it as a school subject, and then doing a devotional as a family later in the day. Maybe we could combine it all together. I haven't looked at Bauer's History of the Ancient World yet. I'll have to check it out. Maybe that would be a nice fit. I love Diana Waring's curriculum, but when I looked at it, it didn't seem to have as much content with only covering one topic per month. I do love her cds and we listen to them for fun :001_smile:. Maybe I should take another look at her program. Gayle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyMay Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 I am going to throw out some "other" options for you: -Trisms DAW (Discovering Ancient World) - they actually use IEW so it might work great for you. It also includes language arts so you could either continue to use BJU and skip those parts in Trisms or do all the LA through Trisms -Beautiful Feet Ancient History Guide - it could easily be used independently and it is inexpensive, might be good if you are short on time -Biblioplan - I do not have personal experience using this, but you could give your ds this schedule to follow and I think it schedules Mystery of History for you There are also other texts out there if you are really wanting to use that method, Spielvogel has a good one, World History and you could split it up into 2 years. I think there are some Spielvogel texts that are actually split up into 2 years of world history. I'll have to check those out. I've never looked at Trisms or Beautiful Feet. I did look at Biblioplan, but was kind of confused by it :tongue_smilie:. I think I looked at the Spielvogel book, I'll have to check again. Thanks! Gayle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyMay Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 I'll toss out another idea. We plan to use BJU World history but break it up into 2 years. The first year will be ancient history with additional literature and writing added. I'll go as far on the timeline as the first BJU World History book goes that year. That's a good idea! Do you know what you'll add to it? I was concerned about cramming all of world history into one year. That just seems like so much to cover if you want to really learn deeply. Thanks! Gayle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyMay Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 I'm a Notgrass user, and based on what you said, I doubt that Notgrass would be a fit for you. Why do you think that is? I really like the looks of it, but admit that something is holding me back. Have you been happy with Notgrass? Thanks! Gayle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 D. Other ???:bigear: ETA: I really want history to be from a Christian perspective. If you've read this far, THANK YOU! Please tell me what to use for history! :confused: Gayle We used Mystery of History this past year for 9th grade and my son loved it. He said it was the first time history did not put him to sleep. The high school level does lots of research and writing but it is all very interesting topics. Countless times ds would be impressed with stuff he was researching he went deeper. In the Creation to Christ Vol 1, you study many Biblical characters and events, study many Biblical topics and learn Biblical geography. Ds was surprised at what he was learning and often asked me "Did you know___happened/was in the Bible." For the record, we have been BJU users for over 19 years and started the year with BJU history. Ds was so happy to change. He told me that if he has to do more history please make it MOH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paisley Hedgehog Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyMay Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 We used Mystery of History this past year for 9th grade and my son loved it. He said it was the first time history did not put him to sleep. The high school level does lots of research and writing but it is all very interesting topics. Countless times ds would be impressed with stuff he was researching he went deeper. In the Creation to Christ Vol 1, you study many Biblical characters and events, study many Biblical topics and learn Biblical geography. Ds was surprised at what he was learning and often asked me "Did you know___happened/was in the Bible."For the record, we have been BJU users for over 19 years and started the year with BJU history. Ds was so happy to change. He told me that if he has to do more history please make it MOH. Maybe I'll have to take another look at MOH. Of course I already sold it :tongue_smilie:! We have enjoyed BJU's history, but I'd really like to delve more into literature and strenghten their love of history. Gayle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyMay Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 I could have written this myself! :) My ds is also doing 9th grade BJU distance learning, and when I saw the Geography, I went :ack2:. It is a straight-up fact cram and neither of us want him to do it. Plus, in our state, Geography is an *elective*, and it seems sort of silly to spend his first year of high school working that hard on something that is not even required, kwim? So I've decided to take advantage of this being an election year and get the US Government requirement out of the way. This will open up time in ds's senior year for whatever may be going on then. Plus, DS has had loads of history and could really use a break from it anyway. There are several options for Christian perspective government, including BJU, Abeka, Notgrass. HTH I know what you mean about their geography. Although it may be great, I just can't get past how dull it looks. Since we've already done so much geography through the years, I'd rather focus on history. My kids can identify most countries on a blank map, and know major rivers and landforms. That's a good idea to focus on government. Thanks! Gayle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Have you looked at Biblioplan Year 1? You can get a free 3 week sample here. MOH is scheduled in as an optional spine along with several others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.