mama2cntrykids Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Ok, so this fall (and into next spring) for co-op, we're studying Early American History (circa 1600s to about Civil War or maybe Western Expansion period). Well, I also plan on doing history for our homeschool, and it happens to be MFW Rome to Reformation. The following school year, for our hs, would be the early American time period. Should this be a problem? I mean teaching two different periods of history in a year? Last year, we studied Creation to the Greeks. Maybe next year when we're covering early Am. history in our homeschool, we can just keep it on the lighter side? I want to be a part of this co-op, for the kids' sake (social aspect and music aspect mainly), but don't want to mess up our cronological (sp?) history. What thinks the Hive? Should this work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firestar Academy Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 it didn't work for us. They were doing ancients, we were doing modern WW1-current. We joined this co-op in March. I could have swung it for next year when we went to ancients and they were doing middle ages until the 'director' of the co-op told me that co-op MUST be the core of our curriculum. I said I could't make that commitment and we walked away for next year. It might have even worked if they wanted us to skip early modern, but we are traveling extensively this winter in Rome/Greece/Turkey/Egypt and I and the kids didn't want to miss studying the ancients. We only started home educating about 2 years ago and we started with US. with my older in 7th grade THis may be my only chance to do an in depth Ancients with STOW. Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 it didn't work for us. They were doing ancients, we were doing modern WW1-current. We joined this co-op in March. I could have swung it for next year when we went to ancients and they were doing middle ages until the 'director' of the co-op told me that co-op MUST be the core of our curriculum. Robin Did she say it with a straight face? WOW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Nah, we do Classical Conversations, and the history we do there is different than what we do at home, and the kids are not messed up by it. We do a visual timeline of the history we are doing at home, and the CC stuff just gives us a glimpse of other time periods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firestar Academy Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Did she say it with a straight face? WOW. no, she did it in a FB instant message. Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 no, she did it in a FB instant message. Robin :lol: I wonder how she thought she'd enforce this policy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 How wedded are you to a chronological schedule? We've tended to focus on one period a year, and do all kinds of things around that period. At times we've chosen a period "out of order" so we could take advantage of a group. I think if the co-op is a good one, I'd be more likely to change the period we were studying just because, for me, logistically, I like the more single-minded focus. I think, also, that you get more out of field trips and hands-on activities when you're also studying some more formal info simultaneously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firestar Academy Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 :lol: I wonder how she thought she'd enforce this policy? :glare: Most of the other families in the co-op are all close friends and they follow that policy. Without getting into too much detail, it is her co-op and she can make any rules she wishes. she has that right. just as I have the right to decide it wasn't for us. robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 Yeah, I think they'll be ok. I mean, for co-op, we're focusing on Art History in the Early American time period, Literature in the EA time period, Composers same time period, and I think Geography (?) don't remember exactly. So, next year, I'm pretty sure MFW won't be doing those specific subjects. Anything that's a repeat, we can skip and move along. Ok, I feel better now lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I don't think it will be a problem. My DD routinely studies history eras on her own that have no correlation to what we're studying as a family. When we were deep into studying castles and knights in the Middle Ages, she was still obsessed with colonial American history. This year, she's taking a co-op class in Renaissance history, and we're studying ancients at home. I don't think it will be a problem. If you get to American history topics as a family that you studied in co-op, you can do them lightly, or do different projects/read different books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hope44 Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Just wanted to add some food for thought. Although, I would never "enforce" that a co op class be the core of someone's curricula for that year, it is very frustrating to be teaching an academic history class in a co op, lay out the guidelines and an overview of the class, then have a few of the parents tell you that their child is not going to do any of the assigned work because they are doing a different time period at home. If the class is laid out where the bulk of the reading and research is to be done at home and then the class meets once a week to go over the projects, papers, assignments and do activities based on those things, then that child who doesn't do them really isn't contributing to the learning process going on in the co op that adds the extra enrichment. KWIM? It also really isn't fair to the other students in the class who are following the co op class plan at home and come into the co op ready to participate. I'm hoping I'm not sounding harsh here. I would definitely discuss the expectations of the co op class with the teacher. Will class discussion be a must? How intense are the assignments? What is her view of level of participation? Are there field trips? It is very frustrating to prepare weekly assignments, projects, and do activities in the class when a few are excused because they are "studying something else;" "not comfortable speaking in class;" "too busy to do the projects," "only in the class for social interaction." Just wanting to post some possible reasons why this co op leader is focused on maintaining their subject matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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