Looking ahead: Great Courses??

[CyndiLJ]

Now that I officially have an 8th grader, I guess it is time to think about high school! I am trying to keep our 5 doing history/social studies together as best we can, and plan to use Walch's Power Basics as a framework with its lower language level and supplement with Great Courses for high school. Beginning HSing mid stream as we did, we were never able to do the history rotation, and we have never started it from beginning to end, so I thought Power Basics might help as it will be quick for us to go through together as a group to get the big picture without being too detailed, then bring the details in with the Great Courses lectures and other readings.

 

I wondered how others are using the Great Courses. I am familiar with them having listened to a couple myself in the past, and think they are a terrific resource. Have you just had your child listen/watch them? Have you assigned essays with them? Have you created tests? I guess I need ideas for how others are working with them to flesh out subjects. :bigear::bigear:

 

Thanks,

Cindy

[regentrude]

We use a lot of TC courses for history. I have a textbook as a spine from which DD takes notes, she reads the original works of literature, we listen to the TC courses for more in-depth information and analysis and discuss what we have learned.

She uses the knowledge and insight from the courses in her writing assignments, but I do not create specific writing assignments or tests to match the courses. She sometimes uses the end-of-lecture discussion questions as inspiration to choose her writing topics.

 

We have started a history cycle in 9th grade.

For Ancients, we have used 72 lectures by Dr. Vandiver:

Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Greek Tragedy, Classical Mythology.

 

For Medieval, we have used the three sets by Philipp Daileader

Early, High and Late Middle Ages and selections from the Dante course.

 

For Renaissance, we have used the Italian Renaissance by Kenneth Bartlett and selections from Peter Saccio's Shakespeare: the Word and the Action.

[Janice in NJ]

I'm in the car everyday with me youngest. We always have a lecture set that we're working on. Something light. We listen, pause, and discuss.

 

Then we have sets that we use in a more traditional way. One of the things that I always harp on is preparation. You NEVER show up to a lecture (in college or beyond) with no preparation. You read and think about the subject before you plant yourself in front of an expert. You will always get more out of the lecture if you have done your homework. When we use a set along with a core course, we peruse the lecture outline. Then we research and read as much as we can about the topic (a history spine works well here). We discuss for a bit; often I include some kinds of written output to make sure the child was on-task during "reading time." Then we listen to the lecture. I say "listen." We pause and discuss a LOT. It usually takes us a least an hour to get through a 30-minute lecture. Usually it's closer to two hours. We discuss the content, interesting rabbit trails from personal reading, the structure of the argument(s), a well-worded sentence; it's different every time. We looks things up - in our books and on the computer. Then I assign something: a writing project, another reading assignment, a research assignment with an oral or written report, etc. I think you get the picture.

 

Then we have informal sets. Interest led. The kids watch these on their own. Yes, my kids have begged me to buy certain sets.

 

Just spending time with some of these folks is an education in itself. My dh can tell when we are spending more time that usual with some of these profs. The sentences that our kids use in normal conversation get longer and more complex - more dependent clauses. Richer vocabulary. Stronger insight. It's just a by-product of time spent listening to educated folks. :001_smile:

 

For a broad sweep of Western Civilization, I can recommend:

- Foundations of Western Civilization I & II

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8701

 

If you are more interested in US History:

- History of the United States

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8500

 

There are others that focus on the details; but these three sets are a good starting point.

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

Edited July 25, 2012 by Janice in NJ

[serendipitous journey]

Thank you to the OP for this thread, and to Regentrude & Janice -- I enjoy these courses so much myself, and have been curious about the high school applications, too.

 

I have been so curious if anyone uses these courses to help teach real-time notetaking skills -- as in, listening to the lectures straight through and using the results to prepare for an exam/essay? Note-taking and studying through notes was so hard for me (in my advanced college science courses) -- I am wondering how to teach it.

[regentrude]

I have been so curious if anyone uses these courses to help teach real-time notetaking skills -- as in, listening to the lectures straight through and using the results to prepare for an exam/essay? Note-taking and studying through notes was so hard for me (in my advanced college science courses) -- I am wondering how to teach it.

 

I do not, because we use the lectures as audio only while in the car.

 

I do not find the TC lectures very suitable for learning notetaking, because there are too few visual aids. In a real college class, the teacher writes the important things on the board or makes slides available; this provides a framework for the students to begin working with, and then to fill in the additional information that is said in addition to the written/displayed info.

 

I did teach my kids to take notes from textbooks, and they learn note taking from lectures as soon as they take college classes.

[CyndiLJ]

I'm in the car everyday with me youngest. We always have a lecture set that we're working on. Something light. We listen, pause, and discuss.

 

Then we have sets that we use in a more traditional way. One of the things that I always harp on is preparation. You NEVER show up to a lecture (in college or beyond) with no preparation. You read and think about the subject before you plant yourself in front of an expert. You will always get more out of the lecture if you have done your homework. When we use a set along with a core course, we peruse the lecture outline. Then we research and read as much as we can about the topic (a history spine works well here). We discuss for a bit; often I include some kinds of written output to make sure the child was on-task during "reading time." Then we listen to the lecture. I say "listen." We pause and discuss a LOT. It usually takes us a least an hour to get through a 30-minute lecture. Usually it's closer to two hours. We discuss the content, interesting rabbit trails from personal reading, the structure of the argument(s), a well-worded sentence; it's different every time. We looks things up - in our books and on the computer. Then I assign something: a writing project, another reading assignment, a research assignment with an oral or written report, etc. I think you get the picture.

 

Then we have informal sets. Interest led. The kids watch these on their own. Yes, my kids have begged me to buy certain sets.

 

Just spending time with some of these folks is an education in itself. My dh can tell when we are spending more time that usual with some of these profs. The sentences that our kids use in normal conversation get longer and more complex - more dependent clauses. Richer vocabulary. Stronger insight. It's just a by-product of time spent listening to educated folks. :001_smile:

 

For a broad sweep of Western Civilization, I can recommend:

- Foundations of Western Civilization I & II

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8701

 

If you are more interested in US History:

- History of the United States

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8500

 

There are others that focus on the details; but these three sets are a good starting point.

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

 

Janice,

 

Thanks SO much for sharing how you use them! This was sort of how I imagined, and I love how you explained so clearly the many ways you use them gives me all sorts of ideas! Personally, I could go nuts buying them ;-0 but haven't yet because I couldn't justify the cost to myself. Looks like now that we are heading into high school next year I can start buying them ahead of time, right? hehehehe!:D

 

Cindy

[serendipitous journey]

I do not, because we use the lectures as audio only while in the car.

 

I do not find the TC lectures very suitable for learning notetaking, because there are too few visual aids. In a real college class, the teacher writes the important things on the board or makes slides available; this provides a framework for the students to begin working with, and then to fill in the additional information that is said in addition to the written/displayed info.

 

I did teach my kids to take notes from textbooks, and they learn note taking from lectures as soon as they take college classes.

 

You are right: I really wasn't thinking of the at-the-board element. Thanks!

[CyndiLJ]

You all have been so helpful, and I really like the idea of listening in the car "just because" and how it will stimulate discussion and encourage higher level language development. Uh oh, now I guess I need to check out those catalogs even more! HAHAHA! I could get addicted myself to those things!

 

Cindy