High School History

[Hoot]

I've been doing some research on graduation requirements and trying to map out a general plan since DS will be in high school next year.

 

I think I've got most everything figured out with the exception of history/social studies. I just can't quite wrap my head around it.

 

He is required to have 4 credits, which must include (interesting since that is 4 1/2 credits :001_huh:):

 

1 credit American History

1 credit World History

1/2 credit civics

1/2 credit economics

1/2 credit geography

1 elective

 

What bugs me is the World History. Cramming it ALL into one year just seems like a lot to me. How are you supposed to get any depth in just one year? History is also DS's favorite subject so I would prefer to do it over AT LEAST 2 yrs. Of course, I don't see time-wise how we could do any MORE than 2 yrs.

 

What I'm contemplating is:

 

9th World History

10th World History

11th U.S. History + Civics (1/2) Economics (1/2)

12th Geography (tied in with Bible/worldviews and literature)

 

My question is, would that second year of World History be counted as the elective or do I need to cram something else in somewhere? Also, do you know of a good, solid World History that is divided over two years? Most seem to go in 3 or 4 yr. cycles.

Edited July 24, 2012 by contessa20

[regentrude]

I have a few comments:

First, a question: do these graduation requirements in your state apply to homeschoolers as well? In our state, they don't.

 

Second: aside from the required courses, there are usually some credits open for misc electives. If your son loves history, you could decide to use those electives for a longer, more in depth history study. There is no reason why electives can not be chosen in the core subjects (we will, for example, use electives for math).

 

Third: does it say US history must be crammed into one year? I doubt that is specified. So you could spend three years on World history chronologically and cover US history as it comes up, making sure to do enough US specific work to count for a whole credit. We do a 4 year history rotation and cover US during the last two years, spending our time half on US and half on the rest of the world.

[jibaker103]

I've been doing some research on graduation requirements and trying to map out a general plan since DS will be in high school next year.

 

I think I've got most everything figured out with the exception of history/social studies. I just can't quite wrap my head around it.

 

He is required to have 4 credits, which must include (interesting since that is 4 1/2 credits :001_huh:):

 

1 credit American History

1 credit World History

1/2 credit civics

1/2 credit economics

1/2 credit geography

1 elective

 

What bugs me is the World History. Cramming it ALL into one year just seems like a lot to me. How are you supposed to get any depth in just one year? History is also DS's favorite subject so I would prefer to do it over AT LEAST 2 yrs. Of course, I don't see time-wise how we could do any MORE than 2 yrs.

 

What I'm contemplating is:

 

9th World History

10th World History

11th Civics/Economics

12th Geography (tied in with Bible/worldviews and literature)

 

My question is, would that second year of World History be counted as the elective or do I need to cram something else in somewhere? Also, do you know of a good, solid World History that is divided over two years? Most seem to go in 3 or 4 yr. cycles.

I would combine World, History, American History, and Geography together an completed chronologically over 3 or 4 years. Save economics/government when you get to those time periods in history. You can name the courses:

World History 1: Ancients

World History II: Middle Ages to Reformation

U.S. & World History I: Early American to the 19th Century

U.S. & World History II: Modern

 

or you could put the date range covered each year in the title.

[Ellie]

Those are survey courses.

 

And for WTMers, y'all have already done a decent amount of world history, yes? Well, this is a one-year, scatter-shot history. :-)

 

If you name your history courses differently than most college advisors are used to seeing, well, that could be problematic.

 

The most common progression and courses are these:

 

9th: World Geography

10th: World History

11th: U.S. History

12th: U.S. government/economics

 

No U.S. history might bother some colleges. It would bother me, but then I'm not a college advisor, lol.

[SkateLeft]

Those are survey courses.

 

And for WTMers, y'all have already done a decent amount of world history, yes? Well, this is a one-year, scatter-shot history. :-)

 

I agree with Ellie here.

 

We did a year of world history and a year of American history. (My dd completed the rest of her social science credits via dual enrollment.) Considering how much history we've done over all our years of homeschooling, it wasn't hard to design one-year survey courses.

[EKS]

I thought that Ways of the World, which comes in two volumes, was absolutely excellent. I would highly recommend it for either a one or two year history course, particularly for a kid who has had extensive coverage of world history in elementary and middle school.

[jibaker103]

What bugs me is the World History. Cramming it ALL into one year just seems like a lot to me. How are you supposed to get any depth in just one year? History is also DS's favorite subject so I would prefer to do it over AT LEAST 2 yrs. Of course, I don't see time-wise how we could do any MORE than 2 yrs.

 

 

The O.P. is concerned with cramming everything into one year and says she wants to do it over 2 years. She is not looking for a survey course. Maybe she started homeschooling later on and her ds did not get the advantage of rotating through history chronologically and/or as she has stated her ds loves history and therefore wants something more in depth.

 

My ds is actually in the same boat. We started homeschooling half way through 7th grade and he loves history. The way I have handled it for him is to skip ancients during high school since we covered it 1.5 years in middle school.

 

In 9th grade we did a semester of Geography in Society for the first semester and then started medieval history which took us another 1.5 years. We have spent the summer on the reformation, colonial period, and up to the revolutionary war.

 

For this 11th grade year the focus will be the 19th century and modern history for 12th. As we have moved through history we have been studying geography, government, and economics historically. So now all I have to add in is the modern information for these three subjects. It is highly doable over these next two years.

 

We are using Tapestry of Grace which combines humanity subjects such as history, literature, philosophy, the arts, etc. but there are others that could work just as well like Trisms and Beautiful Feet. If you want a more textbook approach try World History: The Human Odyssey by Spielvogel or America: The Last Best Hope Vol I & II by Bennett.

[Hoot]

The O.P. is concerned with cramming everything into one year and says she wants to do it over 2 years. She is not looking for a survey course. Maybe she started homeschooling later on and her ds did not get the advantage of rotating through history chronologically and/or as she has stated her ds loves history and therefore wants something more in depth.

 

My ds is actually in the same boat. We started homeschooling half way through 7th grade and he loves history. The way I have handled it for him is to skip ancients during high school since we covered it 1.5 years in middle school.

 

YES! You hit the nail on the head, Jessica. DS is in 8th grade and this is our first year homeschooling. He has listened to all of the SOTW volumes on audio numerous times and reads a lot of non-fiction relating to history, particularly WW2. He had virtually no history in elementary school and what he got in 6th and 7th was rather inadequate, in my opinion, focusing almost exclusively on American History. I'll look into those history suggestions. Thanks.

 

First, a question: do these graduation requirements in your state apply to homeschoolers as well? In our state, they don't.

 

Second: aside from the required courses, there are usually some credits open for misc electives. If your son loves history, you could decide to use those electives for a longer, more in depth history study. There is no reason why electives can not be chosen in the core subjects (we will, for example, use electives for math).

 

Third: does it say US history must be crammed into one year? I doubt that is specified. So you could spend three years on World history chronologically and cover US history as it comes up, making sure to do enough US specific work to count for a whole credit. We do a 4 year history rotation and cover US during the last two years, spending our time half on US and half on the rest of the world.

 

Yes, our graduation requirements are the same for homeschoolers as for public schoolers. It does not say that US History must be crammed into one year, nor does it say the same for World History; however, it specifies that one CREDIT is needed. One credit is typically equal to one year of full-time work. Honestly, I'm less concerned with just one year of US History. I think THAT is completely doable. It's the World History that I think is unreasonable to fit into one year (AKA: one credit).

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I would combine World, History, American History, and Geography together an completed chronologically over 3 or 4 years. Save economics/government when you get to those time periods in history. You can name the courses:

World History 1: Ancients

World History II: Middle Ages to Reformation

U.S. & World History I: Early American to the 19th Century

U.S. & World History II: Modern

 

or you could put the date range covered each year in the title.

:iagree:

This is our approach. We will add in Economics and Civics alongside these using Paces or something similar. The Geography will earn a full credit since we are including it over 4 years.

[cbollin]

hmm... I wonder... mfw does a year of ancient history, then a year of world history from Rome times to modern

then US history

gov't

economics

and the .5 geography credit is built into the history in "world" and "part 2 of us" with option to expand to 1 credit

 

maybe their framework would be helpful as you plan? take a look?

 

http://www.mfwbooks.com/inc/pdf/HS_Course_of_Study.pdf?r12

 

the "ancient" would be the elective in history and yet help not feel like you cram it all in one year with world.

 

-crystal

[mschickie]

The ps around here usually do the following schedule:

 

9th world/global history

10th world/global history

11th US History

12th gov't/economics

 

I would suspect that you could do your 1/2 credit of geography over the two years of world history 1/4 credit a year and tie it into your history program.

[Hoot]

hmm... I wonder... mfw does a year of ancient history, then a year of world history from Rome times to modern

then US history

gov't

economics

and the .5 geography credit is built into the history in "world" and "part 2 of us" with option to expand to 1 credit

 

maybe their framework would be helpful as you plan? take a look?

 

http://www.mfwbooks.com/inc/pdf/HS_Course_of_Study.pdf?r12

 

the "ancient" would be the elective in history and yet help not feel like you cram it all in one year with world.

 

-crystal

 

Oooh I like the way that is laid out. Thanks! I'll have to look into that further.

[Hoot]

Has anyone used Streams of Civilization I and II as a spine for World History? I actually own both of them but I don't hear anyone talking about them anymore.

[laughing lioness]

What is he going to do post-grad? Vocational training, college, ivy league, military? Because, really most colleges won't look THAT closely at transcripts beyond basic stuff- they want to know about TEST scores and transcripts are secondary unless he is going Ivy or Academy or some sort of specialized training/field.

 

I would map out the history that you and your son want and then fit it in to a course of study. Like Regentrude said- there are elective credits- make use of them.

[Hoot]

What is he going to do post-grad? Vocational training, college, ivy league, military? Because, really most colleges won't look THAT closely at transcripts beyond basic stuff- they want to know about TEST scores and transcripts are secondary unless he is going Ivy or Academy or some sort of specialized training/field.

 

I would map out the history that you and your son want and then fit it in to a course of study. Like Regentrude said- there are elective credits- make use of them.

 

Good point. College is the assumption at this point, no Ivy League though. ;) He doesn't know what he wants to do or study when it comes to college so that far out is still very fluid. One hiccup comes in that I have to go through an adviser next year and clear everything with them. At DH's insistence we are using a local umbrella school that will allow DS to graduate with a "real" diploma so I have to make sure that we can completely outline and document where our credits come from. Honestly, I wouldn't be as concerned if we were going it alone and I wouldn't have any hesitation about combining things to achieve credits.

 

Also, according to their website the college that DS will likely attend (local state) does take transcripts into consideration. A portfolio is also required for homeschoolers.