History curriculum question for 8th grade (1850-present)....

[Janie]

(I posted this over on the curriculum board too.)

 

A kink has developed in history plans. My brain is overworked and can't think straight, so please help me out.

 

I need some suggestions for 8th grade world history (1850-present). I would love something kin to the rich text of Guerber's Story of... books.

 

Have any of you used SOTW 4 in 8th grade? Is it rigorous enough for kids that age? Compared to textbook material from major publishers like BJUP, it seems a little simplistic, but I may be wrong. Comment?

 

My goal is to lay a solid foundation in logic stage for the student to transition to Spielvogel and Omnibus in 9th grade.

 

Ideas?

 

Thanks!

[Anne/Ankara]

Janie, we used several spines last year for 8th grade world history, including:

 

Bauer: Story of the World, vol. 4

Hillyer: Young People's Story of the Modern World (this is a dated volume, but nicely done, 1966).

Guerber: Story of the Great Republic (again, dated, and stops at 1900)

McGraw-Hill: Complete Book of World History, Grades 4-8, which is a colorful spine book of maps and timelines

Usborne's World History, The Last 500 Years (again, a colorful spine for organizing topics that can lead to in-depth studies)

Jennings: The Century (a heavy tome with lots of pictures, great book)

 

Hope these help!

[Michelle in MO]

(I posted this over on the curriculum board too.)

 

A kink has developed in history plans. My brain is overworked and can't think straight, so please help me out.

 

I need some suggestions for 8th grade world history (1850-present). I would love something kin to the rich text of Guerber's Story of... books.

 

Have any of you used SOTW 4 in 8th grade? Is it rigorous enough for kids that age? Compared to textbook material from major publishers like BJUP, it seems a little simplistic, but I may be wrong. Comment?

 

My goal is to lay a solid foundation in logic stage for the student to transition to Spielvogel and Omnibus in 9th grade.

 

Ideas?

 

Thanks!

 

we were finishing up our history cycle with SOTW-4. In my attempts to keep all kids together and to make things easy on myself, we went ahead and used that.

 

Even at the time I knew it was too simplistic, although we went ahead and did it anyway. With the extra books they read, it was probably OK but not great, kwim? I wanted actually to start my oldest on Omnibus I in 8th grade, but decided to hold off until the next girl was in 7th. Thus, we did Omnibus I when the oldest was in 9th and the middle one was in 7th (doing SOTW-1 with the youngest).

 

IMO, there's a lack of good materials for the logic stage. I almost wish I could convince SWB to write another series of history books, geared towards this age/stage!

 

I'm not familiar with Guerber. We ended up using World History: A Human Odyssey when we did Omnibus I, because it was a better fit for my middle daughter, plus I guess I'm a little old-fashioned and like actual printed study guides and tests rather than on-line activities, like the ones that accompany Western Civilization. Something akin to World History (as far as the general content and reading level) for your school might work. I'm not sure if World History itself would work for your school, however. I believe it's latest publication date was 1999, so it's already outdated as far as modern history goes, plus the only copies available are used, so you'd probably be searching all over in order to get enough.

 

I wish I could be of more help. You might try Wadsworth's main website (this appears to be the new one) and see if they have any publications more suitable for the logic stage, or perhaps a newer version of something akin to World History.

 

IMO, the logic stage is a somewhat forgotten or overlooked area in classical homeschooling! I found myself faced with the frustration of finding suitable materials for my older two, who had outgrown the plethora of grammar-stage materials but weren't quite ready for h.s./college level stuff!

 

I just thought of something else: I felt that the "jump" from SOTW-4 to Omnibus I for my 8th grader was a big large for her, and she's a strong reader. So, you might take that into consideration as you lay your plans for your history curriculum for 8th grade.

 

I keep thinking of additional things to add. Although I've not used TOG or Sonlight, you might check their history text and literature suggestions for this age. But, you may have already thought of that!

 

Best wishes to you in your search. I wish I had more concrete suggestions other than that I thought SOTW-4 with the lit. readings we did as a family were just not enough.