Please tell me it's okay if we ditch world history for American history

[HollyBee]

I am really struggling with this decision!

 

We are super slow-pokey in history, so after 3 1/2 years we're just now entering the Renaissance period. Sounds okay, right? Renaissance is a really interesting period in history. Lots of cool stuff to learn. I have lots of resources on my shelves (though no real plan for them, honestly).

 

The problem? The kids have just told me they want to study American history this year.

 

I completely understand; they really haven't had any American history, and Dd is 8th grade this year. I definitely want her to have some before she starts high school, especially since there's a possibility that she'll go to a b&m school next year.

 

Reassure me that it's okay to skip the Renaissance and go into American history. I'm really really torn here. I wish I could do it all. Oh, and to complicate things, I'm lousy at pulling my own thing together. I've tried to do this, and it just doesn't work. I think it's part of the reason why we've taken so long to get here. I just need something that's already laid out for me.

 

So here are the options that I'm thinking about:

 

Notgrass America the Beautiful

Sonlight 100

 

Or I can completely ignore the kids, keep trucking chronologically, go with something like Sonlight Core H, and tell them to suck it up. :tongue_smilie:

 

What would YOU do?

 

(P.S. The reason I'm so late in trying to figure this out is that we took a 3 week trip to the UK in July/August, so it completely threw my planning. Ok, that's just an excuse, but it's all I've got so I'm sticking to it.)

[kiana]

I would definitely go with the American History, although if possible I'd throw in some connections to world history through some Genevieve Foster books or the like -- not for a formal grade, just 'and read this too'.

[PeterPan]

Yup, do the american. That's no good to go into high school at b&m with no american at all. Those two options (Notgrass and SL100) are fine. BJU8 would also be fine. Like you're saying, don't pull it together. Start with a framework and add in the pizzazz.

[momto2Cs]

I would definitely go with the American History, although if possible I'd throw in some connections to world history through some Genevieve Foster books or the like -- not for a formal grade, just 'and read this too'.

 

:iagree:

[ChildofGrace]

Well, to complicate things, I'll differ slightly from the others and say that I would probably find a way to SL Core H with a heavy American emphasis.

 

I say this mainly because you are considering a B&M school for high school--in that case, your student will likely study one year of world history and one year of American history and both of those may cover only partial time periods. For that reason, I think it would be very helpful to your dc to have studied the flow of history from the Renaissance/Reformation to the founding of the U.S. in order to better grasp not only the sequence of events, but also the connections between the two time periods (i.e. the impact the former had upon the latter).

 

SL Core H already covers a significant amount of U.S. history; perhaps you could add a simple text like the Notgrass America the Beautiful or BJUs text to make it more complete?

 

Just some food for thought.:001_smile:

[dbmamaz]

thats what I did . . .although I wasnt slow. I honestly think a clear idea of US history will be more important than a clear idea of world history, if your kids are going to public school. at least around here, I dont think they did any world history . . .maybe one year? before high school. My son went through 7th grade and the only 'world history' . .. he says he studied the greeks in grade school and world wars in middle school, and that was it.

[EKS]

I think that one of the best things about doing a tour of world history first is to see the American piece in the context of the whole world. This is why I prefer a three year world history rotation followed by a one year intensive American history study. Doing it this way, students don't get the impression that after the European colonization of North America nothing else of importance was going on in the world.

 

I highly recommend sticking with world history, but going faster and finishing during this school year.