History Odyssey assignments

[Haiku]

Does anyone else feel like some of the History Odyssey assignments have WAY too much work to get done in one day?

 

For example, today we are supposed to do an entire History Pocket.

 

Some days we are supposed to read AND write in two or more sections of our notebook AND fill in the timeline AND do map work. We end up feeling rushed or transferring work from one lesson into the next.

 

I know we don't have to do it all, but I am one of those people who feels like if there is a box to be checked, I need to check it, and I'm always worried about missing something.

 

ETA: I also feel like HO is rushing us through topics, when we would like to spend more time on them.

 

I have the HO book on my Kindle. I'm considering printing off the lesson sheets and using a Sharpie to mark out certain things in certain lessons so that I don't have to feel guilty for skipping them.

 

How do other people handle this? We do history and science in two-week rotations, so we have 20 weeks of each subject.

 

Tara

Edited October 19, 2012 by TaraTheLiberator

[Woodland Mist Academy]

History Odyssey was a bust here for many of the reasons you mentioned. I am out of time right now, but wanted to let you know I felt the same way.

 

I'll try to write more details later.

[historically accurate]

My dd likes the assignments, but I agree. She gets through only one box during her whole history lesson sometimes. :glare: I have her doing a lapbook on Mesopotamia as well, since she likes lapbooks, and between that and the HO, history is moving VERY slowly this year.

[YankeeMomInVA]

We are on our 4th year of History Odyssey and I have noticed the issue about which you are complaining. Some weeks I feel like we blow through a topic, other weeks I feel like we are overwhelmed with work. I especially noticed that last year when we were still using History Pockets. There was absolutely NO way we were going to be able to complete a whole pocket in a week in addition to all the other work. I ended up just trimming it down to a manageable level.

 

It's less of an issue this year with Modern-Level 1 because there are no History Pockets.

 

My take is this: History Odyssey is a framework for us. I add in more where we need more and I eliminate the excess when we are too overwhelmed. I'm basically paying for a plan every year that gives me an idea of what kind of work I should expect from my child and helps me fill in my own personal weaknesses with certain topics.

 

~Lauren

[RootAnn]

One of the things I read on the HO threads over the years is to make sure you didn't feel like you had to do EVERYTHING.

 

Anyway, I'm a tweaker, so I took the PDF book & had it printed. Then, I went through & pretty much rewrote the thing (because I'm using different spine(s) and we aren't doing any of the history pockets but I added other books from CHOLL). I moved things around, dropped things, and added things so that each day was pretty balanced (in my opinion). I typed all that in and then had my version printed. I had it coil bound for my oldest. (In practice, sometimes she gets more than one day's lesson done & sometimes less.)

 

The reading is quick for her. It is the writing that she doesn't like. She tends to write the smallest amount possible. (She likes the mapwork & timeline.) When she gets to draw something or do an extra activity, she tends to take extra time on those. I'm okay with that. She once spent over an hour sketching & coloring a ziggurat. :tongue_smilie:

[Heathermomster]

Give yourself permission to break the lessons down over 2 or more days and tweak to make it work. The program should work for you, not the other way around. Adjust to your child.

 

ETA: I definitely agree that the program rushes in certain areas. I supplement with other reading and videos to balance the information out.

Edited October 19, 2012 by Heathermomster

[Lily_Grace]

History Odyssey was a bust here for many of the reasons you mentioned. I am out of time right now, but wanted to let you know I felt the same way.

 

I'll try to write more details later.

 

Same here. HO was poorly laid out, imo, with the work broken the way it was. Those Pockets were the death of us. We got through Egypt and when it came time to repeat the same darn thing for Greece....the kid got a pass. We used other resources.

 

After that year we switched to Creek Edge Press - similar, but each card holding one week's worth of work and we could use any resources or substitute assignments. It just felt better. Now we're at a unit study-type curriculum that breaks down chronological history into 10 units and that's working even better.

 

I'm glad we tried out HO to see what all the fuss was, but man, that guide needs some tweaking!

[Pink and Green Mom]

I too am not thrilled with History Odyssey (Ancients, Level 2) for my 5th grader. It takes him forever to do some of the readings and at the end of the day I feel like he just isn't retaining anything at all. I don't do the history pockets but have subbed in some library books and notebooking pages for those things.

[Haiku]

Those Pockets were the death of us. We got through Egypt and when it came time to repeat the same darn thing for Greece....the kid got a pass.

 

That's funny, because my kids LOVE History Pockets. Last year we did a lap book, and they liked that just fine, but when they saw we got to do History Pockets this year (our first year of using HO), they were THRILLED.

 

After that year we switched to Creek Edge Press - similar, but each card holding one week's worth of work and we could use any resources or substitute assignments.

 

I've considered trying the task cards.

 

Now we're at a unit study-type curriculum that breaks down chronological history into 10 units and that's working even better.

 

 

Now, now, you know better than to talk about a curriculum without giving a name and link. Tsk tsk! :D

 

Tara

[Lily_Grace]

 

 

Now, now, you know better than to talk about a curriculum without giving a name and link. Tsk tsk! :D

 

Tara

 

:lol: It's Learning Adventures. I didn't mention it because it's not a history program, it's an all in one. But, they have ancients and middle ages, and then skip to American history for volume III. It's really fitting us better than anything else we've tried, I think, but we still supplement heavily - history gets Jackdaws, we do a second science, and writing assignments get changed to meet his level. Writing that out makes it seem like the curriculum is worthless. :tongue_smilie: LOL We like the activities and literature/social study/fine arts tie-ins. It seems to make the kiddo remember more when half his day is tied together to one theme.:D

[pitterpatter]

Just break it up to your liking. See my blog to see what we do.

[pitterpatter]

This is true, but some topics like Egypt have tons of resources available. Others have very few, especially for littles. I'm sure that's why. l think it just seems like we are blowing through because nothing else is available.

 

We are on our 4th year of History Odyssey and I have noticed the issue about which you are complaining. Some weeks I feel like we blow through a topic, other weeks I feel like we are overwhelmed with work. I especially noticed that last year when we were still using History Pockets. There was absolutely NO way we were going to be able to complete a whole pocket in a week in addition to all the other work. I ended up just trimming it down to a manageable level.

 

It's less of an issue this year with Modern-Level 1 because there are no History Pockets.

 

My take is this: History Odyssey is a framework for us. I add in more where we need more and I eliminate the excess when we are too overwhelmed. I'm basically paying for a plan every year that gives me an idea of what kind of work I should expect from my child and helps me fill in my own personal weaknesses with certain topics.

 

~Lauren

[pitterpatter]

PS - Feel free to pre-cut some/most/all of the history pocket components to speed things up. Also, I type in the words to know with a PDF editor. DD just colors and pastes the matching pics and words.

 

I also borrow Magic Tree House audiobooks from the library and play those over lunch. I'm playing an Arabian Nights book on CD next week.

 

Try to think of ways to make it more time-effecient. Remember, most ancient history resources are not designed or written for young elementary students.

[helena]

I feel your pain! I've started a few threads here on the same subject. Last year my then 7th grader did MA2, got very behind, never finished :glare:, and insisted on doing EM2 this year.

I couldn't believe she wanted to stick with it! She shed some tears over this through out the school year and was in a constant state of frustration.

 

After getting some great advice here, I finally did what was suggested and allowed the schedule to not rule us or get us down. I told my daughter this fall that everything in the schedule is good work so anything she does is time well spent. Then we figured out where the halfway point was in the year (to make sure we would catch falling behind before it got ugly), did some math, and marked every 2 1/2 weeks with a pen. Every week she has to get as much done in that time frame. She chooses the assignments. If there's a biography assignment she can pick and choose who she would like to write about. She has to do all the read assignment, that includes chapter books, KHE, and The Story of Mankind. She averages 4-5 days a week, 45-60 minutes per day. She does a little of everything (writing, timeline, projects, etc).

 

We feel like we have control over the situation as far as not getting behind. In a way that gives me the peace to step back and not get hung up on getting everything done (impossible for us).

 

It's good for my daughter because she doesn't have the sinking feeling of being behind and not being able to catch up. She kept the program she wanted, and I think it's good for her independence to pick and choose from the schedule.

 

Big lesson learned this year. As soon as I saw the approach working, I knew it was going to have a profound effect on homeschooling as a whole.

 

We are not slaves to schedules, they're there to help you, not make you feel like your fighting a losing battle.

 

hth :001_smile:

[tomandlorih]

I too am not thrilled with History Odyssey (Ancients, Level 2) for my 5th grader. It takes him forever to do some of the readings and at the end of the day I feel like he just isn't retaining anything at all. I don't do the history pockets but have subbed in some library books and notebooking pages for those things.

 

:iagree: It's just rush, rush, rush and I don't feel she's retaining much of it, if anything. But I rather felt that way last year about SOTW too, which is why I wanted to try HO. *sigh* The History Pockets and supplemental books from the library are what she is remembering. Hope it gets better or we'll probably go back to straight SOTW with AG next year. :tongue_smilie:

[jujsky]

It's our first year using HO (Modern Times) and I'm not jazzed about it either. I don't try to do an entire lesson in one day because it's too much. I usually break up one lesson into 2-4 lessons. When I was done breaking up the book, I had about 80-something lessons. It came out to 3 smaller lessons/week.