DS despises History Odyssey, what now?

[TheApprentice]

What would you do to make it more interesting? Would you do something else for the second semester? If so, what would that be? i just don't want to drag him kicking and screaming for an entire semester. That would make our days miserable.

[Cynful]

What doesn't he like about it? The outlining? The books? The layout?

[TheApprentice]

He feels like he's not retaining anything. Just doing: the maps, summarize important people, outlining, put dates in timeline. He's getting bogged down with the assignments, I think.

[TarynB]

If you want to keep the structure of History Odyssey, how about adding relevant documentaries, and reading & discussing living books related to the time period he is studying? Or if you think he needs a complete change of scenery, have you looked at K12's Human Odyssey? You should be able to find it used inexpensively. (We love it here.)

 

ETA: By the way, I agree that what I've seen of History Odyssey as it is written looks kinda dry and un-engaging, so just adding a little variety of materials would be my advice. My DS doesn't love history (as much as science), but since he's very visually-oriented and likes to read, he retains a lot from adding documentaries and library books alongside his history spine.

[Cynful]

My suggestion was going to be to add to it also. Sounds like it's become monotonous to him. Perhaps more living books or even letting him pick out how he'd like to learn about about the topic. Have him search the net (safely of course), pick a book to read, look for a documentary or movie about it. Then just write a summary about it or have him pick out what stood out most to him. I'm not saying what he is doing isn't beneficial but it does sound boring. Does he like to read? Does he like history? My son loves history but his sister hates it. He'll delve into any topic but she just wants to get it done.

[NittanyJen]

I agree with the above-- why not keep the outline just for yourself instead of handing it to him, but pick and choose more about what gets done. Add in more books to read, and instead of writing summaries, discuss the people and places and connections with him, and make it conversational. I would ask for some papers if you are in logic stage, and I would still do a timeline-- DS11 hates the timeline, but I have him do it anyway; at this stage, we all have to learn to do some tasks that we find disagreeable, and it doesn't take that long. You could do a century book instead of a literal timeline-- maybe make a one-line note or journal entry for each person or major event that takes place in a particular page for that century as you encounter it, if that works better, but it accomplishes a similar goal. A century book could also double as a short form of notetaking.

 

The nice thing about HO is that it is so very flexible. You can still get what you need to from the course without having to feel that you must follow everything exactly as written. Many of us also add in K12's Human Odyssey text as a different reading source; it is well-written and more engaging than vanLoon in some respects.

 

Using a relief globe (where you can physically feel the mountains) can help with the geography aspect of it. Why some of these trade routes or isolation issues or war campaigns happened the way that they did is much more evident when the reality of the geography is taken into account, and seeing the desert and how high the mountains are in different areas can bring this issue into stark well, relief <grin>. That experience can also make the experience more interactive and lead to better retention, particularly if your son is more visual or kinesthetic learner, which may be the case if he is struggling to retain information by writing down the outlines and notes in the course.

[Lily_Grace]

That was the year we switched to Creek Edge Press' task cards. We could use the same materials (even the same maps if needed) and break it into ~34 weekly lessons so it wasn't monotonous, skipping the frustrating layout of HO. For us it meant a lot more fiction reading (I'd assign one book a week when we could find one on the same topic) but he enjoyed it more.

[TheApprentice]

Lots of good ideas. I'll probably add more fiction reading and discussion, with a couple of documentaries. I think I'll keep the outlining and timeline.

[kalanamak]

He feels like he's not retaining anything. Just doing: the maps, summarize important people, outlining, put dates in timeline. He's getting bogged down with the assignments, I think.

 

Trim them and add in reading supplementary info. There are skads of interesting books out there for that age. I have found that most useful for us is in the evening, while kiddo is fiddling about the living room with a lego or some such thing, I read and discuss. Why do you think X did such and such? Why did the members of the Delian League bail out when they had the chance? (the text had mentioned earlier how controlling Athens was.) Why would an Athenian be opposed to democracy (death of Socrates and the attack on Sicily), etc. Our discussions tell me he is learning and it getting more: the heart of how the logic stage should be different: putting events together rather than just knowing about them.

 

This is teacher intensive, but interesting.