In a bit of a squeezed situation (History related)

[BakersDozen]

I've gone and done it again...same thing I've always done since the older dc were just starting school. I've gone and spent WAY too much time on one book/time period and now find myself scrambling to play catch up. Help, please?

 

My 14yo and 15yo are 10th grade, finishing MOH 2. We chose this program because the text is light yet the projects are more in-depth, which is what they really enjoy. Yet I realized today that we spent so much time digging into areas that were of greater interest that now I don't know how to cram the Renaissance/Reformation into the last few months of school this year so we can move on to U.S. History next year (although I suppose I could do U.S. History their senior year only, right?).

 

WWYD? I could have them fly through MOH 3, focusing only on the really important lessons rather than doing every lesson. Or I could let them have extra time, even go into next fall (we have plans this summer that will make schooling very difficult, plus I really hate schooling during the summer aside from math/reading), then pick up U.S. History when we finish.

 

I can't believe I got us into this situation yet again. No, wait, I'm the one who spent over 4 months studying Lewis and Clark and took almost 3 years on U.S. History with my older ones (we had a blast!) so I guess I should not be surprised that I'm once again scrambling for time. :) I want them to really enjoy History, not just get it done and move on, though, so all those fun extras distract and delay us.

[Lori D.]

I'm looking at the table of contents to MOH3, and it is slated for 28 weeks, 3 lessons per week. It looks to me like you could reasonably get through week 14 by the end of this school year at your leisurely pace, which takes you to the end of Semester 1, which takes you to the 1570s.

 

US History starts with Columbus (1492), the lost Roanoke Colony (1580s), Jamestown (1607), and then Plymouth (1620). So, you'd be able to do half of MOH3 this year, and then in the fall, you'd be picking up History (with US focus) right on time with your history timeline. In other words, you wouldn't be missing anything historically at all.

 

And as added comfort: it looks like about 1/3rd of the lessons in the second semester of MOH3 are already on early Colonial US History, so you actually don't need a fair amount of the second semester of MOH3, as it will be would be a repeat of your US History program.

 

 

The options, as I see it:

 

1. Don't dawdle, and really do 1 week's worth of lessons and extras in 1 week for the rest of this semester. Pick and choose carefully what activities and bunny trails you choose to follow to keep within that time frame.

 

2. If you really prefer to take longer and bunny trail and don't get to week 14, then be strong, and just let the last few lessons/weeks of semester 1 of MOH3 fall to the wayside and move on to US History in the fall. (Remember, there will be very little gap -- just a few decades!)

 

3. If you desperately *must*/want to finish all of MOH3, then, because it does have a fair amount of early Colonial US History, get through all of semester 1 this year, and then do semester 2 next year, and skip the early Colonial portion of your US History program, as you would have covered that with MOH3. However, this will likely put you behind in your US History program, as the MOH3 would take almost a full semester (18 weeks), and I would guess your US History program only spends 2-3 weeks on the early Colonial portion of US History. So with this option, you would definitely be "behind" and having to spend through US History, or let it slop over into the following year...

 

 

 

You asked: "WWYD?"

 

My answer would be to go with option 1 or option 2 above. Remember it is OKAY to not do it all. MOH is not covering everyone and every event -- it has gaps, too. NO program covers all of history. Relax and enjoy the sights on this particular history journey with your older DC. You can always stop and sightsee at different way-points of history with the next round of students. ;)

 

BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.