3 middle schoolers.... Where do I begin with History?

[Guest hmillerl]

I am preparing to hs my 3 children in the fall. My daughter will be in 8th grade and my twins will be in 6th. I've just completed The well trained mind, and I am having trouble deciding where to start. The book suggests modern era for 8th grade. This seems most appropriate for my 8th grader but awkward for the 6th graders. They have been in the public school system, and history thus far has not been in chronological order. Any thoughts/suggestions?

[arborite]

Ancient history is the most fun, and it lays a great foundation for medieval history.

[TarynB]

Welcome to the boards!

 

A bump for you and a couple of questions to get started: 1 - Do you intend to keep all 3 kids together for history or do you plan to have the 8th grader studying history separately from the 6th graders? 2 - This may be hard to answer, but do you anticipate ever putting them back in public school, and if so, how soon? If there's a chance they might return to public school for high school, for instance, that might influence which periods of history you want to teach them at home.

[Guest hmillerl]

Thanks. Yes, I intend to teach history to all 3 together. I do not intend to return them to public school. My twins do not seem to have any historical background other than what my husband and I have supplemented over the years, mostly through travel. My older daughter has some scattered knowledge. Does it seem reasonable that by starting with modern history( TWTM's recommendation for my 8th grader), my 6th graders would begin high school with Late Renaissance-early modern history and progress from there?

[Susie in CA]

I would just start at the beginning. All three children will get at least one full cycle that way.

[momto2Cs]

I too would recommend starting at the beginning. Read the section in TWTM on getting a late start (Starting in the Middle, I think it is called).

 

As for a good book for all, I can't recommend K12's Human Odyssey highly enough! It would definitely work for both grades.

[Guest hmillerl]

Thanks. TWTM's section on starting in the middle is actually where my confusion began. I got the feeling that I needed to end high school with the Modern Era. If I start my oldest with the Modern Era she will also end there. The problem being the younger twins will have to rush to study Modern Era in 11th or 12 grade.....if it even matters.

[TarynB]

I agree with the other posters. I'd recommend you start everyone at ancients and then everyone has time for a complete cycle one time through. If you stick with the 4 year cycle, your oldest will have time for an additional year to focus on your country's specific history/gov't (American History, or wherever you happen to live) (if that's important to you) at the end of high school, or an additional year of whatever interests her. Your twins could possibly get through a 2nd full cycle if you abbreviated certain periods that interest them less. Or just do the cycle once with them and then spend the remaining time on whatever interests them, and that may not be history. It's good to plan, but a lot can change in a few years. B)

 

I like to approach my planning from the perspective of where I want my DS to be at the end of high school and work backwards from there. In our case, history isn't his focus, so we'll probably lighten his history load in high school (maybe just 2 or 3 years of history instead of 4) in favor of more science and math.

[AimeeM]

As some others have suggested, I would recommend starting with Ancients, leaving your eldest with an additional year to study American history and civics (which he/she will need at some point).