SusanAR Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I decided that my 10th grade ds would use Spielvoge's Western Civ for a spine as he reads ~9 books for ancient history. Last week he casually read and enjoyed several chapters of SWB's book. Now he wants to read it for history. SWB plus nine works is a lot of reading. Even if I figure one page of Spielvogel equals two of Ancient World, there are still 400+ more pages of reading. What did you do? Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 I like the part about him casually reading and enjoying it and wanting to read it for history. I'd say give it a try. My dh is reading and enjoying it. He thinks it would be good for our 9th grader as well. In my general state of confusion I keep thinking I remember SWB using this book with her son. Does anyone remember this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Yes, she did use it for her son. 400 pages is nothing--it's well written, and more engaging than Spielvogel, imo. If you do it over, say, 30 weeks, that's only 13-14 pages a week or so. Just curious--what are your 9 choices for lit? If you don't mind sharing, that is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SusanAR Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 He will read: Gilgamesh/ Danniel/ Genesis Mythology Til We Have Faces (summer reading) Illiad Odyssey Oedipus Rex Antigone Sophie's World The Republic Julius Caesar The Aeneid I hadn't planned to read The Illiad, but he wants to. I think we will get rather tired of the Greeks! Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 We used Spielvogel's Human Odyssey (high school text) rather than the Western Civ (college text). The first 200 pages covered ancients, so that was a very manageable amount to cover in 36 weeks (about 5.5 pages per week!), plus some supplemental materials (about 200 pages worth). We also did the following ancients Great Books: 1. Epic of Gilgamesh (abridged version with Babylonian myths; Jennifer Westwood) (4 weeks) 80 pages lit guide = SMARR -- not worthwhile; wish we'd gone with anything else writing = compare/contrast paper 2. The Iliad (Fagles translation) (12 weeks) 540 pages lit guide = Novel Unit -- okay; wish we'd tried The Great Books lit. guide writing = 1 paragraph narrative summation of each of the 24 "books" of Iliad 3. The Odyssey (Fagles translation) (12 weeks) 410 pages lit guide = Garlic Press publishers -- fantastic! writing = 2 assignments from the lit. guide 4. Oedipus the King (2 weeks) 75 pages lit guide = Spark Notes free online lit. guide -- good writing = none 5. Antigone (2 weeks) 55 pages lit guide = Spark Notes free online lit. guide -- good writing = none 6. various Greek myths (2 weeks) 100 pages lit guide = none writing = none 7. The Aeneid (abridged version; Alfred Church) (3 weeks) 175 pages lit guide = free online Spark Notes lit. guide -- good writing = short paper comparing Aeneid to Iliad and Odyssey We did the Great Books aloud together: 1435 pages of reading/discussing, with some writing. We were also doing the Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings study aloud together (1500 pages reading/discussing), plus the boys each read about 6 historical fiction books below their reading level (about 1200 pages) on their own. This was a lot of reading. It contributed to their credits in the following way: History = .5 credit (1 to 1-1/2 hours/week = 75-90 hours) English = 1 credit (2 to 2-1/2 hours/week = 150-180 hours) Great Books study = 1 credit (2 hours/week = 150 hours) This year we're doing 20th Century history, with an "eclectic mix" for our Great Books. We'll have 450 pages in the Spielvogel, plus a similar number of pages in some other modern history books. Our eclectic Great Books this year will include: 1. Beowulf (with The Great Books study guide) 2. Macbeth (with Parallel Text Shakespeare guide/workbook) 3. All Quiet on the Western Front (discuss only) 4. 2 short stories (Windows on the World (IEW) literary guide/workbook) 5. Diary of Anne Frank (Portals to Literature lit. guide) 6. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denosivich (discuss only) * 7. Cry, The Beloved Country (dicuss only) * 8. 2 more short stories (Windows on the World (IEW) literary guide/workbook) 9. To Kill A Mockingbird (Garlic Press Publishers lit. guide) 10. Much Ado About Nothing (lit. guide to be decided) * = flexible -- will drop these and do them another year if pressed for time In addition, both sons will read 8 historical fiction books (about 1200 pages), plus for the Literature portion of their English credits, one son will do Lightning Lit. 8 and the other will do a "Worldviews in Science Fiction" which we're creating: 1. Frankenstein (Shelley) -- with Progeny Press guide 2. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Stevenson) -- with Progeny Press guide 3. The Giver (Lowry) -- with Garlic Press publishers lit. guide 4. Brave New World (Huxley) -- guide to be decided 5. The Invisible Man (Wells) -- Spark Notes guide 6. Animal Farm (Orwell) -- guide to be decided 7. Farenheit 451 (Bradbury) -- with Progeny Press guide 8. Canticle for Leibowitz (Miller) -- just discuss 9. Portrait of Dorian Gray (Wilde) -- just discuss 10. several short stories from Cosmicomics (Calvino) -- just discuss 11. 1-2 poetry units -- with Progeny Press guide Hope that helps by giving you some specifics! BEST of luck in your own Great Books journey! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 My ds started hs'ing in his 5th grade year, and will be finishing SOTW/Kingfisher this year in 8th. I told her I was worried that a college-level Spielvogel might be too big a jump for 9th. She assured me her book would be great, and that it would be easier on him than the Spielvogel (though she did say it does *not* edit out the more risque details). I should have thought to ask her exactly how she used it with *her* son! :blush: hth, Rhonda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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