xpost: K12 History (and am I nuts??)

[Matryoshka]

Posted over on the middle school board, but realized I'm asking about high school courses, so thought I should xpost!...

 

So, we've been using K12's HO books (which I really like) for the past couple of years. My older two went to high school this year, and younger dd tried out 6th, but now she's back home. Younger dd is not a big history buff, so I've streamlined what we used to do (adding in lots of documentaries and historical fiction), and now she's just reading the text and I've started using the student pages with her (guided reading, some map work, and a few other activities). We go over everything together and orally discuss some of it, and still watch the occasional documentary or historical film. This is actually working quite well.

 

But... we'll soon finish up the second HO volume. While I didn't much care for the student pages for the 1st volume (dropped them after trying them out a short while), I've found the ones for the 2nd volume quite useful. Volume 3 doesn't have any student pages - the whole thing is online.

 

My plan was to finish K12 HO and then do American Odyssey over 7th and 8th grades. But what for output? I've thought of just having her outline them and write a few papers. Is that enough? Again, she is not crazy about either history or writing.

 

So now I'm wondering if it would make any sense to sign her up for the online courses (mostly so she'd be accountable to someone else...). She'll be in 7th/8th, and these are high school courses, but there are three levels. Would the lowest level be doable/appropriate for a middle schooler? What is the difference between their "Core" and "Comprehensive" courses? Anyone taken either of these and be able to speak to what kinds of assignments they do? Are they engaging? How is the teacher support/interaction (required to buy for these courses)? Is it only as-needed, or is there guidance from the teacher? Are there online discussions?

 

Anyone know if I'm I correct in my reading of their S&S that their two US History courses are not sequential, but either/or??

 

And for $425/semester, am I completely nuts and should I just call the outlining and a couple papers good??