"Lightest" History/Lit/Writing Combination for 10th, 11th and 12th

[Roxy Roller]

A little background...

 

My DD14 only started reading fluently in 5th grade and has always struggled with spelling.  Math has also not been a smooth ride.  I think we are settled with Teaching Textbooks, and she is working hard to be in Algebra 1 before 10th grade starts.  School, in general, has not been easy(we have homeschooled from the beginning).  She may have some slight LDs, but not enough to have me worried.

 

She would like to be an animal health technologist.  Here in Alberta, that means she needs 12th grade English, Math, Biology and Chemistry.  She is also working towards her Equine Green Certificate(http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/grc6643) in 10th, Sheep in 11th, and probably Cow/Calf in 12th.  The green certificate involves a lot of time with mentors, as well as book work and tests.

 

I am looking for a 'light' history/lit/writing combination that will get the job done.  I would like her to cover from Ancients to Modern Times in two years, and then in 12th grade, she will do Canadian history/government.

 

I was seriously considering MFW, but I am concerned that she will not be able to keep up.  I thought maybe we could cut it down to just doing the Notgrass book and lit recommendations over two years according to the Notgrass schedule.  Any other suggestions? 

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Have you looked at ACE Paces? These are light but cover the needed topics. These are not a combo of history/lit though. But What about Lightning Lit  and then the history Paces. Another option would be Beautiful Feet curriculum. The assignments could be as hard or as light as you the parent wants them to be or you can pick and choose from the weeks worth of work.

 

Did you look at Sonlight? I would not purchase a whole package but pick and choose several books you think she can handle and the IG to give you writing work.

 

Remember, any writing curriculum you get can be pared down. You will be the one reading her work and grading. You can set the bar how high or low you want the assignment to be.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I cannot believe I forgot to mention the curriculum my son is using, Mystery of History. I have used this for both his History and Writing plus added in some Literature to go with the time period. This is a great option because they give three levels of work. My son loves this curriculum, saying it is the only History curriculum that has not put him to sleep.

 

If you want to add some literary type writing, I would add a few progeny press books, maybe for a book from the time period studied. However, the writing they do in MOH can be more then enough if you choose those types of assignments from the choices they give.

[Lori D.]

My DD14 only started reading fluently in 5th grade and has always struggled with spelling.  Math has also not been a smooth ride... She may have some slight LDs, but not enough to have me worried.

 

She would like to be an animal health technologist...

 

... I am looking for a 'light' history/lit/writing combination that will get the job done.  I would like her to cover from Ancients to Modern Times in two years, and then in 12th grade, she will do Canadian history/government.

 

I was seriously considering MFW, but I am concerned that she will not be able to keep up.  I thought maybe we could cut it down to just doing the Notgrass book and lit recommendations over two years according to the Notgrass schedule...

 

 

Just an opinion without really knowing you or DD, but my inclination would be to go ahead with the quality program and literature you want to use, but just tailor it to fit your student's specific needs:

 

- slow reader? -- listen to some books as books on tape; or do them aloud together

- slow worker? -- take the summer to finish a credit or two

- plan to take more time -- spread 1 credit over 1.5 years, or 3 credits over 4 years

- adjust expectations: go for quality not quantity; make every assignment and book really *count*

 

Do enough tests, papers and books to challenge your student, but cut some of the excess (for your student) out; one well-written paper that takes 2-4 weeks to produce, with you mentoring your student and holding your student accountable for all the steps in the process will do more to teach your student how to write a paper, than trying to churn out 6 papers in the same time period

 

I'd also be very cautious about planning "lite" for the next 3 years. I'd recommend finishing this year and then reassess where your DD is and what her needs and abilities are -- who your student is today and how much she can accomplish at 14yo is going to be VERY different than when she's 16, 17yo. Those late-bloomers have a way of really coming on strong and moving into being able to handle workloads we wouldn't have guessed at back when they were in 9th grade/14yo! :)

 

My honest opinion: I think you will be fine with the workload and schedule of MFW -- esp. if you decide to spread it over 2 years. I don't think you'd need to drop down to just the Notgrass books if you're taking 2 years. If anything, I think you'd have the ability to add in some supplements or additional lit. that you'd like to cover! ;)

 

If you get into it and it feels like you are falling behind, then plan to extend into the summer, or drop the occasional book, test, or writing assignment. Our younger DS has mild LDs (stealth dyslexia, writing and spelling issues, and real struggles with abstract math such as Algebra), and we still managed a hefty amount of history and literature without a problem -- MFW World History looks like it actually has a little bit less reading than what we managed without pain or fuss in a year.   ;)

 

The writing will be a very important life-long skill, so whatever you go with, you'll want to make sure that DD is solid with that. Not personally familiar with MFW, but I recall hearing several others on this board talk about how their students came out of using MFW as solid writers and thinkers.

 

I'm sure you're already planning on quality science programs *with labs* in preparation for DD's entrance into a STEM field. :) In addition to the Biology and Chemistry, and Equine Green Certificate, if possible, see if you could work in at least one Advanced Science (either Advanced Biology or Advanced Chemistry), or dual enroll in the senior year (if that is an option open to you) and take a science class at an intro science community college or university. Or, look into an internship at a large animal vet's office.

 

As much as possible, I always like to recommend to people to leave the door open for fulfilling enough of the proper credits so that if students need/want to attend a 4-year school later in the future, they are prepared, both credit-wise, and study-habit wise.

 

Enjoy watching your DD blossom over the next few years! :) BEST of luck, whatever you decide to go with. Warmly, Lori D.

[Roxy Roller]

My inclination would be to go ahead with the quality program and literature you want to use, but just tailor it to fit your student's specific needs:

 

- slow reader? -- listen to some books as books on tape; or do them aloud together - I am planning to do this with both audiobooks and doing what I call 'buddy' reading.

- slow worker? -- take the summer to finish a credit or two - My DD will be doing math over the summers, as well as volunteering at a children's camp, so I am not sure how much history and English I can fit in to the summer.

- plan to take more time -- spread 1 credit over 1.5 years, or 3 credits over 4 years - I am considering this.

- adjust expectations: go for quality not quantity; make every assignment and book really *count* - Thank you for the quality over quantity reminder.

 

Do enough tests, papers and books to challenge your student, but cut some of the excess (for your student) out; one well-written paper that takes 2-4 weeks to produce, with you mentoring your student and holding your student accountable for all the steps in the process will do more to teach your student how to write a paper, than trying to churn out 6 papers in the same time period. - Is one paper a month acceptable? 

 

I'd also be very cautious about planning "lite" for the next 3 years. I'd recommend finishing this year and then reassess where your DD is and what her needs and abilities are -- who your student is today and how much she can accomplish at 14yo is going to be VERY different than when she's 16, 17yo. Those late-bloomers have a way of really coming on strong and moving into being able to handle workloads we wouldn't have guessed at back when they were in 9th grade/14yo! :) Thank you for this!  We have had a rough summer, which I think has a lot to do with hormones and attitude.  I really want to come out of homeschooling high school with our relationship intact.  There have been days where I am not sure that this goal is possible, and I feel like giving up.

 

My honest opinion: I think you will be fine with the workload and schedule of MFW. If you get into it and it feels like you are falling behind, then plan to extend into the summer, or drop the occasional book, test, or writing assignment. Our younger DS has mild LDs (stealth dyslexia, writing and spelling issues), and we still managed a hefty amount of history and literature without a problem -- MFW World History looks like it actually has a little bit less reading than what we managed without pain or fuss in a year.   ;) Thank you!  I think I will order MFW and spend this year(9th) looking over everything to be prepared to 'tweak' next year.

 

The writing will be a very important life-long skill, so whatever you go with, you'll want to make sure that DD is solid with that. Not personally familiar with MFW, but I recall hearing several others on this board talk about how their students came out of using MFW as solid writers and thinkers. We definitely need to work on writing.

 

And be sure to do quality science programs *with labs* in preparation for DD's entrance into a STEM field. Biology and Chemistry for sure -- if possible, see if you could work in at least one, if not two Advanced Science courses, or dual enroll in the senior year (if that is an option open to you) and take a science class at an intro science community college or university. Or, look into an internship at a large animal vet's office. As much as possible, leave the door open for fulfilling credits DD would need for admission to a university, in case she eventually wants to head for a 4-year degree in animal sciences, or even become a vet.  I was planning on Apologia, but I am also considering BJU, because I think she needs the audio/video component.  She is also hoping to work in a vet office during both her 11th and 12th grade years.

 

Enjoy watching your DD blossom over the next few years! :) BEST of luck, whatever you decide to go with. Warmly, Lori D.

 

 

Thank you for your comments, Lori!

[Roxy Roller]

Have you looked at ACE Paces? These are light but cover the needed topics. These are not a combo of history/lit though. But What about Lightning Lit  and then the history Paces. Another option would be Beautiful Feet curriculum. The assignments could be as hard or as light as you the parent wants them to be or you can pick and choose from the weeks worth of work.

 

Did you look at Sonlight? I would not purchase a whole package but pick and choose several books you think she can handle and the IG to give you writing work.

 

Remember, any writing curriculum you get can be pared down. You will be the one reading her work and grading. You can set the bar how high or low you want the assignment to be.

 

I will look at ACE Paces.  Is it a similar format to the Light Units from CLE?  We have tried those in the past and they didn't work for my DD.  She found them pretty dry, but maybe the high school levels would be different.

 

I cannot believe I forgot to mention the curriculum my son is using, Mystery of History. I have used this for both his History and Writing plus added in some Literature to go with the time period. This is a great option because they give three levels of work. My son loves this curriculum, saying it is the only History curriculum that has not put him to sleep.

 

If you want to add some literary type writing, I would add a few progeny press books, maybe for a book from the time period studied. However, the writing they do in MOH can be more then enough if you choose those types of assignments from the choices they give.

 

We have already gone through the MoH books.  I don't think she would want to do them again.

 

Thanks for your insight, and the reminder that any writing curriculum can be what I want it to be!

[Hunter]

I think Alpha-Omega has 1/2 credit courses for American and British Literature. I think they are stand-alone courses and not integrated into their main curriculum.

[CyndiLJ]

We have learners who struggle, some mightily, some only in a single subject, some learning English and way behind, just all over the map.

 

One thing I have constantly reminded myself of, was that reading, writing and math came first.  Period.  Anything else is icing on the cake and can be our "lighter" subjects, but if our kids can read and write really well by the time they graduate, they can always make up for lost time down the road by taking more history and science.  Is it my desire?  No, of course not!  I want them to rock in ALL subjects! Hahaha!  BUT...BUT...BUT, if we find that more time must be devoted to have strong readers and writers, that's where I want to make sure we focus.

 

Also, we try and combine where we can, covering a writing project for history, or reading with science and adding additional materials.  The more crossover I do, the less I worry about not covering everything exactly as I might wish.

 

We moms do the very best we can, and sometimes our best will just look different than another family's best.  It sounds as if you have a good game plan!

[1Togo]

Here are a few ideas that you might consider:

 

 

Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum - independent w/input needed on the writing assignments

World History, World Geography

English

 

Biblioplan - independent

Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern w/American History, Modern w/American History

The Cool History worksheets do include short writing assignments, but you will need a separate writing curriculum.

 

Bravewriter "Help for High School" - independent w/input needed on the writing assignments

H4HS is written to the student, and it teaches expository essays with documentation.  It has unique exercises for generating insight into topics.  H4HS can be completed in one semester or less and then practiced for the rest of the year with other topics.

 

The Classical Historian - needs more teaching

History and composition are combined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[at the beach]

Nothing wrong with knowing your and your child's limits regarding what's reasonable. :) Your daughter sounds like she has a very busy schedule, so IMO it's better to find something manageable than to attempt to cut back on something that has more than you need. In addition to the great suggestions you've gotten, I'll add one more: You could use TTC courses (buy these on sale) or education-portal.com courses (just saw these mentioned in another thread--they are free and look great) and add in reading/discussion. For writing, have you considered a Write at Home year-long course or doing some workshops? You could cover all her writing with Write at Home if that would be feasible for you. We have found their courses to be excellent and well worth it. They are very manageable. If you combined WaH with courses from education-portal.com or TTC, it would be a solid and (I think) efficient way to go. Best wishes. :)

[Hunter]

I'm trying to evaluate the Stobaugh texts as a possible resource for light high-school lit/history. Open and go, and doing the writing as assigned will NOT work. If I read way ahead, and know this curriculum like the back of my hand, and spoon feed it, and make up my own writing assignments, and skip a lot--maybe. The writing assignments on the tests are much easier than those in the text.

 

The Kindle versions are cheap enough. And from what I have read of the samples and of the American books, the presentation seems to be organized and focus on the topics and texts I most want to cover. I think I might like this as a teacher resource. It's entirely unusable to me as an open-and-go self-study text for anything other than the most gifted and hardworking students, who have been brought up in an evangelical and reformed church, though.

[Julie in MN]

I was seriously considering MFW, but I am concerned that she will not be able to keep up.  I thought maybe we could cut it down to just doing the Notgrass book and lit recommendations over two years according to the Notgrass schedule.  Any other suggestions? 

 

If you'd like to do any brainstorming in this regard, just let me know.  You could email or chat on the MFWHighSchool yahoo group, if you don't want to hash those details out here.

 

I don't consider Notgrass a major part of MFW's AHL, and I'm not sure if that's where you wanted to start.  I know you're talking 10th grade, but 10th graders can do AHL, too.  It just depends on what credits you need/want in there.  Doing Notgrass over 2 years would mean doing Ancients, correct?  That's where I think skipping Notgrass for Ancients would make more sense than skipping everything else that year.  Then using mostly just Notgrass for World history (starting with the Rome chapters) would work with MFW plans/goals/credits.

 

Julie

[Roxy Roller]

I think Alpha-Omega has 1/2 credit courses for American and British Literature. I think they are stand-alone courses and not integrated into their main curriculum.

 

I will look into the AO Lit courses.  Thank you for reminding me of them.

 

I'm trying to evaluate the Stobaugh texts as a possible resource for light high-school lit/history. Open and go, and doing the writing as assigned will NOT work. If I read way ahead, and know this curriculum like the back of my hand, and spoon feed it, and make up my own writing assignments, and skip a lot--maybe. The writing assignments on the tests are much easier than those in the text.

 

The Kindle versions are cheap enough. And from what I have read of the samples and of the American books, the presentation seems to be organized and focus on the topics and texts I most want to cover. I think I might like this as a teacher resource. It's entirely unusable to me as an open-and-go self-study text for anything other than the most gifted and hardworking students, who have been brought up in an evangelical and reformed church, though.

 

I will look at the Stobaugh text, but I am leaning towards the Notgrass one.

[Roxy Roller]

We have learners who struggle, some mightily, some only in a single subject, some learning English and way behind, just all over the map.

 

One thing I have constantly reminded myself of, was that reading, writing and math came first.  Period.  Anything else is icing on the cake and can be our "lighter" subjects, but if our kids can read and write really well by the time they graduate, they can always make up for lost time down the road by taking more history and science.  Is it my desire?  No, of course not!  I want them to rock in ALL subjects! Hahaha!  BUT...BUT...BUT, if we find that more time must be devoted to have strong readers and writers, that's where I want to make sure we focus.

 

Also, we try and combine where we can, covering a writing project for history, or reading with science and adding additional materials.  The more crossover I do, the less I worry about not covering everything exactly as I might wish.

 

We moms do the very best we can, and sometimes our best will just look different than another family's best.  It sounds as if you have a good game plan!

 

Thank you for reminding me that Reading, Writing and Math need to come first.  It is really easy to lose sight of that when high school and college are looming.  I need to spend more time crossing my reading and writing over into our sciences and the things that my DD is interested in.

 

[Roxy Roller]

Here are a few ideas that you might consider:

 

 

Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum - independent w/input needed on the writing assignments

World History, World Geography

English

 

Biblioplan - independent

Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern w/American History, Modern w/American History

The Cool History worksheets do include short writing assignments, but you will need a separate writing curriculum.

 

Bravewriter "Help for High School" - independent w/input needed on the writing assignments

H4HS is written to the student, and it teaches expository essays with documentation.  It has unique exercises for generating insight into topics.  H4HS can be completed in one semester or less and then practiced for the rest of the year with other topics.

 

The Classical Historian - needs more teaching

History and composition are combined.

 

I will look into each of these.  Thank you for the ideas.

 

[Roxy Roller]

Nothing wrong with knowing your and your child's limits regarding what's reasonable. :) Your daughter sounds like she has a very busy schedule, so IMO it's better to find something manageable than to attempt to cut back on something that has more than you need. In addition to the great suggestions you've gotten, I'll add one more: You could use TTC courses (buy these on sale) or education-portal.com courses (just saw these mentioned in another thread--they are free and look great) and add in reading/discussion. For writing, have you considered a Write at Home year-long course or doing some workshops? You could cover all her writing with Write at Home if that would be feasible for you. We have found their courses to be excellent and well worth it. They are very manageable. If you combined WaH with courses from education-portal.com or TTC, it would be a solid and (I think) efficient way to go. Best wishes. :)

 

Thank you for reminding me of the TTC courses.

 

I have not looked at WaH, but I do like the idea of outsourcing writing. 

 

[Roxy Roller]

If you'd like to do any brainstorming in this regard, just let me know.  You could email or chat on the MFWHighSchool yahoo group, if you don't want to hash those details out here.

 

I don't consider Notgrass a major part of MFW's AHL, and I'm not sure if that's where you wanted to start.  I know you're talking 10th grade, but 10th graders can do AHL, too.  It just depends on what credits you need/want in there.  Doing Notgrass over 2 years would mean doing Ancients, correct?  That's where I think skipping Notgrass for Ancients would make more sense than skipping everything else that year.  Then using mostly just Notgrass for World history (starting with the Rome chapters) would work with MFW plans/goals/credits.

 

Julie

 

I was planning on starting at Ancients and doing AHL in 10th and WHL in 11th.  Thank you for the offer to chat.  I may take you up on that as I get closer to making a decision.

 

[Lori D.]

Wishing you the BEST as you research all these options and find what's the best option for your family, Roxanne! Sometimes it's almost overwhelming at all the options we DO have for high school! ;) Warmest regards, Lori D.