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Is geography the standard 9th grade course or can we go straight to World History?


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My husband and I had decided on either BJUP World History or Notgrass for my son who is entering 9th grade. When I was just at the BJUP site, I noticed that World History is recommended for 10th grade and Geography for 9th. Do you think this matters? Have any of you skipped geography and just gone onto World History?

 

Thanks,

Karen

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Well, it probably doesn't matter, but it is common to do world history the sophomore year, then American history, then U.S. government (and maybe economics).

 

Schools get really silly about it. The administrator of a small Christian school said that his school had all of its high school students do the same history, so seniors often had done U.S. government in earlier years. When the school closed and all the students went on to the local public high school, all of the seniors had to retake U.S. government, even if they'd already taken that course. :glare:Sheesh.

 

But for you, it probably doesn't matter. If you're thinking of college entrance requirements, I don't think most colleges care, either.

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...Geography course. We integrate geography with our study of history. I like instead to spend two years on Western Civilization during 9th and 10th grade. The first year we delve into ancient history through medieval civilization, and the second year we cover the Renaissance and Reformation through modern history. There is so much information to cover in 20th century history that I hate to cram it into a couple of months at the end of a year. Moving into American history in 11th grade means that the history of the world when the American story began is fresh in the student's mind, allowing them world-wide context as we begin a study of the U.S. The U.S. history then provides context for U.S. Government and Political Theory in the 12th grade. I've used this progression with all my children, and it has seemed to work very well. This allows them to take the AP European History exam in 10th grade, the AP US History exam in 11th grade, and the AP US Government exam in 12th.

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...in place of history. When my oldest was in 6th grade we did geography in place of history because I felt that I hadn't been giving it enough attention and it really deserved some attention before we went on to focus on history, and that was a good thing.

 

If you feel like geography is a weak spot in your child's education that deserves a year in place of history, then go for it. BJUP has a curriculum to sell, and will tell you that their sequence is the best. In truth, it's only one among many; there are many, many choices for history and other social sciences in high school.

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Ds took an online World History honors course in his 9th grade year and AP Human Geography last year. We probably would have reversed the order, but we couldn't find an online AP Human Geography course in his 9th grade year. And this is proving true throughout his high school so far -- our 4-yr plan has been sketched out but is held loosely as opportunities and classes become available.

 

In fact, he's a bit backward this year -- as a junior he'll take AP US Government and economics at the community college. Those are typically senior year courses, but it *fit* this year.

 

I guess that would really bother some Type-A folks, but I've learned to go with the flow (or go with what the Lord provides :001_smile:).

 

Lisa

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We did the WTM 4 year cycle, except when we didn't :D! We did Ancients in 9th, Medieval in 10th, then skipped the third year of the rotation and opted for Sonlight's 20th Century course. This year, we are covering that skipped year thru doing American Gov't, and incorporating some other history into our literature.

 

Geography as it comes up is pretty cool--but I should say we did do a physical geography, one semester course, using Runkle's, in 10th grade. I counted the course as .5 credit of science, and it gave us a chance to learn "where things are."

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I don't think it matters, but you should check with the colleges your family is interested in.

 

Public schools in NY traditionally do global studies in 9th grade, world history in 10th, American history in 11th, and government and economics in 12th. I don't intend to follow that sequence with my kids. I'm pretty sure that so long as they have four social studies credits, including one-half government, they'll be accepted into any school.

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We're sort of matching up geography with our highschool history, and do enough geography to count for .25 credit per year (about 60-75 minutes per week of geography), so the boys will end up with 1 credit of geography at the end of high school. Here's how it's looking like geography will match up with history for us:

 

9th grade = ancients (history) -- Asia/Middle East (geography)

10th grade = 20th century (history) -- Europe (geography)

11th grade = US (history) -- the Americas and the Caribbean (geography)

12th grade = Medieval (history) -- Africa and Oceania (geography)

 

 

 

What we're learning for geography:

 

1. country locations, capitals, key geographical feautres

- learn/practice locations through free online geography games (http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/)

- make an atlas page (mark an outline map from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/; research/write up 1-2 paragraphs on the country from http://www.wikipedia.org and/or World Book Encyclopedia on CD Rom)

 

2. a little history, religion and culture through:

- making a meal of foods from a country/area

- listening to music of that country/area

- watching a documentary on that country/area

- read a few books: folktales, a historical/cultural fiction book, a non-fiction book

 

3. current events

- World magazine

- news events/articles

 

 

Hope that helps! Warmly, Lori D.

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