Who used the study guide for SWB's History of the Ancient World this year?

[Luckymama]

Impressions? Good v bad? What did your student(s) think? Did your student(s) do all the sections (who/what/when, comprehension, critical thinking, map exercise)? What did you add---books, documentaries, Teaching Company lectures?

 

I've been deep in the weeds this week, going through ancient history options. It doesn't help that dd still hasn't decided if she wishes to concentrate on the "classical world" or on western civilization or on "whole-world civilization". We'll be in China for two weeks this summer--I hope being there will help her decide! (Of course, anything dh likes (Mandarin, Chinese history) she automatically opposes lol)

 

Thanks :)

Going Crazy

[Luckymama]

Anyone?

[swimmermom3]

Where are you going in China? I think I have asked you about this before, haven't I? We were in Hong Kong and then Beijing right before the Olympics and Beijing kind of blew my perceptions of modern China and made me want to learn more. I have pulled my youngest along the road because my MIL grew up in Beijing in a missionary compound.

 

Anyhow, we did AP European History this year, finished in time to study for the test and decided not to take it. We've used the extra time to pick up our studies where we left off last year with the ancients. I did purchase the study guide because after doing the AP Euro syllabus and class, I didn't want to put a lot of effort into creating a plan. I still edit down the assignments to have ds avoid busy work and focus on what I think are the big ideas and the most important people.

 

You have tons of options for TTC courses depending on whether or not you choose to go strictly with western civilization or go with a global emphasis. How many lectures do you want per week? If we didn't start high school off on kind of a weird path and I were going to follow a four-year history plan ala SWB, I would probably tack on the first 20 to 40 chapter of SWB's Medieval book too, to get you up to about 500 AD, which is where many texts shift to the Classical world.

 

I should probably not be allowed to post when I have just made another round of coffee in the French press. :tongue_smilie:   

[Just Another Jen]

We are using it this year. We are on chapter 68 so almost done. I had my daughter do section 1,2 on her own. We usually talked through comprehension- section 3 together. If there was a map for that chapter then she did that too.

We really liked it. I would never have been able to do it without the guide- it made it open and go for me. Some weeks I would have more time and we would flesh the topic out more and use dvds/documentaries or web pages. Other times I figured just doing the reading and questions was enough.

[swimmermom3]

We are using it this year. We are on chapter 68 so almost done. I had my daughter do section 1,2 on her own. We usually talked through comprehension- section 3 together. If there was a map for that chapter then she did that too.

We really liked it. I would never have been able to do it without the guide- it made it open and go for me. Some weeks I would have more time and we would flesh the topic out more and use dvds/documentaries or web pages. Other times I figured just doing the reading and questions was enough.

 

Did you do all of the IDs? That is one of the places we cut back the work. Not every person was worth remember for us.

[Just Another Jen]

I don't test on the ID's so she wrote them out but that was it. Every so often I use section 3 as a essay and used those as test grades.

[Luckymama]

Where are you going in China?

We're going to Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai and their environs. Much excitement about the Wall and the Terra Cotta Warriors (from dd and me), all the gardens (me), and the food, culture and hopefully speaking Mandarin well enough to be understood (dh).

 

You have tons of options for TTC courses depending on whether or not you choose to go strictly with western civilization or go with a global emphasis. How many lectures do you want per week? If we didn't start high school off on kind of a weird path and I were going to follow a four-year history plan ala SWB, I would probably tack on the first 20 to 40 chapter of SWB's Medieval book too, to get you up to about 500 AD, which is where many texts shift to the Classical world.

I feel as though I should whisper this----dd doesn't really care for SWB's History of the Ancient World and she thinks the study guide is full of busy work :eek: So we will not be using that book as a spine for the year. Sheesh, back to the drawing board.

 

Our library has these TC courses:

 

Foundations of Western Civilization 1(Noble)

History of Ancient Egypt (Brier)

Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt (Brier)

Famous Greeks (Fears)

Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age (McInerney)

Rome and the Barbarians (Harl)

Great Battles of the Ancient World (Fagan)----she would hate this one

Emperors of Rome (Fagan)

plus all the Vandiver lectures

 

I bought Understanding Greek and Roman Technology when it was on sale recently :D

 

Those are all very "classical world". I need something more "whole world," you know? (I know you understand.) I'm eyeing Aldrete's History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective. It would either have to go on a great sale or I would purchase it from audible.

 

So far I have found a number of books corresponding to most of the lectures for Aldrete's course. I started with university courses from the U here and looked at the the required books. I did the same for a few other universities w direct links to their bookstores. I also checked out opencourseware options for more recommended books (thank you, Yale and Notre Dame). I found many of the books through our library system (you should see the table...) and found other titles by the authors when I couldn't find the listed books.

 

I don't know how many lectures per week. Maybe two at the most? I want her to have the time to read, process, and write about the topics. And time to dig deeper if she wishes.

 

Dd will also begin studying archaeology, a basic intro course using the most popular Arch 101 textbook (got a great used price today). The book touches on all aspects of archaeology and the most common regions. I think a global perspective for world history would match nicely. In subsequent years, she could focus on history of Greece and/or Rome with classical archaeology as a companion course.

 

Thanks for any wisdom you can send my way :)

[swimmermom3]

We're going to Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai and their environs. Much excitement about the Wall and the Terra Cotta Warriors (from dd and me), all the gardens (me), and the food, culture and hopefully speaking Mandarin well enough to be understood (dh).

 

 

I feel as though I should whisper this----dd doesn't really care for SWB's History of the Ancient World and she thinks the study guide is full of busy work :eek: So we will not be using that book as a spine for the year. Sheesh, back to the drawing board.

 

Our library has these TC courses:

 

Foundations of Western Civilization 1(Noble)

History of Ancient Egypt (Brier)

Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt (Brier)

Famous Greeks (Fears)

Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age (McInerney)

Rome and the Barbarians (Harl)

Great Battles of the Ancient World (Fagan)----she would hate this one

Emperors of Rome (Fagan)

plus all the Vandiver lectures

 

I bought Understanding Greek and Roman Technology when it was on sale recently :D

 

Those are all very "classical world". I need something more "whole world," you know? (I know you understand.) I'm eyeing Aldrete's History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective. It would either have to go on a great sale or I would purchase it from audible.

 

So far I have found a number of books corresponding to most of the lectures for Aldrete's course. I started with university courses from the U here and looked at the the required books. I did the same for a few other universities w direct links to their bookstores. I also checked out opencourseware options for more recommended books (thank you, Yale and Notre Dame). I found many of the books through our library system (you should see the table...) and found other titles by the authors when I couldn't find the listed books.

 

I don't know how many lectures per week. Maybe two at the most? I want her to have the time to read, process, and write about the topics. And time to dig deeper if she wishes.

 

Dd will also begin studying archaeology, a basic intro course using the most popular Arch 101 textbook (got a great used price today). The book touches on all aspects of archaeology and the most common regions. I think a global perspective for world history would match nicely. In subsequent years, she could focus on history of Greece and/or Rome with classical archaeology as a companion course.

 

Thanks for any wisdom you can send my way :)

 

How old is your dd? She and ds may be soul mates or fellow cynics. Ds tolerates SWB's book better than he tolerated the AP World History text, but hates jumping around regionally. He also thinks the study guide is busy work and likes SWB's history instructions in TWTM better.  I should have used the college syllabus I found that assigned the SWB readings by regional chunks.  You might find that works better with Aldrete's course. Also, I think he recommends Craig Lockhead's World History text, which I have the first volume of and like better than The Earth and It's People, which we used.

 

The literature is what made the experience memorable for my son. Annenberg Learner has a great lecture on the Epic of Gilgamesh. One of the presenters in that lecture, David Damrosch, wrote The Buried Book , about the discovery and the translation of the Gilgamesh story. If your dd is at all interested in archaeology, she may enjoy this book. The professional rivalries take the form of some high drama soap operas.

 

Of course, there was simply not enough time to do all of Vandiver's lectures, but we enjoyed everything we did do.

 

You can mix things up by taking a look at a some of the AP World History teachers' sites. We like Dr. Hinzman's site, and her links to The History Teachers' music videos with a few quick quizzes, enlivened our studies.

 

Be sure to give Sima Qian a try for your Chinese studies. I am so envious that you will get to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. The Great Wall is well worth the hard effort.

 

 

[Luckymama]

I appreciate the links! I think I've printed out the college syllabus which "chunked" HoAW :)

 

Yeah, at 14 dd has been an accomplished cynic for several years :rolleyes: :lol: Perhaps it comes with being the youngest :D

[Finnella]

We used it for a while because I wanted DS to be doing more than just reading history. We skipped the map work because I was using Map Trek's Ancient history maps before the guide came out.

 

I found the volume of work pretty heavy for the number of chapters per week we needed to do in order to finish the book. I spent lots of time cutting down the number of questions in each section to try to focus on who and what I thought were the most important. During spring semester, I gave up. First, I was spending lots of time trying to keep the workload manageable for my son. (I think there was busy work in the Study Guide.) Second, I wanted more focus on the Greeks and the Romans. I think there's value in covering all of the ancient world, but this was going to be the only time we did Ancients. I even switched books.

 

My most successful Great Courses were the one on Classical Engineering and the Famous Romans. We're trying to fit in Alexander and the Hellenistic Age as we can. I've left more comments about those on the Courses link here.

[Luckymama]

Thanks Finn!

[texasmama]

Zombie thread alert.

 

May I ask where I can find the syllabus for History of the Ancient World mentioned here?  I found one online which is for a one semester course, but I don't think that is the one referred to upthread.  TIA.  :)

[Starr]

Zombie thread alert.

 

May I ask where I can find the syllabus for History of the Ancient World mentioned here?  I found one online which is for a one semester course, but I don't think that is the one referred to upthread.  TIA.  :)

 

 

Check with Peace Hill Press. Push the button at the bottom of the page.

 

My dd loved History of the Ancient World. She was hoping SWB would have all the books done for her before she finished high school. :D

[texasmama]

I must admit this did not occur to me.  lol

 

I am great at writing a syllabus, but I like to avoid reinventing the wheel.  :)

[aprilleigh]

I should have used the college syllabus I found that assigned the SWB readings by regional chunks.

 

I appreciate the links! I think I've printed out the college syllabus which "chunked" HoAW :)

 

Any links to these?

[Luckymama]

Any links to these?

Sorry, I didn't save it as we didn't end up using HotAW this year :)

[texasmama]

Peace Hill Press does not have a syllabus so I wrote my own.  It is geered towards our situation of a heavy basketball season from weeks 8-29 of our 36 week year.  I also added in lectures from TC.  I don't know that it is useful to anyone else give all the above, but I am willing to share it.

[MomOfABunch]

Peace Hill Press does not have a syllabus so I wrote my own. It is geered towards our situation of a heavy basketball season from weeks 8-29 of our 36 week year. I also added in lectures from TC. I don't know that it is useful to anyone else give all the above, but I am willing to share it.

I would love to see it!

[texasmama]

I would love to see it!

PM my your email address, and I will send it.  :)

[Mom2boys]

PM my your email address, and I will send it.  :)

 

Could I have a copy too? 

[texasmama]

Could I have a copy too? 

Sure!  Again, it is very custom-designed for my family, but hopefully it will provide a framework for others to fashion as they need.  Just pm me your email address.