9th grade History ideas

[Journey]

I still need to find something for my ninth grade daughter's history for this year. I know, I should have already found something but this summer has thrown some curveballs and I can't even think straight. So I need someone to do it for me! She wants something that I would consider traditional, in that, she wants a book to read that has questions after each chapter. She's not a history lover so it needs to be something pretty basic. Any ideas? Low cost too because one of the curve balls that this summer has brought me, has to do with less income coming in!

 

Thanks.

[Alphabetika]

If you can swing the money, give Notgrass History a try. We are using it for the first time this year, because my dd, too, wanted something more traditional with questions after each chapter. She is in 9th grade, using Exploring America, and LOVING it! It includes history and Bible as well, but you could save $$ by either choosing not to do the literature portion, or by getting the books from the library instead of buying them, which is what we've done so far. The Notgrass Compnay also offers a world history and a government course, which dd is now determined to use.

[Lori D.]

Used, it's pretty cheap. I found a 1999 edition 2 years ago for $12 (which included shipping) and it was in new condition. It is a history textbook, covering ancient history through modern times, with lots of photos/illustrations, excerpts from writings from the time period, and sidebars of interesting side topics. There are 4-6 questions at the end of each 4-8 page section within a chapter, and then a 2-page spread of questions at the end of each chapter which you could use as a test.

 

The book is about 1100 pages long, but you would be reading that over 4 years; here's a suggested breakdown:

 

9th grade: ancients -- 200 pages (chapters 1-6)

10th grade: medieval -- 250 pages (chapters 7-15)

11th grade: empires/colonialism -- 300 pages (chapters 16-24)

12th grade: 20th century -- 320 pages (chapters 25-34)

 

 

Throw in:

- a few historical fiction books for "flavor of the times

- read/research/write a few papers on a person or event of that time period

- watch a few documentaries on that time period or movies set in that time period for fun

and you'd have a great full year credit history class!

 

See World History: The Human Odyssey by Jackson Spielvogel at: http://www.amazon.com/World-History-Jackson-J-Spielvogel/dp/0538423293/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219436959&sr=1-1

(There's a used one for $3 plus shipping in the used copies at Amazon right now!)

 

 

BEST of luck in finding what works for your family! Warmly, Lori D.

[Chris in VA]

If you don't go with Spielvogel (my first choice) you could use Barron's World History the Easy Way. It has an easy to read font, pretty straightforward approach, questions and "exercises" after each chapter, and covers a broad range of subjects. We used it as a supplement and I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. It's really inexpensive (try RR, or just find a used copy on Amazon--we also found it in our library).

 

I'd spice it up with some historical fiction, too. Add in a few videos for interest.

What time period?

[Nicole M]

I would second the Human Odyssey suggestion. We using it this year, and love it.

 

If you are not religiously conservative the Notgrass will not be a good fit. I like the format, actually, but find the content and perspective to be too out of synch with our world view to work for us.

[Crissy]

My 9th grader will be using The History of the Ancient World.

He will be reading, writing and mapping according to Susan's original rhetoric stage recommendations, but with her book instead of the DK and Western Civ editions she wrote about in TWTM.