World History Help

[Guest Lisa in VA]

My 10th grade son completed his World History credit last year. We used The Teaching Company, as well as, Learning Through History magazines & movies. He is asking for a world history elective this year. He really wants to continue his world history study. He has asked twice this week. We will also be doing US History. I could use some input. I have no idea what to use. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks, Lisa :001_unsure:

[pianoplayer]

Given what you describe, my suggestion would be to let him pick a period of world history that he would like to study in more depth. Depending on what period he chooses, you could use resources like The Teaching Company, the Great Books, library books, etc. Once you settle on a particular period he would like to study, folks here might be able to give you some more specific suggestions.

 

Hope you find the perfect fit for his further studies in world history! :)

[Kimberleigh]

Lisa, is he interested in studying towards an AP exam? If so, there's a European History AP.

 

Otherwise, I'd let him pick a period or civilization of particular interest and find resources around that. He might enjoy studying medieval Japan, for example. Or he could study a particular theme in history, such as the rise and fall of great civilizations or slavery throughout history.

 

If you find out what he wants to cover, I'd be happy to help you find resources. I loved world history in college and took several courses on specific periods/themes.

 

Jenn

[Guest Lisa in VA]

I let my son read your posts and his response was the Medieval Period. He said any & everything to do with this time period. I'm anxiously waiting for your suggestions.

 

Lisa

[Kareni]

Here's a recent thread with fiction suggestions for that period: Medieval book recommendations for a 10th grade boy.

 

Here are some other suggestions: Middle ages

 

and for movies: Netflix list for Middle Ages/Medieval needed....

 

and Good books for me about the Middle Ages?

 

and Would love to see your list of Medieval/Renn. Lit for 10th grade

 

and one more Middle Ages History for HS, what are you using?.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Nicole M]

We are studying the middle ages this year. I heard SWB at a conference this summer and she posted a list of books that has a few changes from the one in the book. It's posted on the main WTM website, but here is the list:

 

Tenth grade, 400-1600

Augustine, Confessions and City of God, Book 8 (c. 411)

The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius (524)

The Koran (selections) (c. 650)

Beowulf (c. 1000)

The Mabinogion (c. 1050)

1066: The Year of Conquest, David Howarth (this is listed under a different name on the website - I think that's a typo, and this is the one she means)

Cur Deus Homo by Anselm (c. 1090)

Life in a Medieval Barony, William Stearns Davis

The Magna Carta, James Daugherty

Aquinas: Selected Writings (ed. Robert Goodwin) (c. 1273)

The Inferno, Dante (1320)

Gawain and the Green Knight (c. 1400)

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (selections)(c. 1400)

Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur (selections)(c. 1470)

Education of a Christian Prince (selections)(1510)

The Prince by Machiavelli (1513)

Utopia by Thomas More (1516)

Commentary on Galatians, Martin Luther (c. 1520)

Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin (selections) (1536)

Aztecs and Spaniards, Albert Marrin

Empires Lost and Won: The Spanish Heritage in the Southwest,

Albert Marrin

Novum Organum, Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Faustus, Marlowe (1588)

The Faerie Queene, Spenser (1590)

Julius Caesar (1599), Hamlet (1600), or other plays,

Shakespeare

Life in Elizabethan Days, William Stearns Davis

 

The ones in bold print are about the middle ages. I've just started listening to an audio version of The Magna Carta and it's swell. We'll also be watching a The Teaching Company series of lectures (something and crisis is the title - can't remember just now).

 

I also have some historical fiction (Rosemary Sutcliff is my favorite) and there was a thread here recently about fiction about this period as well. If I can find it, I'll add the link.

 

Does this give you a place to start?

 

[ETA: Kareni is a rock star. While I was typing, she provided all the links you need!]

[Shukhov]

Two other ways to focus: pick a person and then read several biographies on that person or pick a nation and follow that nation's history.

 

Pick only the best books. Follow the time honored principle of "deeper not broader". For instance, if the ancient world is of interest (and it should be!!) pick a famous person, say, Pericles of Athens. Then have him read Plutarch's Life of Pericles. Then read parts of or the whole of Thucycides' History of the Peloponnesian War. Those two books, carefully read, will be an education in itself.

 

As a supplement or for a book to use with the second approach (picking a nation), let him read lots of stories from a nation's history. I would strongly recommend Historical Tales series of books by Charles Morris (published around 1890). Wonderful reading. 15 volume series available individually. Each volume focuses on stories from a different nation including eastern history. Actually, no matter how you go at world history, get these volumes. I discovered them as an adult and love them.