High School History....what are my options??

[ProudGrandma]

Being new to the high school world...I have a daughter going into 9th grade next year...I want to start exploring options for History.   If someone has an opinion about certain curriculums, I would LOVE to hear what they are. Thanks.

[Dianne-TX]

Bump... :)  I would love to know, too.  I made a list from the ones that I could think of off the top of my head.  I have no opinion or idea of the strength or weakness of these options, just what I know is out there.  I'm just getting started at this stage, too.  Hopefully, others will chime in with more wisdom and experience.  :)

 

Notgrass

Veritas (Omnibus)

Streams of Civilization

Abeka and Bob Jones

MFW

online options...various

 

[Liza Q]

I've planned High School History 4 times and I change it up every time. The first thing I do is decide what we are going to study and make a 4-yr plan, being sure to leave room for Economics and Government, which are required courses here in NY. With my first two, I treated Gov't and Eco as electives so I could get 4 full years of History in. My two younger ones are getting 3 years of History and doing Gov't/Eco in the 12th grade.

 

After I decide what we are going to study and how much time we have, I start looking at curriculum and choosing what will work best for that child.

 

For example, here is what my oldest did:

 

7th grade: Ancient History (we had just finished the Veritas Elementary program so we started over) using Stream of Civilization Volume 1.

8th grade: Med/Ren/Ref, still using Streams 1 plus some extra books to add depth

9th grade: Early Modern, using a combination of Spielvogel, Johnson's History of the American People, and Truthquest.

10th grade: Modern, using the same books

11th grade: Ancient, using Spielvogel and SWB's Ancient History.

12th grade: Med/Ren/Ref, using Spielvogel and some other books - this was before SWBs Medieval History was published

 

My next daughter started with Spielvogel/History of the Ancient World for Ancients in 9th. She found Spielvogel hard going, so I switched to an easier, High School Text - Holt's World History:Continuity and Change. That worked well in 10th as well. By 11th grade I knew that she would not be able to read Johnson' HAP so I needed to make more changes. She wanted to study US History on its own, so I looked for something good for her. It was hard to decide. In the end I had her use Notgrass (just the text, as the lit was not enough, imo) along with the US History DVDs from the Teaching Company. That was a really good year! In 12th, we went back to World History, starting where we had left off and using a combination of Spielvogel and the Holt text.

 

So, I can recommend Streams of Civilization, Volume 1 (we thought Vol 2 was dry and boring), Spielvogel Western Civ, SWB' History of the Ancient World, Holt's World History by Hanes, Johnson's History of the American People, Truthquest, Notgrass American History, and TTC US History lectures on DVD.  Just take a good look at your child's reading level and interests!

 

Just in case it helps, I can tell you what I am doing with my younger 2.

 

My 16yo is not like my other children - some emotional/physical issues, plus she is not much of a reader and just wants to do the minimum amount of school. We started with the American School for High School, so she did their Psychology for 9th grade and Amsco US History for 10th. Last summer, she came to me and said that wanted me to do school with her more like I did with her sisters - she was starting to think about college, etc. and realizing that she actually had to finish High School and learn something, lol! So I chose the Holt World History for her and it has been a good year. Next year we will do Gov't/Eco and I am in the process of choosing the best texts for her.

 

My 14yo is in the 9th grade this year. We decided together to do 2 years of World History, one year of US History, and one year of Gov't/Eco. We looked at several texts and in the end went with Barron's Global History, which is a 2 volume set that a lot of Public Schools use here. Honestly, it is kind of a terrible book. Shallow, kwim? But he chose it, so I made it clear that he would have to do extra work to make up for how small the text is. I added Streams Vol 1, which he read over the summer. I also added more literature. Since we are doing LLotR for English, I made his other reading (everything from Rosemary Sutcliff to Beowulf and The Three Musketeers) count for History in his hours, if that makes sense. Next year we will continue with Vol 2 of the Global History and I am debating how to add some heft to his studies. I haven't yet chosen US History/Eco/Gov't - I have plenty of time for that.

 

Super long, I know, but I hope you found it helpful!

[mschickie]

I saw the books by James Stobaugh last year and they have peaked my interest.  Is anyone else familiar with them for high school history?  http://www.amazon.com/American-History-James-P-Stobaugh/dp/0890516448

 

[chiguirre]

No wisdom or experience, but here's a link to GA Virtual Learning's class links. When you click on the class units, the readings are linked on the sidebar. It looks pretty sparse without those.

 

http://www.gavirtuallearning.org/Resources/SharedEconomics(SSCopy).aspx

 

They offer a wide range of courses including AP level classes.

[bluedarling]

We did Beautiful Feet US & World History (2 year course), and I've been very happy with it.  I ended up dropping their guide with the 2nd child (not because there was anything wrong with it, other than it was difficult for me to evaluate and we joined a charter and needed to keep things secular.)  We also dropped a few of the literature books (we weren't counting it for literature anyway) in order to add in some movies and online links, and more notetaking and essays, along with Walch Focus on US History and the Great Course "United States and the Middle East."  This works really well for us. One child elected not to take history his jr. year, and the other I'm still looking for what comes next (he will be using all online next year or a mix of ps & online...so I have to figure that out before we pick classes.)   This course seemed to spark an interest in history in my boys, and I've been very pleased. If I wasn't using the program, I would at least add the Albert Marrin books to whatever else we were using...they are fabulous.

[Kareni]

We came to homeschooling late and began in 7th grade.  We allowed my daughter the decision of whether or not to homeschool each year, so we took things on a year by year basis.  I'd describe our homeschooling as WTM inspired; however, I elected to do a three year run through world history.

In 7th grade, my daughter covered Pre-history to about AD500.

In 8th grade, my daughter studied the time period AD500 to about AD1700.

In 9th, she did an at home WTM inspired world history study of the time period from 1700 to 2000.   (I'll post the long list of resources used in the next post.)

In 10th, she took an out of the home AP US History class which used Bailey's American Pageant. She enjoyed the book (they read the entire 1000 page plus book too!); she thought it had personality. For a summer reading assignment prior to the start of class, they read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America by Steven M. Gillon. The latter book was written to accompany a History Channel series of that title.

In 11th grade, my daughter used Charles Hauss' Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges for an out of the home AP Comparative Gov't and Politics class. Her class also read many articles from the Economist magazine to be informed of breaking news on the world front. For summer reading the instructor had them read Robert Kennedy's Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Wild Swans by Jung Chang, and Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil by John Ghazvinian.

Her interests in high school led her to emphasize foreign languages at the expense of history; there were only so many hours in a day! Her high school record looked like this:

9th: World History from 1700 to 2000 (at home, the third year of her chronological sweep through history)
10th: AP US History (out of the home class)
11th: AP Comparative Politics and Government (out of the home class)

 

You might not classify it as history, but she also did

12th: Art History (quarter long class at the community college)

 

We had access to excellent AP teachers at a free homeschooling resource center, and that was part of what decided our history choices during the high school years.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

In 9th grade, we used a hodgepodge of materials when my daughter covered the time period 1700 to 2000. Here are the resources (non-fiction, literature, videos and music) that we used.   Be aware that we are fairly liberal so some materials might not suit all families.

World History the Easy Way, Volume 2 by Charles Frazee

American History the Easy Way by William Kellogg

World History Map Activities by Marvin Scott

 

Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin
George Washington, Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen
Tomaso Albinoni – 12 Concerti a cinque Op. 5
Roots by Alex Haley (to p. 126)
Georg Philipp Telemann – Suite A Minor, 2 Double Concertos (Michala Petri, Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields)
Amadeus (video)
"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
I Will Repay by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Eldorado by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Sir Percy Hits Back by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
The Scarlet Pimpernel (three part video, BBC)
Carl Friedrich Abel – Symphonies Op. 10, numbers 1 – 6, La Stagione
Francesco Geminiani – 12 Concerti Grossi, I Musici
The Art of the Fugue by Bach, Emerson String Quartet
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Longitude (video, A&E)
C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower (set of 8 videos, A&E)
Lock, Stock, and Barrel by Donald Sobol
Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphonies 5 in C Minor, Op. 67, and 6 in F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral
"Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Cartouche (video)
Joseph Haydn – String Quartets, Op. 17, Nos. 1, 2, and 4, Kodaly Quartet
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (translated by Norman Denny)
The New Nation by Joy Hakim
A Tale of Two Cities (video)
Georges Bizet – Carmen Suites No. 1 and No. 2; L’Arlesienne Suites No. 1 and No. 2, Leonard Bernstein
Adolphe Adam – Giselle, conducted by Richard Bonynge, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 4 “Romanticâ€, conducted by Eugen Jochum, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Men-of-War: Life in Nelson's Navy by Patrick O'Brian
Young Frankenstein (video)
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (video with Kenneth Branagh)
Lily Afshar -- A Jug of Wine and Thou (Persian music)
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
Master and Commander (video)
Chamber Works by Women Composers, The Macalester Trio
Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg
Wassail! Wassail! Early American Christmas Music by the Revels
"An Occurrence at the Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
Stephen Foster’s Civil War Songs (sung by Linda Russell)

The Century for Young People by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster
Critical Thinking in United States History, Book Four, Spanish-American War to Vietnam War by Kevin O’Reilly
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Nutcracker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Mstislav Rostropovich conducting
Winsor McCay: The Master Edition (The Sinking of the Lusitania)
Claude Debussy: La Mer, Nocturnes, Jeux, The Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez conducting
The Battleship Potemkin (video)
“Broadway, Blues, and Truth†from RESPECT: A Century of Women in Music
Botchan by Soseki Natsume (translated by Umeji Sasaki)
Many Lives, Many Stories by Kathryn Abbott and Patricia Minter
Witness by Karen Hesse
Influenza 1918 (video from PBS)
New Orleans Rhythm Kings and Jelly Roll Morton
Antarctica by Walter Dean Myers
War Game by Michael Foreman
Mao Tse-Tung and His China by Albert Marrin
“The Butcher Boyâ€, “The Garage†and “Rough House†from The Best Arbuckle Keaton Collection (video)
Fluffy Ruffle Girls: Women in Ragtime
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero by James Cross Giblin
Inherit the Wind (video)
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
All Quiet on the Western Front (video)
The Depression and New Deal by Robert McElvaine
Cabaret (video)
Radio Comedy Classics: Jack Benny Program and Fred Allen Show
Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren
Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman
Rabbit-Proof Fence (video)
The Verse by the Side of the Road by Frank Ransome, Jr.
Elvis Presley title album
Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Billy the Kid, Fanfare for the Common Man (New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein)
1940s House (video)
Diary of Anne Frank
North to Freedom by Anne Holm
Shane (video)
Frank Sinatra, Come Swing with Me
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi
Ed Sullivan’s Rock and Roll Classics, Volume 8: Legends of Rock (video)
Beatles, Beatles for Sale
Atomic Café (video)
Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited
“I Have a Dream†by Martin Luther King, Jr.
All the President's Men (video)
Forrest Gump (video)
Judy Collins, Whales and Nightingales
Hair (video)
The Vietnam War by Marilyn B. Young, John J. Fitzgerald and A. Tom Grunfeld
Singers and Songwriters, 1974-1975
Good Morning, Vietnam (video)
Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis
The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberley
The Mouse that Roared (video)
Abba, The Definitive Collection
W;t by Margaret Edson
W;t (video)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Fax from Sarajevo by Joe Kubert
U2, Achtung Baby
A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich

Regards,
Kareni

[Cottonwood]

We enjoyed Pandia Press's History Odyssey's Modern Times, Level 2.  What I liked about it is that it made my dd stop and think to apply what she was learning.  Often, she picks up things quickly, applies them and moves on right away.  She couldn't do that with this curriculum.  She didn't love it but I think it did great things for her and worked her brain in ways she wasn't used to.  The book describes that if done in entirety, it counts for one history credit, 1/2 geography credit and IIRC, 1/2 language arts credit.  It is also literature based so she was reading some books that would have been on my book list if she hadn't used them here.  

 

The only con I see is that it is a LOT of work and we expected to cover it in a two years period of time.  And, I didn't see this as a con, but some might: you have to source your own literature used in the course.  I believe the specifics of that literature is on the website somewhere?  Anyway, I though this was a great program!

[Mom22ns]

Does it matter to you if it is secular or Christian? Do you want to follow a 4 year history cycle Ancients-Moderns or do you want a traditional high school history with World, American, Geography, and Government? Or do you want something else I haven't mentioned yet? There are many choices in history, but it would help if you would give some direction. :)

 

Most of the predesign programs listed above, MFW, Notgrass, BJU, Abeka,  and maybe the others too, are Christian with fairly traditional sequences. Beautiful Feet and Sonlight are also Christian, but not as traditional in sequence. 

 

There are also predesigned programs that are secular such as Oak Meadow that use secular books/textbooks with a syllabus to walk you through the text and provide assignments.  

 

If you do a WTM style of history, you can really choose any resources that you like, rather than a predesigned program. I would guess this is more the style of Kareni's history program. This can be particularly helpful for those not looking for conservative Christian history. You can do this in a 4 year history cycle or studying any part of history you choose each year.

 

 

 

 

[Heather in VA]

We really like Biblioplan. The Companion is excellent.

[Hot Lava Mama]

In 9th grade, we used a hodgepodge of materials when my daughter covered the time period 1700 to 2000. Here are the resources (non-fiction, literature, videos and music) that we used.   Be aware that we are fairly liberal so some materials might not suit all families.

 

World History the Easy Way, Volume 2 by Charles Frazee

 

American History the Easy Way by William Kellogg

 

World History Map Activities by Marvin Scott

 

Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin

George Washington, Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen

Tomaso Albinoni – 12 Concerti a cinque Op. 5

Roots by Alex Haley (to p. 126)

Georg Philipp Telemann – Suite A Minor, 2 Double Concertos (Michala Petri, Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields)

Amadeus (video)

"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift

George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

I Will Repay by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Eldorado by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Sir Percy Hits Back by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel (three part video, BBC)

Carl Friedrich Abel – Symphonies Op. 10, numbers 1 – 6, La Stagione

Francesco Geminiani – 12 Concerti Grossi, I Musici

The Art of the Fugue by Bach, Emerson String Quartet

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Longitude (video, A&E)

C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower (set of 8 videos, A&E)

Lock, Stock, and Barrel by Donald Sobol

Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphonies 5 in C Minor, Op. 67, and 6 in F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral

"Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Cartouche (video)

Joseph Haydn – String Quartets, Op. 17, Nos. 1, 2, and 4, Kodaly Quartet

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (translated by Norman Denny)

The New Nation by Joy Hakim

A Tale of Two Cities (video)

Georges Bizet – Carmen Suites No. 1 and No. 2; L’Arlesienne Suites No. 1 and No. 2, Leonard Bernstein

Adolphe Adam – Giselle, conducted by Richard Bonynge, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 4 “Romanticâ€, conducted by Eugen Jochum, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Men-of-War: Life in Nelson's Navy by Patrick O'Brian

Young Frankenstein (video)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (video with Kenneth Branagh)

Lily Afshar -- A Jug of Wine and Thou (Persian music)

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith

Master and Commander (video)

Chamber Works by Women Composers, The Macalester Trio

Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg

Wassail! Wassail! Early American Christmas Music by the Revels

"An Occurrence at the Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce

The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce

Stephen Foster’s Civil War Songs (sung by Linda Russell)

 

The Century for Young People by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster

Critical Thinking in United States History, Book Four, Spanish-American War to Vietnam War by Kevin O’Reilly

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Nutcracker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Mstislav Rostropovich conducting

Winsor McCay: The Master Edition (The Sinking of the Lusitania)

Claude Debussy: La Mer, Nocturnes, Jeux, The Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez conducting

The Battleship Potemkin (video)

“Broadway, Blues, and Truth†from RESPECT: A Century of Women in Music

Botchan by Soseki Natsume (translated by Umeji Sasaki)

Many Lives, Many Stories by Kathryn Abbott and Patricia Minter

Witness by Karen Hesse

Influenza 1918 (video from PBS)

New Orleans Rhythm Kings and Jelly Roll Morton

Antarctica by Walter Dean Myers

War Game by Michael Foreman

Mao Tse-Tung and His China by Albert Marrin

“The Butcher Boyâ€, “The Garage†and “Rough House†from The Best Arbuckle Keaton Collection (video)

Fluffy Ruffle Girls: Women in Ragtime

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero by James Cross Giblin

Inherit the Wind (video)

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

All Quiet on the Western Front (video)

The Depression and New Deal by Robert McElvaine

Cabaret (video)

Radio Comedy Classics: Jack Benny Program and Fred Allen Show

Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren

Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman

Rabbit-Proof Fence (video)

The Verse by the Side of the Road by Frank Ransome, Jr.

Elvis Presley title album

Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Billy the Kid, Fanfare for the Common Man (New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein)

1940s House (video)

Diary of Anne Frank

North to Freedom by Anne Holm

Shane (video)

Frank Sinatra, Come Swing with Me

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi

Ed Sullivan’s Rock and Roll Classics, Volume 8: Legends of Rock (video)

Beatles, Beatles for Sale

Atomic Café (video)

Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited

“I Have a Dream†by Martin Luther King, Jr.

All the President's Men (video)

Forrest Gump (video)

Judy Collins, Whales and Nightingales

Hair (video)

The Vietnam War by Marilyn B. Young, John J. Fitzgerald and A. Tom Grunfeld

Singers and Songwriters, 1974-1975

Good Morning, Vietnam (video)

Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis

The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberley

The Mouse that Roared (video)

Abba, The Definitive Collection

W;t by Margaret Edson

W;t (video)

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Fax from Sarajevo by Joe Kubert

U2, Achtung Baby

A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Kareni,

Your posts are always so helpful and awesome!  I can't even tell you how many times I have taken your suggestions from answers to questions I didn't even ask!  I appreciate the time you take to thoroughly answer questions on this board!  You rock!  :)

Hot Lava Mama

 

 

[Kareni]

:)

 

Thanks for the very kind words!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[TrixieB]

We really like Biblioplan. The Companion is excellent.

 

Another vote for Biblioplan. 

[AmyontheFarm]

We will be using Susan's high school history program.

 

Grade 9 The History of the Ancient World

Grade 10 The History of the Medieval World

Grade 11 The History of the Renaissance World
Grade 12 - Waiting to see what Susan writes next?  Perhaps the History of North America????

 

I'm in the thick of organizing "The History of the Ancient World" for my son.  Because of physical issues he has, I've been entering the vocab, people, places and dates he needs to learn into an online program we use to study/test with.  My next job is to scan in the maps so he can manipulate them on the computer to do the mapping assignments and then print them out.

 

The Study Guide for the Textbook is wonderful for assigning his written (typed in the computer) work, because it is full of interesting questions to get the kids thinking.

 

I'm coupling the whole thing with some video presentations and online lectures, just because he likes that sort of thing.