AimeeM Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I'm trying to plan it out, pace it out... but there is SO much reading involved. Unless we were completely history-centric (which we aren't), I just can't imagine being able to get through it in a year. Were there chapters in some books you felt you could skip? Without pre-reading all of the texts used, I just don't know how to decide which to read and which not to. I've already decided I'll have her create notes from what she's read, instead of answering the questions... although I suppose taking notes will be no less time consuming than doing the study guide questions... but still, I have no clue how to pace this for a year-long course. I can't imagine taking two years just to complete EARLY American history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmstranger Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I'm following this b/c it's on my list of possibilities for next year... I think Tara from Monarch Room is using this and if I remember correctly, she dropped a book or two b/c her son had already covered that time period (maybe the first book?? I don't remember). Maybe look up her blog and see what she says. Hopefully someone else on this board has some ideas for you! My son liked the look of it because he thought it looked like fewer books than he is used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeriJ Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We are skipping books. We skipped the first 2 Foster books. We also split the lessons in half. And then I assigned a few of the books as extra reading to do alongside George Washington's World instead of doing full lessons from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monarch Room Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I'm Tara from Monarch Room :) I wrote about the changes I made here: http://www.monarchroom.com/2015/09/beautiful-feet-and-freedom-to-readjust.html?m=1 I realized very quickly that there was no way we would be able to read that amount in one year. We had covered all of the history in the Columbus and Smith books last year, so I decided to skip them. We also skipped Carry On Mr. Bowditch because we had already read it. At first glance BF looks so simple, but it actually has far more depth than I was expecting. We are now heading into our 12th week, and we just started George Washinhton's World. I split up all the readings. For instance today the first lesson was supposed to have 34 pages of reading. No way Jose! I think what you have to realize is that one lesson doesn't necessarily mean one day. We will break up this lesson over 3 or even 4 days. Sometimes instead of having him answer the questions on the guide I will have him do a written narration. Today I let him illustrate what he read. Use the guide loosely, and don't feel bound to it. My son is a 13 year old 7th grader. Some of the questions take more maturity than he has right now, and I'm totally ok with that. We are actually really enjoying the slower pace this year. We came from a more scheduled program before, and not being bound to a guide has been really refreshing. You just have to give yourself permission to use it the way it works best for you and the level of your kid. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 13, 2015 Author Share Posted November 13, 2015 Thanks guys. DD is in 9th grade, so we need to consider transcripts. I don't mind taking two years for American history - but I'm definitely not okay with taking two years for just EARLY American history, lol. If it's been a long, long time since DD did American history, how much would we be missing if we skipped the first two books? In other words, I noticed that there is some overlap in some of the books - so would she be missing huge, important chunks if I ditched one or two of the first couple books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StillStanding Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 My 7th and 9th graders are using it this year for history. We are using the schedule by Hewitt Homeschooling: https://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/Materials/mItem.aspx?id=3480 The schedule has all the reading, questions, map work, etc. divided by weeks and broken by days (5 days a week). We are really enjoying this curriculum here. It is a lot of reading but we are learning a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted November 13, 2015 Author Share Posted November 13, 2015 My 7th and 9th graders are using it this year for history. We are using the schedule by Hewitt Homeschooling: https://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/Materials/mItem.aspx?id=3480 The schedule has all the reading, questions, map work, etc. divided by weeks and broken by days (5 days a week). We are really enjoying this curriculum here. It is a lot of reading but we are learning a lot. Oh, neat! How intense is the workload using this schedule? The biggest hurdle for me is that each lesson in the BF Guide assumes they can/will read 20-40+ pages and then do map work, discussion, essays, etc. While I understand that one lesson doesn't necessarily equal one day, there is just no way doing the BF Guide as written it will get done, for us, in a year (DD is dyslexic). Does this schedule come in PDF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StillStanding Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 The Schedule just gives you a daily break down. Example for Week 12, Monday and Tuesday: Week 12 (I tried to create a table but it didn't let me, so in this order) BF Guide Lesson Read Things to Do Comp. Monday L.7 [pg.27] Poor Richard, chaps. 12-13 Answer questions 4-5, 7-8 Locate B. West’s Paintings (2) Listen to/research Handel (3) Research Wm. Pitt (6) Tuesday L. 8 [pg.27] Poor Richard, chaps. 14-15 Answer comprehension questions 2-6 It doesn't come in PDF It has the chapters and the questions that go with those chapters (so you are actually answering them as you read the information in the books). It doesn't really make the reading workload easier, there is a lot to read (and write), but it helps when it comes to answering the questions. If your child is dyslexic you may want to read out-loud to her and have her answer the questions orally (more like a discussion). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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