World History in One Year

[Garga]

For high school (9th grade), I want to do a traditional course in World History.  Just your regular run-of-the-mill, I'm-in-9th-grade-so-I-take-world-history-like-everyone-else class.  We've done 2 rotations of world history--so we've studied it for 8 years already.  For high school we want to do things differently.  We're looking forward to one year of World, one year of American, and then government/economics.  It will be new to us after 8 years of rotating.

 

I looked at Notgrass, but it seemed pretty dry and was very, very heavy on the bible.  I don't mind Christian curriculum, but one out of every 5 lessons was a bible study.  That was too much for me.

 

I looked at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt World history for about 15 minutes, but I think I'm going cross-eyed trying to look at the book online.  If anyone has feedback about it, I'd love to hear it.  I can't tell yet whether or not I like it based on the online sample.  I really think I need to see that text in person or hear from someone who has used it.

 

I looked at PA Homeschoolers' World History AP classes and those are not for us.  2-3 hours of study a day on World History alone?  Nope.  We're not at that level.

 

I looked at The Great Courses and since I'm a new customer I have a coupon where I get 70% off of EVERYTHING (YES EVERYTHING) if I order it before March 10th.  But, being a new customer, I'm totally overwhelmed and have no clue what to pick and whether or not it would be a complete course or how to turn a few lectures into a course.  (But 70% off everything!  Without having to wait for a sale to cycle around!  What a deal!!  Don't want to waste the opportunity.)

 

Sigh.  This is really hard work. (As you all know.)  Does anyone have any ideas of what else is out there?  or can give a review on something I've already mentioned?  or can tell me which Great Courses to get and point me in a direction to creating my own course using those?

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[Erica in OR]

One option, if you still want to consider Notgrass. We're doing it this year, but tweaked. We skip every fifth lesson (the Bible study) and are not doing a project for every unit. The quizzes and unit exams for the history portion (since you can also use it as one credit Bible and one credit English along with one credit history) do not include questions related to the Bible study lessons. So, 120 lessons instead of 150. We're only doing it for the history credit, plus partial English.

 

Erica in OR

[Guest]

We are using Notgrass for history and 1/2 credit in Bible.

[Garga]

One option, if you still want to consider Notgrass. We're doing it this year, but tweaked. We skip every fifth lesson (the Bible study) and are not doing a project for every unit. The quizzes and unit exams for the history portion (since you can also use it as one credit Bible and one credit English along with one credit history) do not include questions related to the Bible study lessons. So, 120 lessons instead of 150. We're only doing it for the history credit, plus partial English.

Erica in OR

  

We are using Notgrass for history and 1/2 credit in Bible.

 

Those are good ideas. What do you think about Notgrass on the whole? I'm used to world history taking 4 years to cover and it seemed very perfunctory, but I know that's probably going to be the case for every WH course that's condensed to a year.

 

What are the good/bad things about Notgrass? What are the books like that accompany it? Easy reads? Difficult reads?

[Erica in OR]

  

 

Those are good ideas. What do you think about Notgrass on the whole? I'm used to world history taking 4 years to cover and it seemed very perfunctory, but I know that's probably going to be the case for every WH course that's condensed to a year.

 

What are the good/bad things about Notgrass? What are the books like that accompany it? Easy reads? Difficult reads?

 

We're only a portion of the way through, as we're doing it 2nd and 3rd trimester.

 

It's still very Bible heavy, particularly in the beginning, but it seems like it's easing up. It's a credit I just wanted to get done, so I like that it's open-and-go, with the quizzes and tests simply knowledge-based and therefore easy to study for and correct. The review questions help balance that out, with some questions about what one thinks about some of the information from the text. I also like the "In Our Words" separate book, since it shares information from primary-type sources to supplement the straight textbook style. The unit projects also give a chance to spice it up a bit, but with choices—DD did a photo-based project, a writing project, and is planning a cooking project right now. The separate lit so far was Henty's The Cat of Bubastes, which DD found dry. Next up is The Art of War.

 

Erica in OR

[Saddlemomma]

Since your ds has already been through world history twice, if you wanted to do a Great Courses class, I would absolutely pick something like:

• "Decisive Battles of World History"
• "Understanding Inventions That Changed the World"
• "History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration" 
• "Espionage & Covert Operations: A Global History" 
• "Wisdom of History"

I think you could build a wonderfully unique and interesting world history curriculum out of any of the above by simply adding a few books to flesh out the time period for each chapter of whichever class you choose.  You could also include an essay prompt each quarter.  This way your ds may learn something a little different in world history by focusing on specific areas, and you will have the added benefit of including a unique history class title for your transcript for colleges.  

[klmama]

World History: Patterns of Interaction is a standard world history text for high school level.  You can get older editions cheaply on Amazon.

[klmama]

I missed the part about what Great Courses to get.  If you want lectures to go along with a standard history course, Foundations of Western Civilization by Thomas Noble and Foundations of Western Civilization II by Robert Bucholz are both good; we did like Bucholz better.  The middle ages lectures (3 sets) by Philip Daileader are wonderful, but since there are so many, you'll be stuck in the middle ages for a long time.  They are better for a course which spends a year on that period.  Great Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt is interesting and short.  There's a newer set on Eastern Civilization that I've not heard, nor have I listened to anything on Latin America or Africa.  

 

 

 

[ktgrok]

One option, if you still want to consider Notgrass. We're doing it this year, but tweaked. We skip every fifth lesson (the Bible study) and are not doing a project for every unit. The quizzes and unit exams for the history portion (since you can also use it as one credit Bible and one credit English along with one credit history) do not include questions related to the Bible study lessons. So, 120 lessons instead of 150. We're only doing it for the history credit, plus partial English.

 

Erica in OR

 

We are doing something similar for their American History. I still have him read that 5th lesson, which in the american history is more about religion IN america than straight Bible. So lessons about the Great Awakening, etc. I think that's culturally good to know. But I don't have him read the actual Bible verses assigned. And like it was said above,the test on the Bible material is separate, so we just don't use it. 

 

As for dry, have you looked at the third book that is included? That's where some of the best info is...it's a collection of various primary sources. The American one has speeches, songs, poetry, essays, letters, all sorts of things. Even a sample from an old New England Primer! It's a fascinating book in it's own right. It really adds a lot to the course. 

[cbollin]

Another way to use notgrass for just history credit.  This is similar to how others are doing it.  But with my youngest, I need a basic course.  She has some disabilities so we need basic high school that I can read to her without me getting tired from reading out loud. 

I have notgrass from older children doing mfw.  And the notgrass we have is the previous edition.  We are reading the lessons, answering the review questions, doing the quizzes.  Mostly we're skipping the every 5th lesson in Bible, but being the lead teacher of the class, I know in our edition there are usually 1 or 2 questions from that lesson, so we answer that review.  Example was the unit we did yesterday where 2 quiz questions were from "English" and "Bible".  I taught that info as a side box.   Obviously in the ancient times, more Old Testament history is part of the world history so it will feel like Bible history in there too.

 

We are adding basic timeline for youngest.  And Map work. I'm using a blend of World History Map Activities (which we had from previous use of notrgrass via mfw) and Map Trek Sampler. And some picture style encyclopedia for extra (whichever ones we had on hand from our mfw high school stuff). 

 

Our edition of Notgrass was printed prior to 2014 and the history credit is listed as "do the lesson readings, In Their Words reading,  review questions" and quizzes.   The essay/projects and literature were part of English credit, and that's not what this student needs.  And for most part it's easy so far to leave out the every 5th lesson (except as a teacher summary side box for what might show up on the test.)  One way I did that was knowing there was a Cat of Bubastes question on quiz, so when we were reading on Egypt, I picked up the book and said "oh, this fiction book is about...."    But we didn't read it.  

 

So far, as a basic course for my special ed student, this is working out.   Right now the first section in ancients does feel like review for her as she grew with Bible stories.  But we're not doing "bible class" with it.

[Guest]

  

 

Those are good ideas. What do you think about Notgrass on the whole? I'm used to world history taking 4 years to cover and it seemed very perfunctory, but I know that's probably going to be the case for every WH course that's condensed to a year.

 

What are the good/bad things about Notgrass? What are the books like that accompany it? Easy reads? Difficult reads?

 

We did a 4 year cycle for grades 5-8, so it was a difficult decision to go with a typical one year survey course. Dd loves the Notgrass text, and I like that they add the book of original documents, stories, poems, etc... We do not read their lit. selections, and we don't do the projects so I can't comment on those. We decided to go with a separate lit. program. We do the daily questions for each lesson in the Student Review book, and we also do the weekly quizzes and unit exams. Overall I am very pleased with Notgrass. We have already purchased their American History for next year.

[Murrayshire]

Have you looked through Oak Meadow World History?

[GoodGrief]

My daughter did one of the PA Homeschoolers AP World History courses as an audit student, meaning she could pick and choose what she did. There was no grading, and it was cheaper. Not sure if that is still an option though. She did the World History SAT subject test at the end of the year.

 

K12.com has a basic World History course. They are kind of pricey, and I haven't used them for high school, but I loved their elementary history courses. It does appear that "teacher supported" is the only option for world history, which would annoy me. :-)

Edited March 5, 2016 by Gr8lander

[Haiku]

I'm also a new Great Courses customer (just received my first order on Thursday). I did not get the 70% off on everything deal. Bummer.

 

Have you looked at Student's Friend? It can be done in one or two years, and it is free.

[Momto6inIN]

I just went through this same mental drama thing and spent hours reading threads and researching because my promo code ended March 2 ;)

 

But this is what I ended up buying with that code for World History:

History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective by Aldrete

Foundations of Western Civilization I by Noble

 

We're just doing Ancients up through Renaissance in 1 year. We'll do some world history as it intersects with US History the following year, so I figured this was a good stopping point. As far as output, I'm requiring him to take notes on all the lectures and discuss them with me. He will also write a compare/contrast paper on the world religions studied, and a cause/effect paper on the Reformation. He will also do some World Geography with Seterra software and then we'll call it a decent credit. Not AP quality, but certainly adequate and probably more in depth than I ever learned it.

 

On a side note:

Methinks The Great Courses is doing pretty well with that whole "newcomer promotion" and getting us all hooked on their stuff lol

 

[Garga]

I'm also a new Great Courses customer (just received my first order on Thursday). I did not get the 70% off on everything deal. Bummer.

 

Have you looked at Student's Friend? It can be done in one or two years, and it is free.

I got a letter in the mail weeks (like 4 weeks) after ordering from them. I thought it was a promotional thing and was going to toss it. SOOOO glad I read it carefully. They gave me a code to add to the end of the website url that opened up the 70% off of everything. By the time I got the letter, I only had about 7 or 8 days to use the coupon. Your letter will probably arrive in a few weeks. Plan ahead! Start looking now for things you might want so you're not scrambling like I am. :)

[Brad S]

The Great Courses History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective by Aldrete is very good, and I'd recommend it for part of your course.  I haven't used it, but the text Ways of the World: A Global History with Sources has been recommended elsewhere (by Chrysalis Academy) and looks good to me.

 

ETA: I'm not sure what your English/literature plans are for that year, but the Norton Anthology of World Literature has very nice historical summaries at the beginning of each literature groups (i.e., times and places), which would make for a nice and efficient connection between the courses if you're matching lit. and history.  If you do use the Norton Anthology for a one-year course, I'd use the two-volume shorter version rather than the complete or extended version.

Edited March 6, 2016 by Brad S

[Haiku]

I've also noticed that you can purchase new, still-packaged Great Courses for very good deals on Ebay.

[Haiku]

I'm considering using this book for my son for World History in 9th grade. Like you, neither of my kids wants to do world history again, but my son (not my daughter, who is a grade older) will need to have 1/2 a credit in world history (if I follow the standard high school requirements set forth by by the state, which I probably will because this child may play D1 hockey). My dd is doing a year of Greek and Roman history (her choice) and a year on political and economic systems (capitalism, socialism, communism, anarchism, etc., also her choice).

[Heathermomster]

K12's World History Our Human Story is good.  After DS read each sub-section, I had him answer the key questions located at the beginning, jot down 3-4 dates, summarize 3-4 events, and define 3-4 interesting people.  I also added documentaries to support the reading.

Edited March 6, 2016 by Heathermomster

[Garga]

Guys, I love you all.  Seriously, how could I homeschool without all the help I've received here?  I'm going to take the next two days and start researching all the suggestions you've all given.   Thank you all so much.  I practically weep over these types of threads because it's such a relief to know I have an entire community to help me figure this all out. 

 

[EmilyK]

Chiming in late, but my high schooler and I are listening to Foundations of Eastern Civilization, a Great Courses available on Audible. We're both finding it very enjoyable and rounding out what has been a Western Civ heavy exposure to history. With the Audible app, he and I are both listening separately while we each go for walks, work out, travel time, etc., and we discuss later. You could do something similar with the Great Courses app and downloading the videos if you didn't want to stream them away from Wi Fi.

[ondreeuh]

K12's World History Our Human Story is good.  After DS read each sub-section, I had him answer the key questions located at the beginning, jot down 3-4 dates, summarize 3-4 events, and define 3-4 interesting people.  I also added documentaries to support the reading.

 

This is what I plan to use for world history too. :thumbup1:

 

Because I am an over-planner, I have also lined up lectures from The Teaching Company's series Food: A Cultural Culinary History (nearly every chapter in the textbook has a corresponding lecture + cooking activity- very nice combo). Oooh and you could weave art history in there with Sister Wendy's Story of Painting. It has ten segments that match up well with the textbook.

 

The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World looks really good too, but we might just listen to that separately as it would stall our progress through the book.