History Odyssey (grade levels accurate?)

[Staceyshoe]

I'm leaning toward using Pandia Press' History Odyssey level 2 (Early Modern) with my high-ability 7th grader next year.  (My plan is to replace one of the spines with the K12 Human Odyssey book.)  After almost finalizing this decision in my mind, I happened across a thread where several people mentioned using H.O. level 2 with early-mid elementary students.  Is History Odyssey level 2 adequate for a very capable jr. high student?  Honest opinions please!

[happypamama]

I think it is very adequate for middle school.  DD used Early Modern and Modern in 6th-8th grades, and it seems to have been right on target for her.  She has liked most of the literature assignments, which seem in line with other middle school literature lists.  We don't do all of the longer writing assignments; we pick and choose.  Sometimes DD finds the worksheets to be annoying with so many boxes to fill in, but overall, I think it's a very reasonable middle school program.  My fifth grader used Ancients Level 2 this year, and it was just perfect for him.

 

Can you show me the thread where people talk about using Level 2 for early-mid elementary?  I'm just not seeing it at all.  Maaaaybe Ancients or Medieval Level 2 with a fourth grader, but I don't think a fourth grader could at all handle the increased reading/writing/analysis in the Early Modern and Modern Level 2, without a lot of modification.  History Odyssey Level 1 is perfect, in my experience, for elementary, since it uses an easier encyclopedia (Usborne instead of Kingfisher) and Story of the World.  

 

I think your plans will be just fine!

[Butter]

Generally if people are using level 2 with a younger kid it is because they have an older kid and the younger one is along for the ride.  Level 2 is definitely grade level appropriate for Logic Stage kids (just as level 1 is grade level appropriate for grammar stage kids).

[Staceyshoe]

Thank you both!  Happypamama, the thread was an old one that I found when doing a search earlier this week.  I just did a quick search, and of course, I don't see it now.  

[RootAnn]

I used HO Level 2 Ancients with a 5th grader & will use it again with a 5th & a 8th grader this year. (In all cases, it is modified from the original version as I've switched out spines & removed history pockets.) 

 

HO Level 2 ramps up each year in what it expects of the student. Heck, it ramps up from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. I think your placement is great. Some have been able to use HO Modern Level 2 for high school because it is pretty demanding.

[Staceyshoe]

Thank you!  I had settled on that and then started second-guessing.  (I wonder if I was reading about one of the Human Odyssey books or something?  So many similar names that I might have gotten confused.)  I feel much more confident now.

[redsquirrel]

History Odyssey has a 'try before you buy" available on their site. It has a couple weeks of lessons available for free, along with the book lists and any other materials all for the downloading.

 

So, you can give it a shot when you start the program and live with it for a little bit. There is a good chance you will figure out quickly if it works for you.

 

 

[Guest]

Just agreeing with everyone else. It is a VERY challenging program! I used Level 2 Ancients with my older two at middle school age and they had a tough time with it. I plan to use it with my youngers for high school {modified, of course}.

[PeachyDoodle]

Agreeing as well. We've just wrapped up HO Ancients level 2 with my advanced 5th grader, and it was a great fit. The reading selections could be quite challenging, and look to be even more so as we prep for Middle Ages next year. I am very pleased with the program overall, and dd seemed to enjoy it too. She certainly made some excellent connections between events across the time period, and she is learning to analyze historical events quite well.

 

If you're interested in ramping it up just a bit more, consider doing some work with primary documents (if HO doesn't include them already in the later time periods; it didn't for Ancients). The early modern and modern time periods are great for this. We used Stanford University's free Reading Like a Historian lessons this year, and dd LOVED them. Really great stuff! I personally prefer to drop some of the historical fiction in favor of more primary sources, but that's partly to cater to dd's taste. She did not inherit her mother's love of historical fiction!