Balancing American History with a course like Roman Roads Greeks or other course like that?

[Dianne-TX]

I've planned for my ds15 to take the RR Old Western Culture courses all throughout high school.  He will begin Greeks this year (10th) and then do Romans and then Modern. Since those are full load courses, how do I also have him take a full year of American History?  Curriculum suggestions?  Timing suggestions on how to do it?  I'm thinking of just sliding it into an "elective" slot on our schedule.  Thoughts?  Curriculum options?  Just read lots of great books, biographies, use supplemental teaching aids (RR has an American History dvd course), other ideas???  Thanks.

[Guest]

For my dd, we just made it an elective basically and are splitting it over two years. First "semester" we finished this past spring went through civil war, second we will insert somewhere TBD. She basically read the first half of Story of the US, and watched the appropriate lectures from History of the US Great Course along with the one that was about the colonies before the declaration- I can't remember the name of that one. Then she read some novels and completed some essays. Since she is doing the four year history cycle, this was really just checking a box for college requirements and I didn't feel a need to make it a big ordeal. She will touch on a lot of it again in year 3&4 anyway from what we have planned.

[swimmermom3]

I've planned for my ds15 to take the RR Old Western Culture courses all throughout high school.  He will begin Greeks this year (10th) and then do Romans and then Modern. Since those are full load courses, how do I also have him take a full year of American History?  Curriculum suggestions?  Timing suggestions on how to do it?  I'm thinking of just sliding it into an "elective" slot on our schedule.  Thoughts?  Curriculum options?  Just read lots of great books, biographies, use supplemental teaching aids (RR has an American History dvd course), other ideas???  Thanks.

 

What exactly do you want to accomplish with your history studies?

 

I know that the Great Books program and Angelicum Academy do entire years like you have outlined for western culture, but why exactly do you want to do them?

 

You are dedicating an entire year to ancient Greeks and an entire year to ancient Romans and then one year to all of the rest of history for half of the world. While it is definitely classical in focus, it's also very narrow in our current global economy.  Given the weighting of the studies, I am a bit baffled by American history being an elective or afterthought.

 

 

 

 

[Dianne-TX]

What exactly do you want to accomplish with your history studies?

 

I know that the Great Books program and Angelicum Academy do entire years like you have outlined for western culture, but why exactly do you want to do them?

 

You are dedicating an entire year to ancient Greeks and an entire year to ancient Romans and then one year to all of the rest of history for half of the world. While it is definitely classical in focus, it's also very narrow in our current global economy.  Given the weighting of the studies, I am a bit baffled by American history being an elective or afterthought.

 

American History is definitely NOT an afterthought in our family.  RR counts for 3 credits and also takes care of World History and is well done.  Thanks for the curriculum suggestions, though.

[Mosaicmind]

American History is definitely NOT an afterthought in our family. RR counts for 3 credits and also takes care of World History and is well done. Thanks for the curriculum suggestions, though.

I agree. I'm also doing RR Old Western Cultures and it covers more than just Greeks and Romans the first 2 years. Roman Roads offers both a U.S. History and Modern history course that are both 1 credit. I'm actually going to be weaving that material into our OWC courses during the last two years, which will satisfy the 1 credit American History credit needed by most colleges for entrance.

 

You don't have to use RR either, there are others such as, All American History, Notgrass American, and many others. There are many ways to weave the histories together and cover enough to satisfy for a credit each. If you can use a curriculum like RR and others who give credits for English/Literature, Bible, and other subjects while studying the history this cuts down on buying other curriculum for these subjects and cuts down on time spent also.

 

If your family is like ours, we've done so much American History prior to high school that I don't feel we are short-changing my students by doing it this way either. Looking at it as an elective isn't quite what we are doing because I'm still having us devote about 160-180 hours on the American History even though we aren't doing it as a stand alone separate subject.

[swimmermom3]

American History is definitely NOT an afterthought in our family.  RR counts for 3 credits and also takes care of World History and is well done.  Thanks for the curriculum suggestions, though.

 

Dianne, I did not mean to offend. I asked genuine questions.

 

The Roman Roads offerings do indeed look like enjoyable courses.

 

The first year (The Greeks) looks as though it will cover up until about the Hellenistic period, ending perhaps around 30 B.C.E.

 

The second year (The Romans) would typically cover 753 B.C.E. with the founding of Rome up until Constantine moves the capital to Constantinople in 324 C.E., but with the inclusion of Nicene Christianity, that will take you up to what is often considered the end of the classical period around 600 C.E.  Have you read The Consolation of Philosophy and do you know what place it has in your student's educational goals?

 

The third year (Early Moderns) has limited information but appears to cover early England into the Victorian era and France for the Enlightenment.

 

You mentioned that this satisfied a world history requirement. Is this a state requirement? A university requirement?

 

I am not asking this to pick on you. My youngest began high school with the idea he would major in business. Your plan would probably have been fine for him.  However, by the time he graduated, he had decided on international relations with a focus on foreign policy and national security. It is very helpful for him to have a basic understanding of the history of China or say, Iran.

 

I know that you are not looking at Advanced Placement courses, but for perspective, the topics covered in your first two years are typically covered in the first few weeks of an AP World History class or roughly the first 150 pages of a roughly 1,000 page introductory college text.

 

As a previous poster said, there are many ways to interweave the areas of history.  You could cover actual world history up until roughly 1450 during your first year. For your second year, you can combine your world and US history through the revolutions: American, French, and Industrial and then on to imperialism, up until say 1850 or so. Your final year could cover from 1850 on. Your student will see American history in the context of the global stage. If a Western-centric focus is really critical to you, then expand on those areas.  Three credits of history (World, European, and U.S.) if you want.

 

I have no idea if your student wants to be a classical scholar or a theology major, so my thoughts may be misdirected. If so, my apologies.

[Mosaicmind]

Dianne, I did not mean to offend. I asked genuine questions.

 

The Roman Roads offerings do indeed look like enjoyable courses.

 

The first year (The Greeks) looks as though it will cover up until about the Hellenistic period, ending perhaps around 30 B.C.E.

 

The second year (The Romans) would typically cover 753 B.C.E. with the founding of Rome up until Constantine moves the capital to Constantinople in 324 C.E., but with the inclusion of Nicene Christianity, that will take you up to what is often considered the end of the classical period around 600 C.E.  Have you read The Consolation of Philosophy and do you know what place it has in your student's educational goals?

 

The third year (Early Moderns) has limited information but appears to cover early England into the Victorian era and France for the Enlightenment.

 

You mentioned that this satisfied a world history requirement. Is this a state requirement? A university requirement?

 

I am not asking this to pick on you. My youngest began high school with the idea he would major in business. Your plan would probably have been fine for him.  However, by the time he graduated, he had decided on international relations with a focus on foreign policy and national security. It is very helpful for him to have a basic understanding of the history of China or say, Iran.

 

I know that you are not looking at Advanced Placement courses, but for perspective, the topics covered in your first two years are typically covered in the first few weeks of an AP World History class or roughly the first 150 pages of a roughly 1,000 page introductory college text.

 

As a previous poster said, there are many ways to interweave the areas of history.  You could cover actual world history up until roughly 1450 during your first year. For your second year, you can combine your world and US history through the revolutions: American, French, and Industrial and then on to imperialism, up until say 1850 or so. Your final year could cover from 1850 on. Your student will see American history in the context of the global stage. If a Western-centric focus is really critical to you, then expand on those areas.  Three credits of history (World, European, and U.S.) if you want.

 

I have no idea if your student wants to be a classical scholar or a theology major, so my thoughts may be misdirected. If so, my apologies.

 

 

 

 

Good info Lisa.  I intend on using RR with the intent on weaving American history in with it so we can satisfy an American history credit, which most of the colleges I've looked at want to see on a transcript.  We won't be doing AP classes either because both Moe and Curly are planning on going into the military with the possibility of taking college classes while they are in, which is what their older brothers are doing. 

 

Now, that I've given it a little more thought, I think that starting this year adding in other history to The Greeks maybe easier than trying to do it just over the last two years of high school.  Not sure how I am going to do that yet but if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears.

 

Edited July 7, 2016 by Mosaicmind

[swimmermom3]

Good info Lisa.  I intend on using RR with the intent on weaving American history in with it so we can satisfy an American history credit, which most of the colleges I've looked at want to see on a transcript.  We won't be doing AP classes either because both Moe and Curly are planning on going into the military with the possibility of taking college classes while they are in, which is what their older brothers are doing. 

 

Now, that I've given it a little more thought, I think that starting this year adding in other history to The Greeks maybe easier than trying to do it just over the last two years of high school.  Not sure how I am going to do that yet but if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears.

 

I have a book recommendation for you that I didn't remember until after I checked in on the other thread:

 

Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources by Strayer

 

We have thoroughly enjoyed this brief, but engaging text. It would be easy to add to your current history plan and get a more well-rounded and thorough approach. 

[nobeatenpath]

I am not asking this to pick on you. My youngest began high school with the idea he would major in business. Your plan would probably have been fine for him.  However, by the time he graduated, he had decided on international relations with a focus on foreign policy and national security. It is very helpful for him to have a basic understanding of the history of China or say, Iran.

 

 

What you study at highschool is not always the be-all-and-end-all for university though. I only studied Ancient History at highschool; went on to get a double major in History at undergraduate level (the only post 18th century history I touched was a unit of Holocaust studies and a unit of Australian history) but then later went on to a Masters of International Relations with specializations in politics and security studies. Don't forget the skills universities are looking for in the humanities is not so much prior knowledge/facts but the ability to find, evaluate and sythethise knowledge. And you can develop the skills for that studying Classics and then go on to another field.

[Mosaicmind]

I have a book recommendation for you that I didn't remember until after I checked in on the other thread:

 

Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources by Strayer

 

We have thoroughly enjoyed this brief, but engaging text. It would be easy to add to your current history plan and get a more well-rounded and thorough approach.

I actually found that post and read thru it. Strayer's text is in my Amazon cart right now, awaiting my Kroger gift card to get to card cash so I can get my Amazon ecard as payment. Thanks for the suggestion, now back to planning...📚