History After VP

[rutamattatt]

My now 6th grader will complete VP history after this year.  I'm wondering what other folks do for history if they have completed the VP series.

 

The options I'm thinking of are:

 

1.  Repeating a few of the VP online self paced classes from the earlier time periods with the more advanced literature and lessons. 

    (Downside is that DS retains information really well and could possibly be really, really bored and annoyed…)

 

2.  Doing a full year of geography instead of history next year. 

     (We've done light geography in the past.)

 

3.  Picking up a new history curriculum to try out with him.  

     (Any suggestions?????)

 

4.  Creating my own history with him based on a list of interesting historical events, people, etc.

     (I LOVE history, and selfishly this would be fun…)

 

Would love any other options or recommendations y'all might have!

[jjeepa]

My vote would be for either #2 or #4. I think a full year of geography in either middle or high school is well worth the time. However, if you decide to study a period of history, creating it yourself and individualizing it to the interests of your ds sounds like a lot of fun too.

 

I'm a fan of creating my own history courses. We've used prepackaged history curriculums in the past, but I ended up supplementing with so many other books/resources that I finally had to admit that I was better off just creating my own!

 

Have you given any thought as to what you might want him to study in high school? Planning out the high school history sequence really helped me narrow in on what I wanted to focus on during the middle school years.  

 

I'll share with you what we're doing this year for my dd in 8th grade that has ended up being our favorite year of history thus far. My dd wanted to spend a year studying US History, and after much research and considering different resources we decided to use Joy Hakim's The Story of US as our "spine." We read a few chapters together everyday and have had some really fantastic discussions. I use the syllabus created by Hewitt and their tests as well. My dd likes tests   :001_smile:  She has quite the list of supplementary reading including primary documents, autobiographies, biographies, and historical lit. She's also watching a few documentaries and a few movies about the time period. Every Friday she gives a presentation on one of the presidents, and I've assigned two papers for the year. The books/resources I gathered from perusing booklists from Beautiful Feet, Sonlight, Amberside Online, and also from many threads here. 

[SoCal_Bear]

I'm using VP self-paced, the last two years of the program are pretty US history focused. So, perhaps doing something more world history oriented might be an option that wasn't listed above? Not sure if you are looking for Christian versus secular. Maybe Mystery of History or Notgrass from Adam to Us or K12 Human Odyssey?

[PeterPan]

I would not repeat the self-paced courses. If you haven't done the more advanced reading options, then pair them along with the K-12 Human Odyssey texts. They're very accessible and age-appropriate. You could use them plus your advanced VP lit to survey world history in 1-2 years. There are 3 volumes, iirc. We really liked the HO books after VP.

 

A year of geography would be fine too, but then think about where you're going AFTER that. Spines are sometimes really good one year and not a good fit the next. So pick out your 7th and 8th gr plans now to set you up nicely for whatever progression you're anticipating for 9th.

 

Fwiw, VP's progression is pretty thorough. You might find your dc wants to do some interest-based studies, rather than a typical high school progression. That would be fine too and can allow them to be unique on their college applications. :)

Edited February 4, 2017 by OhElizabeth

[Pistachio mom]

I like the ideas above. 

 

You  might also want to look at Memoria Press History products.

 

If you plan out your high school years specifically where you will put the state requirements, you will know how much "wiggle room" you have.   Are you planning to repeat the trivium another time for high school?  Then you have to plan where to fit govt/econ . Also, would you want your student to have time for a sociology course or psych at senoir high level. If so, you might want to start your plan at 8th grade.

 

Taking a year for Geography or World History overview sounds great. Also, creating a study based on your own interests. I think it might also be fun to take a year to read various biographies.

You might want to check out Beautiful Feet, or Memoria.  Are you planning to do VP Omnibus? If so, you can decide when /where to start.  We started it in 9th. My daughter was not ready for the reading at 7th. BJ Press has a Cultural Geography Course that is challenging.

 

https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/seventh/

http://bfbooks.com/Study-Guides\

 

 

[PeterPan]

The BJU 7 course on video is particularly good too.

[Aloha2U]

My little man has previously completed VP's 5-year Bible and History Cycles in grades 2-6. This year we started 7th grade with Omnibus I, only making it through the Code of Hammurabi before we dropped it for Old Western Culture: The Greeks—literature based, similar to Omnibus, but with video lectures instead of the Omnibus text—along with a history text. He is doing personal devotions and Bible studies alongside Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel (a Calvary Chapel). 

 

We're also doing MP's Geography III.

 

So...there are some options for you.   :thumbup1:     

Edited February 5, 2017 by NCAmusings