wehave8 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I'm thinking of ditching BP and striking out on our own. Scary thought. :) I never stick with a pre-planned history guide and end up feeling defeated and frustrated. They all have too much or too little (mostly too much), and I have too much trouble making decisions, get too many books, and don't do any because we're overwhelmed. What if we just read Guerber and SOTW. We are in Middle Ages this year. I have a lot of the BP booklist I can add IF we get to it. If not, we read the spines. Or should we stick with BP and drop all of their 'extras,' like cool history, discussions, maps, timelines, crafts, and giants of the faith? Just do written narrations? I'm about ready to grab a BJU (or something of the sort) textbook and forget it all! AND, I'm fretting over 9th grade coming up next year. Just tooooooooooo much on my plate right now! And I'm not sure if I'll be making it better or worse??? :( Pam (boys, ages 10,12, & 14--none are strong readers) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I'm with you on the pre-planned history guides. They never make it long here either. I usually like the input, but don't want so much output. But don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Keep Guerber and SOTW. Drop maps, timelines and crafts for sure! I can't advise on the Cool History and Giants of the Faith because I haven't used BP before. With discussions, if there are discussion prompts, pick a couple you think are most important or interesting and just do those. Nothing wrong with dropping all the output in favor of written narrations either! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Well no wonder you're feeling crazy if you are having to read the history to all those kids!! You're actually not crazy thinking BJU. The BJU Heritage Studies 7 would be a very nice fit for the ages of your boys. It will go on sale, probably in November, with the online for just $99. Watch and see. When you get the online version of the lessons, it will include an e-text that you can read on the screen of your computer or that you can download to a tablet. The etext software they use includes a text-to-speech option, so your boys will be able to just tap and boom it will read it to them. It would be an EXCELLENT option! They might find they really like it! People generally really like the BJU 7 and 8 Heritage Studies. I would probably make free, if you liked that option, to do the 7 this year then do the 8 the next. 8 covers american history, yes? So bump it up with some extra somethings for the high schooler and call it good. Doing american history your freshman year is a fine, reasonable, normal thing. My dd loves history and we did it with lots of lit and reading, blah blah. Well those particular years of the BJU are very good for the video lessons! If you're needing a change, they could be really good. My dd watched a large chunk (half, 2/3, dunno) with an MK who was visiting us for a few weeks. The girl was powering through it, hehe, so they'd watch a whole bunch every day together. Dd really, really liked it! It will be complementary to anything you've done and really get in at an analysis level that they might enjoy. It will take a load off you. You don't have to do everything perfectly. It's a lot to say you need to do EVERYTHING from scratch and intensively with kids who have extra needs. It's just really a lot to burden yourself with. I like Guerber too, but it's wordy and easy to get lost. Another thing I like for that high school ish stage is the K12 textbooks. Do they come as ebooks so you could have some audio? If your boys are not eye reading it for themselves, I would definitely move them over to something that has an audiobook or that has an etext that can do text to speech. Like make that a real line. It's so readily available now, to find things that have etexts. That's a line you could draw and say you're done. It's not necessary for *you* to read aloud everything. It's a luxury, but you could switch them over. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 I'm with you on the pre-planned history guides. They never make it long here either. I usually like the input, but don't want so much output. But don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Keep Guerber and SOTW. Drop maps, timelines and crafts for sure! I can't advise on the Cool History and Giants of the Faith because I haven't used BP before. With discussions, if there are discussion prompts, pick a couple you think are most important or interesting and just do those. Nothing wrong with dropping all the output in favor of written narrations either! So refreshing to hear it from someone else! ::sigh of relief:: Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 We have never used preplanned guides or scripted curricula. What's wrong with just reading and discussing the books, adding some literature and some long term writing assignments? We discussed and wrote about what we found interesting. I'm a radical like that. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 We have never used preplanned guides or scripted curricula. What's wrong with just reading and discussing the books, adding some literature and some long term writing assignments? We discussed and wrote about what we found interesting. I'm a radical like that. This. Don't require a written narration each week (or day or section or whatever) just to require one. And don't necessarily just require narrations--you can mix it up a bit--compare and contrast, description, argument, reflection, even historical fiction or a poem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Well no wonder you're feeling crazy if you are having to read the history to all those kids!! You're actually not crazy thinking BJU. The BJU Heritage Studies 7 would be a very nice fit for the ages of your boys. It will go on sale, probably in November, with the online for just $99. Watch and see. When you get the online version of the lessons, it will include an e-text that you can read on the screen of your computer or that you can download to a tablet. The etext software they use includes a text-to-speech option, so your boys will be able to just tap and boom it will read it to them. It would be an EXCELLENT option! They might find they really like it! People generally really like the BJU 7 and 8 Heritage Studies. I would probably make free, if you liked that option, to do the 7 this year then do the 8 the next. 8 covers american history, yes? So bump it up with some extra somethings for the high schooler and call it good. Doing american history your freshman year is a fine, reasonable, normal thing. My dd loves history and we did it with lots of lit and reading, blah blah. Well those particular years of the BJU are very good for the video lessons! If you're needing a change, they could be really good. My dd watched a large chunk (half, 2/3, dunno) with an MK who was visiting us for a few weeks. The girl was powering through it, hehe, so they'd watch a whole bunch every day together. Dd really, really liked it! It will be complementary to anything you've done and really get in at an analysis level that they might enjoy. It will take a load off you. You don't have to do everything perfectly. It's a lot to say you need to do EVERYTHING from scratch and intensively with kids who have extra needs. It's just really a lot to burden yourself with. I like Guerber too, but it's wordy and easy to get lost. Another thing I like for that high school ish stage is the K12 textbooks. Do they come as ebooks so you could have some audio? If your boys are not eye reading it for themselves, I would definitely move them over to something that has an audiobook or that has an etext that can do text to speech. Like make that a real line. It's so readily available now, to find things that have etexts. That's a line you could draw and say you're done. It's not necessary for *you* to read aloud everything. It's a luxury, but you could switch them over. OhE-- Great to know! I am putting this in my file of options. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 This. Don't require a written narration each week (or day or section or whatever) just to require one. And don't necessarily just require narrations--you can mix it up a bit--compare and contrast, description, argument, reflection, even historical fiction or a poem. That's good advise. I would have gone from a pre-planned guides to too many assignments of narrations! THANKS! Pam 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 We have never used preplanned guides or scripted curricula. What's wrong with just reading and discussing the books, adding some literature and some long term writing assignments? We discussed and wrote about what we found interesting. I'm a radical like that. This is how we handle history too. My middle schooler and high schooler have some work basically picked up from WTM. But I don't have them do nearly the amount of weekly output it assigns. I am assigning them one written paper a month on a topic they choose. High schooler takes notes on each chapter she reads to help her pick what she will write on for her monthly paper. Middle schooler puts dates on her timeline weekly, but does one outline or summary or other project a month. I read some aloud from a couple of spines, and they read some on their own. We are doing art projects from SOTW2 at co-op this year and discussing those chapters there while doing them. But we don't always do project years. Last year we took history really low key for ancients. We read, did some writing, discussed, and studied for the National Latin Exams which includes a lot of classical history. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) It always helps to think about the purpose of each assignment before assigning it. Does my student need practice narrating or summarizing or writing or outlining? If the answer is yes, the assignment fulfills an educational purpose. If the answer is no, the assignment is busywork. And I bolded "my student" because the answer will vary from student to student. A good curriculum will offer sufficient practice for students of different abilities, so it is obvious that one has to adapt to the individual student's needs. Edited October 31, 2017 by regentrude 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) If you don't want to use a curriculum, but you want a little something, you could get just the student activity guides for something like the Walch Powerbasics. I thought they were very interesting, and they bumped the creativity and application a bit.Looking in particular at their world history. Like maybe try to have one assignment a month that is a little more creative or interesting or analytical, kwim? And no, I would not be assigning narrations to 7th and 8th graders. That's why the BJU can be good, because it steps up that thought process with no trouble to you. If not, the next best thing to consider would be to have them find, once a week, once a month, whatever, articles (current events or on a topic they're reading about) and have them outline the articles (or do a rhetorical analysis, depending on their readiness) and write a response essay. It's not so much about the length of the response but the analysis, the thought process. I had my dd subscribe to some news feeds that would send her emails, so she got used to getting articles by the NYT etc. and really thinking about it. We read essays from collections, to make it easy for me to have a source for her to analyze. Shhh, but I didn't necessarily bring tons of analysis to *history* per se. She read history, and she wrote and analyzed other things. It worked out well here. Edited October 31, 2017 by OhElizabeth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) Amazon.com: The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2017 (The Best American Series ®) (9781328715517): Hope Jahren, Tim Folger: Books This is a series we used a lot. They have collections by a variety of topics and genres (nature, travel, food writing, etc.). You could see if they have history writing. Or subscribe to a history magazine and you'll have the articles, kwim? Oh foo, I forgot the reading issues. Well get it in digital form and use text to speech. If they get the news as emails on their phone, the phone can read it to them. Edited October 31, 2017 by OhElizabeth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I'm thinking of ditching BP and striking out on our own. Scary thought. :) I never stick with a pre-planned history guide and end up feeling defeated and frustrated. They all have too much or too little (mostly too much), and I have too much trouble making decisions, get too many books, and don't do any because we're overwhelmed. What if we just read Guerber and SOTW. We are in Middle Ages this year. I have a lot of the BP booklist I can add IF we get to it. If not, we read the spines. Or should we stick with BP and drop all of their 'extras,' like cool history, discussions, maps, timelines, crafts, and giants of the faith? Just do written narrations? I'm about ready to grab a BJU (or something of the sort) textbook and forget it all! AND, I'm fretting over 9th grade coming up next year. Just tooooooooooo much on my plate right now! And I'm not sure if I'll be making it better or worse??? :( Pam (boys, ages 10,12, & 14--none are strong readers) We like notebooking also! It works with every subject and all ages. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted November 1, 2017 Author Share Posted November 1, 2017 We like notebooking also! It works with every subject and all ages. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Do you make your own pages? Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I have used many "preplanned" history programs. I was very strict about SL. Then, I spent a year with WP. It changed my mind and that year I relaxed so much. Wayfarers followed. It was pretty "pick and choose" but I felt like things did not tie together well enough. This year I am using BP(with a laid back approach.) I use mostly SOTW. I spend about 20 minutes a week reading through the Companion(just what I want to read) We do Cool Histories/TL/Discussion together as a family(no actual written work) It takes 20-30 minutes a week. I use the Cool History Classic which is based off the SOTW readings. We do maps together once a week (10 minutes). The readings? I choose a book for each kid and schedule it out for as long as that child needs. A chapter a day for a weak reader, 2 chapters a day for a strong reader. When that book is done, I choose another off the current list for that week. BP schedules are so reading heavy. I also read the read alouds much slower and I don't care.:) I do what works for us. I make my own weekly schedule. We stay "on track" for history but the RA and readers at a slower pace. We have yet to do a craft. We also do interactive notebooks for some things. I am choosing to focus on scientists and presidents this year. We do narrations about them. PM me if you decide to stick with BP.:) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 We enjoyed our History and Science without pre-planned programs all the way up until 9th grade. For high school, we still didn't use pre-planned programs, but instead used a textbook for a "spine" and added in various supplements of interest. Worked great, and we were able to slow down or speed up as needed. Or side track into bunny trails of interest. Or stop entirely and take advantage of an opportunity that popped up. What helped me "DIY": in the summer before starting school, I would use several table of contents of history or science encyclopedias, as well as a few homeschool programs, to compile a list of topics, and then look up what books, documentaries, etc. the local library had, and then look around at homeschool catalogs for any books/kits/resources I wanted to purchase. I always "starred" a number of items throughout the list that could be dropped if we lost interest in a topic or needed to speed up. Like Regentrude, it was useful to include on my list what "output" or hands-on activities or field trips, etc. along the way. Notebooking and lap-booking were not activities that were workable here, so as DSs got older (middle/high school), I had them do some narration summaries (late elementary/early middle school), a short oral presentation or slideshow (middle school), or a few research papers (late middle school/high school) in conjunction with Writing. Much of our History "output" was discussion. BEST of luck in finding a way that works for *your* family! Warmest regards, Lori D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 OKAY! I've had a restful weekend. I listed all of my options and looked at what I have on hand and samples I could view. I had already printed out notebooks for the 3 boys of the Biblioplan pages (Cool History, Maps, Timelines and Giants of the Faith) with nice dividers for each unit. I have all of the extra reading books we planned to use. It looked all so overwhelming. Then I 'searched the Hive' :) I found how others use BP. I saw some daily and weekly schedules. I looked at one week of the Family Guide. And it didn't look as bad as I saw it during my panic attack. We are going to give it a shot this week and see what happens. I was seeing that putting my own ideas together could be worse than 'checking off a box' that is already planned out. I just need to be able to know my limits and leave out what doesn't fit into our busy life. With farming, family (including 19 grandchildren :) ), hunting, home business, church, school, working at a horse ranch..........SO MUCH TO DO!!! :) We are trying to fit all of our other subjects in, too. I get them all up at 6 and the day flies from there! I'll try to report back next week.... Pam 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 What I *like* about predone schedules and box ticking, is that it's ok to MOVE ON if we don't tick all the boxes. Some weeks you'll tick more, some less. Just keep swimming. :D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtofive Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Just keep swimming. :D :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in IN Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 (edited) I just want to encourage you - Biblioplan is designed to be pick and choose, NOT do it all. That's one of the things I love about it. It's okay to keep it streamlined and simple. Find the level of work that you can manage, and help your children learn that well. If you do that, it will likely be more than enough. A little bit at a time, done consistently, adds up to a lot! Edited November 6, 2017 by Denise in IN 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 I just want to encourage you - Biblioplan is designed to be pick and choose, NOT do it all. That's one of the things I love about it. It's okay to keep it streamlined and simple. Find the level of work that you can manage, and help your children learn that well. If you do that, it will likely be more than enough. A little bit at a time, done consistently, adds up to a lot! This is so true with a lot in school/life! Pam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 I've done this for a few years. I am finishing our first sweep of history, and I keep looking at TOG and BP and MFW. I research and research and see things I want to tweak and then tell myself I don't need to spend all that money. I might look at MFW for next year for Ancients because I want to do a more Biblical focus for this sweep, and I am less confident in ancient history. But we just choose the spines we like, get some library books off our booklist and pick some fun projects off of pinterest. The past two years, I have required some more output for my oldest, but we don't do a lot of written narrations, etc. We do have a lot of interesting discussions. I will say that I still do sometimes struggle with doing all I have planned because I am an over planner. Keep it simple. But I see no reason you have t spend hundreds of dollars if you like your way better. If you are doing SOTW, you might want to consider the activity guides. This is what we did before I went off on my own because I wanted more American history focus than SOTW does. So many expensive plans use SOTW, but the activity guide really has all you need if you are using SOTW. There are discussion outlines, optional book lists and optional project ideas/games and map work. Some of the projects are more involved, such as recipes or costumes and some are simple with printed easy craft ideas in the activity book. I highly recommend if you want just a little bit more, but it does not in any way make you feel guilty for not doing it all. It's more like...here are some ideas if your kid is really interested in this topic. But reading the chapter and doing a map only are more than ok. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 NOPE! Not gong to happen! How much time would it take to do SOTW (we do have the audio) and pick and choose AG pages for 10 year old? AND MP Famous Men with Miller's Story of the Middle Ages with older 2 (12 & 14)? I am thinking The Book of the Middle Ages by Mills would be a little harder? Could these be done in 30 min./day, I could alternate helping them with Math or Lit., which they are good at doing more independently. (The 2 older boys do the same EIL and read and discuss together.) We can choose from any of the books I already have from Biblioplan and read at our own pace, not worrying about the time frame or 'blocks' to check off. I read out loud to everyone at night. Does this sound do-able? OR What would you change? Pam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 Selling all of my BP if anyone is interested. :) Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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