high school world history options?

[threewishes]

I think I am looking for something that doesn't exist. My daughter wants history that is not online, and not a large textbook either. I've looked at Notgrass, Mystery of History and other Christian options, but I really want her history focus to be neutral if possible. We are a Christian family, but I am not in favor of skewed or biased history. I would love to know if anyone has found an option like I am describing. 

[klmama]

Have you looked at the major high school book publishers?  Prentice Hall, Houghton Mifflin, etc.  The texts tend to be large, but sometimes there are two smaller texts that can be used a semester each, so the weight isn't as great.  If you find something that looks good to you, you can probably find them used on Amazon for a lot less. 

FWIW, we've used the McDougall Littell book World History: Patterns of Interaction for some topics; some people here have complained it's writing is dull, but I think it's okay - for a high school textbook, LOL!  I know there is also a 2-book set of the same material; one is titled Ancient World History: Patterns of Interaction, which goes through the Middle Ages, and the other is called Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction and starts with the Renaissance.  Those texts are significantly more manageable weight-wise.  

 

 

[almondbutterandjelly]

I'm not sure what you are looking for... do you want a small textbook for World History?  Or are you seeking non-textbook World History?  And do you want to cover all of World History in one year or are you doing a three or four year history cycle?  

[katilac]

What do you mean by "not a large textbook"? Like, literally not a big, heavy book? Or does she not want it to be classic textbook style? 

We used and liked The Humanistic Tradition, which is definitely a textbook but one that puts history in context with art, music, literature, and everyday life. It can be purchased as six separate paperback volumes, which definitely makes it easier to tote around and use, and the older editions are quite inexpensive. We used HT for years and thus wound up with all six volumes, but they are broken down into time periods so it's easy to try just one. 

If you mean she wants something that doesn't read like a textbook, then I would suggest SWB's History of the World series, if it fits your time frames (the series goes from ancients through renaissance). 

Of course, let's not forget that old school is the best school. Grab a copy of The Well-Trained Mind and read the section on history in high school. No curriculum or program needed, easy to tweak.