Questions about high school history...

[mazakaal]

I've been thinking through history for my youngest. I'm planning on having him study Ancient and Medieval History for 9th grade next year, and I'm hoping to give him some level of variety and choice through the course of the year to keep him interested and engaged. He's a challenging kid because he finds pretty much everything boring. I've looked at several different spines, and right now I'm leaning toward, instead of giving him one spine to work through while adding in some extra materials that I pre-plan to give variety, giving him a list of topics to cover (Assyrians, Babylonians, Classical Greece, etc) with a general idea of how many days to spend on each, and let him choose from a couple of different spines and several Great Courses series (I've signed up for GCPlus) and either read and do associated questions in text or watch and answer a couple of questions from the discussion guide. Has anyone else done something like this? Does it sound like it might work? Any thoughts or suggestions?

The other thing I'm wondering about is long-term planning for history. Originally I thought I would do the above plan for next year and then go into Renaissance through Modern Times for 10th, American History for 11th, and Government and Economics for 12th (or split American history into two half-year courses and do Government in 11th and Economics in 12th like dd is doing right now with MFW) - so generally a fairly typical high school progression for history. The only catch is that, though we're American citizens and we're doing an American high school education, we live in the UK, and the kids have grown up here pretty much their entire lives. Dd wasn't particularly excited about doing American history, but I've forced her as I was told that it is a requirement that I can't get around. Dd is more compliant than ds, and she's done it without much complaint, but I'm thinking that ds will probably prove to be more challenging. So I'm trying to think ahead to maybe get around the problem a bit. I'm wondering, if I my plan for next year works out, maybe I could keep up with the same type of history study stretching Renaissance to Modern Times out to a two or three year course and incorporating readings from something like Paul Johnson's A History of the American People into it at the appropriate times with some of the GC videos that cover American history, and then put it on the transcript as

9th grade Ancient and Medieval History - 1 credit

10th grade Renaissance to Colonial Times - .5 credit, Early American History - .5 credit

11th grade 19th Century World History - .5 credit, 19th Century American History - .25 credit, American Government - .5 credit

12th grade - 20th Century World History - .5 credit, 20th Century American History - .25 credit, Economics - .5 credit

So has anyone done history like this, more in keeping with the original WTM four-year history rotation? I'd love to hear how it worked for you and how it was received by colleges. Ds is not especially academic, so he won't be applying to any highly selective colleges, nor does he have a long-term interest in history. He's hoping to go into Graphic Design or something similar. So I'm just hoping to hear that a college wouldn't be completely put off by such an unconventional history progression. 

Thanks!

[Lori D.]

Because it helps me to list credits, lol, it looks like this is what you're planning?

9th grade = 1.0 credit Social Studies
1.0 credit = History: World: Ancient & Medieval

10th grade = 1.0 credit Social Studies
0.5 credit = History: World: Renaissance to Enlightenment
0.5 credit = History: American, part 1

11th grade = 1.25 credit Social Studies
0.5 credit = History: World: 19th Century
0.25 credit = History: American, part 2
0.5 credit = Government

12th grade = 1.25 credit Social Studies
0.5  credit = History: World: 20th Century World History
0.25 credit = History: American, part 3
0.5 credit = Economics

4.5 credits = TOTAL Social Studies

______________________

My thoughts, FWIW:

1. Colleges will not be put off by whatever you do for Social Studies in high school, lol:
- Colleges do not care when History credits were completed during high school.
- Colleges do not care how many History credits you do (as long as you do 1 credit of Amer. Hist., and possibly 1 credit of World Hist.).
- Colleges do not care about a chronological History rotation  (unless *possibly* the student were going to major in Classics or History).

What colleges care about is that the student meets the # of required credits in each subject area to be eligible for admission. For the subject of *Social Studies* (Social Science), most colleges want to see 2-4 credit of Social Studies, with these being the specific credits most frequently wanted:

most colleges = 1 credit = American History
some colleges = 1 credit = World History (or World Geography)
some colleges = 0.5 credit each = Economics and Government

Any Social Studies credits beyond that are frosting on top, and would be considered "Academic Electives". Other areas (besides History, Geography, Economics, and Government) that colleges also happily accept as Social Studies credits include:
- Anthropology
- Archeology
- Gender/Ethnic Studies
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Religious Studies
- Sociology

__________

2. Just me, but I prefer sticking to one subject at a time.
So, do all of 1.0 credit of American History in one year, all of 1-2 credits of World History in 1-2 years, and 0.5 credit each of Econ & Gov't each in one semester, for a total of 3-4 credits. Spreading out a critical credit (American History) over 3 years sounds like potential for it not getting finished, especially if the subject is not of high interest to the student. The further into high school you get, the more the student tends to want direct their own study choices, and often has a harder time finishing up hours to complete partial credits.

__________

3. If your student is not a history buff, and also isn't planning on a History college major, then this seems like a lot of History.
If the student enjoyed History as a hobby, then yes, I'd work to do a 4 year History rotation + American History + any other needed or wanted Social Studies credits, and plan on having a transcript heavy on Humanities.However... That does not appear to be the case with this student.

Again, just me, but with a student who doesn't hate History but is also not passionate about it, then  I'd work to bang out all of American History in 1 year (and be okay knowing that there is a lot of overlap in 20th century US history and World history and not worry having to do intensive 4 year world history cycle) -- and then EITHER do all of World History in 1-2 credits for the other Social Studies credits -- OR, let DS pick the world history period of highest interest to him to study and do 1 credit of World History: _____ time period.

Another option, is to do the American History, and skip any World History, and instead do a year of World Cultures/Geography + Comparative Religions (we did this in 8th grade -- one of the MOST useful Social Studies credits ever!) -- OR -- let DS pick a different Social Studies area from those listed above that would be of higher interest to *him*. Most colleges will work with you about Social Studies admission requirement, as long as the student accomplished the minimum amount of required Social Studies credits wanted by that college.

__________

4. Related to #3 -- also consider reducing History credits to open up time for the student to study subjects that the student may be going into for a college degree or for a career. There's nothing wrong with doing an all-of-History overview in 1 year, or possible 2 years, as the grand finale to your homeschool History studies.

______________________

Whatever you decide, do hold lightly to your plans, as students change a LOT in high school, their interests (and thus "needed credits) change a lot, and you also want to be able to bend and flex as unexpected opportunities that arise throughout the high school years. But -- you already know that from your older student. 😉

BEST of luck in deciding what's best for high school Social Studies! Warmly, Lori D.

Edited April 9, 2019 by Lori D.

[2_girls_mommy]

We've stayed with WTM style history. We did the History of series for ancients, middle ages, and Renaissance for 9th, 10th, 11th. We've done Am. History as it's come up opportunity wise  (field trips, classes in the community, etc.) and where it's come up in actual history. We did a really big state history year in 8th grade, and we've kept up bits of it all the time too.

What I'm planning for 12th is a big history year in one- 1/2 credit state history, 1/2 credit government, 1 credit American history. We will basically complete our history cycle. I'm using plans from Schoolhouse Teachers dot com that incorporates waiting projects around original sources as our spine. I'll have her read something for government. SHT has some plans for that too linked to government documents. There's a lot of overlap in these. Then we'll look at what was going on in our state along the same lines. Even though we've done a lot if Am. History and state history all throughout high school I'm going to only put it in the transcript for 12th grade. 

Mdd has done Renaissance this year for 9th grade. She'll do the same history as above for 10th. Then she can do ancients and middle ages if she wants for 11th and 12th or we can drop history for her after next year as she'll have all she needs.