cintinative Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Due to a recent change of plans, I need to develop our history (and lit) for my rising 7th grader. We have done Human Odyssey 1 with OUP Ancients books (4th), Human Odyssey 2 with OUP medieval/early modern (5th) and this year we are doing Human Odyssey 3 with some of OUP's Pages from History (Modern history) (6th grade). I expect he will take American History and Lit as an online class in 9th. This is what I own already and could use: Notgrass From Adam to Us (electronic books only), Notgrass America the Beautiful (complete, paper), Mapping the World with Art by Ellen J McHenry, all the Trail Guide books, plus tons more geography supplemental texts, etc. I am open to other resources! I have really enjoyed the Human Odyssey/OUP matchups. We also have the option of him taking this class from The Potter's School IF my child gets his waitlisted section in another course: https://www.pottersschool.org/course/list/#course-3808 I don't want to do two years of American history back to back. Does it even make sense to do American History in 7th if we will revisit it in 9th? Would Mapping the World be a good World Geography and History year? What else should I look at? TIA!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 A year of geography sounds good. Some other ideas: State and local history and geography. Incorporate as many field trips as you can handle. Visit historic sites, museums, parks, and festivals. Go to see Tecumseh. Explore your family tree. History of science using Joy Hakim's three volume Story of Science as the spine History of art History of music - consider Yale University's Coursera course on the history of classical music History of transportation (or a subset such as the history of flight or the history of space exploration) Ask you son to choose his favorite period in history and do an indepth study of that time period/culture Paleontology or natural history Religion (your own or comparative) 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 Any input on the American history in 7th and in 9th? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 14 hours ago, cintinative said: Any input on the American history in 7th and in 9th? Obviously, you could. I would be more inclined to do geography in 7th grade and cover American history in 8th and 9th grades. The study could be stretched over three years, especially if goverrnment were added to it. If you really want to cover American history in 7th grade, look at the course you are planning for 9th grade. For 7th grade focus on a theme not well-covered in the course - Native American history, European exploration and colonization of the Americas, westward expansion, the Harlem Rennaissance, civics, etc. If you don't want to do a full year of a theme, select 3 or 4 themes for unit studies. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 What does he want to do? Any strong opinions or interests? We are doing the history of rock and roll next yr for 6th because my ds is not a motivated student and this is what he loves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 11 minutes ago, ScoutTN said: What does he want to do? Any strong opinions or interests? We are doing the history of rock and roll next yr for 6th because my ds is not a motivated student and this is what he loves. We are in the "all school is stupid" phase. LOL. He has been slightly interested in some of the war accounts we have read this year in modern history (WWI, WWII). I need him to adjust to using a text, answering questions and doing some independent work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Is there a reason why he has to take American History in 9th? Just asking because we found the History of US (concise edition) along with the Hewitt syllabus and a fun reading list to be absolutely perfect for 7th and 8th grade after using Human Odyssey for world history in 5th and 6th. So in 9th and 10th they were ready to look at world history and geography again and then repeat USH in ~11th. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 Just now, Momto5inIN said: Is there a reason why he has to take American History in 9th? Just asking because we found the History of US (concise edition) along with the Hewitt syllabus and a fun reading list to be absolutely perfect for 7th and 8th grade after using Human Odyssey for world history in 5th and 6th. So in 9th and 10th they were ready to look at world history and geography again and then repeat USH in ~11th. My current "plan" is to put him in the American History (integrated humanities) at TPS in 9th. I am hoping to stick with the same provider as much as possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 So if going with TPS, your high school History & Lit looks like: 9th = American History & Lit 10th = Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation History & Lit 11th = Modern History & Lit 12th Ancient History & Lit + Gov't + Econ And you have in the past done: 4th = Ancients 5th = Medieval/Early Modern 6th = Modern That looks like that leaves you middle school options of:#1 7th = American History 8th = choice of: Geography or other Social Studies (see Sherry in OH's great list up-thread)#2 7th & 8th = choice of: Geography or other Social Studies (see Sherry in OH's great list up-thread)#3 7th and/or 8th = drop Social Studies and use the time to pursue a study of high-interest to the student 7th or 8th = if not dropping Social Studies both years, then choice of: Geography or other Social Studies Personally, I'd vote for #2, or possibly #3. Middle school is your last window of opportunity to explore bunny trails and personal interests before the "required credits" of high school sets in and makes it a bit trickier to do out-of-the-box topics. Also, repeating American History so close together could make TPS course seem quite boring. Also, I'm a big fan of "use what you have, as long as it works for the student". You have Geography materials already; add in some great Literature and watch some feature films set in the the different countries and you've got a great study ready to go for next year. I'd suggest considering spreading it out to 2 years. When we did our World Cultures/Geography & Comparative Religions study, we only had 1 year, and so we focused on Eastern hemisphere nations (since 80% of the world's population lives there, and high school history focuses on Western Civilizations), and we were still *flying* through the countries. It would have been ideal to take 2 years and get a bit more depth, or have the ability to cover the rest of the world as well. I will say that the combo study of cultural geography & comparative religions was a *fantastic* prep for high school history -- really understanding why people made the choices they did often came from religious, cultural, and even physical geographic reasons. Or, if you only want to do Geography for one year, consider making the other year of middle school a set of 3-4 units of different Social Studies topics. Or do a year of "consumer science" topics -- personal finance, health, nutrition, cooking, cleaning, budgeting, shopping, auto maintenance, etc. Or, I love Sherry in OH's idea of the History of Science -- great way of getting an overview and background in all the sciences as solid prep for the high school Science credits. BEST of luck in deciding what's best for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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