Options for integrated humanities? Help me think this through.

[cintinative]

The short story is that I thought we were going to do Integrated Humanities at TPS but I just learned their American history, lit and comp does not count for US history credit even though it's listed as two high school credits.   ETA: Now they are saying it is for high school credit (American history) but my son can't take it since it is the same level as English 2. 

Anyway, my hope was to do American, Ancients, Medieval and Modern OR American, Ancients, Medieval, Govt/Econ (with the last year not being integrated humanities). I wanted more of a gap before ancients, especially for my youngest.

I need help with comp. My kids do not respond well to my corrections. I am nervous about switching to another writing provider but we might need to. 

Options I know about:

1. Wilson Hill

We did WHA GC1 last year and it was tough for my oldest. He kept up with the work but didn't truly understand the themes of the books, etc. My youngest would not have been able to handle it. I think GC3 would be easier text-wise but my general fears are : GC4, GC5 and GC6 LOL and that we really, really need composition.  I noticed they are offering a comp class to take in tandem with GC3.  Does anyone know about it? My concern would be if his writing would be "good enough" for that class.  We are at TPS for composition for a reason.

2. Veritas Omnibus

Other than WHA, I know we could do Veritas Omnibus which I was afraid of after our experience with GC1. Omnibus 1's booklist was longer than GC1's.

I had not heard of people really using Veritas online as much after many of the teachers moved to WHA.  

We could potentially do this online or do the self-paced. I would need an outside grader for the papers if we did self-paced. Options for that? Can I use EIW even if I don't use their curriculum?

3. Classical Learning Resource Center

I know CLRC has the Great Books program but I am afraid that my son does not meet their definition of "strong, critical reader."  Is this for exceptional kids?  I don't know that he would "test into" this class either--he might need Intro or Intermediate Lit and Comp first

4. Roman Roads Old Western Culture????

Does this count as history too, or just lit?  I can't tell if there is an online class for these.  I would need an outside grader for the papers.

Other options:

My other option is to pursue a provider that has a history class with an aligning time period lit class.  I am not finding much here for 9th graders for American history. Perhaps I need to reconsider my order of classes?

My least favorite option:

outsourced lit plus writing course plus home history  (e.g. Wasko Lit + Write at Home course + home history)

I would prefer not to do history myself though. 

 

I am open to any other suggestions you can provide.

TIA!!

 

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by cintinative

[8filltheheart]

Since I know nothing about the course, my first question is why is it not considered an American history credit. Could you supplement with something like TC's American history courses or add additional reading of American history and then call the credit?

[teachermom2834]

Why does it not count? Who says it does not count? TPS? An umbrella school? A college?
 

If that is the course of study you want for your child and is the best use of your and your child’s time and resources I would not let an arbitrary assignment of credit value sway you to change your plans. I would either decide looking at the content that it is enough and grant the credit or I would add something (videos, books, field trips, etc) that fits in your life and rounds out a credit.

I use an umbrella school that has some guidelines I disagree with or think are arbitrary. I haven’t let that change what we do. We as a family decide the best courses for each child and then I fit it to our umbrella school requirements. 
 

 

[cintinative]

31 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Since I know nothing about the course, my first question is why is it not considered an American history credit. Could you supplement with something like TC's American history courses or add additional reading of American history and then call the credit?

 

They use a middle school American history text. I didn't realize this because it was not on the book list for the course. I had to ask about the book they used for a history spine.

The teacher said normally kids take this in 8th and then take US history again later. That seems really strange to me. The course is listed as Grade 8 (honors) and Grade 9 (regular) with two high school credits.

 

We use a middle school text because it still is an 8th grade / E2 level class. Typically students take middle school U.S. history in 7th or 8th and again in high school around 11th--either AP U.S. History (APUSH) or High School U.S. History. There's a big jump from the middle to high school texts. We have used an 11th grade text before, but students spent so much time reading that I had to scale back literature and composition. We're very careful about the hours per week--what families can expect in terms of reading, homework, writing, etc. The middle school text just doesn't take as long as the texts written for upper high school. It's not "dumbed down," but it doesn't cover the material with as much in-depth focus as a high school text. 

Edited November 9, 2019 by cintinative

[cintinative]

I own the TC Early American History course. I have never used it.

[8filltheheart]

2 minutes ago, cintinative said:

I own the TC Early American History course. I have never used it.

If that is the high school course, I equate it with elementary school content. The ones I use for high school are the History of the US, 2nd ed.

I can't fathom why they are giving 2 crs and using a middle school text.  I am no help with the textbook part since we don't use textbooks, but if you used the lectures and added additional appropriate reading, you could call it a cr.

[Clemsondana]

Could you supplement with primary document analysis and/or Great Courses lectures to add more depth?  If you treat the text like a spine, you could add a lot of content and analysis.  

[cintinative]

1 hour ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

If that is the high school course, I equate it with elementary school content. The ones I use for high school are the History of the US, 2nd ed.

 

That's what I thought. I was going to use it to supplement our earlier American History a few years ago (4th grade maybe?) and never used it. 

[cintinative]

Update: TPS (another person) is now saying it does count as high school US history but my son can't take the class because he will have finished English 2 and they consider them equivalent classes. 

I am looking at Roman Roads (Schola Tutorials) with a plan to address American history later or WTM Academy (they have separate history and lit classes but they do have American). Unfortunately WTM Academy is very expensive for us as we would have to add writing as well so it would be three classes. 

[ScoutTN]

Have you looked at Schole Academy, CAP's online school? 

Edited November 10, 2019 by ScoutTN

[cintinative]

20 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

Have you looked at Schole Academy, CAP's online school? 

 

Yes. They don't have a great books based sequence and they also don't have American history.  I am considering perhaps WTM Academy, Roman Roads OWC, etc. 

I found a grading service for papers so I might not need to worry so much about the comp instruction. I can get them writing if someone else can provide feedback and improvements. That is a huge load off to be honest. 

We could still consider the TPS Medieval history, lit and comp for next year. I need to sit down with DS14 and review options and see what he wants.  😃

[MamaSprout]

I've been pondering this, too. I don't like the straight up literature approach to OWC, but I'm considering adding the "Reading Like a Historian" units and some map work with a historical atlas. I'll probably steal the essay assignments from an MIT OCW class. We'd pick and choose units from OWC- we don't have 2 years for Ancients.

[cintinative]

On 11/13/2019 at 7:35 AM, MamaSprout said:

I've been pondering this, too. I don't like the straight up literature approach to OWC, but I'm considering adding the "Reading Like a Historian" units and some map work with a historical atlas. I'll probably steal the essay assignments from an MIT OCW class. We'd pick and choose units from OWC- we don't have 2 years for Ancients.

 

I have never seen those Reading Like a historian lessons. I like that. We used some of the OUP history in documents books and those were good--this seems similar.

[TheAttachedMama]

On 11/9/2019 at 9:20 AM, cintinative said:

The short story is that I thought we were going to do Integrated Humanities at TPS but I just learned their American history, lit and comp does not count for US history credit even though it's listed as two high school credits.   ETA: Now they are saying it is for high school credit (American history) but my son can't take it since it is the same level as English 2. 

 

 

What specific course are (were?) you considering at TPS? 

[cintinative]

5 hours ago, TheAttachedMama said:

What specific course are (were?) you considering at TPS? 

 

American history, lit and comp   except I was told (last week) that we can't take that class so now I am looking at Medieval history lit and comp

Edited November 20, 2019 by cintinative

[Lori from Florida]

My daughter is graduating from Wilson Hill Academy in May.  She has received an amazing education, but she is a very motivated student that loves to learn even though she struggles with a learning disability.  

There is nothing like taking The Great Conversation 3 with Mr. Etter!  He is a phenomenal teacher that makes learning fun.  My son is currently in TGC 1 in 7th grade. He is not getting as much from the class as my daughter did who started in high school (she started with TGC1+4) but he is learning reading stamina and being introduced to fabulous literature he would not read for me. I consider it training for high school.

Whether you do TGC 4, 5 or 6, I’d still recommend TGC 3 if you can take it with Mr. Etter.