Help with HS History

[LAmom]

So, my 9th grader did not do any history this year (suggestion of his EA in CA charter school).

He is going into 10th grade. He needs a lot of hand-holding and does not do well with a lot of independent reading. I am looking for suggestions on History options. I know CA requires World History, US History, and Econ/Gov. I would have preferred the 4-year history cycle but now he has 3 years.

I'd love to keep him with my younger kids who I normally do BiblioPlan with. Next year we would be doing Ancients. How do I fit in the 4-year history cycle with him, though, if we do that and have 3 years? Or do I have him do some Ancients with us and then do some Year 4 on his own? Or do I start Medieval with them all? I just don't know what makes the most sense.

 I am having a hard time. I would possibly put him in his own World History class if I could find one that fits our needs. I prefer Christian worldview and something a struggling learner could do well with (while I juggle other kids). 

[BusyMom5]

Not what you asked for, but I keep all my kids together for science and history.   Last year I decided on MyWorld History by Pearson.   It's supposed to be for 7-8th grades but I used it with a 9th grader and felt it was good.   My DD isnt the most academic minded kid, she wanted something easy, and this was it.  Between Biology and Algebra,  I wanted history to be pretty light.  I did add several movies and some writing assignments.  My other kids tagged along and we went really fast!  We didn't finish,  but I felt like they got everything we did teach.   I did also buy Holts high school text, and it was just more than this kid would be able to handle af 9th grade.  It would be good fit for my 12th grader, but not one who needs an easy transition into high school.  

[goldenecho]

How do you feel about doing history in summers too, so you can progress through it a little faster than usual?   Especially if you started THIS summer when so much is closed and traveling is tricky.   That way you might be able to get through all four years in 3 with your family doing it all together.   When he gets to the modern age you can add in extra material for him for American history (I suggest podcasts or books on tape).  Economics should be covered with him separately.

 

[almondbutterandjelly]

So it's easy to consolidate history into a three year cycle: Ancient, Medieval, Modern.  The third year can actually be US History (but in a global context so you get the modern world history in there).

Then throw in a semester of Econ when you can, and throw in a semester of government when you can.

[LAmom]

So, I am thinking he should do US History before he does Economics and Government (both required in CA). But, you think it would be okay to do US History alongside Econ and Gov? I noticed the one co-op he attends requires US History as a prerequisite to those courses.

I am trying to figure out how to compile Year 1 and 2 into one year. If anyone has done this already, that would be helpful if you share. It would then be counted as World History. Then I could use Year 3 and 4 (history cycle) for his US History. 

[Miss Tick]

In middle school my kids worked through the Critical Thinking US History Detective books on the side while we did years 3 and 4 of world history. You could work through those in the "off seasons". They are labeled grades 9-12 and definitely fall on the get-er-done end of the spectrum. My rising 10th graders did Ancient history last year, and we've started medieval over the summer, but we are doing a half credit US Government class also this summer and those Critical Thinking books seen to have laid enough groundwork that we are spending our time talking about checks and balances and state vs federal issues, rather than the basics of US history or governmental structure.

 

Another approach might be for you to focus on Western Civilization as opposed to World History. You could do a 3-year world history and emphasize to US History in the last year. You could do US next year and then world history the last two years focusing on particular eras rather than the entire arc. Sometimes the complete academic power we possess goes to my head...

[goldenecho]

Hmm...  I actually taught my kiddo a lot about Government while doing ancient history.   We compared various forms of government we encountered to our own.   It was on an elementary level, but still, my son had no American history and that did not hinder him from understanding things like the difference between a Monarchy and a Republic, Representative Government, Balance of Powers, etc. 

If you felt you'ld like him to have some understanding of the history behind our government beforehand though, I would have him, over the summer or next year, watch Crash Course American History.   It's 48 roughly 10 minute episodes (8 hours total) and gives a nice overview of American History.   And it's entertaining enough that one of my kids (who was not homeschooled) watched it for fun in his spare time.   

Then, you could just continue on US Government from there, reviewing it by comparing our Goverment to the various government systems you encounter in World History.

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by goldenecho