Two Streams of Unrelated History Simultaneously?

[mathmarm]

We've been doing some lite World History--it just happened that way. We're just reading and appreciating a DK World History book,

However, Hubby would really prefer that Jr. get a solid introduction to US History sooner rather than later.

I'm thinking of starting up a US History Program in the spring and doing  US History and World History them concurrently throughout the next few years. Are there reasons why this is a bad idea that I'm not thinking of?

Hubby is worried about giving the kids Too Much at once and them getting confused and learning nothing (or very little).

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by mathmarm

[Miss Tick]

I did that two times through (elementary and middle) with my kids. They tell me that didn't confuse them. I was looking for exposure to American History, with a focus on World History. It sounds like your dh might want the opposite balance. We did SotW and a US history workbook series in elementary, and then world with The Human Odyssey and Critical Thinking Co.'s American History workbooks in middle school. Oh, the first year of the world history cycle we didn't do American. We did American History spread over years 2-4. We added in pantry of other resources to both streams, I just used those as the spines.

[HomeAgain]

Charlotte Mason programs like Ambleside Online schedule two streams at once: country history and world history.

I don't think you'd have any issues.

[Slache]

My husband had the same concern so we just took a break and did American for one year. It was easier on all of us than doing two.

We did Our Star Spangled Banner by Notgrass. I didn't love it, but it got the job done.

[Carol in Cal.]

I did that with state history.  It worked out great as it also benefitted from earlier field trips we remembered and teed up great field trips for years to come.

One of my biggest regrets about homeschooling is that I did not do that with US history.  I assumed that it would be easy to incorporate into world history, which was only partially true.  It deserved to be its own subject, and because I did not do that it was not thoroughly taught.

[EKS]

I've done it both ways and have decided that the problem with running American history alongside world history is that it makes the American piece out of proportion to the world piece.  

[Porridge]

We have done 2 streams

 stream 1 is world history - DS is using SOTW as a spine, DD is choosing specific topics so we piece together books

 stream 2 is US history - the spine is Hakim’s history of US (the 10 book one)  spread over 4 years - it comes out to 2-3 chapters per week. 
 

It hasn’t confused my kids.

 

[kiwik]

Isn't a big part of doing a four year history programme to keep things in proportion? NZ history is usually 2 weeks some time in year 4.

 

That said we add a bit because A/ NZ was inhabited and did have history before Europeans got here and B/ you can't cover everything in 2 weeks. (Or even 1 sometimes)

Edited December 21, 2021 by kiwik

[Miss Tick]

Keep in mind that both streams don't have to be equal time components. I tried to keep world history closer to an hour every day and US history around 20 minutes 3 times a week. Initially just because that felt about right, but I guess it addresses the balance issue, too.

[Xahm]

Since your son is, if I'm remembering correctly, still early elementary, is suggest continuing the World history that's working and add biographies of famous or influential Americans and exploring rabbit trails that come up.

Our family has done SOTW 1-3 the past three years, then this year we are doing Hakim's Story of US volumes 1-6, taking us from pre-Columbian times through the Civil War. Next year we'll do SOTW 4 and volumes SofUS 7-10 if all works out. 

[mathmarm]

Hubby and I have been talking about this and have decided that Simplicity is Super Sustainable.

That on top of building on his Geography knowledge and giving a nice foundation of historical knowledge a couple of things that we like about the World History book is the sophisticated vocabulary and reading comprehension that it interjects into his daily school routine.

 

When he finishes the *World* History book, we'll move to US History and focus there for a couple of years to give him a firm foundation in national history that Hubby wants.

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by mathmarm

[Rosie_0801]

My kid has me reading three different streams of philosophy atm, so I think their darling brains will do what they usually do and take on whatever inspires them.