SWB HS History

[Slache]

What are the time commitments for the reading and work? If I read it out loud to everyone and expect only the oldest to do the work will the youngers hate me?

If I wanted to do one book per year, leaving a year for Government and Economics I would need to begin in 7th. Is that feasible? I'm totally open to modifying required output, leaning towards discussion over essays and such. I'm also planning to save some of the more important literary works for upper high school, even if they don't correspond to our history studies.

[Miss Tick]

We read three sections a week, discussed the comprehension questions together, and they choose one Critical Thinking topic to write up. We also went through the Who, What, Wheres for the first couple books, but eventually dropped them by request, although if I found a chapter confusing I didn't hesitate to bring them up. Maps aren't our thing, so we didn't do those activities. I scheduled 6 hours a week for it, and we were probably a bit under that in practice since we finished a couple weeks early.

Reading it out loud would have been a lot of work. I also remember thinking I was glad we didn't start before high school. Adult content? Violence? Deeper connections made across history because this was the third round through? I don't remember, probably all of those. There were definitely some dense chapters that took effort to wade through. I could also tell which parts of the world we have less cultural familiarity with. The chapters about India and southeast Asia in the middle ages took more focus because everything was new (except some of those historical patterns that repeat no matter where you are in the world!)

SWB is the bomb, but have you considered focusing on Western Civilization? The text that used to be recommended was Spielvogel. It might fit more easily into your plan, but at the expense of large portions of the world.

 

 

[Slache]

11 minutes ago, SusanC said:

We read three sections a week, discussed the comprehension questions together, and they choose one Critical Thinking topic to write up. We also went through the Who, What, Wheres for the first couple books, but eventually dropped them by request, although if I found a chapter confusing I didn't hesitate to bring them up. Maps aren't our thing, so we didn't do those activities. I scheduled 6 hours a week for it, and we were probably a bit under that in practice since we finished a couple weeks early.

Reading it out loud would have been a lot of work. I also remember thinking I was glad we didn't start before high school. Adult content? Violence? Deeper connections made across history because this was the third round through? I don't remember, probably all of those. There were definitely some dense chapters that took effort to wade through. I could also tell which parts of the world we have less cultural familiarity with. The chapters about India and southeast Asia in the middle ages took more focus because everything was new (except some of those historical patterns that repeat no matter where you are in the world!)

SWB is the bomb, but have you considered focusing on Western Civilization? The text that used to be recommended was Spielvogel. It might fit more easily into your plan, but at the expense of large portions of the world.

This is great! Thanks! I was hoping the modern ones covered western well. I also plan to do A History of Us. What I really need is an additional 4 or 5 years to homeschool.

[Miss Tick]

26 minutes ago, Slache said:

What I really need is an additional 4 or 5 years to homeschool.

LOL, no kidding. Although as I approach the end we are all ready to move on to the next thing.

30 minutes ago, Slache said:

I was hoping the modern ones covered western well.

You probably are already aware, but SWB doesn't plan on any more books in that series, so after the Renaissance you are on your own. We switched to Ways of the World for the early modern time period. It has been fine, but everyone agrees that the writing is not as good as SWB. I had originally looked at Spielvogel, but Hot_W has been fun.

[Slache]

2 minutes ago, SusanC said:

LOL, no kidding. Although as I approach the end we are all ready to move on to the next thing.

You probably are already aware, but SWB doesn't plan on any more books in that series, so after the Renaissance you are on your own. We switched to Ways of the World for the early modern time period. It has been fine, but everyone agrees that the writing is not as good as SWB. I had originally looked at Spielvogel, but Hot_W has been fun.

The website says two more. History of The Modern World I and II.

[Slache]

Here. It was updated 3 months ago.

Also, HOTAW is on audible and it looks like chapters are 20 minutes each. I can absolutely do 20 minutes 3 times a week.

[Miss Tick]

27 minutes ago, Slache said:

Here. It was updated 3 months ago.

Yay!

[Miss Tick]

I wonder how footnotes are handled in the audio versions. The footnotes were humorous, interesting, or direct you to more information, but they aren't terribly frequent. The first two would be sad to miss. I guess you could read along in a print copy.

I still think it is an aggressive plan, but I've seen your spreadsheet, so I know this isn't just a whim.

[Slache]

1 minute ago, SusanC said:

I wonder how footnotes are handled in the audio versions. The footnotes were humorous, interesting, or direct you to more information, but they aren't terribly frequent. The first two would be sad to miss. I guess you could read along in a print copy.

I still think it is an aggressive plan, but I've seen your spreadsheet, so I know this isn't just a whim.

I would read them out loud myself, just looking at the time.

Yeah, oldest is advanced in thinking, but irritated with output, so he wants to read the hard stuff but not do the essays. I'm trying to meet that need without killing the other children. He absolutely does do the work, but his input and output levels don't match.

I think I'll buy HOTAW and read it myself next year. Then I'll really have an opinion.

[MamaSprout]

3 hours ago, Slache said:

Here. It was updated 3 months ago.

Also, HOTAW is on audible and it looks like chapters are 20 minutes each. I can absolutely do 20 minutes 3 times a week.

I have the first three on Audible and all the chapters run 15-18 minutes. Very excited that there will be two more books. These are for me not the kid. :-)

[Slache]

11 minutes ago, MamaSprout said:

I have the first three on Audible and all the chapters run 15-18 minutes. Very excited that there will be two more books. These are for me not the kid. 🙂

I'm glad y'all like it. I've heard it described as dry and boring (don't tell mom) and I've been concerned. I'm also concerned about it coming out in time, but that's the life of a homeschooler.

[Alte Veste Academy]

This thread was a real emotional roller-coaster for me! 

No more!?!

Yes, into Modern times! YAY!!!!

That's all I've got. I haven't used them with a kid yet, but I have been waiting for the rest. Haven't checked on them in a while though.

Phew.

[El...]

I'm also anxiously awaiting the next history of the world books - for myself! 

[MamaSprout]

2 hours ago, Slache said:

I'm glad y'all like it. I've heard it described as dry and boring (don't tell mom) and I've been concerned. I'm also concerned about it coming out in time, but that's the life of a homeschooler.

I guess I should mention it’s something I listen to to relax. There is humor in it, but it’s subtle. I’ve been through all three books at least twice.

[mlktwins]

21 hours ago, Slache said:

Here. It was updated 3 months ago.

Also, HOTAW is on audible and it looks like chapters are 20 minutes each. I can absolutely do 20 minutes 3 times a week.

How quickly will you need  the last 2 books?  I would not rely on these being done soon.  

[Slache]

14 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

How quickly will you need  the last 2 books?  I would not rely on these being done soon.  

2026

I know! I was promised Greek for Children B almost 5 years ago. Grrr.

[Slache]

I read almost the entire free sample of HOTAW last night. I love it. I'm exhausted now though.

[mlktwins]

1 minute ago, Slache said:

I read almost the entire free sample of HOTAW last night. I love it. I'm exhausted now though.

We did ancients their freshman year.  Ours looked a lot like Susan C’s.  

[Porridge]

On 1/15/2022 at 8:57 AM, Slache said:

I read almost the entire free sample of HOTAW last night. I love it. I'm exhausted now though.

Where did you find samples? Amazon doesn’t seem to have the look inside feature for this book.

[Slache]

39 minutes ago, WTM said:

Where did you find samples? Amazon doesn’t seem to have the look inside feature for this book.

 

[Slache]

You can use that with a kindle or kindle app on your phone.