High school History Trajectory

[MrsG84]

I was hoping to see how others had used History of the World for their high school history curriculum in each grade. We used SOTW in the younger grades and will continue to do so for our younger children but our oldest son is entering 9th this year. I ordered History of the ancient world and came back to the site to look at the rest of the higher level books and it appears They are Ancient, Medeival, and Renaissance. I didn't see an Early Modern or Modern. So what is everyone doing for the 4 years of high school?

[El...]

I have no idea what the right approach is, officially, but we did a home-made American history (with integrated American music history and American lit) in 9th. It pushed into the modern era.

Dd16 did History of the Ancient World with the study guide this past year for 10th. We'd done a pretty aggressive world history survey in 4th through 8th, so I like that it was open and go and fairly independent for her. She's doing History of the Medieval World this coming year for 11th. 

[SilverMoon]

We jumped off the chronological history train for highschool. Our state requires 1 world history credit, 1 US credit, and 1 gov/econ credit, and that's also what the local universities expect to see on a transcript. 

One year of those books should satisfy the world history credit, but trying to get through all of them wouldn't leave time for the other requirements. 

My rising 9th grader is really interested in the upcoming elections and politics so we're going to do government for social studies this year. 

[ScoutTN]

We jumped off the chronological train at 8th with a light geography year.

9th Modernity 
10th American
11th no History course
12th Govt and Econ

My Dd wanted high school to be heavier on languages, literature, and music. Plus leaving time for big ECs, so that is what we did. History is my favorite, but not hers. 

[JennyD]

My oldest did:

9th: African and Asian history

10th: US history

11th: European history

12th: Economics

 

My current high schooler is doing:

9th: African and Asian history

10th: Human geography

11th: US history

12th: probably US government and/or comparative government

[Lori D.]

Welcome to the WTM boards! I see by your post count you are new. 

As you plan for high school Social Studies, you may wish to look ahead to possible future university admission requirements to help guide you in what History courses you want in your homeschool high school journey.

Most universities have a list of credits they require to have been completed in high school in order for the student to be eligible for admission. History falls under the Social Studies (also called "Social Sciences") heading, and most colleges require the following:

3-4 credits (1-year courses) of Social Studies, with specific requirements of:
1 credit = American History (most colleges require this)
1 credit = World History and/or World Geography (most colleges require this)
0.5 credit each = Government (Civics) and Economics (some colleges require this)

As a side note: Social Studies (Social Sciences) encompasses many subjects, so it is often very easily/naturally covered in high school, and any of these are accepted by colleges towards the required # of Social Studies credits for admission:

- Anthropology
- Archeology
- Cultural Studies
- Economics
- Geography
- Government
- History
- Linguistics
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Religious Studies
- Sociology

@El... and then @SilverMoon / @ScoutTN / @JennyD have provided 2 common ways I've seen people handle chronological History history at the high school level -- either integrate a heavy focus on American History as part of the Early Modern & Modern History years in order to accrue 1 credit of American History, or stop the chronological history cycle.

Another method is to NOT use Bauer's increasingly lengthy adult-level history books (which cover Ancients, Medieval, Renaissance -- no Early Modern or Modern texts), and use something shorter that allows for covering 2 "stages" of the chronological cycle per year. So:

grade 9 = 1 credit = Ancients + Medieval
grade 10 = 1 credit = Early Modern + Modern
grade 11 = 1 credit = American History
grade 12 = 0.5 credit each = Economics & Government

If I were in your shoes, in trying to decide how to handle History in high school, I would actually take a step back and look at the big picture, and answer a few questions first to help with planning:

1. What are your rising 9th grader's interests with history?
- Does he love history, and want to keep digging deeper in another 4-year overall world history cycle?
- Does he love a particular time period/area of the world and want to focus on that, rather than a full cycle again?

2. If not that "into" History, is there another subject area that he would really love to spend his time on?
- Would just doing a few "required" history/social studies credits better help him focus on his interest/passion area?
- Or, would shorter materials than the History of the World books be a better fit with a lower level of interest in History?
- Would doing a condensed version of the 4-year cycle (using shorter materials, over 2 years) a possibility?

3. What are your state homeschool requirements (if any) for Social Studies?
- Do you need to complete certain History, Geography, Government, or Economics credits for high school graduation?
- Is there a possibility your DS might end up at a public/private/charter high school, and need to "follow along" now with earning certain credits?

4. What are possible future college admission requirements (if any) for Social Studies?
- Will DS be going on to college after high school, and if so, what are the admission credit requirements for schools he might attend? 
- And if so, what is the plan for including those credits -- if you do a 4-year History cycle? -- or do something else?

Edited July 17 by Lori D.

[Lori D.]

3 hours ago, MrsG84 said:

.. the rest of the higher level books and it appears They are Ancient, Medeival, and Renaissance. I didn't see an Early Modern or Modern...

Just as an FYI, it may be time-consuming to straight use SWB's adult books in the USUAL breakdown of time periods:

typical time period breakdown for 4-year cycle:
Ancients = pre-history - 500AD 
Medieval = 500AD - 1500AD 
Early Modern = 1500-1850
Modern = 1850-present

time period coverage of Bauer's books:
History of the Ancient World (896 pages) = pre-history - 500AD
History of the Medieval World (768 pages) = 500AD - 1100AD
History of the Renaissance World (816 pages) = 1100AD - 1500AD

So for Ancients, you'd be reading almost 900 pages.
To cover the typical time period for Medieval, you'd have to read both of the next books--well over 1500 pages...

Just something to consider as you take into account your goals for history, and your student's interest in history... 😉

[EKS]

We used The Human Odyssey series (from K12) in middle school and then Ways of the World (Strayer) in high school.

Ways of the World is truly excellent.  It focuses on the big picture, themes, ideas, and the like, which we found to be perfect for kids who had already seen many of the details in their previous studies.

[Miss Tick]

We used the History of the ____ World books in high school. We read 3 chapters a week and used the published guide (greatly abridged) to discuss them. The ancient world was our favorite. They get increasingly dense.

After those books we used Ways of the World volume 2 to finish out Early/Modern.

We did a ½ credit government class during the first COVID summer when everything fun had been shut down. I used the Annenberg materials as a spine for that.

I have an American History book that we used with Crash Course videos and study guides to cover that. It was a½ credit class, but we may have spread it over the entire year

I enjoyed reading and discussing history because as a living, reading human I found a lot of interesting material that tied into topics I have come across in the news or on travel or in other books and subjects. For my high schoolers, though,  it was all academic and less appealing. I wanted them to have heard of everything! If I did it again I would be more selective about what we covered in high school and perhaps go deeper. Neither had any particular interest they wanted to pursue, so we defaulted to a full cycle.

[Clemsondana]

We also did The Human Odyssey during the 3 years of middle school (and also the Critical Thinking Company's World History Detective).  One of my kids did a co-op Geography and World History class (to fulfill the state/umbrella world history requirement) while the other did a DIY class about world history through trade and military history.  We did one year of gov/econ (econ online for both, gov DIY for one and online for the other).  Older did co-op US History that ended up being enough to earn a 5 on the AP exam.  Not sure what younger will do.  Older also took DE psych and a philosophy of ethics class, either of which would count towards social studies for our umbrella.  Younger will likely also do DE.  I know it seems like a lot of outsourcing, but the co-op classes in these subjects are particularly good and the kids were able to take them with friends.  We had already done a pass through it chronologically in middle school for the purpose of not feeling obligated to do any particular program in high school - we could co-op, DE, or DIY an interest-based class, comfortable that they'd seen how it all fit together at least once.  

edited to add - the online econ is from our co-op teacher - the live class just didn't fit for schedule reasons

Edited July 17 by Clemsondana

[MrsG84]

I really appreciate all of the thoughtful replies to my question. The requirements for my state are as follows:

Social studies, to include civics, world history, history of the United States and Pennsylvania.

My son is a great lover of history and between the Hillsdale college course he's doing over the summer, the PA history course from co-op last year, and the Constitution class from co-op this coming year, he will easily have a 1 civics credit. From little on up he has been fascinated with American History and has a broad knowledge of people, places, and wars. The rest of what we study in his high school career is more about me being able to thoroughly cover our most mutually enjoyed subject one more time before ge graduates. After looking at everything more indepth, I believe I am going to do

9th- Ancient SWB

10th- Middle Ages SWB

Summer between 10-11 - Renaissance, as an audiobook (which he loves)

11th - Revisit Early Modern (Curriculum Recommendations!?)

12th - Revisit Modern, focusing on US, which we covered this last school year ( Curriculum Recommendations?!)

Our state only requires 3 years of social studies so perhaps I could count the extras as electives? Or is this plan too history heavy altogether?  I think the main thing is I need to pick and choose what assignments from the curriculum guide to make written and which to cover orally. For college, we intend to have him start at the local community college to avoid debt, so entrance won't be a problem regardless of what he takes. 

[ScoutTN]

For a non-textbook choice for American history, I enjoyed Paul Johnson’s  A History of the American People. 

[Lori D.]

18 hours ago, MrsG84 said:

... 9th- Ancient SWB
10th- Middle Ages SWB
Summer between 10-11 - Renaissance, as an audiobook (which he loves)
11th - Revisit Early Modern (Curriculum Recommendations!?)
12th - Revisit Modern, focusing on US, which we covered this last school year ( Curriculum Recommendations?!)

If doing that whole book as summer school, I'd count that as 0.5 credit of "World History: Renaissance", even if all that is done with the SWB History of the Renaissance is listen to it as an audiobook. Don't short your student on work he does just because it is "during the summer," or is "just listening" to an 800+ page text. 😉

18 hours ago, MrsG84 said:

...Our state only requires 3 years of social studies so perhaps I could count the extras as electives?

Yes, additional credits of Social Studies beyond what are required are considered to be "Academic Electives".
 

18 hours ago, MrsG84 said:

... Or is this plan to history heavy altogether?

Not if History is a subject loved by DS, which it sounds like it is. 😄

Just hold to your plan lightly, in case DS's interests change during high school, and especially if he discovers an interest that he wants to pursue as his career / college degree. So then you would want to just make sure you cover the *required* Social Studies credits (1 credit American History, 1 credit World History, and whatever Gov't/Civics and Econ is required) -- in order to leave room for whatever that interest might be that DS has.

Also, even though planning on going straight to community college after high school, you want to make sure you have an overall set of college prep credits to keep as many doors open as possible:

4 credits = English (usually 1/2 Lit. and 1/2 Writing)
4 credits = Math (Alg. 1, Geometry, Alg. 2, and a 4th math with Alg. 2 as a pre-requisite)
3-4 credits = Science, with labs (some colleges want Biology and Chemistry; most colleges are flexible)
3-4 credits = Social Studies (1 credit = Amer. Hist., 1 credit = World Hist or Geog, 0.5 credit each Civics & Econ)
2-4 credits = Foreign Language (same language; Latin accepted at all colleges; ASL accepted at many colleges)
1 credit = Fine Arts (ex: music, art, theater, dance, film appreciation, digital arts, animation, ceramics, woodworking, jewelry making, etc.)
4-8+ credits = Electives (ex: Logic, Computer, Health, PE, Religious Studies, Vocational-Tech, personal interests developed as credit; additional credits of Fine Arts; "Academic Electives" -- add'l credits in English, Math, Science, Social Studies or For. Lang, above the required #, etc)
24-28+ credits = total

18 hours ago, MrsG84 said:

... For college, we intend to have him start at the local community college to avoid debt, so entrance won't be a problem regardless of what he takes...

Both of our DSs did this, mostly because neither knew what he wanted to do as a career / study for a college degree. DS#1 completed an AAS there, and then went on to transfer/finish a BA, while DS#2 realized his career path was not degree-based (wildland firefighting), so he is advancing through on-the-job training and experience. DS#1 realized his BA in Christian Studies wasn't getting him a job, so he went back to the community college for 2 years, then transferred to the university and earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering. In all cases, the community college did save quite a bit of $$. 

I would just encourage you -- especially as your DS matures and changes over the 4 years of high school, that he may discover what he wants as his career and what college degree he wants to go for. If so, don't count out the possibility of starting at a 4-year university, as if your DS has high grades, a high GPA and good ACT or SAT scores, he could land a very solid scholarship that is "renewable" (good for 4 years, as long as he keeps up the requirements for the scholarship).

Starting at the community college can save money on the front end, BUT... if your DS ends up transferring to a university to finish a degree, he will be viewed as a transfer student, and the number of transfer student scholarships is much lower than the number of freshman scholarships. Also, transfer scholarships tend to be for a much lower amount, and frequently are 1-time awards (not renewable). The largest amount of scholarships go to incoming freshmen, and those freshmen scholarships are usually for much larger amounts, and are typically renewable.

And, if he does start at the community college, you'll want to maximize those credits he earns there... Look to see if the community college has an articulation agreement -- a transfer Associate's program aligned with the state universities that guarantees that the courses taken at the community college WILL transfer as credits required for the 4-year degree.

Because if those community college courses don't count specifically towards a university degree, it does NOT save you any money -- those courses are just considered to be "electives", and don't check off the boxes of the *specific* courses required by the university to fulfill the degree program...

Welcome to planning for high school homeschooling -- and beyond! 😉

Edited July 18 by Lori D.

[Clemsondana]

I'll add to Lori's advice - definitely look at what is required for the degree that your student is interested in pursuing.  My older completed many credits through AP and DE.  Kid was planning to pursue engineering, so we looked at the degree plans from a couple of engineering schools.  In a few weeks, we'll drop off our student to start as a sophomore.  But, it was only possible to complete the first year of an engineering program at the community college.  There are various other courses scattered over the plan that are also done, such as a sophomore math class and several social science electives, but the engineering sequence starts first semester of sophomore year and those classes aren't offered at community colleges.  Kid is actually having to complete a university-specific freshman engineering class online right now to be eligible to take the sophomore classes.  Depending on what your student ultimately decides to study and whether there is an articulation agreement in place, this may not be an issue.  In some other fields it's possible to take 2 years worth of courses at a CC, but I've read a few articles lately about kids who go to college thinking that they'll be able to graduate more quickly because they have credits, only to find that they have a multiyear sequence of courses to take or that they took the wrong version of a class (chemistry for non-STEM rather than chemistry for STEM, for instance).  

And, in response to the follow-up, yes, you can definitely count the extras as electives.  Summer classes can be 1/2 credit (or a full credit if a lot is done).  But also be prepared to change - high school can be busy and sometimes interests change or students don't want to earn extra credits when they could be hanging out with friends or working or doing an extracurricular.  They sometimes want to spend elective credits on career exploration classes.  We also know students who chose to take classes as dual enrollment because, particularly if a class was outside their chosen career, they figured that they might as well go ahead and get credit for the class.  Some states have a civics or US history requirement in college, so one kid we know chose to DE US History and get that taken care of for college.  I'm not pushing DE as the right answer, and my own kid chose to do some high school classes as DIY classes so that we could pick interesting things to read.  But, if you have an eye on keeping college costs down this is another way to go about it.  

Edited July 20 by Clemsondana

[NittanyJen]

My kids had variations in how we accomplished this, but both covered at least:

2 years world history (chronological, but with a focus on diving deeper into fewer topics)

1 year US history, government, and economics (may have spanned more than 1 course, ie taking Econ at the local U)

Younger kiddo was on a 5-year high school plan, so he did an extra year of US history, and then senior year he completed a self-directed history course in which he explored 5 topics (that he picked after reading several issues of Smithsonian Magazine) in depth as research projects.

My older one accomplished this with couple of years of the high school Pandia Press history, then a bunch of courses at the local U (history, political science, and Econ).

My younger did the US history for high school (Pandia), Build Your Library (2 years world history, US history & government, econ) plus his research projects. He absolutely loved the BYL sequence, and enjoyed his year of self-directed learning quite a lot.

Jen Driscoll

AP Statistics/PA Homeschoolers