has anyone used History Odyssey's high school level?

[Quiver0f10]

I was just looking at HO Middle Ages level 3 for my upcoming 9th grader. I wondered if anyone here has used this? Is it meaty enough, without being over the top? Did you need to add to it? If so what did you add? I'd love to hear your opinion. Thanks!

[Kareni]

Nicole M used it. Here's a thread in which she mentions it:

 

Question about History Odyssey Level 3

 

Perhaps you can send her a private message if she doesn't see this post.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Quiver0f10]

Thanks! Anyone else?

[Tenaj]

We are using Ancients this year and are really enjoying it. We started out the year using Trisms but that wasn't working out (mainly it was driving me crazy that we weren't reading whole books, just selections), so at Christmas we switched over to HO and did the first lessons which are How to Read a Book with the study guide. Now, this wasn't my kids favorite by any means, but we survived it and are now reading the Iliad. The only thing they have really NOT liked is the history book that is used as the spine "The New History of the World". So I'm considering switching over to Susan's Ancient History book, just haven't sat down and worked out the coordination of her chapters with the HO schedule.

 

What I'm also considering for my next kid coming up is using the Well Educated Mind book instead of How to Read a Book but I've got a few years to decide about that.

 

I just noticed that you're starting with the Middle Ages, and if I were going to do that I would definitely have my kidlet read either How To Read a Book or WEM or something before starting the HO schedule because there is an expection that the students are familiar with some lit analysis.

 

This is getting long, but before I close, I did want to mention that another thing we did/are doing is using Bravewriters Help for Homeschoolers which is basically an essay-writing course as we get started with this program. If your child isn't strong on writing essays, this will help a lot with the essay assignments. There are 9 modules in this program and we started on it while we were reading HTRAB so they are almost done but I can see how it has improved their writing skills by leaps and bounds.

 

HTH,

[Quiver0f10]

Thanks, Janet!

[Nicole M]

I was being diplomatic, and perhaps too subtle, in the post that Kareni mentions. I actually think that without some kind of teacher's manual, the Ancients that we used was simply too difficult. The material is very hard.

 

However, we would never have made it through How to Read a Book without the guide that I think is a part of the package. (Someone on these boards wrote the study guide, and it's awesome.)

 

I also do not love the layout of HO. Because it is basically a list, it is easy to get bogged down on one lesson and stall out. I prefer a different format, weekly, and ended up making my own. I feel that if you're going to have to go to all that work anyway, what's the point?

 

Again, though, I think HO is quite good at the middle school level. The assignments are excellent: clever and varied. I could not have come up with them myself. I would love for it to have worked for us at the HS level.

Edited March 9, 2009 by Nicole M
forgot the verb!

[Quiver0f10]

Thanks, Nicole. I appreciate your honest review.