Attention Canadian Parents!

[Impish]

Ok, here's the question: Is there ANY curriculum out there for us?? I love SOTW, and TOG, but upon closer inspection, units 3 and 4 of TOG would have to be COMPLETELY ripped apart as its totally from an American perspective. Not willing to pay hundreds of dollars for curric that I have to completely rip apart and restructure *headdesk*

 

So, any suggestions? I really LOVE the classical education style, but really want a Canadian perspective. Do I have to simply buy and rip apart, or make my own? Or is there something out there?

 

Heeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[LBC]

There isn't anything out there that combines Canadian History with World History, as far as I can tell. I used TOG for ancients, but half way through TOG 2 it starts to be heavily weighted in US history, so I decided not to continue with it. This year we did modern history. I used Sonlight 7, since it covers world history without the US study, and uses SOTW 3 & 4. I added readings from The Story of Canada, and had each child choose a topic from Canadian history to write a report. We also have some Canadian historical fiction, but haven't read much, since SL has so many books already. We're using the SL time line figures, and just adding Canadian dates that are listed in the back of the Story of Canada. The kids also like to play Professor Noggins games, so I picked up a few with Canadian info.

 

It's been a challenge, for sure. The year started off well, but now it's feeling quite disjointed. I probably shouldn't have tried to fit two history years into one year, and add Canada to the mix. It might have worked better to do SL 7 over two years with Canadian history, or just do one topic each year. It was our first year with SL, so I ended up ditching their Bible and LA early in the year (not a good fit for us) which may be part of why it didn't work well. I also had to add something for my younger children, and chose SL 3 readers since it's the same time period, with a focus on US history. All in all, it's been a tough year, and I can't wait until it's over. We're taking a year off of history, and doing world geography, so I'm really looking forward to the change.

 

The history cycle becomes even more challenging in the high school years. My oldest is in the grad program now, and the required courses are all Canadian history focused. She can still get credit for World History, but it would count as an elective, and she will already have plenty of elective credits.

 

Another option I considered was using History Odyssey, which covers world history for the modern time period. In the end, it seemed too difficult to mesh it with the ages of my dc. In hindsight, SL was also very difficult to mesh with the ages of my dc, so I may have had better success with HO.

 

There's a SL Canada Yahoo group, and someone in that group has created a SL style schedule for Canadian history. It doesn't incorporate Canadian history into world history, so I didn't end up using it. It's basically just a reading schedule for Canadian historical fiction, along with some reproducible pages for government and geography. I can't send it to you, since I had to agree not to share it. You'd have to request it from the author.

 

Maybe someone will chime in with a wonderful resource for Canadians. I'll be watching this thread.

 

Lori

[phathui5]

CLE has Canadian courses:

 

http://www.clp.org/store/by_grade/18

[LBC]

CLE has Canadian courses:

 

http://www.clp.org/store/by_grade/18

 

This is true. I actually ordered them. I haven't decided if we'll use them or not. The grade 7 & 8 levels cover some of the grade 10 & 11 Social Studies learning outcomes for BC. Here is what my contact teacher showed me it would cover:

SS 10

704

705

801

802

803 section 1 (Immigration and the West - barely touches on the concept)

 

It is weak on immigration (does cover the Germans and Mennonites).

It doesn't cover Red River and the Riel "Rebellion"; development of the railroad; BC, gold rush, settlement of the prairies.

 

SS 11

803

804

805

 

 

The elementary level might be an option for younger students. I haven't taken a close look yet.

 

Lori

[Impish]

Diva is entering grade 6. I plan on using TOG year 1 next year, as the American issue doesn't rear its head til mid year 2...I'm struggling with committing to TOG the way I planned to, after looking at the heavy American content. It seems like an awful lot of substitution needed :crying:

 

I thought combining TOG with SOTW would be a complete education for all 3 of my kids...and now I'm floundering about what to do.

 

*headdesk*

[Impish]

If you write it I think you would have a market.... I'm just sayin'.

You know, you're the 3rd person to tell me that...2nd today, actually, lol!

 

I've thought about it, because a career as an author is something that I plan to create for myself over the next few years. Creating a curriculum is an intensive undertaking though...let alone finding a publisher for it! Most curricula are published kinda in house, or so I've found...even TOG as popular as it is still seems to be on a small print run. I couldn't afford to do that. So while I might be able to write a good curriculum, I couldn't afford to produce it. :lol:

[Guest 4boys]

I have found these for Canadian History:

 

http://www.canadianhomeeducation.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=HWGTCOH&eq=&Tp=

 

I bought that one already and plan to use it for my Gr. 3 & 1 students in a year and a half from now. This author also has another one:

 

http://www.canadianhomeeducation.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=HWPPSG&eq=&Tp=

 

That one is for middle grades and I think I'll be using it as well later on. These books are guides that include great suggestions for appropriate literature and I know that the first one is based on two other books, The Kids Book of Canada and The Kids Book of Canadian History.

 

There are also Donna Ward's books: https://www.donnaward.net/ I plan on using Canada, My Country for my Gr. 2 and K kids next year and we'll see how we like it. I bought it already and flipped through it and honestly it seems a little sparse for the money. But we haven't actually used it so we will see.

 

Hope some of this is helpful. Canadian Home Education has a lot more Canadian history resources if you care to spend some time browsing their site.

[KDBask]

In the past we did Sonlight but choose not to do cores 3 or 4 and rather focus on Canada. If you are a member of the Sonlight Forums there is a sticky at the top of Core 3 and 4 of Canadian history recommendations. The SL Canada Yahoo Group had several recommendations as well.

 

I have heard of Modern History Thru Canadian Eyes being liked. We used a mix of The Story of Canada and My First History of Canada. However, my children are younger (4 under 10) so we are enjoying the priviledge of just highlighting different events.

 

Vince Marquis seems to have some good material. He used to have a website called Homeworks, or something like that, but I can't seem to find it now. This is one of his guides:

http://www.homeschoolandmore.ca/catalogue_det.asp?id=2081&categoryid=134

 

There are a few books here:

http://www.homeschoolandmore.ca/catalogue_list.asp?id=134

 

The children have really enjoyed the historical stories that we have read. I am thinking about getting the CLE Canada LightUnit just to recap for the kids. This summer we will be travelling and visiting lots of museums where it all happened.

 

If you are looking for something that incorporates World History you might be able to sub Canadian content in where the American would go, if you liked.

 

I hope you find something that works!

[KDBask]

Me again. (I have been searching for that Homeworks website; it is bugging me that I can't find it!) I stumbled on this blog that might give you some ideas:

 

http://farmschoolathome.blogspot.com/2005/07/beefing-up-sotw3-part-i-adding-more.html

 

Alayna, on this forum, has a great blog as well that has Canadian history on it.

[KathyBC]

I used Donna Ward's CMC with my younger two. We started it the last bit of K & gr. 2 and finished up this year in gr. 1 & 3. We added a bunch of library books for the first two sections and read our way across Canada. The last few sections were a bit light, I agree, but since they are listening in to big brother's SL Core 6 read-alouds, I figured they were doing enough. I was surprised how much they liked following Bucky the Beaver through the book, playing the map game, and competing to see who could name more provinces and territories.

 

I hope your guys like it, too!

[KathyBC]

I used Sonlight 7, since it covers world history without the US study, and uses SOTW 3 & 4. I added readings from The Story of Canada, and had each child choose a topic from Canadian history to write a report. We also have some Canadian historical fiction, but haven't read much, since SL has so many books already. We're using the SL time line figures, and just adding Canadian dates that are listed in the back of the Story of Canada. The kids also like to play Professor Noggins games, so I picked up a few with Canadian info.

 

It's been a challenge, for sure. The year started off well, but now it's feeling quite disjointed. I probably shouldn't have tried to fit two history years into one year, and add Canada to the mix. It might have worked better to do SL 7 over two years with Canadian history, or just do one topic each year.

 

This is my tentative plan for gr. 9 & 10 - to use SL Core 7 over two years, along with Modern History Through Canadian Eyes, which I believe uses The Story of Canada and Canada A People's History videos. Hopefully that would cover what we need. Of course that's still a year and a half away, so who knows? :)

[LBC]

This is my tentative plan for gr. 9 & 10 - to use SL Core 7 over two years, along with Modern History Through Canadian Eyes, which I believe uses The Story of Canada and Canada A People's History videos. Hopefully that would cover what we need. Of course that's still a year and a half away, so who knows? :)

 

You are wise.:) Spread it out. I keep getting muddled because I'm trying to make sure each child covers the BC requirements. Now I'm wondering if I should put the brakes on and just do a good job of finishing Modern History next year (we're only at 1900, and there's just so much we haven't covered yet!). My oldest is mostly just doing her own thing now, since she has already done SOTW and time-lines in the past. Next year she'll be in the public high school for half of her courses (Science, Math, American Sign Language, and Drama), so I'll only be doing SS/history and English with her at home.

 

Lori

[emmsmama]

I have heard of Modern History Thru Canadian Eyes being liked. We used a mix of The Story of Canada and My First History of Canada. However, my children are younger (4 under 10) so we are enjoying the priviledge of just highlighting different events.

 

 

I have this on my shelf, though I haven't used it yet. I'm planning on using it in a couple years though. It looks like an excellent spine for a CDN history study. It makes use of many books including SOTW3 and SOTW4 and also has many lit. suggestions, activity suggestions, etc.

[KathyBC]

You are wise.:) Spread it out. I keep getting muddled because I'm trying to make sure each child covers the BC requirements. Now I'm wondering if I should put the brakes on and just do a good job of finishing Modern History next year (we're only at 1900, and there's just so much we haven't covered yet!). My oldest is mostly just doing her own thing now, since she has already done SOTW and time-lines in the past. Next year she'll be in the public high school for half of her courses (Science, Math, American Sign Language, and Drama), so I'll only be doing SS/history and English with her at home.

 

Lori

 

 

Next year sounds like an exciting new opportunity with your oldest! Ooo, I like that... wise, instead of slacker, lolol. I totally hear you about BC requirements. I'm hoping to keep the younger two together for the next while (say forever?) so we're only working on two strands at a time. (fingers crossed)