Children's Story or America or Joy Hakim?

[sted]

Hi,

I'm trying to decide between these two spines for my 10 year old (turning eleven next Feb.) for next year. I think we will be using HOD Bigger unit for my 8 year old and I wanted to add an upper level spine for my older daughter. I think my younger will listen to My First History of America which I think is SOTW-like.

Which of the two above spines would be better? She's a very good reader and would probably do some of it independantly. Is Joy Hakim's a higher level? I'm planning on adding read alouds but would adding a pictoral Amerian History Encyclopedia be overkill for her?

Thanks,
Shannon

[Stacy in NJ]

The Hakim series is more comprehensive and more engaging to read but much lengthier. There are 10 volumes in all, too much to cover in one year. If you're doing early American you can selectively read chunks of the first 5 or 6 volumes. FYI, K12 uses these as spines, 5 per year, for grades 5 and 6.

[Donna T.]

Hi, Shannon! I will be using Bigger's next year with my then 10 and 7 year olds. I have A Child's Story of America - I received it with the package of Extension Books for older children (10 and 11 year olds) that you buy from HOD. It's the only book in Bigger's that I do not like. I have been looking for something to replace it with. If you replace that book for your older child (you don't have to, I'm only doing it because I don't like the book at all), you can still follow the schedule in Biggers for your older child. Carrie has written the schedule out for you and it includes lots of books for the older child. I intend to use all those except A Child's Story.

I have Hakim's books and I love them. But, I decided not to use them with Biggers. I will definately have my sons use them in the future, but I prefer those for around 8th or 9th grade. Hakim's is definately written at a higher reading level than A Child's Story. The overall tone of the books and the points of view of the authors are very different. I believe they are considered appropriate for a child 10 and up, but since we haven't had alot of American History in the past and my son will be reading so many other books during that year, I want something simplier - less meaty and with shorter readings.

I've considered various options and still haven't fully settled on something for sure, but I'm leaning towards using Abeka's 4th grade history text, History of our United States to replace A Child's Story of America. I just want something that I can plug into that slot on the reading schedule. Another thing I've thought about is using The Story of the World, Vol. 3. We have done the first two volumes and enjoyed them. Biggers goes a bit beyond the timeframe of SOTW 3 but it's not heavy in Modern Times and I think it would work out very well. A third option that I'm considering is using Exploring American History, another Christian Liberty Press text. I have it already and it's alot more interesting and far less "political" than A Child's Story.

Someone recently posted a thread on another board that said that she had asked Carrie what she would recommend for a 7th grader who was following along with Biggers and one of her suggestions was George Washington's World. Some other titles that she recommended to beef it up for an older child: The Story of the Great Republic (Guerber), Short Lessons in US History, plus extra readers like Poor Richard by Daughtery, Abigal Adams, Of Courage Undaunted, American Tall Tales and Carry A Big Stick. Sorry, but I don't have the authors for a couple of those.

Anyways, if you need help, you can email Carrie. She is very quick to respond to emails - she responds to mine the same day and is full of really good suggestions.

[Donna T.]

Forgot to say that Carrie also recommends This Country of Ours for older students in Biggers.

[sted]

Since your kids are similarily aged to mine, I have some questions.

Are you going to use HOD science and LA suggestions? Also, do you plan on using the DITHOR resource? I am thinking of using it but can you use it with the books that come with Bigger or do you order the 3/4 or 4/5 packages?

Thanks,
Shannon

P.S. Why did you not decide to go with Sonlight again? I was considering this as well.

[Donna T.]

I plan to use the science in Biggers. It will primarily be for my youngest son. We have many of the One Small Square books and my oldest son has already read all of them. He loves them. However, he hasn't done many of the activities that are in them and he wants to do them. So, he will also do the science in Biggers with us (including the two books that Carrie schedules from the Extension Package). But in addition to the science in Biggers, my oldest son will be studying Astronomoy next year. He will be using Classical Astronomy's Signs and Seasons course. I really like the science that Carrie has already added to Biggers for the older child and it would probably be enough but my oldest son is very into science and he wants to do Classical Astronomy, so we are going to do it.

My youngest son will be using HOD's LA choices. Do you have the TM? There are spelling lists and copywork passages in the appendix. So, he will be doing those plus he will use Rod & Staff's Grade 2 English and Cheerful Cursive. He will mostly do R&S orally. Carrie also recommends the Queen Homeschool Supplies Language Lessons series. I used several of those with my oldest son and we really like them. I may have my youngest son work in one of those if we burn out on R&S. I have used R&S in the past and we like it, but we do sometimes burn out before we finish a book!

My oldest son will not be using HOD's LA. He will continue with Spelling Power, First Language Lessons 4, and Writing Tales, plus some lessons from Intermediate Language Lessons.

Yes, I am going to use DITHOR. An emerging reader in Biggers does not need DITHOR because Carrie has scheduled similiar work into the TM. An independent reader can move on to DITHOR Level 2/3. I plan to use the material in the TM for my youngest son and DITHOR Level 4/5 with my oldest. If you use DITHOR, you will need other books besides those in the extension package. I am not going to buy a package for DITHOR because we have lots of books that my son can read for his DITHOR assignments (I had been planning on using SL Core 3 next year and have most of those readers) already plus we can use the library or purchase books as we go along. But, yes, you need books other than those in the HOD packages for Biggers.

I considered not doing that portion of the program at all (for my oldest). But, I suspect I will find myself reading many of the extension books out loud rather than assigning them strictly as independent reading. So, I'll use the DITHOR books as his readers and pick and choose which books from the extension package that I read outloud. I really like Carrie's book choices and would like my youngest son to enjoy those that go along with his history - so that's probably how I'll use the books in the extension package - as read alouds.

I love SL and wanted to use Core 3 or Core 3/4 but I don't want to do either of those with a second grader. It's possible. Alot of moms do it but they do have to adapt quite a bit. I've been prereading the books from SL and I like them, but I'm not sure about them for a seven year old. In the first term of SL you are already discussing human sacrifice and there is some Native American spirituality that I really just didn't want to get into at this time. Unlike the books in Cores 1 and 2, there is practically no color or much visual appeal in the books. That's not a big deal really, but I do think the books in Biggers are more appealing to the children. I had been praying for something similiar to SL but more CM (Charlotte Mason), with gentler literature, and some simple activities. Since I don't use SL's LA anyways, all we do with SL is read. We love to read, but I think my sons will benefit from a variety of activities to complement their reading.

So, that's what I'm planning to try!

[JenninMN]

Have you looked at the Children's Encyclopedia of American History? Winter Promise used it as a spine for a couple of years. It's colorful and certainly doable in 1 year. You could also check out the Complete Book of American History.

Jennifer

[MamaT]

I have used Hakim this year with my 3rd, 4th, and 6th graders, and we have loved it. It is very engaging and I would highly recommend it. Just my two cents.