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4 year cycle instead of 6 year cycle….
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My son is in the 5th grade. I REALLY want to have 2 4-year cycles for the rest of his homeschooling in history.
Has anyone here done this using SCM {or any other} materials?
Thanks so much!
If you keep your bible seperate, you can do the first 3 SCM units (all the ancients) in one year (1 per term) – and then do the other 3 units for the other 3 years.
During the Ancients, you are generally using the Bible 3x a week, History 1x a week, and Geography 1x a week… So by reducing the Bible, you have plenty of time to do the history readings…
Our older kids studied in a 4 year cycle, mostly. After a couple of years with a correspondence school, we followed some of the classical homeschooling suggestions for the four year cycle. It’s not harder/easier to do, but it condenses the amount of time you’ll spend in certain areas. You might find the broad timeframes at the following site helpful in determining your plans.
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-pattern/
The easiest way I’d see doing SCM in 4 years would be to study the time periods in modules 1, 2, and 3 in one year, followed by a year each for modules 4, 5, and 6. There have been discussions as to how to manage 1-3 in one year (or 1 1/2 years) on this forum. If I were going to switch back to a four year cycle, I’d be more inclined to take the time periods from the WTM site and follow a book list like All through the Ages. You might use spine suggestions from either SCM, or WTM if you want a family read aloud going. Otherwise, assign books, listen/read narrations, and move happily along the timeline twice before he graduates.
HTH
I do a 4 year cycle. We have used different things as the spine or guide…but basically, we do:
Creation to Christ
Rome to Reformation
Exploration to 1850
1850 to Modern – I don’t start this unit until 6th grade, so we sub out a year of Geography for the younger kids during this time
I have an almost completed index of books broken down by these time periods, some of which we own, some we check out, and some I am still on the hunt for!
You could absolutely use the SCM guides, but you would have to compound lessons as the other ladies have suggested.
Basically, if you have a history spine, you can add living books to wherever your studies are taking you. All Through the Ages would definitely help to find resources relating to the time period you are studying.
Every year, I remind myself, “There is no magic curriculum!”. There are lots of options that you can use to fit your family. Some of them are going to fit you better than others.
I like structure, so I use a guide usually – but I adapt it a LOT and add in books from our list. That might work well in your situation. Just remember to go to a deeper level of knowledge every time you pass through the time period, and you should be golden ;-).
I also try to remember that much more of their learning will be interest-led in High School, so if we ‘miss’ something, there is no reason that my High Schoolers can’t research and learn independently based on their interest. The goal is lifelong learning, not covering all the bases.
And if you were a public school kid (like I was) you can console yourself with the knowledge that your student has had about 5 times the amount of interesting, living history than most of his future college classmates will have studied!
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