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Using History Module 6 this year — what spine should we use?
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I don’t have any ibuprofen. Sorry! I’d check out a few Hakim books from the library and read them yourself to see how well you like them or not. I think (for the modern age) just using Truthquest without a spine would probably be okay. Most of us are a little more familiar with the happenings of this time period. We did a “living books” only (no spine) before the SCM stuff came out and my kids weren’t damaged! In fact, we had fun.
It does make your head swim.
Heather
What about The Century for Young People by Peter Jennings, the Time Travelers cds by Amy Pak now is complete up until WWII (and more to come, I believe), and Angela O’Dell is continuing her Living History of Our World up until the present time. Truthquest now has the Journey Through Learning notebooks and lapbooks available…the kids can make their own spine!!
I am convinced now more than ever that keeping a timeline is better than having a spine, I’ve just never been good about keeping one up. Now that SCM has the new Book of Centuries, maybe we can follow through.
…by the way, why is my coffee cold? 😀
I know the Hakim books look engaging, but the ones covering the 20th century are the worst of all of them. If you want to look at them at the library, I have a little test. Check out the coverage of FDR and then look up the coverage of Reagan and compare, and decide if that’s what you want your kids to think. Because without some other sources, if they read pages and pages of paeans to the majesty and brilliance of FDR and then see the couple of diffident paragraphs devoted to Reagan, what are they going to think? I don’t particularly like SOTW 4, but I’d personally prefer that to Hakim.
We used SOTW 4 and I’m not going to give it raving reviews, but it served it’s purpose and was decently written.
sue_mom23: You could use TCOO and just replace the word “savages” with “natives” or “indians” or whatever you like.
Bookworm — would you be willing to elaborate more on the worldview/issues presented by the Hakim books? I don’t have access to them right now and my library system here borders on non-existent. I know people have raised concerns about the liberal bias but also know that Beautiful Feet Books uses some of Hakim’s books in their 1850 to Modern High School set. Would love to know more of your thoughts and reactions.
Also what would you use if you were in my place?
We did not use a spine for last year’s lessons and, really, we did just fine. Trying to find a spine for this year has been so challenging. On one hand there is too much to choose from (that aren’t all that great, but will do) and on the other there isn’t anything that I feel super good about, *sigh*.
I’d like to just use what I have (which is probably what I’ll do) and check out what bessedmom suggested, just for a looksy.
We used Paul Johnson’s Modern Times and some Gilbert’s History of the Twentieth Century. These books are not school books, these are written for adults, but my daughters love history and have been enjoying them very much. We did these along with original sources and other books. It turned out to be a good year. It would depend on how old your child was and if they liked reading or not. These are thorough histories, Gilbert does not assume you know modern history, whereas Johnson assumes you do know some. We did not like Hakim’s books at all, in fact I loathed them – did not like the itty bitty layout, and did not like her worldview. Linda
I am personally weak in history, and so a spine is “safe” for me. That said, it can be hard to find one, especially for this time period! One thing that has helped me somewhat is the book Guides to History Plus by Kathryn Stout (design-a-study). She lists books, games, etc. for various time periods in both world and american histories, but frankly that is not the part that is most helpful to me.
The part that is most helpful is that she lists topics for each time period: wars, people, events. I can take this list to the library and then find good living books on these topics (sometimes I’ve found things on my own shelves that I didn’t realize I had!). It takes some of the pressure off of trying to find a specific title, and it helps me feel more confident about what to study.
HTH,
Tanya
oh, I should add that I do not think this book is the final answer to all my problems – it’s just another good tool I have found to help me filter through the information.
Jenn, my problem with Hakim is that she very consistently uses the basic liberal “party line” without even a real nod at all the controversy. I started having trouble with the books covering the late 19th century “robber baron” era–if you read only her book, you would assume that business is always bad and must always be controlled by government. No mention that part of the problem was that government was interfering in everyday business practice by giving “perks” to some businessmen and not others–“robber barons” were not a failure of capitalism but instead were actually created by government policy. Then it moves on to assume that the Progressive “reformers” were automatically good, and does not mention the serious constitutional issues that arose. She goes on to tell us how wonderful Roosevelt was, and how he “fixed” the terrible Great Depression that was “caused” by greedy businessmen. She echoes the typical line also on involvement in WWI and WWII, painting anyone who disagreed as an “isolationist”. She pictures Great Society programs as necessary and good and does not address the serious constitutional, economic and moral arguments against them, nor the fact that they did not work. She skips over Reagan almost completely, almost as if she was embarrassed by him.
What would I use? That’s hard to say. How old are yours again? I’ve found a history book I like for high school but it only goes up to the 1950’s; for other things, I’d think about using some living books as Tanya mentions, supplementing with articles, wiki research, etc. on certain topics. I like Genevieve Foster books as far as I can get them to go. I use the Uncle Eric books on 20th century wars but they have some glaring errors also that I have to correct. I also tell the kids “stories” from 20th century history; I read about it and then tell them orally what I think is important for them to know. It’s a frustrating period to cover for sure! 20th century history is unusually highly politicized; there’s a lot at stake and nearly everyone is telling from an angle. It matters a GREAT DEAL, for example, what we THINK ended the Great Depression–did FDR’s Keynesian expansionist policies do it? If so, then stimulus is the right thing now; if NOT, then it’s absolutely the wrong thing. And EVERYONE then tells the story of the Depression from their own viewpoint. Ditto for wars. It’s a minefield! I don’t have anything easy as I haven’t found much out there I agree with 100%.
Bookworm, my kids are 14, 12, 10, 7, and 5 (plus a couple of toddlers who won’t care. 🙂
Thanks for writing out your thoughts on Hakim. Finding a good spine is turning out to be more complicated than I thought it would be. No wonder Sonya feels that writing her own is the only option. Kinda makes me wish I was a year behind where I am in the history cycle.
I am intrigued by the idea of replacing the need for a spine with a timeline. But I think with the span of ages I need to cover, I agree with Tanya, I would really rather have a spine in place — even if it is only for my benefit.
I keep hearing about Uncle Eric books — I’ll look those up. The glaring errors though… I never paid attention to history until I had to teach it. Now I love it, but feel extremely inadequate to sort through all the propaganda and spin.
Linda thanks for chiming in — I was going to ask you what you thought. 🙂
Well everyone, I will look up all the resources you mentioned. Several I had never heard of before. Thanks again.
~Jenn
Bookworm, Linda, anyone else… do the books on the booklist for module 6 avoid the kinds of issues you guys are talking about? In other words, if I was to lean really heavily on just the booklists for my various ages (kind of like a couple of posters mentioned) would I still be facing that sort of bias?
Jenn, yes, the books on the module list are all good and many were written by people who were actually involved or very close to the events. There is more coverage of the 19th than the 20th century but you are going to find that anywhere. There is just not as much good stuff covering the 20th century, and until our homeschool kids grow up and write a lot of books there might not be much more.
I agree with Jenn–finding a good Modern Times spine is complicated! I am eagerly awaiting Sonya’s books for module 6 history as well.
So, Sonya…..can I get you a cup of tea? an ergonomically designed computer chair?? stop by to clean your house for you??? Anything to hasten the writing and publishing process…..not that I’m rushing you.
I would never do that!Oh, how is your computer? Need a faster one?? I’ll have my people speak with your people….again, not rushing you, but….
The problem with any history is that unless it is an original source, it comes from the point of view of whoever wrote the book. It is a minefield, I found Hakim’s worlview and liberal views a turn off for us, but I will admit that Johnson and Gilbert are conservative as I am myself. The first thing I taught the girls about history is that I would teach from my own knowledge and my worldview, and it was up to them to discern for themselves what they thought. I have used some liberal books, but mostly conservative, and where I can I use an original source. Your children are a little young for the books I mentioned anyway – but I would avoid Hakim if you find the itty bitty type of writing annoying and the liberal spin, unless you are willing to add balance to the books yourself. I have tried to add balance to our courses in history through discussion, and through documentaries etc. Example there are two views or more on the plight of the Native Americans, some books are very anti Catholic or anti some other thing – I try and add the balance and ask them to really look at the situation and come to a conclusion for themselves. I don’t want mini clones of myself, I want them to be thinkers, so I am always telling them there is more than one answer to things, and you will have to decide throughout your life where you stand and what you think. I want them to know I value their opinions and that I want them to think things through themselves. We read all the books on Sonya’s list for the period, along with the two main books. I have a lot of books I have from England about the first and second world war and we used those as well. Linda
I would never do that!
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