Book of the Ancient Greeks/World and retention

[hermione310]

We're diving into the Book of the Ancient Greeks/Book of the Ancient World/Iliad/Odyssey sequence. I'm following the lesson plans and have a few questions for those that have walked before me:

- I'm finding that alternating between the Ancient Greeks/World feels a little disjointed. Anyone change this order to fully complete one book, then move to the next? Is there a reason that these alternate, and would therefore be advantageous for us to honor this sequence in the lesson plans?

- My daughter is having a hard time with retention of these lessons. Her commentary is that it's the introduction of a leader followed by war and conquering another land, lather, rinse, repeat, and that the material is dry. I know ancient history is hard to relate to. Any suggestions for supplements/ways to liven this up a little? I made daily recitation cards that correspond to the Facts to Know for each lesson, but aside from rote memorization, I don't think she's getting much out of this. I do realize she doesn't have to find every class to be "infotainment" in order to be valuable, but wondering if anyone else has encountered this and found a way to reinforce the material more effectively than I'm doing.

Thank you, wise MP users! I always appreciate the insight I get here.

[tanya]

Hermione,

I can explain why we have the Ancient World and Greeks scheduled together. Technically, The Ancient World is our Christian Studies for the year, so it is considered a separate class. But at HLS, we do cover The Ancient World first, then Ancient Greece, then Homer. So that means we don't have Christian studies all year in this grade, which is fine with us, but it isn't fine with everyone, especially some schools that have Christian studies every day. That's why we lesson planned it like we did. So The Ancient World is a year of Christian Studies in the curriculum. But at school, we like the order you have found to be easiest. And we know that our students are inundated with everything being taught from a Christian perspective at a Christian school, so we are fine with completing The Ancient World in the first trimester. I'd say it's a matter of personal preference.

I'm hoping others can give you ways to liven this up, but really, this study of Greece is just a review of the history, so it may be a little dry. But Homer should be more interesting! I hope you have the dvds so that you can get the benefit of Mr. Brooks' knowledge. If your daughter just perseveres through the history, the next phase of the course should be a different experience. History is exactly what she is finding - the lives of the men who made the history, lots of wars, and the rise and fall of civilizations. Maybe she just doesn't like history, and that's okay. But unfortunately, it doesn't mean she doesn't need to study it.

Tanya

[jenniferjb]

MPOA also completes Ancients first, then Greeks, and then Homer.

[jen1134]

Her commentary is that it's the introduction of a leader followed by war and conquering another land, lather, rinse, repeat, and that the material is dry.

Perhaps you could expand her scope a little more by choosing a deeper theme for her to trace from lesson to lesson. Some ideas:

1. The virtues needed by good leaders, as shown by Greece's best

2. The pros and cons of pure democracy (meaning not a Republic)

3. The extent to which Greek philosophy impacted Greek politics

4. The pros and cons of the city-state; did it lead to Greece's downfall?

That's all I can think of at the moment, but maybe it will spark some more ideas!

[pickandgrin]

Perhaps you could expand her scope a little more by choosing a deeper theme for her to trace from lesson to lesson. Some ideas:

1. The virtues needed by good leaders, as shown by Greece's best

2. The pros and cons of pure democracy (meaning not a Republic)

3. The extent to which Greek philosophy impacted Greek politics

4. The pros and cons of the city-state; did it lead to Greece's downfall?

That's all I can think of at the moment, but maybe it will spark some more ideas!

These are all excellent questions and thinking about them now along the way will come in really handy if the student gets to Plato later!

[hermione310]

Hermione,

I can explain why we have the Ancient World and Greeks scheduled together. Technically, The Ancient World is our Christian Studies for the year, so it is considered a separate class. But at HLS, we do cover The Ancient World first, then Ancient Greece, then Homer. So that means we don't have Christian studies all year in this grade, which is fine with us, but it isn't fine with everyone, especially some schools that have Christian studies every day. That's why we lesson planned it like we did. So The Ancient World is a year of Christian Studies in the curriculum. But at school, we like the order you have found to be easiest. And we know that our students are inundated with everything being taught from a Christian perspective at a Christian school, so we are fine with completing The Ancient World in the first trimester. I'd say it's a matter of personal preference.

I'm hoping others can give you ways to liven this up, but really, this study of Greece is just a review of the history, so it may be a little dry. But Homer should be more interesting! I hope you have the dvds so that you can get the benefit of Mr. Brooks' knowledge. If your daughter just perseveres through the history, the next phase of the course should be a different experience. History is exactly what she is finding - the lives of the men who made the history, lots of wars, and the rise and fall of civilizations. Maybe she just doesn't like history, and that's okay. But unfortunately, it doesn't mean she doesn't need to study it.

Tanya

Thank you so much for this clarification. I'm going to rearrange our schedule to complete the Ancient World before Ancient Greece vs. alternating. And yes, we have the DVDs for the Iliad and Odyssey. I previewed them and really like the content and the enthusiasm that comes across. I also appreciate that the delivery is age appropriate, as some other treatments of these works (not MP's, other providers) have seemed more appropriate for grad students.

[hermione310]

Perhaps you could expand her scope a little more by choosing a deeper theme for her to trace from lesson to lesson. Some ideas:

1. The virtues needed by good leaders, as shown by Greece's best

2. The pros and cons of pure democracy (meaning not a Republic)

3. The extent to which Greek philosophy impacted Greek politics

4. The pros and cons of the city-state; did it lead to Greece's downfall?

That's all I can think of at the moment, but maybe it will spark some more ideas!

These are great ideas! Thank you so much for sharing them. Digging deeper in our discussions will definitely appeal to her.

[klwalukas]

We also completed Book of the Ancient World first and then Book of Ancient Greece. I think that spreading out Acts of the Apostles throughout the year could be a nice Christian studies component if parents wanted more. What I would choose now however, if I could go back in time, would be to use the Early Sacred Music: From the Temple through the Middle Ages as a supplement for all of the Mills books Ancient World through Book of the Middle Ages. I think that would provide a lovely Christian studies complement!

[Molly in SC]

We also completed Book of the Ancient World first and then Book of Ancient Greece. I think that spreading out Acts of the Apostles throughout the year could be a nice Christian studies component if parents wanted more. What I would choose now however, if I could go back in time, would be to use the Early Sacred Music: From the Temple through the Middle Ages as a supplement for all of the Mills books Ancient World through Book of the Middle Ages. I think that would provide a lovely Christian studies complement!

I LOVE this idea!