Need help with a history progression

[jen1134]

My rising 9th grader hasn't done Book of Greeks/Homer yet so I'm planning to have him do the Mills Greece and Rome books for history and Iliad/Odyssey/Aeneid for literature. I feel this will make for a solid freshman year, but I'm unsure what to do after that. Ideally, we would cover Medieval in 10th, Modern in 11th, and American in 12th but another thread mentioned that Medieval ends with 1400 and Modern picks up in 1600. So Renaissance/Reformation would need to be in the sequence as well.

Four courses, three of them very deep, but only three years. Summer subjects never pan out here. I would have him do history with HSC recorded courses but he doesn't do well with non-interactive audio presentations.

Any ideas??

[MyLittleWonders]

What about in 10th, do Mills Middle Ages and R&R, both with the student guides, alongside MP 9 lit? Then he'd be ready for Palmer in 11th and US in 12th.

[Mrs Bee]

A note on Medieval History: Davies ends even before the 1400s, since it takes you up to the times of St. Louis King of France, so 1200s. Hollister, used by MPOA, is the one that takes you to the threshold of Renaissance. Palmer has the first two chapters cover from Greece and Rome until 1560, so it's a super quick survey, then it slows down - you can see the table of content with the preview on Amazon.

MyLittleWonders' suggestion is good, and there could be the added benefit of Vita Beata, but I don't know if you meant to do history at home or with MPOA. MPOA's Hollister would likely study the same centuries as the two Mills books, I think. Then you could do Palmer at home in one year, since MPOA only does it in two years and the only alternative is the AP class. Then in 12th you'd have ample choice, either MPOA US History in one year (what they now call College Prep), or the AP class if it's his cup of tea, or one year at home.

[jen1134]

A note on Medieval History: Davies ends even before the 1400s, since it takes you up to the times of St. Louis King of France, so 1200s. Hollister, used by MPOA, is the one that takes you to the threshold of Renaissance. Palmer has the first two chapters cover from Greece and Rome until 1560, so it's a super quick survey, then it slows down - you can see the table of content with the preview on Amazon.

MyLittleWonders' suggestion is good, and there could be the added benefit of Vita Beata, but I don't know if you meant to do history at home or with MPOA. MPOA's Hollister would likely study the same centuries as the two Mills books, I think. Then you could do Palmer at home in one year, since MPOA only does it in two years and the only alternative is the AP class. Then in 12th you'd have ample choice, either MPOA US History in one year (what they now call College Prep), or the AP class if it's his cup of tea, or one year at home.

Thank you for the clarification on the dates. We used CTP and HSC for my older kids so I'm not familiar with MP's offerings for these!

Other than science and composition (more interactive), MPOA isn't a good fit for this one. What do you like better about Davies than Hollister? I'm REALLY particular about what we use for history.

[jejegreer]

You can cover Medieval History easily by using the 2 Dorothy Mills books mentioned by MyLittleWonders . While the earlier 4 Mills books (MP does not have a guide for the one about Ancient Israel, which is fine because it is covered in Book of the Ancient World) are more Middle School level, both The Book of the Middle Ages and Renaissance and Reformation Times are considered early high school level so they would be fine if you are concerned about covering the period between 1250 and the start of A History of Modern Europe those 2 books would cover it. Oh, plus you might be able to get your son into a Vita Beata offering for these. My daughter is in that discussion group next year and it sounds like it will be great, as would any educational time spent with Kristin W. (sorry, I do not know her MP Forum handle).

[KF2000]

Jen,
I am not sure if this is still the case, but it used to be that the Mills MA book was actually scheduled to be read within the 9th grade lit plans. Not sure if that was changed with the recent shifting of things when Henry V was taken out.

But I also agree that using those two Mills would cover that time period well. if the MA is still within lit, it is just read, no guidework, which you could shift if you want, or you could accept it that way and just have him do Ren/Ref as a year long course the way it is in the LP.

I have been trying to figure out how to include Mills up to that point too because my kids really like those books, and they do lead well into then doing the full on course of history of Europe.

AMDG,
Sarah

[jen1134]

What about in 10th, do Mills Middle Ages and R&R, both with the student guides, alongside MP 9 lit? Then he'd be ready for Palmer in 11th and US in 12th.

This is a great idea! I wasn’t sure when I read it last night because I missed the word “Mills” and thought you meant combining the Davis book and Ren/Ref. Tanya said the Davis guide is really in depth and definitely a year long course so I couldn’t see it working to combine with Ren/Ref.

But Mills MA would work very well!

[Mrs Bee]

Jen, I will answer the question Davies vs. Hollister later today - but I thought that another idea could also be using Mills only as summer reading (so no student guide work) between 9th and 10th, and then you would do Palmer in 2 years, and American in 1 (or even vice versa, depending on what you want to emphasize?) This is just an idea, not something I am in a position to recommend, but it's worth thinking about it: knowing that European history especially means a lot of work, one has to go into a single year of it knowing well what to expect. Also, the MP guide for Davies and Palmer are not like those for Mills and American History, have you had a look at the samples yet? I know Tanya said last year that the plan was to update the guide for American to adopt the same format.

You do lose the Vita Beata option this way, since as of yet I don't think there are discussion groups for European and American, though I could be wrong.

In short, this is the time for you to rehearse in your mind (and with your son of course!) all possible scenarios, keeping in mind the type of work required with each.