Monday, February 18, 2013

New Year, New Goals

I suppose that calling a February 18 post a "New Year" post just goes to show how behind I am already this year!  Oh well, moving on!  Does anybody else struggle with sticking to a project until it is complete?  I tend to begin projects with enthusiasm, then I get a pretty good feel for how it's going to turn out and then I lose steam.  For me, the best part of a project is definitely the excitement of beginning something new.  I need to train myself to value the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing a project more than the initial high of starting out!

Well!  That said, I am about to begin a new project!! (Hooray!)  I look at homeschool history curriculum resources like The Story of the World and The Mystery of History and I'm so impressed with their content and scope, however, it is unfortunate that there is not more of a Canadian focus.  Also, while I totally subscribe to Susan Wise Bauer's Classical Education Model (as outlined in The Well Trained Mind), I'm not convinced her Logic stage outlining requirement is engaging enough for Grade 5-8 students (although I do plan on including one outlining assignment per week in history next year).  So... my new project is to develop a Grade 5-8 Classical History Curriculum with engaging readings and strong Canadian content (which will be difficult to do while studying Ancient Times or the Medieval Period!).  This 36-week curriculum will be divided into 4 years, each with 3 12-week terms.  The scope and sequence of the project is as follows:

Year 1: Ancient Times
Term 1: Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt
Term 2: Ancient Greece
Term 3: Ancient Rome

Year 2: The Middle Ages
Term 1: The Early Middle Ages
Term 2: The High Middle Ages
Term 3: The Late Middle Ages

Year 3: Early Modern Times
Term 1: 17th Century
Term 2: 18th Century
Term 3: 19th Century

Year 4: Late Modern Times
Term 1: The World to World War 1
Term 2: The World to the 1960s
Term 3: The World: 1960s to Present

I will be using this blog to organize resources and assignments for each period.  In each term students will complete 2 historical fiction readings (6 books per year).  They will be assigned a weekly outlining assignment from The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, a weekly mapwork assignment, and other readings, videos, and projects as appropriate.