Switzerite: Jumping Forward in Time: A History Booklist

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Jumping Forward in Time: A History Booklist

My 13 year old, Becca, is looking at applying to a private school and we have come up against one main curriculum mismatch. This is the scope & sequence of the History curriculum. In Waldorf, children learn Jewish mythology in grade 3 and Norse mythology in grade 4. They start the fifth grade year with the mythologies of India, Persia, Mesopotamia and Egypt, then transition from mythology to true History later in grade 5 with ancient Greece. They then do ancient Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire, as well as the Middle Ages in Europe in grade 6. Grade 7 brings the child to the Age of Exploration and the Renaissance & Reformation. Grade 8 begins with the Age of Revolution and then the child is brought up to the modern era.

The last day of eighth grade history should end with that day's morning newspaper

Dorit Winter, from p.90 of her contributing essay, "The Chariot of Michael," in And Who Shall Teach the Teachers, available to download for FREE at the Online Waldorf Library

As Carrie writes in the Parenting Passageway blog, this is sometimes arranged to take two years, with the child coming to Current Events by the end of the ninth grade year. Otherwise, it is a LOT of content!

If you're looking for more resources for the Waldorf scope & sequence, Christoph Lindberg's Teaching History: Suggested Themes for the Curriculum in Waldorf Schools is available to download for FREE as a PDF from the Online Waldorf Library.

In the school we are looking at, the seventh grade class is currently on Andrew Jackson and they'll spend the rest of this year and next year on American History. They end seventh grade by arriving at the Civil War.

So Becca is left with a huge task: to get from the Renaissance & Reformation to the Civil War. FAST.

Happily, Becca loves to read!!!

We are starting with the big picture, with her reading cover to cover A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer. This vintage classic was my absolute favorite book as a child (and one which I talk about here constantly).

She's also already read King George: What Was His Problem?, which helps.

We also have a vintage textbook which I picked up at a sale and have never ever used. Apparently I bought it just for this purpose! It is called Short American History by Grades: The Story of the Nation, Part Two by Everett Barnes and it looks like it's been reprinted now that it is out of copyright. The copyright in my book is from 1908.

I will start her after the end of the Revolutionary War and have her read chapters 3, 4, and 5.

From there, we are going to supplement the textbooks with a booklist of historical fiction arranged in chronological order. Here are my thoughts. Please feel free to chime in if you have recommendations!!!