Please define "spines" "cores" and cycle

mamaduke · Post by **mamaduke** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:12 am

Good Morning!

I'm still so new to this. I've read others post the word "spine(s)" and I don't know what that means. does it just mean book or set of books? Same with core. Core is usually with history I think and so is cycle. Carrie says the 4 guides to come will do the chronological world history cycle in chunks beginning with ancients and ending with modern times. I don't understand how that is a cycle. Help!

I've heard of cycle teaching (Tess Fries) where you teach all your grades the same history, just at each level, and then you repeat it all every four years, so the ones who had less coverage will get it more the second time around.

This doesn't seem to be what is referred to here.

Also, it seems that a four-year cycle would be less time to cover material compared to spending 4 early years on American history and then 4 more on world history. Like you couldn't cover as much.

Thanks for any insight.
Learning,

Jen in Va · Post by **Jen in Va** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:42 am

Hi Julie,
Welcome to HOD!

Let me try to give you just some general answers. A spine book is the backbone of a course of study. In history it may be a textbook or a biography. Some periods will have several spines, some one. As I see it, a spine is the foundation for study. It is possible to add meat to that spine or skeleton by further reading, but also as a child progresses through the study again--through the 4 year cycle of history study. Each year of study from ancients through modern (4 eras--I forget how Carrie specifically divides hers) is repeated, so let's just say for example's sake--you do ancients in 5th grade, Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation in 6th, 7th Explorers-mid 19th century, 8th grade late 19th century to present, once you hit high school--9th-12th grades, you would repeat these years again--hence the use of cycle--just at a deeper level more appropriate for a more mature student.

've heard of cycle teaching (Tess Fries) where you teach all your grades the same history, just at each level, and then you repeat it all every four years, so the ones who had less coverage will get it more the second time around.

This doesn't seem to be what is referred to here.

In a way this is what is being done, although Carrie doesn't cover the cycles in this way until after Preparing--which is the new guide for this year. It is an overview of world history. Carrie has planned for 4 guides after Preparing (beginning with approx age 9-11 or around 5th grade or so--give or take a year), each of which will cover one portion of the 4 year cycle of study. Then once those are finished, the student will be ready for another pass through the same 4 year cycle at the high school level using the curriculum of your choice.

Imo, you do cover quite a bit of history this way--more than I was taught in private school and much more than I taught as a public school history teacher. My own two older children have done/will do two complete passes through history in this manner. I used another curriculum for them and found that after I made the pass through the second time using a particular curriculum we were all facing major burnout due to the tweeking necessary. I love Carrie's approach and look forward to using it with my 5yo for as long as Carrie produces her guides!

Post by **Carrie** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:52 pm

mamaduke,

Jen did a wonderful job of explaining the terms to you! Thanks, Jen!

I'm so glad you asked for them to be clarified. Sometimes I'm not as clear as I could be in defining those words throughout my posts.

Blessings,
Carrie

mamaduke · Post by **mamaduke** » Tue May 27, 2008 9:52 am

Thank you Jen for the great explanation. I really do understand better. So is "core" used the same way as "spine"? It seems I've heard the same definition used for "thread" or "common thread." Not sure. So for HOD, what are the spines for the early grades? Is it just for history?

I'm very excited to get started and am actually considering starting LHTH this summer instead of fall. It's hard to be patient for all that juicy material in years to come. I'm pretty sure we're sticking with HOD for the long haul!

Blessings and thanks,

crlacey · Post by **crlacey** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:08 am

Thank you for the clarification. I've heard it described many times before with the 4 yr cycle, but for some reason it finally clicked this time. Thank you.

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Tue May 27, 2008 11:06 am

The history spines for HOD are generally in the Economy package, and for science, they're usually in the Economy or the Basic Package. The spines/cores are the ones you really can't do the program without having.

But, if that was just as clear as mud, which I can be about as clear as sometimes, please ask for the specific titles of those in the spines/cores when you want to know for a specific HOD program. So glad you asked this as I'm sure others may be wondering too!

Oh, and welcome to the board!

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. Did I tell you I love your name?