- Ancients* 9th Grade
- Medieval* 10th Grade
- Renaissance*/Early Modern 11th Grade
- Modern 12th Grade
However, Dr. Bauer is well aware of the general graduation and university entrance requirements regarding American History and Government, so she recommends this rotation instead:
- 9th: Ancient History until ~500AD
- 10th: Medieval, Renaissance and Enlightenment history, 500-1750
- 11th: American history
- 12th: Early Modern and Modern History, 1750 to present.
Summary: How to teach Great Books/History
Choose a book from the Great Books list in The Well-Trained Mind, and read the corresponding history selection from the HOT_W or another text (recommendations in TWTM with a summary in the FAQs). Use a timeline to track what you have read, and make writing assignments to solidify the learning. (Dr. Bauer goes into great detail as to HOW to do this.)
Some schools read one Great Book and the corresponding history each quarter, but your progression is up to you.
Dr. Bauer's book The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had starts with instruction on how to read a book (much briefer than the commonly recommended counterpart). Each section recommends and describes great books of 6 genres.
What Books Does WTM Recommend for Post-Renaissance History?
For grades 9-12, students who are mature in their reading ability and able to deal with mature content, we recommend Susan Wise Bauer's History of the _____ World series. The three books cover Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance history.
For Late Renaissance/Early Modern History:
Burger, Michael. The Shaping of Western Civilization. University of Toronto Press
Cotterell, Arthur. Asia: A Concise History. John Wiley Press
Johnson, Paul. The Renaissance: A Short History. Modern Library
Tindall, George and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. WW Norton
Modern History:
Cotterell, Arthur, as above
Davies, Norman. Europe: A History. HarperPerennial
Johnson, Paul. Modern Times. HarperPerennial
Tindall, as above
For further help, check other articles in the general FAQ section for history.
For Further Information
Here are some articles from our FAQs that you might find interesting or helpful.
Tell me about the relationship between The Story of the World and The History of the World, and when to use each. This is in case you are tempted to use The Story of the World at the high school level: don't. It's not going to get your student where she needs to be to have a creditable education or transcript, or to make it in college.
Timelines: Where can I buy (or how can I make) a timeline? A timeline is helpful in tracking the progress of history and showing the correlation between events.
The other Help Center FAQs for history. These include resource recommendations and suggestions for how to use the HOT_W books in your classroom.
Lastly, if you go to our website, and search (upper left) on the word "history" you will find articles written by Dr. Bauer, as well as further product information.