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Genevieve Foster history books for middle schooler?


TrixieB
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My 6th grader is finishing up Sonlight's Core 6. She really likes The World of Columbus and Sons, and has requested to use other Genevieve Foster books to continue her history studies. Along with these, she would read selected biographies and historical fiction. We also have Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World and several other reference books to add as needed. I think using several of GF's books would take her through 7th grade.

 

Would studying history in this way be appropriate for a 6th/7th grader, or is it too "light"?

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No, I don't think it will be too light for middle schoolers.

 

The beauty of her books is that you can just use them as a read-aloud for younger kids, or use them as a springboard for older kids. I am using The World of William Penn and George Washington's World this year with my 5th grader. Because we are also using A History of US for our spine, those books mentioned above were used as "icing on the cake". It's a delight to be able to enjoy these books with ds. But I would imagine a 6-8th grader could read those books, find something mentioned in books that interests him, and do more research on it. Or, he can see if there are anyone in history in that time period that's not mentioned in the books and write something about it.

 

I think what you plan to do is enough for middle schoolers.

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My 6th grader is finishing up Sonlight's Core 6. She really likes The World of Columbus and Sons, and has requested to use other Genevieve Foster books to continue her history studies. Along with these, she would read selected biographies and historical fiction. We also have Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World and several other reference books to add as needed. I think using several of GF's books would take her through 7th grade.

 

Would studying history in this way be appropriate for a 6th/7th grader, or is it too "light"?

 

No, I don't think it would be too light. In fact, it's wonderful that she's found a spine or collection of spines that she can really enjoy. I would definately allow her to follow her interest as long as you're adding in other materials to broaden and deepen a bit.

 

Stacy

Edited by Stacy in NJ
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I think it is fine, so long as you remember that Foster's books are historical fiction. Not every detail in the books has a basis in historical fact. We love them, too, and do use them each year. I don't mean to dissuade you from that. Just do keep in mind that while historical fiction like hers may hold very close to history, it is not all fact.

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Here's a link to Beautiful Feet's junior high study guide that uses the Foster books as a year long history course.

Thank you for sharing the link. Do you know which Foster books are used for this guide? The description said "several" but did not indicate which ones. Also, is this guide secular, or can it be easily adapted for secular use?

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