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WTM history & literature support thread for Logic Stage


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DD10 (5th grade) and I have ditched two history programs already this year and are now doing history as outlined in TWTM for logic stage. We are using the red Kingfisher and the Usborne Internet-Linked world history encyclopedias. Yesterday we entered dates on a timeline and read some pages of UILEWH. Today we did an outline from two pages of UILEWH. It's simple and actually a relief! :) Next week we're going to write a summary from an outline.

 

She's using the lit. program I wrote for her using the suggestions in TWTM. (It is a work in progress, it's free, and the link is in my siggy.) Today she asked if she could read more of Tales of the Greek Heroes by Roger Lancelyn Green. She read three chapters instead of the one I had scheduled. :) I think it helps that she read all the Percy Jackson books this summer, which got her fired up for ancient Greece.

 

The only think I feel is lacking with this set-up is history projects, so I think I'll still have her do the projects her younger sisters are doing with SOTW.

 

I'm re-reading the logic stage section of TWTM (again!) and I'm going to actually follow what it says this time since other things haven't worked out so well. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyone else doing history & lit. this way? Want to keep each other motivated? :D

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Yes. I have a ds in 8th grade and one in 6th. I use a variation of TWTM way for both. My youngest, in particular, follows WTM most closely. He reads SOTW, outlines from Usborne, and writes either short summaries or narrations from either of these. We use the map work from SOTW Activity Guide as well as our own geography activites (memory chants, puzzles, online games). It works for us. We'll probably continue on with the same process using SOTW with either Usborne or Kingfisher until we reach Rhetoric stage.

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DD10 (5th grade) and I have ditched two history programs already this year and are now doing history as outlined in TWTM for logic stage. We are using the red Kingfisher and the Usborne Internet-Linked world history encyclopedias. Yesterday we entered dates on a timeline and read some pages of UILEWH. Today we did an outline from two pages of UILEWH. It's simple and actually a relief! :) Next week we're going to write a summary from an outline.

 

We started doing this several months ago, but dd10 quickly found it tedious. I hate history. I mean, I hate this history. I loved history so much in school, it was history that taught me the skills I found most useful in University, and it was history that drew me to TWTM. I've tried to love it for years, but I don't.

 

For Grade 5 (January 2011) I'm going to shake things up completely. I am assigning one narrative history for her to read each quarter (Hillyer, Van Loon, Gombrich and SWB). Each quarter she will choose to go deeper into a couple of areas or historical figures - that's where we'll focus on the necessary skills of outlining and summarising. The aim will be to produce a project - written, poster-format or oral presentation.

 

I'm optimistic...

 

For literature we use Mosdos, which we both love, so we're sticking to that!

 

Nikki

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DD10 (5th grade) and I have ditched two history programs already this year and are now doing history as outlined in TWTM for logic stage. We are using the red Kingfisher and the Usborne Internet-Linked world history encyclopedias. Yesterday we entered dates on a timeline and read some pages of UILEWH. Today we did an outline from two pages of UILEWH. It's simple and actually a relief! :) Next week we're going to write a summary from an outline.

 

She's using the lit. program I wrote for her using the suggestions in TWTM. (It is a work in progress, it's free, and the link is in my siggy.) Today she asked if she could read more of Tales of the Greek Heroes by Roger Lancelyn Green. She read three chapters instead of the one I had scheduled. :) I think it helps that she read all the Percy Jackson books this summer, which got her fired up for ancient Greece.

 

The only think I feel is lacking with this set-up is history projects, so I think I'll still have her do the projects her younger sisters are doing with SOTW.

 

I'm re-reading the logic stage section of TWTM (again!) and I'm going to actually follow what it says this time since other things haven't worked out so well. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyone else doing history & lit. this way? Want to keep each other motivated? :D

 

After years of going around in a circle, we've come back to doing more reading, summarizing and outlining like the logic stage lays out. I've actually decided that it is easier than taking a packaged curriculum and constantly tweaking it.

One of the benefits for me is that I can work with the books that I actually have, rather than feeling like I keep having to chase down a particular title that is listed in someone else's outline. Sometimes, the main reason one book is listed rather than another is its availability. But I know (well mostly) what is on my shelves, and I'm free to use long out of print books that will never show up in a pre-made history plan because the books are hard to find.

 

I'm not much of a project person. What is working well for us is to follow the natural interests that arise from the reading. For example #2 son's research over the last two weeks was on Roman farms and food. So last night we cooked a dinner that was somewhat representative of possible Roman fare. We had a great time. He had a great time planning for it.

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After years of going around in a circle, we've come back to doing more reading, summarizing and outlining like the logic stage lays out. I've actually decided that it is easier than taking a packaged curriculum and constantly tweaking it.

One of the benefits for me is that I can work with the books that I actually have, rather than feeling like I keep having to chase down a particular title that is listed in someone else's outline. Sometimes, the main reason one book is listed rather than another is its availability. But I know (well mostly) what is on my shelves, and I'm free to use long out of print books that will never show up in a pre-made history plan because the books are hard to find.

 

I'm not much of a project person. What is working well for us is to follow the natural interests that arise from the reading. For example #2 son's research over the last two weeks was on Roman farms and food. So last night we cooked a dinner that was somewhat representative of possible Roman fare. We had a great time. He had a great time planning for it.

 

Yeah, it's the tweaking that always gets me. :tongue_smilie:

 

I'd like to incorporate more regular trips to the library so that she can browse and choose some more books that interest her. She loves to read and I think if she came across an interesting project idea she might go for that. I think she'd get a kick out of doing a Roman dinner.

 

We have assorted nonfiction books here at home, too, that I think I'll push her way (with no threat of making her write about it unless she wants to ;)).

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Yeah, it's the tweaking that always gets me. :tongue_smilie:

 

I'd like to incorporate more regular trips to the library so that she can browse and choose some more books that interest her. She loves to read and I think if she came across an interesting project idea she might go for that. I think she'd get a kick out of doing a Roman dinner.

 

We have assorted nonfiction books here at home, too, that I think I'll push her way (with no threat of making her write about it unless she wants to ;)).

 

Now I have sort of split the difference by taking Sonlight's schedule for Core 6 and stretching it out for 1.5 years. We do Sonlight for several weeks then have several weeks of reading and writing. I've come to be pretty happy with this method, since it gives us a structured schedule to spring from, while also giving us the time to do reading and outlining.

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We are doing history the WTM way. She reads Kingfisher or Usborne and write outlines and summaries from her readings. She does mapwork and timeline as well. She reads a few chapters daily from historical fiction as well as reading non-fiction books. I was a bit leery about all of the reading but she seems to be doing fine with it. She is my hands-on girl so she does projects and activities with her siblings from SOTW.

 

For literature, she and I read some of the heavier books together and discuss them ala WEM and TTC. When we aren't doing a read aloud together then I have her reading books on her own and writing narrations for each chapter. I am trying to get her to write just the main ideas of the chapter but this is a bit tricky for my wordy girl. :001_smile:

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I'm using the WTM approach with my two 10 year old girls (5th grade). I still read the SOTW chapter aloud (mostly so I can keep track of where we are) and we discuss it. They then outline or summarize independently from the white KF. They also map and place dates on the timeline. And, I have them take the chapter tests from the SOTW AG book. Occasionally, we hop over to the Fordham site to look at primary documents.

 

We also follow the WTM literature recommendations. The girls read most of them independently although there are still a few read alouds. Then we either discuss them or I have the girls do half-page summaries. They both like reading and I'm always looking for more ideas so I'm going to take a look at the literature guide in your siggy, Laura. :)

 

We've done fewer activities this time around but I continue looking for new ones. I haven't had them do much so far in the area of picking a topic and researching it but I'm thinking of moving that direction after the holidays are over.

 

When I was planning this year, I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed at the WTM recommendations but I have to say, once we got into our rhythm, it's gone pretty well. More than that, it's also shown me how capable my kids really are and how much they've grown in comprehension and analysis even as compared to last year when we finished SOTW 4 (which they loved). It's something which I'm trying to keep in mind with regard to their other studies. And it's given me great hope for the next stage :001_smile:

Edited by Laurie in Life
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and although he finds the writing tedious, it's going well from my perspective. We're doing projects from the SOTW AG, from AP (which I used with them previously, but some of the projects are still relevant, and from How to Teach Art to Children. Between those three, we've done lot s of great projects this year - all relatively easy to set up, informative and fun.

 

He also enjoys The Geography Book, recommended in TWTM; he says this is his favorite part of history this year.

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