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When should I get serious about history?


hedwigtheowl
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This is my first year home-schooling my fourth grader.

 

I need to concentrate on math because she is behind from last year in school.

And also catch up on science. I want to pursue music, voice and PE in more depth.

 

I have decided to "chunk" history into 3 projects. My daughter chose George Washington and then The Declaration of Independence. For the third we will do a project from the 20th century.

 

But should I be introducing an overview, timeline of history or can that wait?

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IMO, history needs context.  So doing a project on the Declaration in isolation isn't going to have the same impact as it would if the student had enough history to understand the time period that spawned it as well as how revolutionary it really was.

 

Ideally, you would start with the ancients and then move forward over three or four years.  However, there are good arguments for doing American first.  If that is what you are set on, I'd use a spine--my favorite is the *concise* edition of A History of US (Hakim).  We did all four books in fourth grade and my son loved it.  

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If you determine that Hakim’s series is too in-depth for your needs, Betsy Maestro’s American Story series would give context for early U.S. history. 

 

The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History by Jennifer Armstrong is a good supplement.

 

Don't discount the benefits of just reading about history.  Not everything she does requires testing or formal study.  Compile of book list of interesting titles and set her loose.  Projects centered on George Washington, the Constitution and your 20th century topic can be the year's tangible output (if needed for a portfolio).

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HOMEschooling is all about your HOME. The answer to your question varies with what your home is like. What your worldview is.

 

After hanging on the edges of multiple sub-societies with conflicting worldviews I have been left without a worldview or even any sense of "right" and "wrong". I believe that hiSTORY is nothing but STORIES that tell us far more about the authors than what happened.

 

So *I* have what appears to be a very lackadaisical approach to teaching history. I don't teach it much differently than literature. I believe exposure to ideas is necessary and interesting and inspiring, but I don't teach it as fact.

 

I'm not expecting you to agree with me or copy me!!!!!! :lol:

 

I'm just throwing my radical idea out there to show that my teaching style reflects MY background and belief system. Or mostly my lack of a belief system. :lol:

Edited by Hunter
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I just want to say that I think what you've laid out is perfectly fine for this, one year in a life-long educational journey for a young person! You could easily just pick a volume of Story of the World (vol 3 or 4 would fit with what you already have planned) and listen to it on audio in the car or at mealtimes and have discussions about it. That's it! Don't overcomplicate or feel like you HAVE to do everything.

Then, next year, when you feel more confident about her abilities in math and science and you have time and energy to pursue more history, you can add to it (more reading, map work, timeline, etc.)

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Thank you for the input. I plan to use Hakim for general reading. I do have to do a portfolio so I will use the projects for that and maybe throw in a few home-made quizzes.

 

I agree with all your answers! Context is needed, a sense of timeline, but within that we can pull out stories and personalities and use field trips and crafts to bring it to life. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by hedwigtheowl
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I think you are very wise for considering just how much you can bite off in your first year homeschooling.  And I don't think that there is anything wrong with just waiting until next year to give you some time to get your footing and figure out what works for you.  

 

However, at least for our family, history is what my kids love.  If I took that out, it would be all work and no play around here.  

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I got lost when you said that you wanted to stay away from testing in history. I've never tested ANY subject. Admittedly I haven't done grade 4 quite yet, that's this year, but I'm not planning on adding any testing. ;)

 

So if for you "serious"=testing then my answer would be never. We find that reading through a spine, doing some extra reading sometimes, and finding things on a map is plenty serious.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

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But should I be introducing an overview, timeline of history or can that wait?

 

My kids are now a college senior, 9th, and 8th.

 

Based on my experience, you don't have to "get serious" about history until high school.

 

My kids didn't really get anything out of making a timeline. It was a lot of work, and I don't think making our own was necessary to help the kids see and understand how history was playing out across cultures and across time. Get a book or find a website that has a nice timeline to use for reference, and save your effort.

 

If your kid thinks timelines are great fun, by all means, make one, but if you're considering doing it just because you think you "should," don't bother.

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I plan to use Hakim for general reading.

 

Personally, I think Hakim is waaaay too detailed for a fourth grader. Your mileage may vary.

 

We really loved the Maestro books mentioned upthread.

 

Don't be in a hurry to use resources for older kids that could possibly be used more profitably when your child is older. Hakim is directed at middle schoolers.

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Personally, I think Hakim is waaaay too detailed for a fourth grader. Your mileage may vary.

 

We really loved the Maestro books mentioned upthread.

 

Don't be in a hurry to use resources for older kids that could possibly be used more profitably when your child is older. Hakim is directed at middle schoolers.

 

:iagree: 

My 7th grader is using Hakim this year. It's just right for middle school! My 3rd grader is using Maestro and a variety of historical fiction. I also agree with a PP that no testing or quizzes are necessary. Just reading and discussing history is what's great at this age. Have fun!

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Just wanted you to inspire you = not guilt you...

we were at the Smithsonian Museum of American History and I happened to be standing behind a little boy and his mom.  She asks him as he darts off towards the next exhibit, "Wait, what is this all about?"  

 

The little boy pipes right up, "I know, mom.  I already read it and know about it.  It's talking about..." and he proceeds to go into the intricate details of the commentary board.  She was clearly embarrassed that he was running off, in effort to reassure her I asked her how old he was.  She replies, "9".

 

She may have been embarrassed but I was impressed.  I've raised a 9 year old boy.  The little guy had a better grasp on the facts than my high schooler right now (we haven't covered WWI yet :closedeyes: ).

 

Anyway, I think it has alot to do with interest, but also they'll drink up what we put in front of them.

HTH

Edited by momee
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This is my first year home-schooling my fourth grader.

 

I need to concentrate on math because she is behind from last year in school.

And also catch up on science. I want to pursue music, voice and PE in more depth.

 

I have decided to "chunk" history into 3 projects. My daughter chose George Washington and then The Declaration of Independence. For the third we will do a project from the 20th century.

 

But should I be introducing an overview, timeline of history or can that wait?

 

 

They look great! I want to stay away from testing in history this year. I actually majored in history and I love the subject! My daughter is the type who will pick up a book on history for fun.

 

I'll tell you what I would do, and what has worked so well here with my girls, who also read history books for fun:

  • I would purchase all four hardback volumes of Story of the World, along with all four sets of the audio CDs. Yes, that will be an investment, but well-worth doing, IMO. My girls have listened to the CDs over and over, and sometimes they follow along in the books, or just read the books in their free time. Having these resources "on hand," especially the CDs, has allowed the girls to painlessly absorb an overview of history, usually without me having to assign anything.
  • I would start to build up your home library, by purchasing engaging, living books on whatever era of history you want to focus on. For example, when we focused on American History, we filled our shelves with wonderful books on every topic from the first people to come to the New World, all the way up to recent US history. I labelled the books as "American Story," with a date (or range of dates), and the girls are free to pull books from the American History Bookshelves whenever they choose. Last year, we turned our focus to Ancient History (which we will continue this year), and we again built up our home library with wonderful books that the girls are free to read at will. By having the books here at all times, they can revisit old favorites ;), and the most I ever have to do is to assign "Read from History Book Basket." The History Book Basket is the selection of books that cover the topics we focus on that week (or 2-3 weeks), and these rotate in and out. But it's a low-key way to provide interesting history material for your daughter, at her own pace and to the extent that you have time in your routine.
  • If you have the budget for it (and you think your daughter would learn well this way), I would invest in other audio books that address history topics. Peace Hill Press now sells Jim Weiss' CDs (his company was called Great Hall Productions), and many of these deal with history topics -- Thomas Jefferson's America; Abraham Lincoln & the Heart of America; Galileo & the Stargazers; Egyptian Treasures: Mummies & Myths; Carry On, Mr. Bowditch; I Said I Could & I Did; Gone West; Women in Blue or Gray -- and many more. My girls have listened to all of Jim Weiss' CDs over and over again. I think they have some of them memorized! :) Your library might have some of these, as well.

Finally, I wouldn't worry about history too much at this stage, if you decide to have other priorities for a year or two. It's content, and content can get filled in later. Skills take time and consistency to build and strengthen. I agree that if your daughter is behind on math, that is the higher priority. So these (above) are kind of easy ways to get some content, in a relaxing, low-key way. History doesn't have to be a formal subject in 4th grade, IMO, if you have resources on your shelves that your daughter will use. ;)

 

Also, FWIW, we didn't follow the "ancients first" philosophy here, and I have no regrets about that. In fact, I'm very pleased that we did it the way we did:

  • Bible Stories + Biographies + Folk Tales when they were little
  • Then a homemade "Around the World" geography study when they were a bit bigger -- library books & videos + crafts + cooking + "costumes" + music & games + map work (a ton of fun & we retained so much!)
  • Followed by a few years of American History -- our bookshelf + American Girl books + audio books + history notebook pages + drawing history pictures with Draw-Write-Now + US Geography (we LOVED all of this!)...
  • Followed by a year (so far) of Ancients -- our bookshelf + Mystery of History + Story of the World (audio & book) + history notebook summaries + a wall timeline + map work...
  • This upcoming year, we plan to finish Ancients, with a bit of time to spare at the end for US Geography review

Welcome to homeschooling! I have twin 4th graders about to begin, and I'm excited. Fourth grade is so much fun.

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Personally, I think Hakim is waaaay too detailed for a fourth grader. Your mileage may vary.

 

We really loved the Maestro books mentioned upthread.

 

Don't be in a hurry to use resources for older kids that could possibly be used more profitably when your child is older. Hakim is directed at middle schoolers.

 

:iagree: There are so many other books that are better suited to 4th graders.

 

But then, I may be the only person on these boards who does not like the Hakim books (at all). I've checked them out so many times from the library, and I can never continue reading them. Her tone just turns me off. And I feel the same way about her science books, so it must just be a mismatch, I guess. If your library has them, you might want to preview the books for yourself. HTH.

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I think upper elementary is the best time to start to be more deliberate about history.

 

However, I don't think that means you have to test.  With my eldest we read our books, discussed them, and some years we kept a timeline or book of centuries.  I think at that point, the idea is really to read history as a story, but in an organized way where you expect some retention. (In contrast, up until gr 2 or 3 I think its fine to have less organization and treat it more like just stories.) 

 

I don't think testing is necessary or maybe even helpful, and most kids that age probably won't benefit a lot from writing about history topics either.  For a child whose writing is ready, history reports and projects at about grade 6 or middle school are more appropriate, but still that will still mostly be reporting what they have learned.

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I don't know that I would go right ahead and buy so much SOTW stuff.  I'd start with one or two, or try looking at them at the library, first.  They aren't really my favorite and I would hate to have bought the whole set and the CDs and then not want to use them.

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