Help us get through history without tears

[plain jane]

My 10yo 5th grader does not like history at all.  He has had no interest through the 3 years of SOTW that I went through with him and his siblings.  It was painful, I won't lie.  I would like to kick it up a notch with logic stage studies this year but he really dislikes the content and has no interest.  I don't want to do SOTW again with him as he didn't enjoy it the first time around.  Although he does read for leisure, he's also not the kid who is going to find additional reading and novels fun and I know it will be a challenge to get him to do much supplemental reading.  Due to strong lack of interest he really has not retained much from SOTW so a lot of the material will be new for him.

 

What's the least painful way to get him through history this year?  We are having a bit of a difficult year outside of school so I have been more lenient with work output but school has always been a struggle for this one.  There are very few subjects that he enjoys and overall he really dislikes school.  He is very immature for his age and while his skills (writing, math, spelling, reading) are all at grade level his critical thinking and logic skills are very weak and he seems to be a couple years behind in his understanding of things.  I would like a program that is more of "get it done" type but that may perhaps ignite a spark in him at some point.  Nothing too writing intensive would be great, but I would like something that requires output so that I can gauge if he's actually doing the reading.  I have 4 other kids to teach and it's hard enough some days. :)

[8filltheheart]

Does he like to read history written as a novel? Maybe reading through books like the Landmark books or American Heriage Junior library books? My kids love them.

[The Governess]

What if you let him watch documentaries? Then from there he could note one person or event each month that he has learned about and is interested in researching. He could present what he finds through his research in a written report, oral report, on poster board, as a collage or art project, etc. Maybe giving him more choice over what he spends his time researching will help him enjoy it more?

[Starr]

Will he make timelines? Maps? Hands on?

[prairiewindmomma]

documentaries + projects?  Output = projects?

 

This is 5th grade.  Really, it's ok to not be book heavy.  I'd try to find a way to get his interest to spark.  Watch Horrible Histories, read Arms & Armor and have him sketch out battles, whatever it is that can get a foothold for him. Mine liked listening to the Percy Jackson books and that sparked study of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Scandinavia. 

[redsquirrel]

what does he like?  If he is a stem kid, I think it is very possible to make history a read only or even (for 5th grade) a watch more and read a bit subject and have him hone his budding critical thinking skills in science. It doesn't HAVE to be history where he reads, outlines, writes etc. It could just as easily be science.

 

And is there anything in history that he does like? Or anything that he particularly hates? Is it the reading?  Is it the narration? There are lots of ways to do a workaround for a particular thing.

 

There are different kinds of history as well.  Something like Joy Hakim's Story of Science is the history of physical science.  There are three books, that could easily carry you through years 5-7 and even 5-8.  There are teacher's books and a student book to go along with the three text books.  There have absolutely been people on this board who have done that as their history. For some kids it's a better choice.

[Farrar]

He's still in elementary, I think I'd go the other direction from the "get it done" approach and try to tailor it to him and throw all the fun stuff at him and not worry too much about output or reading - just to see if there is some way to make history enjoyable for him. And then, at the end of the year or the semester or whatever, if it didn't work, oh well, but you tried and there's no reason to worry about his output as a fifth grader. So maybe do the history of a particular subject or of science or do historical recreations or watch a ton of movies or read aloud or listen to historical fiction on audiobook. Or do a year of historical cooking once a week. Or military history. Or history skits. I don't know... just... try things and think about what he does enjoy. It's still low risk time. And his skills aren't quite there yet, so you may as well try the fun stuff.

[bibiche]

You can learn quite a lot reading the Horrible Histories books, plus they are fun. They have videos (on YouTube, I think) as well.

 

If you are looking for something a bit more traditional, but very well done, I recommend The World in Ancient Times series put out by Oxford University Press.

 

Don't discount the power of video to pique interest as well as to learn either. Nova is a great resource.

[prairiewindmomma]

I have the series bibiche recommends; it is well done.  

 

What about ancient technologies....making a working shaduf, stress testing architecture styles (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/235313149259694754/), building an egyptian burial chamber......  As I'm sitting here making a list for my 10yo 5th grader there really is a long list of project based stuff that one could do.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

If it is that much of a struggle, I would find the most engaging textbook you can and not drag it out. Have him write a couple of papers on some topics or do quizzes/tests for output. Maybe a notebook would be useful.

 

Another idea: Since this is fifth grade and not too serious yet, maybe he'd enjoy a bit of a rabbit trail with history. Maybe modern history in a topic that interests him. The history of inventions or warfare. There's even a history of the horse. Maybe a social studies unit study on other world cultures or American history or state history. Find something that interests him and give him a breather semester on something he does find engaging.

[City Mouse]

What about local/state history and do field trips? Living history farms, state parks,national parks. My DS doesn't like history because just reading about history is boring to him, but he has spent hours watching historical demonstrations such as blacksmithing.

[Milknhoney]

Sounds like my son!! The one thing about SOTW that he actually enjoyed was the mapping activities. So for 5th I decided to take a break from history and do a year of geography instead. He still didn't love it and I'm not sure if I even want to recommend the particular curriculum I chose. But I think it was still good to have a break from history. In 6th, we went with the history-encyclopedia-as-spine with literature route. Easier, but I felt like he wasn't really learning anything. This year we're back to SOTW again. Even though it is directed at a younger audience, it is still pretty comprehensive. Plus, it's a lot easier for him now a few years later. I bought the PDF of the review questions to print out and he does everything totally independently now. Seriously, my thinking was pretty much where you are at: history is not his thing and never will be, so let's just get it done in the easiest way possible. For us, that turned out to be to stick with SOTW, but not bother with all the extra reading. I am making his literature reading parallel, though. Also, he's doing Critical Thinking in US History. He really enjoys logic so it is the perfect bridge to making history interesting for him. I don't recommend it for 5th, though. Oh, and he really does like Horrible Histories. I keep forgetting about the YouTube videos. 

[Sahamamama2]

Do you have a decent public library or a decent home History library? You might take him to the library once or twice a month and have him choose several resources on Topic X  (which he chooses). Within the 900s (History & Geography), there are ten subcategories:

 

900—History

910—Geography & Travel

920—Biography & Geneaology

930—History of the Ancient World (to c. 400)

940—History of Europe

950—History of Asia

960—History of Africa

970—History of North America

980—History of South America

990—History of Other Areas

 

You might require him, over the course of a school year, to choose his study topics from each of these ten subcategories, or you might want to focus on particular subcategories. Perhaps he will find something of personal interest along the way.

 

As for output, have him produce a one-page summary of his readings every two weeks. He could write a report, draw and label a map, draw and label a picture (if this relates to his readings), draw and label a chart (if that is relevant), and so on. He should list his resources on the back of the notebook page. If he writes two one-page summaries per month, in a school year he will have completed 20 study topics of his own choosing, and will have 20 notebook pages to show for it. These should be filed in chronological order, which will help him begin to grasp a timeline.

 

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One other thought is that, for some people, history-as-narrative is painfully boring. My husband is one of these people. “Who cares about the story?†he says. “They’re all dead.†Yes, he is a STEM guy, and for him, History has “no point.†It is over and done with. What can you do with it? From his perspective, History does not go forward, and people cannot actually go back, so....

 

If my husband were suddenly turned back into a ten year old boy, and I had to teach him History.... :svengo:  I’m not sure I would, certainly not history-as-story. He would consider that a waste of his time, even at ten. Instead, we would focus on MAPS and FACTS and TIMELINES. Maps are concrete—“Trace this map.†Facts are memorizable—“Memorize this pack of history cards.†Timelines are linear, and he’s a linear thinker. So, maps, facts, and timelines. HTH.

 

 

[Roadrunner]

What about Horrible Histories series? It's perfect for his age and the humor in it might really be entertaining as well as educational for him.

[HeatherL]

Do you have a decent public library or a decent home History library? You might take him to the library once or twice a month and have him choose several resources on Topic X  (which he chooses). Within the 900s (History & Geography), there are ten subcategories:

 

900—History

910—Geography & Travel

920—Biography & Geneaology

930—History of the Ancient World (to c. 400)

940—History of Europe

950—History of Asia

960—History of Africa

970—History of North America

980—History of South America

990—History of Other Areas

 

 

 

I miss libraries like this!! Ours took away the Dewy Decimal System years ago.  Everything is done by category now, even kid fiction.  And there is no real rhyme or reason as to why a book is in a certain spot.  Books about outer space are in earth science as well as general science, as well has "space"  It is done by topic and no longer by author.  So popular authors may have books in different areas.  Finding anything is a pain!!  

[SanDiegoMom]

The You Wouldn't Want to be a... Series is great for this age. My son hates non-fiction reading (unless it's computer related) but he does enjoy this series!

[Sahamamama2]

I miss libraries like this!! Ours took away the Dewy Decimal System years ago.  Everything is done by category now, even kid fiction.  And there is no real rhyme or reason as to why a book is in a certain spot.  Books about outer space are in earth science as well as general science, as well has "space"  It is done by topic and no longer by author.  So popular authors may have books in different areas.  Finding anything is a pain!!  

 

We actually stopped using our public library for a while, and their system for sorting books was one of many reasons. It was a pain in the neck to find books in that library. They had a children's section with some of the books; some of the fiction here, some there; all of the juvenile non-fiction filed with the adult non-fiction (on three separate levels!), and some authors or collections or series or "themes" pulled out here and there. The computer catalog didn't say WHERE any of these books were physically located, and the librarians didn't seem to want to help, to put it mildly. In truth, I simply got tired of taking three young children up and down and up and down the levels of the library, all around and around, hunting down a few children's books. Also, there were times when the appropriateness of filing juvenile non-fiction with the adult non-fiction was questionable, IMO. There wasn't any way for my children to browse through a separately organized JNF section, looking for books on their level.

 

Oddly enough, the public library that is also in our system (and turns out to be three miles closer to us!) has the wonderful old system. Everything is in one place for kids. Love it! They can browse! :)

[Sahamamama2]

The You Wouldn't Want to be a... Series is great for this age. My son hates non-fiction reading (unless it's computer related) but he does enjoy this series!

 

:iagree: No offense, but SOTW by itself is a bit dry and flat. It's a good spine, but rather lifeless on its own. We use SOTW here as a group read aloud, do the mapwork (before the reading, so they can follow along), do the discussion questions, do the quiz orally together (immediately after the reading), review our Veritas Press memory cards (and make up silly motions), and occasionally work on our wall timeline (Homeschool in the Woods). We almost never do the coloring pages or activities with SOTW, because I'm just not going to take that kind of time for History activities (we'd rather do hands-on for Science).

 

On their own, my girls read and/or listen to Mystery of History (same volume). I don't try to coordinate the MOH readings with the SOTW chapters (at all), the girls just follow along on the MOH chart and do the chapters that have been assigned for that month. They also read each week from our History Book Basket. Twice each month, they complete a notebook page -- written summary, a hand-drawn and labelled map, a labelled drawing, or a combination of writing and drawing. They list the resources they used on the back of the notebook page. Easy-peasy. They like looking back at their notebook pages, and it's a good form of review.

 

Story of the World needs a History Book Basket to flesh it out, IMO. In fact, it was intended to be used that way, which is why there are booklists with every lesson. The You Wouldn't Want to... series has been a hit here with a similar age range. Also look for:

 

David Adler's A Picture Book of... series

 

Maestros' American Story series

 

Jean Fritz books

 

Cheryl Harness books

 

If You... series (various authors)

 

You Choose Interactive History Adventures series

 

True Books (some of these are worth having, but check for accuracy)

 

We used to get our books from the public library, but since we moved here (three years) we just buy all the books. It works out better, in a way, because the girls read and re-read and re-read the books, which they could not do if the books were returned to the library. So far, we have a huge collection of American History books, a nice-sized collection of Ancient History, a moderate collection for Geography and Civics, and a small-but-growing collection of Middle Ages books. ;) Now for more bookshelves... :leaving:

[KrissiK]

Just throwing this out here, but my 7th grade son doesn't like history at all. We tried all sorts of things. This year we're doing Notgrass World History and it's working really well. One caveat, it is overtly Christian, but we have no problem with that. The textbook is beautiful. Wonderful photographs of everything we study, there's map work, timeline, etc.

[HollyDay]

oldest did not like history until we switched programs.  I did SOTW/MOH which I really liked and thought would engage dc.  Youngest loved it.  Oldest did not.  She was a "just the facts" type learner.  Think workbook or textbook style.  Once we left the Charlotte Mason, Classical type approach and went to a textbook, she was fine and even enjoyed history (at least a bit).