Melody1 Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 I am sure this topic has been covered a lot on here, but I am not finding what I am looking for when I do a search. I will have a 6th grader and 4th grader next year. I would like to do history and science in one lesson for both of them, but I am not sure where to start. I would like to follow the lessons in WTM for those two topics fairly closely, but they are obviously in different places on the cycle. We have been using SOTW for 3 years now and are set to start on book 4. So here are my questions: Should I do different lessons for each child for science and history to keep them closer to the books grade plans? If I keep them together and just start the cycle over, should I go back to Ancients for history and sort of splitting the difference a bit and starting with 5th grade for those two topics? I love the timeline/suggestions in WTM, but for more than one child, and especially for friends of mine that have lots of kids, this seems like a large amount of time to do a separate lesson for each child in the family for every topic. Maybe that is better and worth it! I'm still learning. Any advice or links to other threads on this topic would be great! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Yes, absolutely you can teach them together for these subjects. This will likely make things easier for you and could make things more interesting for them to do it together. At some point, when they are closer to high school, a break-up may naturally occur, and you will know when that is necessary. I didn't always use resources with a designated grade level, but if I did, I would go with the grade level of the oldest. It is much easier to explain something more simply or to dumb something down for the younger than to beef something up for the older. But it would also be fine to use a resource labeled as 5th grade as you suggest because there would not be that much difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 I'd do the main lesson with them together and then assign independent work (reading, writing, etc) according to each one's ability. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fralala Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 I'd do the main lesson with them together and then assign independent work (reading, writing, etc) according to each one's ability. This is what we do. Plus we get stacks of books at different levels. Have you seen Layers of Learning? I think it's a good model for how to approach science and history with different levels and ages. I think it's best not to get overly obsessed with the history sequence, other than to make sure readings are age-appropriate for all levels. Linger or repeat/delve deeper into what your kids seem to enjoy the most. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody1 Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 Thanks for the feedback! Sounds like I am at least on the right track and it would be fine going any direction. I haven't heard of Layers of Learning. I will look that up. Thanks again! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 I am sure this topic has been covered a lot on here, but I am not finding what I am looking for when I do a search. I will have a 6th grader and 4th grader next year. I would like to do history and science in one lesson for both of them, but I am not sure where to start. I would like to follow the lessons in WTM for those two topics fairly closely, but they are obviously in different places on the cycle. We have been using SOTW for 3 years now and are set to start on book 4. So here are my questions: Should I do different lessons for each child for science and history to keep them closer to the books grade plans? If I keep them together and just start the cycle over, should I go back to Ancients for history and sort of splitting the difference a bit and starting with 5th grade for those two topics? I love the timeline/suggestions in WTM, but for more than one child, and especially for friends of mine that have lots of kids, this seems like a large amount of time to do a separate lesson for each child in the family for every topic. Maybe that is better and worth it! I'm still learning. Any advice or links to other threads on this topic would be great! Thank you! Many people keep their kids in the same section of the history cycle all the time. Are they both on book 4 for SOTW? If so, great! They're both together, it works well. Start adding more of the logic-stage work for your older, maybe. For science, did you want to follow the history-linked topics of science or just do science? We didn't divide by history era, because I prefer a more integrated science approach. Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody1 Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 Many people keep their kids in the same section of the history cycle all the time. Are they both on book 4 for SOTW? If so, great! They're both together, it works well. Start adding more of the logic-stage work for your older, maybe. For science, did you want to follow the history-linked topics of science or just do science? We didn't divide by history era, because I prefer a more integrated science approach. Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk I think this is where I am having trouble deciding and figuring out what to do. I like the integrated science approach and the grade appropriate reading list that goes along with with the history that we would be studying, but my kids are on very different reading levels. If I move forward, will the books recommended for 8th grade Modern history advanced for my 6th grader (he reads well above his reading level, but it is more content that I am concerned about). If I do that and then I would go back to Ancients when he is in 7th and his brother is in 5th... Would those books still hold my 7th grader's attention? I am quite sure that I am overthinking this. We homeschool over the summers, so I was thinking about, instead of moving forward to book 4 of SOTW, just going back to Ancients and Life Science to start the whole cycle at the beginning for both of them. I don't know. I wish I had started all of this years ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 I think this is where I am having trouble deciding and figuring out what to do. I like the integrated science approach and the grade appropriate reading list that goes along with with the history that we would be studying, but my kids are on very different reading levels. If I move forward, will the books recommended for 8th grade Modern history advanced for my 6th grader (he reads well above his reading level, but it is more content that I am concerned about). If I do that and then I would go back to Ancients when he is in 7th and his brother is in 5th... Would those books still hold my 7th grader's attention? I am quite sure that I am overthinking this. We homeschool over the summers, so I was thinking about, instead of moving forward to book 4 of SOTW, just going back to Ancients and Life Science to start the whole cycle at the beginning for both of them. I don't know. I wish I had started all of this years ago! Reading lists for SOTW? In the activity guide? You can pick and choose, they don't each have to read all of them. And SOTW 4 is designed for grade 4, thereabouts. If you mean the reading lists in TWTM, you could do the grammar-stage books for your younger and pick and choose among the logic-stage books for your older, so some of the grammar and some of logic suggestions. Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 I wouldn't stop and go back. Just carry on, and let go of making it be "perfect.". ;) Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 We just started BiblioPlan and it sounds like what you are looking for. It gives us a weekly list of books and other activities, including SOTW. There are many books listed for each age group. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I think this is where I am having trouble deciding and figuring out what to do. I like the integrated science approach and the grade appropriate reading list that goes along with with the history that we would be studying, but my kids are on very different reading levels. If I move forward, will the books recommended for 8th grade Modern history advanced for my 6th grader (he reads well above his reading level, but it is more content that I am concerned about). If I do that and then I would go back to Ancients when he is in 7th and his brother is in 5th... Would those books still hold my 7th grader's attention? I am quite sure that I am overthinking this. We homeschool over the summers, so I was thinking about, instead of moving forward to book 4 of SOTW, just going back to Ancients and Life Science to start the whole cycle at the beginning for both of them. I don't know. I wish I had started all of this years ago! If SOTW 1-3 has worked well for you, then I think you should just continue on with book 4. (But it is okay to start over if you have your heart set on it.) If your children are in 4th and 6th next year, I wouldn't worry right now about what you will be doing for 8th. No matter what plans you make now for 8th, by the time you actually reach 8th grade, you will likely be doing something totally different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody1 Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 This is what we do. Plus we get stacks of books at different levels. Have you seen Layers of Learning? I think it's a good model for how to approach science and history with different levels and ages. I think it's best not to get overly obsessed with the history sequence, other than to make sure readings are age-appropriate for all levels. Linger or repeat/delve deeper into what your kids seem to enjoy the most. I just looked up Layers of Learning. It looks great! Thank you so much for passing that on! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I have always done WTM 4 yr history using SOTW in the grammar grades and the logic stage work for my logic stagers. I have always kept my kids together. So when I had a 6th grader and a 4th grader we would have been in a SOTW2 year. I read a chapter of SOTW2 aloud to both. Then the middle schooler opened up her KHE and read a section from it, outlined it, put dates on her timeline book, and then did a corresponding map from the Geography Coloring Book. While she was working on that, I did SOTW AG mapwork with the 4th grader, and helped her with her written narration for her notebook. Then we would do the occasional project from SOTW 2 together. I had read alouds going that we read from, and a stack of library books for both of them to do more reading on their own- picture books and biographies, chapter books on related topics and so forth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotesFromTheParsonage Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 I have PreK, K, 4th, and 6th this year and have done all their history and science together. I keep them cycling through together, so they are all together in the same spot. This does mean that they aren’t in the spot they should necessarily be in according to the book. My Kindergartener started last year in Year 2. He’ll just pick up ancients next cycle through. I read Story of the World out loud to all the kids together. We usually keep to one or two chapters each week. I then have additional work for each kid according to their level. My 6th graders will write the events and people on their timeline. They will look up the appropriate pages in the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and write an outline for that information. They will look up and color all the applicable countries in their geography coloring book. They will also likely have reading that goes along with history. (Like reading “Soft Rain” while we’re discussing the Trail of Tears. My 4th grader will have his own supplemental reading and finds the countries in the atlas. I may read additional picture books with the younger ones depending on what we are covering. The Activity books that go along with the SOTW books have lots of supplemental resources listed and projects you can complete. For science, we were using Berean Science with all the kids, which was lining up with our history quite nicely. My kids were just acting terrible during experiments and demonstrations, so we have adjusted to a more unit study/ literature based approach to science for now. I correlate it with history. So, we were studying gems and rocks for a couple weeks around the time we were covering the Gold Rush. I use The Handbook of Nature Study and real books on the topics. The older kids read some of those themselves and we read some out loud together. I also assign research topics that go along with our topics for the 6th graders that they then present their findings to the younger kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue daisy Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 I have three kids in 7th, 4th, and 2nd grade. We study the same time period for history but I have different readings for my 7th grader (the 4th and 2nd grader do more with me.) This year I have the 7th grader doing his own science because we picked something fairly in depth. I wanted to keep science light for the younger ones so they are doing something different from their brother but they do their lessons together. Hope that makes sense. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.