5sweeties Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 I'm wondering if SOTW 3 is my best bet here? My oldest dd, asked to do American History this year, and she will be using Teaching Co. courses and a variety of other sources for her history. In my opinion, it will be a very in-depth, rigorous high school class. I was going to go ahead and do SOTW 2 with my 5th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st graders. Then they realized that big sis would be doing Am. Hist., which they all love too, and asked to be in on it with her. Well, her materials don't cross over with their's really. I did get Hakim's series for her to use as one of her suppliments, and I think that would also work well for my 5th and 3rd graders as a suppliment...but, to what?! I know that whatever I choose, needs to be focused toward the 5th and 3rd graders, with the two younger ones tagging along at their own speed. Both the 5th and 3rd grader read on about the same level. (3rd grader is advanced.) Are there any programs targetted at this age? Seems like so many of them are either for younger grammar, and I would have to suppliment quite a bit, or they are for logic stage...and in my opinion, my 5th grader just isn't ready for most of that yet. She is not a fast reader, and is just really starting to get her feet under her in language arts. She isn't ready for heavy, heavy textbook reading, or long paper writing yet. Right now, she is proud of a good, solid paragraph with no missing parts, or a story without any of the main parts left out. I would love recommendations of history programs for this age group! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 VP would work great for you. The card would be your main topic for the week. Everyone would do the worksheets. The catalog gives books for upper and lower levels for each topic and you could do the spine readings listed on the card aloud to help the youngers. There are writing activities for uppers as well as lowers. They might like to do History Pockets, which VP also sells in the catalog. Someone suggested shrinking the pages when you copy them to make them more appealing to older kids. Then you could turn them into a lapbook or whatever you want. VP spreads american over two years, making it convenient to study a state each week as well. Joy Dean has workbooks for upper and lower elementary, so all your kids could have their own state study workbooks at their level. The lowers just cut, paste and color, while the olders are more writing and whatnot. I have the lower and plan to do it with my dd. I was intending to get some of the state cookbooks and things to flesh it out. Williamson Press has some activities about the different states and I have a book or two like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5sweeties Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 Wow! That sounds awesome! Thanks! I've heard of VP before, and even looked into it briefly once, but never had any idea that they had so much available. History is a passion in our house, and this sounds like it would be a lot of fun! I'll have to look at it more closely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 My dd loves history too, and we've been using VP for several years now. She likes that it gives her freedom to pursue a lot of her interests, read piles of books, and do activities. I like that I can tell what I need her to accomplish while still giving her that freedom. For next year, when we hit american, I'm actually thinking about letting her do the VP stuff (continuing the way we have been) and adding in just the SL read alouds (Boorstin and the historical fiction). I honestly don't do a lot of reading aloud with her for history, because she reads so much of it herself. I think with the new baby I'll have some time and that it would be a nice way to focus on her. Because she's a buff, I think she'll gobble up double history, hehe. From the times I've looked over Boorstin (the spine SL3 uses), it's a bit much for your lower kids. Your olders might enjoy it if you just plopped it out as another thing they could read. I pulled out Guerber and my dd wants to read that herself. I already have made charts coordinating Guerber with VP, so that's an easy thing for me to let her do. You could read Guerber yourself. I just don't care to. (Call it prego hormones or something, hehe.) So yes, lots of history buffs like VP because it gives you structure and a framework while allowing you to turn it into as much or little as you want. Everyone can drill the memory work together and then do their own readings or read alouds to fit their level. It's just a great way to teach a lot of levels at once, or at least that's my thought, as a mother of one plus a bun. :) Oh, and check out our VP_Elementary yahoo group! People have charts in the files section, inspiring posts in the archives, etc.! ps. I think the cards do cite Hakim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 We love Truthquest American History for Young Students series. The guides contain Christian commentary on each topic and excellent booklists with age recommendations. There would be plenty of books for all of your kids. It also has recommendations for hands on activity books included as well. It is by far the most comprehensive set of topics I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenora in MD Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 When I had kids that age, I did sotw 3 combined with Truthquest. There was plenty for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 We will be doing WinterPromise American Story 1 this coming year. They have a Middler package for grades 4-6 which is a supplement, and there's a rumor a Junior High version of the program will be released with the new catalog in the next couple of weeks. I just got my package back from a friend Thursday and I felt like Christmas! I can't wait to share my love of US history with ds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Anything secular for this age and time period out there that is easy for mom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlemaiden Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Why America Is Free, A History of the Founding of the American Republic ISBN 0-931917-29-8 Published by The Society of the Cincinnati 202-785-2040 My dh picked up this book on a visit to historic Williamsburg. It was a whim, but we have really loved the intermission it provided from SOTW to focus more intently on the American Revolution. It actually focuses on the years of 1750-1800. I have appreciated it's stress on why the foundations of our country have provided for future freedoms of it's citizens. It is a good primer for future study of the Constitution and it gives mini biographical data of some of the founding fathers- just enough for the younger years. I would read sections of the book aloud to my 11, 9, and 7 yr olds. The 11 and 9 yr olds would give me written narrations, and I took vocabularly words from the reading simply by writing words on an index card during the reading. The 7yo would give me an oral narration only. We would review key concepts on a white board after the reading and I would have them repeat these concepts later in the day or week for reinforcement. They have learned as much from this book as I remember from AP high school Am. Hx. HTH 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.