s/o if you don't teach history in elem. grades...

[Jayne J]

Ok, I am teetering, teetering on the edge.... help push me over please! (After reading a thread wherein the poster is trying to decide whether to skip history and science to focus on basics. Posters encouraged her to do history informally, using read alouds and independant reading with histoical storylines)

 

After much giddy anticipation and preparation, ds6 and I started SOTW1 this year. Oh, how excited I was. We would do the crafts, read the books, revel in the historical goodness!

Yeah, well, not so much. :glare:

Ds basically just puts up with it, and gets through as quickly as possible. I am tired of killing myself to get supplies and books, just to have him hustle through. I also feel like I am killing any possible interest in history he may develop. It hurts to say it, but he may not be the history buff his mother had hoped for...

 

So, if I were to drop SOTW, and go with a read-aloud style of history, would you suggest trying to read things in chrono. order? Or just put up a time line and mark some dates on it as you read? Any suggestions for some good lists of read alouds and early readers for ds?

 

(BTW, science is no problem here. :D Thank goodness!)

[Moni]

trying to decide whether to skip history and science to focus on basics

 

Why not put History and Science "into" the basics?

 

Namely, reading.

 

Reading

One basic is reading. Right?

What are you going to read?

Have one-fourth of it be somehow related to "history."

Have one-fourth of it be somehow related to "science."

Have one-fourth of it be somehow related to "literature." In other words, those 'reading lists' you'd like to do for this year.

Have one-fourth of it be somehow related to "math." http://livingmath.net/ReaderLists/tabid/268/language/en-US/Default.aspx

 

Then you are not "teaching" history, but your student is "doing" history.

It kind of becomes a semantics thing....... ;)

 

WRITING

Writing is a basic. Right?

Will she be doing copywork this year? I imagine first she learns to write her letters. Then second semester if not sooner copywork. Right?

What will she copy from?

It can be

Monday - copy from history

Tuesday - copy from science

Wednesday - copy from literature

Thursday - copy from math (math reader list book)

 

MATH

Math is a basic. Right?

1st grade is a great age to take care of those math facts, all of them (plus, minus, times divide) once and for all.

It's a huge favor to the student. Take all year. Probably four to five months each on Addition and Multiplication, then after those two, one or two months each on Subtraction and Division. That brings you to Sept of 2nd grade.

 

It kind of becomes a semantics thing....... ;)

 

 

:seeya:

Edited September 2, 2009 by Moni

[Jayne J]

Yep, that is exactly what I am thinking about doing (well, history anyway, science is ds's favorite subject and would not brook with any reductions!) My question is really more one of methods--should I read-aloud/have him read history books in chronological order, or just read whatever takes our fancy? If we don't do things in order, should I use a timeline on the wall to help keep historical perspective?

Just looking to see how others have tried this.

Thanks!

[hmschooling]

You might make a history buff out of him by doing history informally :001_smile: My kids take to the approach much better and enjoy it much more. I do lots of history readers on oldest dc's level that she reads to herself and some to the youngers. Then I add in audio books, SOTW cd's, DVD's, music, etc. I try to have a unified them in Amer. history and then add in the SOTW cd's for ancient history. History is a story for kids and they don't like to cloud up their stories with homework;) Other kids LOVE SOTW and the like from a very young age. We are not in that boat though.

 

We are solely focused on basics and history, science, extras are all extras for AFTER phonics/LA and math.

 

Kids don't have a good concept of time, and you can't force that through a time line. I would have him color pictures of the people/events and not worry so much about dates as maybe just keep them in a notebook for review in the order they occur in history (or not!). You dno't have to study in any certain order at this age either. My kids can thumb through and retell all they've remember by the coloring pages and simple maps and such that they did. Serves a dual purpose!

 

I would choose books for him to read that are fun and on his level, and books for you to read-aloud and/or audio books that are a bit above his reading level.

Edited September 2, 2009 by hmschooling

[Lovedtodeath]

So, if I were to drop SOTW, and go with a read-aloud style of history, would you suggest trying to read things in chrono. order? Or just put up a time line and mark some dates on it as you read? Any suggestions for some good lists of read alouds and early readers for ds?

 

(BTW, science is no problem here. :D Thank goodness!)

That's what we do. DD loves ancient history. I unschool almost all of it. I put the books out that pertain to the time period, and she chooses to read them. It helps that DH and I read them and talk about them. ;) We do not read SOTW, or do any narrations or map work. We just point to it on the globe and she chooses activities (rarely, but she has done some of them). You can see the booklist we are using at the lulu page linked in my sig. I got a few more at the library, but stick to the program pretty close, because I bought those. The books are very 6 year old friendly, but we skip some of the read alouds without a lot of pictures, she is very visual. We are halfway done now and plan to start back up as soon as we are over the flu. Second grade here we come!

[mo2]

Ok, I am teetering, teetering on the edge.... help push me over please! (After reading a thread wherein the poster is trying to decide whether to skip history and science to focus on basics. Posters encouraged her to do history informally, using read alouds and independant reading with histoical storylines)

 

After much giddy anticipation and preparation, ds6 and I started SOTW1 this year. Oh, how excited I was. We would do the crafts, read the books, revel in the historical goodness!

Yeah, well, not so much. :glare:

Ds basically just puts up with it, and gets through as quickly as possible. I am tired of killing myself to get supplies and books, just to have him hustle through. I also feel like I am killing any possible interest in history he may develop. It hurts to say it, but he may not be the history buff his mother had hoped for...

 

So, if I were to drop SOTW, and go with a read-aloud style of history, would you suggest trying to read things in chrono. order? Or just put up a time line and mark some dates on it as you read? Any suggestions for some good lists of read alouds and early readers for ds?

 

(BTW, science is no problem here. :D Thank goodness!)

 

 

I think I'm the other poster you're referring to. Here's what I decided to do: My daughter doesn't like SOTW, which was my original plan, so instead I put together a list of historical fiction, picture books, short biographies, etc. I pulled the titles from other lists like abookintime.com, Sonlight, and a few others. I broke it down into the 4-year cycle (Ancients, Medieval, Early Modern, Modern). Within those time periods, I tried to put the books in loosely chronologically order, but I didn't stress over it too much. I figure it's probably not going to make too much difference to my 7yo if we read about the plague before the crusades or vice versa. We are only going to read the books that are available at our library, and if we start a book and she doesn't like it, we probably won't finish it. There are too many good books out there to waste time reading one we're not enjoying.

 

Now, I'm not finished with all 4 years of the list yet. I finished the medieval list first, because that's what year we're on. I'll work on the other years as we have time. Once we go through the cycle one time, I'll start something more formal (maybe History Odyssey). Of course, you know how plans have a way of changing, so it's hard to say what will really end up happening. But that's what I'm going to try for now. Best of luck.

[KathyBC]

You could just read a chapter of SOTW once or twice a week and call it good enough. If something catches his interest, absolutely go down that rabbit trail. You're creating memory hooks for later.

[Lovedtodeath]

That's what we do. DD loves ancient history. I unschool almost all of it. I put the books out that pertain to the time period, and she chooses to read them. It helps that DH and I read them and talk about them. ;) We do not read SOTW, or do any narrations or map work. We just point to it on the globe and she chooses activities (rarely, but she has done some of them). You can see the booklist we are using at the lulu page linked in my sig. I got a few more at the library, but stick to the program pretty close, because I bought those. The books are very 6 year old friendly, but we skip some of the read alouds without a lot of pictures, she is very visual. We are halfway done now and plan to start back up as soon as we are over the flu. Second grade here we come!

Oh, forgot to mention that I do try to keep the reading in order, but it doesn't always work. I plan to get timeline notebook dividers from Winterpromise and stick pages in there with pictures of the book covers and any projects.

 

Now, I'm not finished with all 4 years of the list yet. I finished the medieval list first, because that's what year we're on. I'll work on the other years as we have time. Once we go through the cycle one time, I'll start something more formal (maybe History Odyssey). Of course, you know how plans have a way of changing, so it's hard to say what will really end up happening. But that's what I'm going to try for now. Best of luck.

My plan is to unschool ancients and middle ages in the same way and then start a formal American history program next year (I am modifying the old version of American Story from Winterpromise, taking out read alouds, adding Sonlight and Hewitt Homeschooling readers, and US geography.) Then we will do SOTW in a formal way, adding in our own religious history for our family, probably taking 2 years for ancients. (sorry if it is TMI, I like to share, lol) Edited September 2, 2009 by Lovedtodeath

[Jayne J]

Thanks all! I am still getting over the SOTW let down. I was really looking forward to it!:D

 

I think I may give this a shot, and save SOTW for later. it just feels like a waste of time and energy right now.

 

mo2--thanks for the resources! I'll be getting my own lists started, so they really help!

 

lovedtodeath--thanks for the lulu link (btw, it seems to be experiencing some problems--I went to the site and downloaded the first list, but now I can't return--am I doing something wrong? Thankfully, I saved a copy, but you never know...)

 

Sigh. Homeschooling is great, but all this custom tailoring...It takes it right out of me!:D

[Jayne J]

Lovedtodeath--never mind about the link. I'm just a bit slow on the uptake today I think.:tongue_smilie:

[Moni]

I read-aloud/have him read history books in chronological order, or just read whatever takes our fancy?

 

Or both?

 

You will likely at that age have 3 different "reading" periods. Right?

 

One can be the first you mentioned, another can be the next option you mentioned.

 

You don't have to do only one or the other.

:seeya:

[Avila]

I had to give up on SOTW for my middle DD in 1st grade. She was just not ready, and we dropped history entirely that year. The next year, we did a unit studies approach to geography. Finally, in third grade, she is ready for SOTW/Biblioplan, and we are really doing it. We are sort of dragging along her 6 yo sister with us, but I would not be doing SOTW for just her, since she seems to glaze over with it. I am having my current 1st grader sit with us while we read and color, but that is about it. I personally don't think all kids are ready for more than the basics in first grade, and adding in what interests them is going to do more good in the long run than trudging through things just to put on paper that you did them. My oldest DD loves history and has done it since I took her out of parochial school, so I fully realize the need to treat each child as an individual.

 

Best wishes!

[Nestof3]

In the younger years, I always aim to read any picture books I can get my hands on for each SOTW chapter. My boys have loved them, especially the folk tales from different cultures. We also rent any movies we can that correspond to each chapter. We never do the projects, but my boys still like doing the coloring, so I have them color while I read the chapters.

 

Ben doesn't get too much from the chapters at his age, but he loves the supplemental literature and the maps and coloring. Nathan loves all of SOTW and also listens to the CDs.

 

I think SOTW can be difficult for younger children, and there is quite a bit of info packed in each chapter, but if you just read one section for reference and read lots of the fun books, I think it would work nicely.

 

I have gotten a hang of how to find things in my library too. I look at Susan's recommendations in the activity guide, but once I find the catalog # of one of the history books, I know what section any other related books will be in. Exceptions are folk and fairytales because they are in a different section. I'll often just browse my library on the history shelf.

 

Also, my library online catalog allows me to search for subjects by picture books and also by beginning read and then by youth. So, I always take any picture and beginning reader books I can find. I also browse the youth ones.

[kalanamak]

 

After much giddy anticipation and preparation, ds6 and I started SOTW1 this year. Oh, how excited I was. We would do the crafts, read the books, revel in the historical goodness!

Yeah, well, not so much. :glare:

Ds basically just puts up with it, and gets through as quickly as possible. I am tired of killing myself to get supplies and books, just to have him hustle through.

 

I read SOTW aloud. We look at maps (TG he likes maps and globes), and read him a LOT of books, look at DK Eyewitness books, look at art from that culture, but I stop the moment he drifts. I don't want to kill his joy at age 7. Somethings really grab him (like the Greeks and the Vikings). Some don't. Rome was ho-hum.

 

I'll expect more the next time around.

[Nestof3]

Oh, since we're talking about history for young ones, I read the following book tonight about Charlemagne. My boys loved it. The art work (illumination) is great too.

 

The Marvellous Blue Mouse

http://www.amazon.com/Marvellous-Blue-Mouse-Christopher-Manson/dp/0805016228/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251946223&sr=8-1

 

You'll often find the title spelled with "marvelous," which is the correct spelling (at least now), but the title is indeed spelled with two "l's"

 

*****************************

A trusted advisor to the Emperor Charlemagne uses a small mouse and some ingenuity to expose the misdeeds of a greedy Lord Mayor.

 

Here are some free www.librivox.org tales by the same man who penned the original story about the blue mouse:

 

http://librivox.org/life-of-charlemagne-by-notker-the-stammerer/

 

Here's the basic story:

16. As we have shown how the most wise Charles exalted the humble, let us now show how he brought low the proud. There was a bishop who sought [81] above measure vanities and the fame of men. The most cunning Charles heard of this and told a certain Jewish merchant, whose custom it was to go to the land of promise and bring from thence rare and wonderful things to the countries beyond the sea, to deceive or cheat this bishop in whatever way he could. So the Jew caught an ordinary household mouse and stuffed it with various spices, and then offered it for sale to the bishop, saying that he had brought this most precious never-before-seen animal from Judea. The bishop was delighted with what he thought a stroke of luck, and offered the Jew three pounds of silver for the precious ware. Then said the Jew, "A fine price indeed for so precious an article! I had rather throw it into the sea than let any man have it at so cheap and shameful a price." So the bishop, who had much wealth and never gave anything to the poor, offered him ten pounds of silver for the incomparable treasure. But the cunning rascal, with pretended indignation, replied: "The God of Abraham forbid that I should thus lose the fruit of my labour and journeyings." Then our avaricious bishop, all eager for the prize, offered twenty pounds. But the Jew in high dudgeon wrapped up the mouse in the most costly silk and made as if he would depart. Then the bishop, as thoroughly taken in as he deserved [82] to be, offered a full measure of silver for the priceless object. And so at last our trader yielded to his entreaties with much show of reluctance: and, taking the money, went to the emperor and told him everything. A few days later the king called together all the bishops and chief men of the province to hold discourse with him; and, after many other matters had been considered, he ordered all that measure of silver to be brought and placed in the middle of the palace. Then thus he spoke and said: -- "Fathers and guardians, bishops of our Church, you ought to minister to the poor, or rather to Christ in them, and not to seek after vanities. But now you act quite contrary to this; and are vainglorious and avaricious beyond all other men." Then he added: "One of you has given a Jew all this silver for a painted mouse." Then the bishop, who had been so wickedly deceived, threw himself at Charles's feet and begged pardon for his sin. Charles upbraided him in suitable words and then allowed him to depart in confusion.

 

 

found here:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/stgall-charlemagne.html

 

Here's the man who penned the original story:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notker_the_Stammerer

[tdeveson]

Why not put History and Science "into" the basics?

 

Namely, reading.

 

Yes! Excellent post, Moni.