Help me plan my "Moderns" year for a 6yo

[plain jane]

I've finally yeilded to the notion that the Hive is wise and that I will follow your recommendation to fold in my grade 1 (next year) into my grade 4's (next year) history cycle.

 

This means that I will be starting my little one off in the Modern time period. I'm not thrilled about it, but I know in my heart that I will have more peace about it than if I tried to keep them both seperate for the rest of their HS careers.

 

What suggestions do you have to get my little one ready for this time period? What sort of background knowledge would you consider a must-have or simply nice to have before we jump into such a serious time in history? We're currently reading through CHOW during this K year. Will this be enough? I don't do much else other than offer a few coloring pages here and there. I didn't do much more, because my original intention was to start grade1 with the Ancients, but now that I know this isn't going to be the case, I'm willing to change up my plans a bit for this year if anybody here as some good suggestions for me.

 

FWIW, I haven't decided if I will use SOTW or TOG next year.

 

TIA. :bigear:

[PeterPan]

I'd get all the COFA's you can find and let her read those. While you do SOTW4 with your older, let her color history coloring books on anything that suits her, not necessarily the topic. She could color her way through a survey of american (indians, pilgrims). You could get her a couple read alouds more on her level, again not necessarily on modern. A survey of world in K5 and survey of american in 1st, that's a really great plan. Then she starts ancients in 2nd. I can't fathom trying really hard to make the modern history work really well for her. I'd let her do things from american, just a smattering, a survey, things that fit her age. COFA's are TERRIFIC for that age. She'll probably be about to where she could read them herself! Some of the CLP books are delightful for that age. The Jean Fritz and If You Were There books are great for that age. Just have stuff for her to read and work through. The hands-on stuff you do for modern with your older and the read alouds she'll be able to fold into nicely.

[Arch at Home]

I did not prep my 6 year old in preparation for doing Moderns this year. He has been listening with the others as we worked through the other years. If I was to do any type of prep, I would read the My America books and American Girl books that lead up to this time period. I would also continue through with these series during Moderns. I, however, have not pushed my 6 year old this year. He has listened along on the CD's. He has picked up an amazing amount without much effort on either of our parts. My children tend not to be sensitive to material read to them but are very sensitive to video.

[rockermom]

:bigear:

[Lori D.]

Below is a list of gentle 20th century events you could focus on. Below that is a list of "stepped readers" and early chapter books on gentle modern historical events. And here's a past thread that may help:

What To Do With A Third Grader for 1850-Modern Cycle?

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99485&highlight=modern+history

 

Hope that something here is of help! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

20th Century timeline of inventions, discoveries, explorers, "firsts", etc.:

(from http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa110900a.htm)

 

1900s

1901 - First Nobel Prizes Awarded

1901 - First Trans-Atlantic Radio Signal

1903 - First Flight at Kitty Hawk

1903 - First World Series

1904 - Trans-Siberian Railway Completed

1905 - Einstein Proposes His Theory of Relativity

1906 - San Francisco Earthquake

1907 - Picasso Introduces Cubism

1909 - Plastic Is Invented

1909 - Robert Peary Becomes the First to Reach the North Pole

 

1910s

1911 - Ernest Rutherford Discovers the Structure of an Atom

1911 - The Incan City of Machu Picchu Discovered

1911 - Roald Amundsen Reaches the South Pole

1912 - The Titanic Sinks

1913 - Henry Ford Creates Assembly Line

1914 - Panama Canal Officially Opened

 

1920s

1920 - First Commercial Radio Broadcast Aired

1922 - Insulin Discovered

1922 - Tomb of King Tut Discovered

1924 - First Olympic Winter Games

1927 - Babe Ruth Makes Home-Run Record

1927 - The First Talking Movie, The Jazz Singer

1927 - Lindbergh Flies Solo Across the Atlantic

1928 - Penicillin Discovered

1929 - Byrd and Bennett Fly Over South Pole

 

1930s

1930 - Pluto Discovered

1931 - Empire State Building Completed

1932 - Amelia Earhart First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic

1933 - Wiley Post Flies Around the World in 8 1/2 Days

1936 - Hoover Dam Completed

1937 - Golden Gate Bridge Opened

1939 - Helicopter Invented

 

1940s

1940 - Stone Age Cave Paintings Found in France

1941 - Mount Rushmore Completed

1945 - First Computer Built

1947 - Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier

1947 - Dead Sea Scrolls Discovered

1947 - Polaroid Cameras Invented

1949 - First Non-Stop Flight Around the World

 

1950s

1950 - First Organ Transplant

1951 - Color TV Introduced

1952 - Polio Vaccine Created

1953 - DNA Discovered

1953 - Hillary and Norgay Climb Mt. Everest

1954 - Roger Bannister Breaks the Four-Minute Mile

1957 - Soviet Satellite Sputnik Launches Space Age

 

1960s

1960 - Lasers Invented

1961 - Soviets Launch First Man in Space

1965 - Japan's Bullet Train Opens

1967 - First Heart Transplant

1969 - Neil Armstrong Becomes the First Man on the Moon

 

1970s

1970 - Aswan High Dam Completed

1972 - Mark Spitz Wins Seven Gold Medals

1973 - Sears Tower Built

1976 - Nadia Comaneci Given Seven Perfect Tens

1979 - Mother Theresa Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

 

1980s

1980 - Mount St. Helens Erupts

1980 - Rubik's Cube Becomes Popular

1981 - Personal Computers (PC) Introduced by IBM

1983 - Sally Ride Becomes the First American Woman in Space

1985 - Wreck of the Titanic Found

1989 - Exxon Valdez Spills Millions of Gallons of Oil on Coastline

 

1990s

1990 - Hubble Telescope Launched Into Space

1991 - Bronze Age Man Found Frozen in Glacier

1994 - Channel Tunnel Opens, Connecting Britain and France

1997 - Pathfinder Sends Back Images of Mars

1997 - Tallest Buildings in the World Built in Kuala Lumpur

1999 - The Euro the New European Currency

1999 - Fear of Y2K Bug

[Lori D.]

1870s

1872 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of Yellowstone National Park (Kent)

1875 - Listen Up: Alexander Graham Bell's Talking Machine (Kulling)

1876 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Stein)

 

The Long Way to a New Land (Sandin) -- immigrants

The Long Way Westward (Sandin) -- immigrants go west

Wagon Train (Kramer)

Wagon Wheels (Brenner)

The Josefina Story Quilt (Coerr)

Daniel's Duck (Bulla)

Clouds of Terror (Welch) -- US prairie grasshopper plagues

The Golly Sisters Go West (Byars) -- silly story

The Golly Sisters Ride Again (Byars) -- silly story

 

 

1880s

1883 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Brooklyn Bridge (Kent)

1885 - The Copper Lady (Ross) -- building of the Statue of Liberty in France

1888 - I Pledge Allegiance (Swanson) -- creation of the Pledge of Allegiance

1888 - Schoolchildren's Blizzard (Figley) -- blizzard / pioneer children

1888 - Snow Walker (Wetterer) -- record blizzard that shut down the Bronx

 

Dinosaur Hunter (Alphin)

Prairie School (Avi)

Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark (Hurwitz)

Helen Keller (Davidson)

 

 

1890s

1890 - Sitting Bull (Penner)

1896 - Rescue on the Outer Banks (Ransom) -- African-American rescue crew

 

Jumbo (Worth) -- famous PT Barnum circus elephant

The Great Houdini: World Famous Magician (Kulling)

Danger at the Breaker (Welch) -- 19th century coal mining

Little Sure Shot: Annie Oakley (Spinner)

If You Lived 100 Years Ago (McGovern)

The Big Balloon Race (Coerr)

Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Rough Riders (Kent)

 

 

1900s

1903 - Will and Orv (Schulz) -- first airplane flight

1903 - First Flight: The Wright Brothers (Jenner)

1903 - First Flight: Story of Tom Tate and the Wright Brothers (Shea)

1905 - Clara and the Bookwagon (Levinson)

1906 - If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake (Levine)

1909 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of Admiral Peary at the North Pole (Kent)

 

The Wright Brothers (Reynolds)

Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race (Kulling)

 

 

1910s

1911 - Fire at the Triangle Factory (Littlefield) -- NY factory workers disaster

1912 - The Titanic: Lost and Found (Donnelly)

1912 - Titanic: A Survivor's Story (Martin)

1912 - Titanic (Dubowski)

1914 - Sea of Ice: The Wreck of the Endurance (Kulling)

1919 - Babe Ruth Saves Baseball (Murphy)

 

Thomas Alva Edison: The Wizard of Menlo Park (Davidson)

Thomas Edison; The Great Inventor (Jenner)

Zepplin: Age of the Airship (Donkin)

 

 

1920s

1920 - Man O'War: The Best Racehorse Ever (Mckerly)

1922 - Tut's Mummy: Lost and Found (Donnelly)

1925 - The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto (Standiford)

1927 - Night Flight: Charles Lindbergh's Incredible Journey (Kramer)

1929 - Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog (Moore)

 

Flying Ace: Story of Amelia Earhart (Bull)

- The Story of the Panama Canal (Cornerstones of Freedom series)

 

 

1930s

1931 - To The Top! Climbing World's Highest Mountain (Kramer)

1931 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Empire State Building (Clinton)

1931 - The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth (Patrick)

1937 - Vanished! Mysterious Disappearance of Amelia Earhart (Kulling)

 

Dust for Dinner (Turner) -- Dust Bowl / Depresssion

Horse Named Seabiscuit (Duvowski)

 

 

1940s

1943 - Hill of Fire (Lewis)

 

Keeping the Promise: A Torah's Journey (Lehman-Wilzig)

 

 

WW2

Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Battle for Iwo Jima (McGowen )

Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Battle of Midway (McGowen)

Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Battle of the Bulge (Stein)

D-Day Landings: Story of the Allied Invasion (Platt)

The Story of Anne Frank (Martin)

The Little Riders (Shemin)

Twenty and Ten (Bishop)

Number the Stars (Lenski)

Snow Treasure (McSwigan)

 

 

 

 

1950s

1957 - Cracking the Wall: Struggles of Little Rock Nine (Lucas) -- Civil Rights

 

Jackie Robinson and the Story of All Black Baseball (O'Connor)

The Story of Muhammad Ali (Garrett)

Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Line

Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court

 

 

1960s

1969 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of Apollo 11 (Stein)

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace (Jackson/Ford)

Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington (Ruffin)

Race Into Space (Arnold)

Moonwalk (Donnelly)

The Story of the First Man on the Moon (Cornerstones of Freedom series)

If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King (Levine)

 

 

1970s-1990s

1996 - The Bravest Cat: The True Story of Scarlett (Driscoll)

 

Ice Mummy: Discovery of a 3,000 year old Man (Dubowski)-- EUROPE

Civil War Sub: Mystery of the Hunley (AAR3) -- Kate Jerome (Civil War)

USS Monitor: Iron Warship That Changed the World (Thompson)

Dinosaur Detectives (Martin)

Giant Squid: Mystery of the Deep (Dussling)

Finding the Titanic (Ballard)

 

 

2000-present

Lance Armstrong: The Race of His Life (Armstrong)

Tiger Woods (Gutelle)

 

 

 

20th CENTURY - General

 

Great Black Heroes: Five Brilliant Scientists (Jones/Garnet)

Great Black Heroes: Five Brave Explorers (Hudson/Garnet)

Great Black Heroes: Five Famous Writers (Jones/Garnet)

Great Black Heroes: Five Bold Freedom Fighters (Hudson/Garnet)

Great Black Heroes: Five Notable Inventors (Hudson/Garnet)

Antarctic Adventure: Exploring the Frozen Continent (Martin)

Great Women Atletes (Bailer)

Spies! (Pratt)

Disasters at Sea (Martin)

Dinosaur Hunters (McMullan)

Mountain Climbing: Scaling the World's Highest Peaks (Martin)

Movie Magic: A Star is Born (Cottringer)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

What if you look at the countries that you'll be studying with your older child and have the younger one do a cultural geography focus that runs parallel.

 

So for example, the WWI era might lend itself to a study of France and Russia. WWII Germany and Britain. Coloring pages, paper dolls, toys popular in a certain country (or time period). Food is always popular.

[Nan in Mass]

If it were I, I'd skip the moderns year for your little one. I'd just give her extra reading time for the year, something independent to do while you do moderns with your older one. Then when your older one starts again with ancients, I'd start having them do history together.

-Nan

[katilac]

We've found that each of the history cycles is as gruesome as the next, ;), so it's not a 'modern year' problem, really.

 

This volume of SOTW is geared to older students, so a first grader might not be all that engaged with it. Biographies are an excellent way to hook into history, and there's a plethora of them for the modern period. Look into the fables and legends of various countries (Johnny Appleseed, etc); there are lots of video resources for this as well (Netflix has quite a few animated ones). My kids have watched a series of them (Animated Hero Classics) and picked up quite a bit. And yes, they know that many biographies are a mix of fact, fantasy and hero worship :D.

Edited December 16, 2009 by katilac
Awkward phrasing and questionable grammar.

[TundraAcademy]

I have a 2nd grader and a 5th grader doing the modern era. With my younger I am getting some great ideas from the free curriculum pulled together at Guesthollow.com. She has truly done a wonderful job of pulling together a year-long curriculum for Modern American History. I'm also using History Odyssey and STOW for World History (mostly with my 5th grader). There are a lot of wonderful readers for modern history and we are having a great year.

[Strawberry Queen]

I'm doing modern this year with 4th and 2nd. It's not the best history year ever but oh well. I would suggest looking at some of the Dover books to use during history time. I'm not sure if your 6yo is a boy or girl but dover has paper doll sets for each decade of the 20th century. You could just have them to do and talk about the different clothes that people wore in each era, as well as scientific accomplishments. I would just throw this in if you want to.

 

I would also suggest finding recipes from different countries that you could make when you hit that country. We did Ethiopia last week and had stew while using bread to scoop it up. It was really easy and they remember a custom from Ethiopia. Maybe look at the books from FIAR and see if you can match countries with your older. If it doesn't come together then no worries. You can also skip formal history for 1st and jump in in 2nd. Your child will still listen in and you can call that good.;)

 

HTH

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

Lori D, thank you so much for that list! Incredibly helpful, as always.

[EKS]

You could do a year of geography and an overview of American history with your 1st grader next year (similar to K12's history course for kindergarten) and then fold her in to the cycle in grade 2, that way you'd only have a year of them being separate, and she'd get a more useful experience. In my view, it doesn't make much sense to study the history of the 20th century with a 6yo.

[Colleen in SEVA]

What if you look at the countries that you'll be studying with your older child and have the younger one do a cultural geography focus that runs parallel.

 

Then when your older one starts again with ancients, I'd start having them do history together.

 

and then fold her in to the cycle in grade 2 ... and she'd get a more useful experience. In my view, it doesn't make much sense to study the history of the 20th century with a 6yo.

 

:iagree:

[AngelBee]

:lurk5:

[Paisley Hedgehog]

..

[StephanieZ]

I'd do geography/world cultures for the year. Modern history is too "real" for a 6 yo, IMHO. I mean, I certainly wouldn't want to focus on world wars, etc with a 6 yo.

 

It'd be perfect to spend the year doing a survey of the world cultures/geography. Resources I'd look at include SonLight's Core 1+2 list (or you could just do that core!), Gallopping the Globe (and the recommended resources), Children Just Like Me (love that, could also look at the related titles), etc. I'd look at some Mapping/Geography resources for that age as well. Oh, there'd be plenty to chose from.

 

Then in grade 2, you can pick up with SOTW vol 1 (or whatever).

 

FWIW, I haven't used SOTW 4 yet, but I hear it is more advanced than SOTW 1, as it is aimed at Gr 4, not Gr 1 like SOTW1. . . Another reason to wait on SOTW until you start with SOTW1 in Gr 2. . .