When to start History poll

[MsAlimar]

I'm noticing that some of the history options that I am investigating recommend starting in the 2nd grade. I was just curious when most of you start the history cycle.

 

I'm thinking through the ramifications of waiting another year before starting history. It might throw things off but then I am also noticing that some of the options don't follow the 4 yr cycle. I also need to think ahead on how I am going to integrate my younger daughter into our history program when she is ready so that both girls are doing history together. I'm glad I've got time (a few months at least) before I have to make a final decision and purchase something! :)

 

If you like, please also post what history curriculum you use. :bigear:

 

If you started later than 1st grade, did it negatively affect the cycle in later years?

[lionfamily1999]

We live in an area that is rich with American history, so we start as soon as the kids are good for an outing. I don't use a curriculum, we take trips and read books. I would not start the four year cycle until first grade. Up until first grade, it's mostly US history, taught by going and seeing and doing and reading :)

[SilverMoon]

My older three all started with Story of the World in first grade. It's worked out splendidly for us. When a younger sibling was ready to begin they were put into the history rotation that was already in place for the oldest kid.

 

My current first grader was quite a ways into first grade before beginning his history, but he did start with SOTW too. His older two siblings were still exploring the deeper American history we'd been doing over the summer, and were in a place that would have been difficult for a 6yo to understand if he were dropped in the middle. Now he's in the ancients, doing SOTW alongside his fourth grade sister, and gets some from his big brother too. (Big brother is doing WTM logic stage history, but is still in the same history as the others)

 

FWIW, we have yet to do a solid four year rotation as prescribed in TWTM. We've taken a couple large school breaks due to real life, we've went through some places much faster than others, and slowed down to feast more on others. Keeping the kids all in the same time period is the sanity saver trick, IMO.

[~Kirsten~]

I voted for 1st grade, which will be next year, and we're going to be using SOTW.

 

I can tell from how much my younger has tagged along with our around-the-world readings this year that she will definitely be involved next year and her own K year. My current plan is just to keep things as age-appropriate for her as possible, and of course, she won't be required to be involved at all until she's actually in 1st grade, which most likely will be SOTW 3. I go back and forth about worrying that she'll only be in 2nd when we get to modern history, but I've decided to not stress (too much) until we actually get there. :D My girls already don't seem to be terribly sensitive to stories, though, so that's a factor for us.

[Garga]

Kindergarten was just celebrating each and every holiday on the calendar. I considered that "history."

 

In 1st grade we official started with the Ancients. But (and I'm not sure if anyone else does this), my boys love history so much that we do both world hx and American hx every day. So, along with our world hx, we did from the discovery of America to the end of the Revolutionary War last year, and this year we picked up right after the Rev War and will study until the civil war.

 

For world hx I use SOTW and for American hx, I use the History section from the "What your ?Grader Needs to Know" book and get books from the library to read about each topic.

[Osaubi]

I had picked up the SOTW books used when my ds was in k5. He begged me to start them right away. So we started in K. It will also work out for my dd who will start ancients with us when she is in 1st grade.

[8filltheheart]

I don't start history as a true subjerct until 3rd grade. I do alternate their bedtime stories with some historical stories like "The Miracle Worker" or legends like William Tell, etc.

 

It hasn't negatively impacted any of my children (however I am not a believer in 4 yr history cycles either, though)

[Daisy]

I didn't start using a curriculum until about 2nd grade, but we have learned history from the time the were old enough to listen to a picture book.

 

DD 2nd grade - Beautiful Feet Early American History

DD 3rd grade - My own plans (Western Expansion, State study)

DD 4th grade - My own plans (Geography & Cultures)

DD 5th grade - Heart of Dakota CTC (Ancients)

 

DS Preschool-1st - Followed along with sister & added in books as he showed interest. Read CLP and Abeka's history books for fun. Lots of library books.

DS 2nd - American History with HOD Bigger.

[kalanamak]

I spent K on a very fun tour of prehistory. I think I lost count at about 150 books! There is a lot out there. We started maps and pre-learning the civilizations (just getting familiar with the words and what they looked like) by looking at art and artifacts of the ancient world a couple of months before starting in on the ancient civilizations.

[PeterPan]

I would just do what your older dd needs and let the younger tag along. It's all going to work out. When my dd was that age, her reading was settling down and it just seemed she needed something MORE. At that point we started adding in grammar (FLL), geography (Galloping the Globe, highly recommend), etc. So just do that. As she's ready for more, give her more. The younger one will tag along. You don't have to maneuver for perfect cycles or anything, mercy. It doesn't really matter to kids anyway. My dd reads american and ancients and all sorts of history interchangeably. Just teach them. It will all pan out.

[Satori]

We also spent half a year studying prehistory (very thoroughly as it was so much fun), then learning about how to read a map/atlas/globe, basic geography, etc... I voted starting SOTW in Kindergarten, as that is what we are doing now.

[chaik76]

We started ancients in first grade. We did prehistory in kindergarten.

 

I think first grade is great to start with ancients specifically because 6- and 7-year olds are often fascinated with ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

[mom2att]

I started history with my oldest in K with the WTM recommendations in the pre-SOTW days. We have continued with the 4-year cycle, picking up SOTW when it caught up to us and using History Odyssey at other times. She is on track to start her third go-round through history in 9th grade. While I don't regret the path that we took, I do not see huge gains to having studied history so early and so often.

 

My second child was not remotely ready to begin studying history in K, 1st, or even 2nd. Just concentrating on the basics of reading and math was quite enough. Now that we're over that challenge, I have both of my boys studying ancients this year, with the middle in 3rd and the younger in 1st. We do a bit of SOTW, a bit of extra reading, and are using History Pockets to make lapbooks on the biggies of Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and China. We do history only for one week out of every month, concentrating on our other studies for the remaining weeks. This is working very well for my boys, and I have to say I am enjoying the study all over again. We will likely follow a similar path for the 4-year cycle and beyond that, we'll see.

[crl]

We use HOD which had some light overview history in K (Little Hearts manual) and then enjoyable early American stories in 1st grade (Beyond manual).

[Closeacademy]

I started history 1/2 way through K. I wish I would have started history closer to 3rd grade and just spent those years doing fables, fairy tales and folklore.

 

I didn't vote because when I did start doesn't correlate with when I should have started.

 

:001_smile:

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Too often adults speak of how boring their history or social studies classes were before college. I think that this attitude can be combated with early and fun exposure to these topics. I believe that kids are inclined to these subjects. You could study geography, local history, or any other topic in K and then begin proper study in 1 (if you want all 3 cycles of history).

 

I followed what a friend recommended-we just studied Egypt in K and Greece and Rome in 1. This worked very well.

[Starr]

It's always been a favorite here.

[EKS]

I voted for first grade, but I think that a quick tour through American history and world geography in kindergarten works really well. It's nice for kids to have an idea about American history in the early grades as there are so many good books out there for young ones that relate to American history in some way.

[MissKNG]

I voted 1st grade because I'm pretty sure my state requires it to start then.

[mom31257]

I voted Kindergarten. My dd was doing MOH 1 last year so I included my ds in K. He really enjoyed history quite a bit. He was fascinated with many of the ancient civilizations. We did projects with another family, and that helped, too.

[Mommee & Baba]

I voted for Kindergarten. As long as your child takes it well. I started MOH with my K'er and 1st Grader together and was only "testing the waters" with my K'er not expecting her to participate...needless to say she's been participating since lesson 1 and understands and remembers what we learn and we're eagerly awaiting to start on lesson 12.

[FO4UR]

I voted K, but history has been (and still is) a glorified read-aloud time. My dc just love a good story. We read some stories that are true and some that are not really true...the stories that are true count as "history" in my mind.

[KrissiK]

We started SOTW1 this year in 1st grade/K. My 6 year old loves it. He's fascinated by the ancients - especially Egypt and his favorite book is the Usborne World History book. He just pours over it. I think the 4 year history cycle is good. I know VP starts in 2nd grade and has like a 5 year cycle or something like that. I just like that they get a foundation for it, and then they repeat it a little more in depth. I've always been the type of learner that gets more on the second go around anyway. Last year in Kinder we just did the A Beka Social Studies books and the kids enjoyed that.

[Jill- OK]

I don't start history as a true subjerct until 3rd grade. I do alternate their bedtime stories with some historical stories like "The Miracle Worker" or legends like William Tell, etc.

 

It hasn't negatively impacted any of my children (however I am not a believer in 4 yr history cycles either, though)

 

We don't really start in earnest until 3rd (or even 4th) grade, although their co-op class does the VP cards, and we read historical (and science-oriented) books.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Well, if you wait until younger dd is ready, then older dd has had to wait.

 

I think that if you think your older kid is ready, then go for it. Include your younger dd everywhere you can. By the time you hit a second cycle she'll only be 7-9, so she'll still be hitting it sort of grammar stage.

 

Unless you space your kids four years apart, there will always have to be a little compromise. :tongue_smilie:

 

On our first cycle, one kid was kindergartern doing Egypt, his brother was 4, and was right in there with him. Now I have two duing upper elementary/logic stage ancients and a third who is second grade (but who just mastered reading this year).

 

I think the reason several programs start history around second grade is in order to cement the kid's reading ability and basic math. Make sure you're laying that good foundation so that the rest of history can go more smoothly.

 

We used SOTW and Veritas Press (cards and song but not the TM) and lots and lots of books. Now we're doing Sonlight and WTM. (Quirky schedule of one month of SL and one month of projects, stretching out two cores to 3 years.)

[linders]

I voted for K or earlier, but by that I don't mean a formal program at that age. However, I interspersed living history books with all our other reading starting in preschool, always making the point of "this really happened!" I even had a pre-made timeline so we could find out latest events, which led to discussions of "what else was happening then." Paul Revere's ride, William's invasion, Egyptians - they were all so exciting, that by 1st my oldest DS was absolutely enthralled with "The Story of the World" (the concept and the book). He's an avid fan of history now and younger DS is coming along.

 

There are some great history picture books out there to help this process!

[*Jessica*]

My vote was for K or earlier. However, I have a son who insists that we do history every day because he loves it so much. If he wasn't so into it we wouldn't have started so soon.

[Homemama2]

We did a year of American History in 1st (used Beautiful Feet, History Pockets, More than Moccasins and tons of living books) , this year (2nd and K) we're doing a year of world geography and culture studies (Galloping the Globe, but have tweaked it beyond recognition ;)), and plan to start ancients in 3rd and 1st (will use SOTW 1 and activitity guide and History Pockets. Also might add in MOH, and some other resources I have.) I did this bc I wanted my kids on the same history cycle, and for me it is easier to add in things to make it harder for my 3rd grader rather than take things out for my 1st grader. I use to worry alot about what is the "best" way to teach history...what to teach first, when to start the history cycle, should I do a 4 or 5 yr. history cycle etc. I don't really think it matters as much as we all worry about :D.

[Sahamamama]

Our girls are 5, 3, and 3. Because the youngers are twins, I don't want to start my K'er in Ancients next year (1st grade), when the twins will only be 4 years old. They might get something out of it, but we need to focus on reading and handwriting for them. So, a simple and fun World Geography "course" (easy for Mommy!) will be on the plate for next year. Here's the (very tentative) line-up:

 

1st/Pre-K (6/4) -- World Geography (12 countries, 1 per month)

2nd/K (7/5) -- American History & Biography, Part 1 (beginnings to 1900)

3rd/1st (8/6) -- American History & Biography, Part 2 (1900-2013), concurrent w/USA Geography

4th/2nd (9/7) -- Ancient Civilizations

5th/3rd (10/8) -- Middle Ages

6th/4th (11/9) -- Age of Exploration

7th/5th (12/10) -- Modern Times

8th/6th (13/11) -- ?? World History Review (one quarter per era)?

9th/7th (14/12) -- ?? Ancient Civilizations?

10th/8th (15/13) -- ?? Middle Ages?

11th/9th (16/14) -- ?? Age of Exploration? OR American Government?

12th/10th (17/15) -- ?? Modern Times? OR Economics?

X/11th (16) -- ??

X/12th (17) -- ??

 

I agree, though, that "delaying" the start of Ancients will "mess up" the 4-year cycle being repeated three times. I don't care. ;) I honestly think it would be a waste of effort (mine) to begin with Ancients next year, because my twins are like this: :willy_nilly::willy_nilly: Will they really settle down by next year? But they do love to sing Geography Songs, so that's a good place to start.

 

After that, early American History will be as "hands-on" as we can make it, with field trips to Valley Forge, Williamsburg, Boston, Washington, D.C., Washington's Crossing (5 miles away), Trenton, and so on. When we take a look at Westward Expansion, we have the railroad and the canal nearby. We might visit a local log cabin, go to a living history farm (make butter, tap maple trees), and visit pioneer country! The girls will enjoy Little House and Little Britches books. This layout just seems to fit us. HTH.

[Sahamamama]

Unless you space your kids four years apart, there will always have to be a little compromise. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

:lol: (4 years) :lol: (4 years) :lol:

[Dmmetler]

I'm listing 1st grade, but only because that's when we'll be starting HSing.

[sagira]

:lol: (4 years) :lol: (4 years) :lol:

 

Ha that's what I have - my ds is going to be 8, my dd 4, and my latest LO was just born earlier this year :)

 

I voted first because that's what we did. History is ds' favorite subject (along with Math now, thanks to Math Mammoth).

 

Dd is starting Montessori Pre-K this Fall for three hours a day, but she'll be back with us in K. By then ds will be in 4th studying the Renaissance, and in 5th Modern History. I'm thinking of folding dd in in 2nd grade with Ancients again, her doing SOTW and ds doing K12 HO and Oxford Primary Sources book. In first, maybe an introduction to cultures, definition of history and geography so SOTW will be easier to do..

 

We used SOTW1 in 1st, and now SOTW2 in 2nd.

[OrdinaryTime]

We live in an area that is rich with American history, so we start as soon as the kids are good for an outing. I don't use a curriculum, we take trips and read books. I would not start the four year cycle until first grade. Up until first grade, it's mostly US history, taught by going and seeing and doing and reading :)

 

:iagree:

[petepie2]

We start the four-year cycle in 1st grade with TOG. In Kindergarten we use Sonlight's Core K (maybe it's Core A now?) and work on basic geography with Evan-Moor's Beginning Geography.

[Just Robyn]

For us, it's

 

Grade 2 - Ancients (with History Odyssey)

Grade 3 - Middle Ages (with History Odyssey)

Grade 4 - American History (This coming school year will be our first go through. My ideal, which I have 90% planned out, is a combination of Oak Meadow 5, parts of Sonlight D+E, and A Young People's History of the US.)

The plan after that is to start with ancients again in grade 5, middle ages in grade 6, and probably continue with the 4 year cycle after that (but I'm not saying anything for sure so far in advance).

[Aurelia]

I started when Ariel was K age. We're not doing the 4 year cycle because I think SOTW 4 would be too dry for her. So we're doing US history for a couple or 3 years and will start Ancients again after that. It actually feels freeing, not being locked into the four year cycle. ;):D

[JessieC]

I plan to use FIAR as our only history/social studies curriculum for dd's first grade year. I would rather spend first grade focusing on concepts of the countries of the world and basic progression of history rather than jump into ancient times with no context for what that even means.

 

I will probably start in-depth history in second or third grade.