PenKase Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 For those of you who are doing it, can you please share how you attack the juggernaut that is history??? I guess if I stop allowing it to be such a huge undertaking then it really won't be right? Any detail(s) you are willing to share will be so helpful! I'm planning to use Usborne Encyclopedia of World Hisotry ala older version of TWTM. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 nt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 With my older son, before we had SOTW available, we just would read the spread from Usborne and then read books about that time period to go along with it, both non-fiction and fictional works. We would talk about what we were reading as we went along. When he moved into logic stage, he began doing outlining and reports on some of the things he was reading, but I didn't require this during grammar stage. He was writing some book reports at that time related to books that he read. Regena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanie Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 For those of you who are doing it, can you please share how you attack the juggernaut that is history??? I guess if I stop allowing it to be such a huge undertaking then it really won't be right? Any detail(s) you are willing to share will be so helpful! I'm planning to use Usborne Encyclopedia of World Hisotry ala older version of TWTM. Thanks in advance! We read, go to the map, and try to make it fun. I love the Usborne book b/c it has little projects in it you can do. My dc have learned a lot this year just from reading and paying attention to our world now. The other day my ds9 screamed for me to stop the car b/c he found columns on a house that looked like the ones the Greeks made. I just ate it up! My goal is to get them interested and open their eyes. I also do history pockets with the little ones when I can,and we do it very informally. If you have SOTW activity guide then that is good for activities as well. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenKase Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 Sorry, I forgot to mention that I have grammar stage kids...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 We used Story of the World volume 1 through 4 starting in 2nd grade. I thoroughly enjoyed this curriculum. Honestly, the best part of this curriculum is learning history myself for the first time. I used to say that history was my weakest subject. I learned more in my son’s first year than I learned in my entire school career. I feel so good knowing that my son is being presented with history in a logical, engaging, and painless way. This curriculum allowed a history-ignorant mom to give her child a great introduction to world history and a love and enthusiasm for history as well. The readings are perfect for early elementary age – not too simple and not too difficult. The activity guide is a priceless resource, and we used every bit of it. That is what made the program so rich. Ds used the coloring pages while I read. We used the review questions usually verbally, but one year, I used the review questions to give my son practice in writing complete sentences. Doing narration and summary paragraphs helped with writing, although this was my son’s least favorite part. The map work was helpful. We borrowed many of the supplemental books from the library. We even read most of them. The activities and projects were fun and really helped to bring history alive and be remembered. We met with other families 2x a month to work on projects. Besides gathering the library books and project supplies, there really is no other preparation needed. For some people, this curriculum is too secular. For some people, this curriculum is too Christian. I prefer secular resources, and I thought SWB did a great job of introducing the different world religions in an unbiased manner. I highly recommend this program. It spoiled me. My only complaint is that that there is no similar program for logic age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Oh, I totally forgot that we actually did some of those projects, LOL! Regena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArwenA Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Here's our typical grammar stage history lesson: Read a chapter or section of a chapter from SOTW Discuss it Read aloud (including Usborne Encyclopedia) and colour Independent reading if available Mapwork Narration Copywork Memorywork if available (during the grammar stage we only memorize poetry, if a poem ties in with the time period we may memorize it) Activity Seeing it written here it seems like a lot, but it's not. We do 30min-1 hour (depending on age) Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I love SOTW, it is perfect for the grammar stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArwenA Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I highly recommend this program. It spoiled me. My only complaint is that that there is no similar program for logic age. Me too. *Hint, hint SWB* :) We do SOTW for some of the logic age but by the time we're at grade 7/8 I start feeling it's too simple. We'll probably use History of the Ancient World book next year, but after that...:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 For Grammar Stage, we use Story of the World. We do a chapter a week and I read a section a day. Most weeks we do history two times which seems to be about enough. But chapters have between 1 and 4 sections. I also have the Activity Guide and I photocopy the maps and coloring pages and have my dds color them while I read. We have gone through periods as well where we have done the projects but right now we are not doing them. Also, I check out books from the library that go with the chapter we are reading and we look at or read those books at bedtime. Hope this helps.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadiegirl Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 We do audio tapes from Your Story Hour and currently we are reading a fiction based read-a-loud. I am reading aloud from the The History of US and they are really enjoying it so I am planning on getting some more of these for next year. WOW..is it already that time of the year again? Seems just like yesterday, we were starting our first day of school for the year!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazelt"nut" Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Kids (6/3) color coloring page related to chapter that I read aloud to them. DD6 and I complete the map exercises and look on the globe. I check out as many of the literature suggestions as possible and try to do at least one activity for each chapter. Some chapters we have skipped the activity part. For example this week she colored a pic of Julius Caesar, I read the chapters to her, we played the Ransom Caesar game, completed the map and even did some make believe play like we were searching for the pirates that had kidnapped Caesar. DD has also completed oral narrations and illustrations for some of the lit. books we read this year. For older kids you could have them narrate back the chapter you read. Next year I will be letting dd listen to the cd and color her page. Her co-op will be handling the maps and activities. I am going to work in American History for our time here at the house. I will be using The Childrens Encyclopedia of American History along with many living books related to whatever topic we are on. I hope to work in a few projects as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I also feel no matter what spine you use for history, make it come alive with t.v. specials (History Channel), movies, audio bks, plays, field trips, and exhibitions (if any come to your area). I think these make the history come alive. We are lucky to live near a number of centers that have "living" history exhibits. I love watching the expressions on my kids faces as they watch what they have read about in live action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Story of the World!!! I credit the book (and activity guide) with giving my kids a love of history!! Another tip is to learn together. I think part of why we liked SOTW so much is because I was learning right alongside them and I was excited about it, which rubbed off on them. Read outloud to them, discuss it with them, do a project with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Never fear, SWB is here! Or at least, she's been where you are and wrote curricula to support you! We love SOTW. We use the Activity Guide to find supplemental reading, make a notebook page for almost every chapter, and do some of the projects. It is not intimidating at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HootOwl Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 but have worked myself today pulling resources together. Next year, I'm going to try a fully planned curriculum---Winter Promise American Story---for the first time. I'm looking forward to just teaching instead of always planning. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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