Hakim's History of US with a 4th grader

[Rosy]

Has anyone done this? How did you use it? Actually, I'm planning to do it with all of my kids, but our group stuff I gear toward my oldest and let the others catch what they can. So if you've done it with younger kids, I'd love to hear that too!

 

Did you just use it as a read-aloud? Have them read it? Use a study guide? If so, which one? Did you try to sync it up with SOTW, or use it on its own?

 

If you haven't done any of this, but have an opinion on how it could/should be done, I welcome those too. :D

 

Thanks in advance!

[MtnTeaching]

My son started reading this in 5th grade and we would discuss afterward. I let him go at his own pace and gave him tons of extra reading from the library. He's a big reader and would read anything I put in the reading box. He loved the Revolutionary War period so much, we almost spent a whole year on it. Then, when he hit the Civil War, it was the same way.

 

We did SOTW, but I didn't sync this with HofUS. We did two different history studies throughout the year because we started hsing after a few years in ps and I wanted to start from the beginning in both histories. I did use the Elementary teacher's study guide to guage his comprehension, moving to the middle school one later, because I couldn't keep up with how fast he read on his own.

 

(My dd is a completely different learner and I will be using HofUS this year as a supplement for Winter Promise American Crossings 1.)

 

I have to say, my son has loved this series and would just sit in bed reading it for fun.

[Pippen]

I used it with my 5th grade/11yo last year and it went well for us but I don't think it would have been ideal for her any younger than that. I read aloud and we discussed as we went along. She always had a historical novel going on her own and I supplemented with dvd's, field trips, activities, etc.

[Rosy]

Thanks, guys!

 

I used it with my 5th grade/11yo last year and it went well for us but I don't think it would have been ideal for her any younger than that. I read aloud and we discussed as we went along. She always had a historical novel going on her own and I supplemented with dvd's, field trips, activities, etc.

 

I'm not too worried about my oldest--she's reading well beyond 4th grade level...sounds like it might not work for the youngers though? They do pretty well listening to SOTW, and it seemed like it might be more engaging than that. I'll have to look it over when it gets here though.

[WTMindy]

We used it as a read-aloud when my kids were in 4th and 2nd. We all really enjoyed these books.

[Ali in OR]

We used it as a read aloud as part of Biblioplan when my dd was in 3rd and 4th grade. I just read the main text, not all of the side bars, and we talked about what I read. My dd is a big history buff and would pick up the books to read on her own. The level was just fine for her. My youngest dd sat in with us as a K'er and a 1st grader. She did not enjoy it, but did sit and listen while drawing. So in my experience, as young as 3rd grade can work, but K or 1st is too young (but they can sit through it). You should be fine with a 4th grader.

Edited July 26, 2010 by Ali in OR

[swimmermom3]

My son did SL 3+4 for 4th grade but did not like the main spine, so we read Hakim along with Daniel Boorstin's Landmark History of the American people. I did not use a guide for Hakim but simply read and discussed with my son. It worked well because he enjoys history but is fascinated by politics.

[JenniferB]

My daughter studied US History to 1865 with the Hakim series vols. 1-6 last year for 5th grade. 5th grade is the earliest I would use these texts, in order to fully enjoy and understand them. For 4th grade and younger I would use a literature approach, like Beautiful Feet, or the recommendations in All Through the Ages by Christine Miller. I'm using All Through the Ages this summer to reinforce what my oldest learned this last school year, with my youngers listening in. I have written about our US History studies from 1774 - 1865 in my blog, if you would like to check it out.

[Rosy]

Thanks everyone!

[Pippen]

My daughter studied US History to 1865 with the Hakim series vols. 1-6 last year for 5th grade. 5th grade is the earliest I would use these texts, in order to fully enjoy and understand them. .

 

That was my feeling, too. My daughter could have handled it prior to 5th grade, but I felt like she got a lot more out of them than she would have earlier.

[Rosy]

I know it's meant for older kids, I'm not terribly concerned about that. We'll come back to it again when they're older, but I need to supplement SOTW with something for American History.

 

Mostly I was just wondering *how* others go about using it with kids this age. I'll probably either use it as a read-aloud or assign reading for my oldest out of it. She's the kind of kid who will pick up adult level books and read them if it's about a subject she's interested in, so I think she'll be fine using it.