Daughter hates Mystery of History

[TandLMommy28]

Sigh... what do I do? she despises it. I picked it because it seemed to be the most Biblical and it has enough to do right in there that if we have weeks where we don't hit the library for extra reading, it's OK because we can keep busy anyway (Or weeks where our library has nothing on-topic, as is the case with creation and most of the first few weeks of the curriculum)...

 

She cries when I tell her it's time for history. She pouts. She rolls her eyes. She sighs. She tunes me out.

 

I really am out of history curriculum money right now and I already bought Volume 1 and the lapbook downloads... Does anyone have any ideas to make this more fun for her? I already made some file folder games from a free website but I'm not sure what else to do.

 

Help! Please! Thanks...

[Daisy]

Sigh... what do I do? she despises it. I picked it because it seemed to be the most Biblical and it has enough to do right in there that if we have weeks where we don't hit the library for extra reading, it's OK because we can keep busy anyway (Or weeks where our library has nothing on-topic, as is the case with creation and most of the first few weeks of the curriculum)...

 

She cries when I tell her it's time for history. She pouts. She rolls her eyes. She sighs. She tunes me out.

 

I really am out of history curriculum money right now and I already bought Volume 1 and the lapbook downloads... Does anyone have any ideas to make this more fun for her? I already made some file folder games from a free website but I'm not sure what else to do.

 

Help! Please! Thanks...

 

Wow. She is really young. I can completely understand why she is hating it. Personally, I'd just read through a children's Bible for coverage of the time period. When you get to Egypt, stop and read library books on Egypt. When you get to Babylon, stop and read library books about them. When you get to the end of the OT, stop and read about the Greeks (Alexander the Great, etc.). Read library books on Rome while reading the NT stories. I'd call that plenty.

[Chris in VA]

I agree with Daisy. MOH is probably way, way too much at this point.

I was going to use it for logic stage, myself.

 

For K, I'd just read the bible (kids version).

[Poke Salad Annie]

Wow. She is really young. I can completely understand why she is hating it. Personally, I'd just read through a children's Bible for coverage of the time period. When you get to Egypt, stop and read library books on Egypt. When you get to Babylon, stop and read library books about them. When you get to the end of the OT, stop and read about the Greeks (Alexander the Great, etc.). Read library books on Rome while reading the NT stories. I'd call that plenty.

 

:iagree:

[AudreyTN]

Wow. She is really young. I can completely understand why she is hating it.

 

:iagree: I tried it when mine were younger and they hated it. Since then I've been (somewhat) patiently waiting until they were in 4th and 5th grade. (THIS YEAR!!! :001_smile:)

[TandLMommy28]

Thanks. Sometimes I forget she is only 5. In other subjects she's pretty advanced so i guess sometimes I forget that just because she can read at a 4th/5th grade level doesn't mean she can always COMPREHEND at that level. I think i need a different children's Bible, though, because hers is very Baby-ish (2 sentence summaries of 5 - 10 chapters) and she's read the entire thing through 5 times already. Any recommendations for a better Children's Bible? I forget which one we have but if you go on CBD.com and search children's Bible, it's the first one that pops up. That much I know!

[dcurry]

We LOVE MOH, but our kids are a little older. Last year they were in grades 8, 7, 3, 1, and 4 years). My 4 year old usually left the table during history, and that is fine with me. (My 1st grade boy tried to leave too, but I usually had him participate for the story at least). I have my kids color the time-line figures that we are reading about while I am reading aloud. I am hoping to get the tapes soon, so they don't have to hear MY voice all day, every day. Then we can do quiet activities as we listen to the story.

 

I'd honestly wait a few years for this curriculum. I've heard "My Father's World" is more geared towards younger kids, and is also chronological. We did Beautiful Feet's "Early American History" when my oldest kids were 8 & 6 and they both loved it. But if you want to teach chronologically, I'd possibly skip history this year, or else just read some fun kid's ancient books, build a mummy, & do some hands-on activities. You don't really want her hating MOH this early in the game (or ANY history, for that matter).

 

If you really wanted to do it this year, I'd summarize the story instead of reading it, and do the activities suggested for young kids instead.

[Daisy]

We like Egermeiers, but there are many great options.

[Sue G in PA]

MOH is best suited for children much older than K. I did it one year with a 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th grader. The 1st and 2nd graders didn't get much out of it at all and hated it. 4th and 6th graders loved it. I'd shelve it for a few years.

[dansamy]

Thanks. Sometimes I forget she is only 5. In other subjects she's pretty advanced so i guess sometimes I forget that just because she can read at a 4th/5th grade level doesn't mean she can always COMPREHEND at that level. I think i need a different children's Bible, though, because hers is very Baby-ish (2 sentence summaries of 5 - 10 chapters) and she's read the entire thing through 5 times already. Any recommendations for a better Children's Bible? I forget which one we have but if you go on CBD.com and search children's Bible, it's the first one that pops up. That much I know!

 

My 9yo DD has this Bible, which she loves! It's girly. It's in an easy to read translation, but yet it's a complete text, real Bible. It's not just a story book of Bible stories.

I also like the NLT text. I feel these texts are pretty good, but not over their heads like KJV is. I will start requiring KJV reading as they get older, so that they can learn to read (and interpret) older English writings. The KJV is the most common, easily available text that uses old "King's English" writing.

Edited August 31, 2010 by dansamy

[MerryAtHope]

I agree, save it for later. She's so young--I'm using it with 6th & 8th graders this year! I think younger kids listen in along with older siblings, but I really wouldn't opt for MOH 1 before about 3rd grade for the oldest one. I used MOH 1 over 2 years when my kids were 2nd-3rd and K-1st. My oldest LOVES history & enjoyed it, but my youngest got very little out of it at that age. Then we went on to MOH 2 for 4th & 2nd grades, still a bit much then. Now that my youngest is in 6th, she loves it.

[lotsofpumpkins]

We like Egermeier's too.

[zantoc]

Another vote to wait a few years...but another good childrens Bible is Vos's Child's Story Bible.

[ByGrace3]

Might just be "too much" for her right now. For history/geography this year, we are reading Heroes for Young Readers. (Sorry, the actual website is not working, but that is a link to it on their FB page) My 5 and 3 yo are really liking it. We also have the activity books that go along with it and we just go as deep as we would like into the history found in the biographies. She has already learned alot and we are only in the first book. They are a "good" read tough.

[Brenda in FL]

We like Egermeiers, but there are many great options.

 

:iagree: we like this one, too. And I agree that she's young for MOH. I looked at it when my kids were grammar stage - and decided it looked best for logic stage.

 

If that means you might look for a different history for first grade - I recommend Story of the World. It's very engaging for first grade, you don't have to do any extra reading, and it's very easy to incorporate a Bible Story Book.

[blessedmom3]

I don't know if anyone suggested it , but at that age , my son really enjoyed History for Little Pilgrims . Now at almost 7 , he loves MOH but we mostly listen to the MOH cd's and read living books for most of the lessons covered .We do the timeline & maps and some activities.

[silver]

We have The Golden Children's Bible:

 

http://www.christianbook.com/the-golden-childrens-bible/9780307165206/pd/65205

 

It's still a paraphrase, like children's story Bibles tend to be. But when I've compared it to NIrV, it's surprisingly close.

 

You could also try an actual Bible in a translation suited for younger children. We have an NIrV and the back cover says "ages 6-9". My preschooler will listen to Psalms and Jesus' parables from it. I usually don't read OT stories from it to him, but he's younger than your daughter.

[Mommee & Baba]

We started MOH 1 last year with my K4er and 1st grader. They LOVED it...and we stopped around lesson 30. When we started it back up this year for my now K5er and 2nd grader it was much more difficult for them to grasp then I remember last year. So we shelved it just a couple days ago and have decided to do read alouds, lapbooks and just enjoy some history based kid documentaries and biographies...I'm much happier with this decision.

 

The activities were PERFECT for their age...but the lessons themselves got to be too deep for them and confused them terribly and wasn't any fun for any of us anymore!

 

I plan on starting it back up when my oldest is in 4th and my youngest is in 2nd as she was grasping ALOT more of it than my oldest was...if it doesn't work for her in 2nd, she'll be welcomed to cut it out til 4th as well.

[Sahamamama]

Thanks. Sometimes I forget she is only 5. In other subjects she's pretty advanced so i guess sometimes I forget that just because she can read at a 4th/5th grade level doesn't mean she can always COMPREHEND at that level. I think i need a different children's Bible, though, because hers is very Baby-ish (2 sentence summaries of 5 - 10 chapters) and she's read the entire thing through 5 times already. Any recommendations for a better Children's Bible? I forget which one we have but if you go on CBD.com and search children's Bible, it's the first one that pops up. That much I know!

 

I agree with Daisy. My oldest is 5.5, also reads at a 4th/5th grade level, and we are planning on doing MOH in a few years. Here's the Bible we've been using and will continue to use:

 

DK Children's Illustrated Bible, by Selina Hastings

 

http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Illustrated-Bible-Selina-Hastings/dp/0756609356

 

NOTE: If you order this, be sure to get the FULL-SIZED version, as there is a smaller version floating around on Amazon. The print is impossible to read and the illustrations are so tiny. Just a heads up. Good luck!