Help me to choose a history options Please!!!

[alexia]

Is there a low cost /free curriculum that can help a newbie like me to teach history/Lit? Or should I try doing my own thing? I do have SOTW all 4 vol., AG 1, MOH 1, TQ 1 + SOTW cd, Diane Waring cd 1-3 vol. and K12/HO book and student workbook. I bought too many history curriculum but, still can't decide what to do and I am lost:confused:

Is History need it to be separate from a Literature/reading?

 

My ds 11 listened to Diane Waring cds more than 10+ times ,read SOTW many times since he was 9. He also read "A Little History of the World ".He hasn't done any written narration though. My 2 youger kids (ds8,dd6)had no formal history. Just read some SL 1 books, other library books. Here are some of options I came up with....Please share with me what would be the best option in my case.

1.Should I just let ds11 complete K12/HO student work book by himself and just join in when I read or listen to audio of sotw and do AG with my younger 2?

2.Listen to sotw audio all together, but, let ds11, ds 8 read TQ or MOH book suggestions (if they have it in the library) by themselves and I read TQ summary and freely share/narrate. Written narrations for older 2 few times a week?

3. Just read together correspoding SL books/SOTW chapters and let them narrate. (2 older ones written). +ds 11 do k12/HO student workbook(selected questions).

4. ???

 

Thank you in advance!!!

Alexia

[Mallory]

I usually find it easiest to start with my oldest and work down.

 

What do you want to cover this year?

 

The K12 middle school history program is great. Has he alread started? Does he like like it? Do you like it? Is he doing well doing it mostly independantly? If so I would just keep that for his history. I wouldn't add SOTW to it, I wouldn't make him do more, that is a fine program for an 11yo. Sure he can listen if he wants to but I wouldn't require it or wait for him to be available before doing a lesson with the other.

 

Can he narrate? Can he outline? Do you feel okay about his writing otherwise? Is he required to do much writing otherwise? The nice thing about the WTM recomendations is that they supply enough writing across the curriculum that you can use that for thier writing program, but if he can summarize and is begining to outline (finding main ideas) and is already doing similar kinds of work in HO then he doesn't need to be narrating from SOTW.

 

Then think about the next one. If you are going to be involved in the oldest's history anyway, the easiest thing is just to pick up some easier level books at the library about the same topic and keep everyone together. If you oldest works independantly, then using a similar SOTW can keep everyone at least playing the same games ;)

 

Then box up or sell all the things you aren't using so you aren't tempted to overplan. It is much better to do the one thing you do well, then to try to do all the best things partway.