anabelneri Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Hello! I need a reality check, I think. I'm planning out our 3rd grade year. Sweetie is extremely verbal, with very high comprehension levels. She "gets" things described to her fairly easily. We've been doing Ambleside Online, and I'm messing with the book lineup. Some of their readings have been great for her, but some are far too simplistic. Science suggestions in particular have often been too simple (and not just at AO, but anything geared for her age group). I was wandering the internet and stumbled upon Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything", checked it out from the library, along with the kids' version. The kids version was, frustratingly, simplistic. Whole sections of the adult book were shrunk down to two pages of text and lots of pictures. So I read Sweetie the introduction to the adult version, and she enjoyed it (even laughing in parts). Am I crazy to schedule this in for a 3rd grader? I haven't read the whole thing, but I figure we'll take it slowly and dive deeply when we're hitting challenging topics. I've searched the Hive and I've found people using it for middle- and high-schoolers, but I haven't seen it listed for younger kids. To make me feel even more insane, I was looking at the biography suggested by AO for Shakespeare, which is a 48-page book (with a fair about of text per page, granted) scheduled over 12 weeks. Looking around I found Bryson's biography of Shakespeare, which is about 200 pages. Some part of me thinks the Bryson book would be better than the Stanley one, especially with the Amazon reviews mentioning that it's very much a history book, not just a biography. We're doing British history, and it would fit in beautifully. I'm open to feedback! Thank you! :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 My 6th grade is reading Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything in the adult version. He is a strong reader and accelerated learner, very interested in science - but he needs to read this slowly, in small portions. I do not think it would have worked for any of my children in 3rd grade, even though my more accelerated DD was reading thick fiction books at that age- technical non-fiction is a very different beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Calvin (early, intelligent reader) enjoyed the book at the beginning but got bogged down. He loves the other Bill Bryson books he has read. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumping In Puddles Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I got the audiobook for me to listen to and my 1st and 2nd grade kids listened with me. They loved the introduction and the first few chapters about the universe but there were many parts in the middle and toward the end that where they were bored to tears. There suddenly came topics and names and dates where their eyes just glazed over - maybe because they couldn't really put some of it into context? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I read A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking to my older son when he was 9 and he loved it. I say go for it. BTW, there is a version (adult) of A Short History of Nearly Everything that is heavily illustrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyCamper Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 A friend of my son's read it independently when he was 9 year old. He was very excited about the book and definitely got it. I say if your daughter is interested, go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I love this book, it's just so fascinating. It's the one book of which I have 5 copies - 2 physical hardcover, Kindle, Kindle updated with pictures, and kid's version. My favorite is the adult illustrated version. While I've read similar books aloud to my daughter and she's been fascinated, I'll have to wait a few more years to give it to her to read on her own. I will be seeing if my daughter wants to read the adult version by herself when she's 9. At that time, I'll give her the adult illustrated version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I'm not familiar with this particular book, but the illustrated edition looks fantastic. Thanks, everyone for the recommendation! FWIW, my DD loved the DK books Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide and Earth: The Definitive Visual Guide when we did astronomy & earth science in 2nd. She was just-turned-7 at the time. There's also a general science book in the series, but I haven't gotten the chance to look at a copy yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 We are listening to A Short History of Nearly Everything as a family. My boys are 10 and 7. The 10yr old definitely gets more of the science than the 7yr old but the 7yr old is definitely very engaged with it. There are a few "colorful" references in it which I think went over my boys head. One was one of the scientist after meeting up w/ 2 under 18yr old girls from a local village, could not be coaxed to finish the expedition but ran off w/ the girls. Another was the rather prominent affairs of some chemist which prevented her?? from being accepted into the Chemical Society Hall of Fame (not the real name but I can't recall the actual name). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 You may want to try the abridged version, A Really Short History of Almost Everything. It's geared to grades 5-8. Then you can do a Short History in 2-3 years. Barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Thank you so much for alerting me to this "younger" version-my son would really really REALLY love this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Thank you so much for alerting me to this "younger" version-my son would really really REALLY love this. You're welcome! I'm a huge Bryson fan and I plan to find a way to work this in somehow next year. Barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabelneri Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Thank you for all the replies! I might go ahead with it and see what happens. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.