lewelma Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 My family is a science family. We love history, but science is our passion. I am finding that my son does not have the time to do both well. Currently, he is reading science textbooks and watching lectures for about 5 hours per week, and then my dh reads history books from the library to both boys (age 10 and 7) at night averaging 3 hours/week. What I am finding is that my ds has a deep knowledge of both subjects, but is moving into the logic stage more quickly with science because of more time, interest, and independent working with the material. The logic stage skills of reading, outlining, analyzing, researching, writing,experimenting etc are being met with science, but also the organizing your time, working independently with a text etc. For history he is more a passive absorber, although my dh does try to pull him into more "logic stage" discussions. Ds also reads books like "persian fire" and "the Rubicon" on his own, both adult level entry books to the subject, so he his not inept, just more passive! He has also written some summaries of people, written a couple of reports, and done a bit of time lining, but this is minimal compared to what is recommended in TWTM From my point of view, both subjects are being learned, but only one with skills. So here are my questions: 1)Can you learn logic stage skills with any subject and then easily apply them to a different subject? 2)There seems to be just not enough time for everything, and we want to focus on science. Because my ds has less time available for history, what would you rank the highest for logic-stage skills in history, that would not be easily transfered from what he has learned in science? Thoughts? ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in CA Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Critical thinking, evaluating using primary sources and talking about bias in history texts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tohru Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Personally, after homeschooling all these years, my biggest regret is that we didn't focus more on science and spent too much with history. I'm pretty sure that I'm one of the rare few that think science is more important in teaching critical thinking than history is. In MY opinion, with science one learns the needed critical thinking skills for life; the questioning and the inquiry, both of which are desperately needed when faced with propaganda or skewed history. The thing that studying history provides is more of an opportunity to use those scientific skills with intangible ideas. I hope that makes sense. Go with science, if that is your family's passion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 1)Can you learn logic stage skills with any subject and then easily apply them to a different subject? Yes, I believe you can. I think I'm leaning in that direction myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in SC Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I agree that you can teach logic stage critical thinking in science just as well as history, so I wouldn't worry about that. I would make sure he is learning history through the logic stage. The information will have a different impact since he is now learning it from a "logic" mindset instead of a "grammar" mindset. Sounds like you are doing a great job at that. Chris in SC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 We have the same problem. Just not enough time. We'll be doing a lot of science and history over the summer. This year was especially hard as we had a large Language arts focus to get those writing skills more automatic so that the writing in science and history doesn't take as much time. I'm thinking about PP schedule of 2weeks of daily history and 2 weeks of daily science. We actually do better w/ blocks like that for science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in CA Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Perhaps you can bypass the choice by signing him up for debate? Personally I think this builds a great foundation for learning to create sound arguments, think critically, defend your position, see things from the others' point of view, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I think that you absolutely can learn logic stage skills via science studies as opposed to history studies and think your plan sounds just fine! I don't know what you're reading aloud from for history, but SWB's History of the Ancient/Medieval Worlds might work for you (some more adult content, but you could edit as you read).... You could also use her Well Educated Mind as a guide to choosing other works to read from as you go.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I'll bet that any social science skills, that cannot be taught with science, will be covered in a GED prep book. I haven't seen a GED prep book in awhile, but I remember them as being skills, not content based. It might be worth taking a glance at a workbook and seeing if it might be worth orally doing a lesson once a week. They are mostly just comprehension of a chart and a short reading I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I am facing the same dilemma but flipped. My older finds history more to his liking. My second, science. I do not think dropping history as a formal subject is going to hamper any child's ability to take a test and succeed in University. I agree with the poster who said the following. "In MY opinion, with science one learns the needed critical thinking skills for life; the questioning and the inquiry, both of which are desperately needed when faced with propaganda or skewed history. The thing that studying history provides is more of an opportunity to use those scientific skills with intangible ideas." Go with the passion. Make home school happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Thanks everyone for the support and ideas. They has been immensely helpful for my planning for next year. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Have you looked at the Story of Science by Hakim? We're really impressed here about the way it ties science into history... giving it a context and connecting it with culture and religion and math and politics and everything. My older daughter and I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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