yellowperch Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) We have been homeschooling in some way another off and on for several years, but this fall will be the first time I will have an almost-full contingent of students (my 6th grader will continue in school) for a full academic year. We have studied the ancients and early American history a dozen times—or at least it feels that way. We are now ready to start the Middle Ages—I, for one, am excited: Constantinople, Copernicus, castles, Henry VIII, SHAKESPEARE! My problem: my 4th grader and I started Joy Hakim’s The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way. This, for those who are not familiar with it, is an engaging three-part narrative history of science produced by Johns Hopkins and the Smithsonian. The first two volumes come with meaty teachers’ guides and handy student notebooks. This very extensive, rich resource was perfect for my highly-gifted (in math) 4th grader. (He is a high-concept kid who craves challenging material to read and discuss but begrudgingly produces grade-level writing.) We worked through a 14 of the 30 chapters in the eight weeks at end of the year, which brought us up to Alexander the Great. The first of the three books ends in about 1200 AD. My son and I both want to continue this, It’s more history than science and more science than history, if that makes sense. It’s a cool hybrid, but I still feel like we need a more typical science program as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it as the spine in our main history study if my son were my only student. This material would not be as thrilling to my daughter (though a little nagging voice is a saying: “How would you know unless you try?”) I think it would be way over her head. And my kindergartener would be left in the dust, too. Finally, my daughter and I are quite keen on doing a good bit of art history. We have a nifty collection of books about artists, painting, and museums that we enjoy reading together. I was planning to do a kind of “Top 10 Artists” art history study that would also have 10 hands-on art projects incorporated. I thought she could produce booklets aout each artist, and we could make our way to museums in Boston and NYC to see some of our favorite up close. (My daughter reads several grade levels above, is on grade level in writing/spelling/math and is desperate to be taken seriously.) I’m trying to be realistic about how much we can actually do well. I tend to get most excited about content and find skill development tedious (as do my kids). I’m trying to guard against this, and so am forcing myself to rethink things. In any case, would any of you care to take a stab at helping me reconcile these three somewhat disparate history-ish threads of study. What would you recommend I do with all this? I need advice…. Edited July 14, 2011 by yellowperch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 We also love the Story of Science here. And art history. And the middle ages. And a hundred other interesting topics that deserve some attention. I just try to remind myself that my kids have a lifetime to learn and it's important to stick with what is working until it no longer works. Then change to something else. My older daughter often does Story of Science as bedtime reading. Because we both love it, it's become a special time for us. I read other things with my younger daughter who would *not* appreciate or understand the Story of Science at all. They're totally different kids and I'm glad I can find a little bit of time to do something special with each of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowperch Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Bumping this up for some advice from the daytime crowd. I'd be grateful. Very. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowperch Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) Bumping, at the risk of being considered pesky..... Edited July 14, 2011 by yellowperch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Could you read through the Story of Science to bring yourself up to the Middle Ages period, then tie your art history and Story of Science together into that time period? I know that's a vague suggestion (and I have to run so can't search out more specific resources right now) but maybe that could be a starting point to help you find overlapping resources that would help you cover everyone's interests. (?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Here's an art history timeline that you might find helpful if you decide to tie everything together: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/intro/atr/08sm.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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