Do you do both Science and History everyday?

[hsmom2011]

n/m

[delaney]

Heck no. MWF history and T TH science

[3peasinapod]

We never do them together. We always do science in one chunk on the weekend when we have more time to explore experiments. We do it for about an hour on the weekend. We keep up with history reading during the week plus all the basics.

[boscopup]

Nope, I do 3 days of history and 2 days of science. That way, we can spend reasonable amounts of time on each.

 

In school, they alternated weeks, history one week and science one week.

 

Next year, I'm leaning toward using HOD Bigger for history (and other subjects), and I'm planning to give ES Chem a try. Both do history/science 5 days a week in small chunks.

[Whereneverever]

Yes, we do, but that's because it's really important to my DD.

[LAS in LA]

Heck no. MWF history and T TH science

 

Same here. We would definitely run out of steam if we tried to do both.

[Mama2two]

We do readings thruout the week, but experiments and activities in a large block once a week for each

[KrissiK]

Oh, goodness no! Then I'd really be exhausted. We do History M,T,W and Science Th, F.

[Moniksca]

No, we do science M/W and history T/Th with F for either a sci or his project.

[LittleIzumi]

Science yes, history no. Science is our spine & my extremely visual dd has absolutely no interest in history yet :tongue_smilie: so we just do that on Fridays, US geography and the presidents ATM. Next year I plan to add more "real" history/culture.

[KristenR]

I plan on doing them seperately. When we start up SOTW then I will probably do that 3x a week and science 2. Right now we are doing Prehistory and I have found that our science and history lessons are intermingled at this point. Big Bang, Evolution, etc..

[plain jane]

We do 45 min of science every day and an hour to hour and a half of history every day. It works for us and the kids are enjoying it. :)

 

(well, not history so much but that's due to the program, not the subject itself)

[FairProspects]

Yes I do, but we still only do both twice a week. I structure it this way because we have extensive afternoon activities on M/W and I don't have time to hit more than the basics those days. Our Tu/Th tend to be longer on academics so we do history in the morning and science in the afternoons. Sometimes we do a history project on F afternoons if there is one that strikes our fancy.

[tammyw]

Officially, no. But I do get A LOT of history and science books and leave them around for dd8 to read, which she does a lot of. Same with quality children's magazines - we get a lot of those and she reads them before bed. We get Kids Discover and Ask (science), and Cobblestone and Calliope (history), Dig (geology), etc.

 

We also watch videos in the morning after we get up - right now we're working our way through Liberty's Kids. We also watch science videos, documentaries, etc.

 

My husband "officially" does a science curriculum on the weekend with dd8 (right now RSO Chemistry), and we're hoping to buy some random kits so we can do more fun experiments.

 

We're a bit eclectic though and don't really have any set schedule, so we're always doing something different. It helps that I have a voracious reader.

[Hedgehog]

No way!

 

Rabbit does History 3x a week, 1hr - 1.5hrs each, and Pooh does History 2x a week. We all do Science 1x a week for 2.5hrs.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Yes we do. History takes about 45 mins and science takes between 45mins and 1 hour

[ScoutTN]

nope. we do each one 2x a week, leaving an extra day for a project (which might be one of these or art or cooking or....)

[AppleGreen]

I have tried a number of ways to make history and science work simultaneously and have always ended up frustrated. This year I blocked the two subjects. We started school with an 8 week block of history beginning with pre-history and working through the ancient civilizations of Sumer, Egypt, Indus River and ending in China. We are using K12s HO and STOW.

 

Then we took a week break and started a 6 week block of science. We have a break for a family trip and Thanksgiving and then spend some time on history. After the new year we will spend most of January wrapping up history and then after a winter break will start back on science. (I think this is how I remember planning the year...my notebook isn't in front of me!)

 

We spend 4-5 days on the subject in focus each week. It has allowed us to get a little deeper into the subject and definitely helped me not feel as stressed about 'getting it done'. We have been reviewing the first block's learning orally during random times. STOW is available to them for to listen to. We make history notebooks that we will review before we start the next block. Also, when we review, I typically hit the general 'big idea'. So, when we talk about ancient civilizations we talk about what was needed for those civilizations to thrive, features that made it possible for people to settle etc.

 

I do not know what their retention will look like, but this is working for us this year and I am enjoying it much more! :)

[SweetMissMagnolia]

had the grand illusion that I would be able to this year but hasn't happened......

[Mynyel]

We do not. I use a block schedule for history, science and geography. DD13 can do hers in one day, for ds9 we do two days of history and two for science and one for geography. It has worked well.

 

No way I would do it every day. If they want it every day I can give them a book to read! :D

[HootyTooty]

Nope. History M&W, Science T&Th

[8filltheheart]

If so, how do you fit it all in? How long is your school day? Thanks. :)

 

For any child in 3rd grade and up, yes. Science is 30-45 mins/day of silent reading and history is a combination of read alouds w/me and silent reading (anywhere from 30 mins to 1 1/2 hrs...depends on the child and their grade level).

 

Our days are approx. 1 hr/grade level until middle school (middle school is about 6-8 hrs/day).

[Laura Corin]

No, I used to alternate. We did English, maths and PE every day. Two days a week we did history and recorder; two days science and Latin; one day rotations of art/music theory, and RE/logic/philosophy. We fitted in Chinese as well.

 

Laura

[----]

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[Lisa in the UP of MI]

No, we do history M/W, science T/Th, and F we have co-op classes.

[WeeBeaks]

History 5 days a week, science 4. On the 5th day we have a park day that goes through our usual science block.

 

School about 5 hours a day, not in one chunk. I'm officially teaching a 4th grader and 1st, with a pre-K who wants to do some school, and a 1yo causing chaos.

 

My 4th grader does a lot of science independently, his choice. He loves science. I do short lessons for both history and science. I think SWB suggests 90 min a couple times a week? I do 30-45 min each lesson for history and science.

[Daisy]

Both subjects daily here. I prefer being able to hit the concept every day for the entire week in a variety of different ways. My kids have better retention when we do that.

[mytwomonkeys]

my daughter does history and science 4 days a week. my son does history 3 days and science 4 days. this schedule is actually new to us...we have never done it this way in the past (previously it was 2 days each, rotating between the two). we use mainly living books for both subjects though - so it really is just snuggling & reading and we notebook 1x week. on fridays we only do the 3 R's & keep that day very light (my husband is off).

[curlygirlzx2]

No, we do science M/W and history T/Th with F for either a sci or his project.

 

We do the same.

[helena]

If so, how do you fit it all in? How long is your school day? Thanks. :)

 

We usually fit both in everyday.

 

Our school day is loooooooong! :lol: But, I have a 7th grader this year and that is just one of many adjustments we've made this school year. ;)

 

We fit it all in by breaking up the work so that no day is overwhelming, but specific works are completed.

For example my 10yo does SOTW, I break it up like this:

Mon. listen to CD, choose activity from AG (so I can gather materials by Fri)

Tues. read SOTW ch. from book

Wed. map work, read history encyclopedia pages

Thurs. Q&A and narration work from AG

Fri. test and activity

 

 

My 12yo is doing History Odyssey which has a weekly schedule. She can go at her own pace as long as she completes a lesson by the end of the week.

She also does a SOTW activity on Fridays.

 

If we don't get something done one day, it's easily made up the next.

 

We have two parts to our science.

We have monthly nature study units with specific goals set to be completed by the end of the month. So, if we miss a day it's okay. We almost always do something though, even if it's just reading a few pages of our book or logging one thing into nature journals. September's theme was plants and animals from Arctic and Antarctic regions.

 

Then we have our regular science studies. Right now we're doing Ellen McHenry's Brain unit. We complete one chapter a week. Again, we break it up into little bits of work.

Mon. we read (the reading is wonderfully short),

Tues. they choose one activity (usually some printable)

Wed. they read the "more about" chapter (short and sweet)

Thurs. activity

Fri. activity

*Ellen McHenry is a science dream come true here! :001_wub:

 

So, it works because we break it up into manageable parts, and because the curricula we chose allows us to break it up.

 

hth

[Five More Minutes]

Nope. History M&W, Science T&Th

 

Same here.

[iona]

Officially we do science one day a week and history one day. (1st grade and k fwiw)

[Paintedlady]

We do history on M,W,F for about 60 mins. and science on T,Th for about 90 mins. I like to be able to take our time and not rush through the subject content, which is what I'd be doing if we tried to tackle them both every day.

[Tess in the Burbs]

we do. my kids like those subjects. we do half hour each a day

[sagira]

Both. We do CM style with 20-30 min lessons (3rd year), and they are ds' favorite subjects. The promise of having History and Science has him slog through Writing, Math, and English.

[MelissaMinNC]

We do history (well geography right now, in our case) MWF and science TTh. We were trying to do them together M-Th, and take F off both, but it was killing me, I could not keep up. This is going much better so far! :001_smile:

[JaniceO]

Yes, we do. Plus Geography, lol. They go to an enrichment class on Wednesdays and I wouldn't know how to fit it all in if we didn't do them both every day.

[Aquinas Academy]

Up until this year, I always alternated. We've now switched to doing both every day and are much happier. We spend 30-45 min on each, whereas before we were doing 1-1.5 hours two or three times a week. The lessons were simply to long and we ended up feeling burnt out, which is why we switched. Did I mention we're so much happier? ;)

DCs 6, 8, and 10 are all done by noon, although history read-alouds are often done in the evening. DDs 13 and 15 work all day long.

[Critterfixer]

We have science and history on the same day, usually four days a week, depending on how the morning goes. Math and reading, writing, etc go in the morning, between nine and noon, lunch is an hour, and 1-3 is blocked off for history and science. Occasionally morning doesn't go so well and we get backed up. Then I just move either history or science to our half-day on Thursday. It sounds like a long day, and some days it is. But a great deal of that time is broken up into manageable thirty minute sessions, with breaks for very active boys.

I found that it was easier to keep a rhythm with three to four days of history vs twice a week. And I can scale back the chapter readings for shorter narration sections, or use another book if I favor it more that SOTW for something. Last year I found a great book on Egypt with a lot of good illustrations that I used instead of SOTW. This year I've got some similar things planned for Medieval history, and I'd like to do more in-depth readings on some of the characters, so I like the daily format.

When it comes to science, I happen to really like it, and I like to go in depth where interests are. So the daily work there allows for it.

[cschnee]

We have scheduled 1 hr of history per day though it doesn't always take that long. We also do science 1 hr/day; The Story of Science for 1/2 hour and experiment based activities that correspond with SofSc for 1/2 hour. We watch a science or history related video during our 1 1/2 hour break while we eat lunch. We go from 9-4 three days a week and 10-4 2 days/week; with a 1 1/2 hour break during the day as mentioned above.

[strawberry_fields]

We have tried to fit both in so many different ways. This year, we are block scheduling and having Science and Geography for the first half of the year and History and Worldview the second half. I feel that this helps my kids to really focus on each subject. And he is able to spend just as many days doing it this way as doing alternate days all year long.

[twoxcell]

My two older both do History daily. My oldest does Science daily too from HOD Bigger Hearts. There is short daily science readings and then usually one notebook page and 1-2 experiments a week. My second oldest only has Science like 1 day a week with LHFHG right now. My dh also does science with the kids though 1-2 days a week in the evenings.

[Lily_Grace]

We do both daily. I alternate large assignments/projects/experiments so that there's only one at any given time.

[joannqn]

Yes, but we do history fairly light.

 

History:

Monday - Read SOTW chapter.

Tuesday - Do map, read library book(s) if we have them

Wednesday - Talk about the discussion questions, read library books

Thursday - Test

Friday - US Presidents and Geography

 

Science:

Monday - Read from astronomy spine

Tuesday - Do TOPS astronomy task

Wednesday - Read from Jetstream online school for weather

Thursday - Do related labs from Jetstream reading

Friday - Do TOPS geology task

 

Our school day is about 4 hours most days. Some days it takes longer if the lab is more involved or our library books are longer. Some days are longer if the kids take longer breaks or we're making up for taking time off for a field trip or other activity.

[JenniferB]

Yes, I take all our together subject's books up to my room, which includes Bible, history, & science and we spend the AM together reading & writing / summarizing. The afternoon is math & words, words, words. We work from 9:30 to 4:00 steady with a 1 hr lunch break, Mon-Thu, Fri is co-op & clean up day.

Edited October 7, 2011 by JenniferB

[huntchaos]

We do history and science in the afternoons on wed, thurs, and Friday. Friday is one of our only days that we don't have evening activities so, that is experiment day.

 

Tues is our co-op day and on Monday afternoons we do Geography, art, and ecology/nature studies. This is our longest school day and the other day with no activities in the evening.

 

We do all of the language arts and math in the morning every day.

[bbsweetpea]

Formal Science and History ... no. It usually comes up daily in the books we read and discussions we have. I try to just do each 2x a week.

 

Ancient History -1x (we listen to our SOTW CD's in the car though)

American History- 2x

Geography/map work - 2x (this is a short 5 minute lesson)

Science-2x

[mazakaal]

My kids like shorter lessons, so history and science for 20 minutes daily is preferable to 2 or 3 days a week for an hour at a time. We actually run on a 6 day schedule, and history and science are each scheduled for 5 days with a different day off for each subject. Geography is two days per week, on the days that they have off of history and science. My 13yo does 30-40 minutes of history and science mostly independently while the littles do 15-20 minutes with me.

[TheApprentice]

Absolutely Not! We do Science Mon. and Tues., and History Wed., Thur., Fri.