kandty Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 It makes me feel so guility! I just need someone to tell me that it is ok (I really think it is)! :bigear: My plan for my second grader history really wasn't history but more geography and it was to do Expedition Earth (the $15 one from confessions of a homeschooler blog). I really liked the program, but it just wasn't set up for my picky learning/teaching style. It wasn't getting done. I gave it a break and then decided to download some lapbooks on the different continents and some countries. I've had them for a month and still didn't get them done. I think I am just going to stop trying! I just have a lot of guilt about doing this. I would replace it with more of another subject, so we will be doing the same amount of school time. I think I just need someone to tell me that my kid would be fine if we don't do it or that I better get busy adding it back in. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 It will be fine. I gave up history at the end of second grade and did nothing but watch Horrible Histories and read the occasional historical fiction and Ariel has a better grasp of history from that than the 1.5 years of SOTW. You could probably have her play Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego or have her listen to the geography songs from Audio Memory if you are really worried about it. Otherwise, don't sweat it. Really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiKC Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I don't think it would be terrible if you gave it up, but I think it would be better if you somehow tried to incorporate some easy geography that wouldn't take much planning. Especially since it isn't a matter of time (you said you'd add more of another subject), but of planning, making it work, getting it done. Figure out what wold be easy for you and do something super-simple, low-stress, no big committment. Ideas: - DVDs from the library about various countries (our library has a couple of series, and I think they're each called something like "Jean-Phillippe (or whoever) from France (or wherever). - Choose a continent for the rest of the school year (South America might be easy since there aren't many countries). Focus on a county at a time and read books about the country. There are even books a 7yo could probably read about different countries. Add in some DVDs. Print out blackline maps of the continent. Color in a new country each time you start a new country. Look at the map often and talk about neighboring country. This wouldn't take much planning. Just some library books and blackline maps. I wouldn't worry about the lapbooks and all since that seems to be hanging over you and not getting done. - Play some geography games (10 Days in Africa, Geobingo, etc.). We have World Geocards and play different games with them. The easiest (and most fun for the kids) is War, based on the population of the countries. So they've become pretty familiar with which countries have more people than others. We sometimes do it by Area. I also have them name the capital when the country card is played. And I love it because I can lie on the couch while we play and it takes 10 minutes! - As a pp mentioned, geography songs. Lots of online geography quizzes, too. I'd just keep it simple and not have a strict plan, other that roughly which countries you'll focus on and when. This would be better to me than giving it up entirely and adding more of another subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_go_gadget Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I don't think the world will end, but it could be pretty sub-optimal, depending on what you mean by "dropping history". Do you mean to drop it completely and not cover it at all, or just to go an informal route with books, documentaries, and games? Also, you said you'd get back to doing history next year--what's your plan? Is there a program you're planning to use next year (in which case my thought would be to start it now), or are you still looking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I don't really get serious about history until 3rd grade. Before that I am focused on skills of the 3Rs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I don't think the world will end, but it could be pretty sub-optimal, depending on what you mean by "dropping history". Do you mean to drop it completely and not cover it at all, or just to go an informal route with books, documentaries, and games? Also, you said you'd get back to doing history next year--what's your plan? Is there a program you're planning to use next year (in which case my thought would be to start it now), or are you still looking? :iagree: Library books on random history topics would be fine, but yeah, if you have a plan for history next year, go ahead and start it now if you can. If not, just hit the library! My son's favorite subject is history, and you know what we do? We read SOTW (one section per day, 3 days per week), and read some picture books related to the chapter. A couple times per week, my son draws a picture and writes one sentence about what he read. He enjoys that, and it gives him some extra writing practice that isn't copywork or dictation, yet is still developmentally appropriate for him also. We rarely do projects. I don't worry about that. When he's old enough to do projects on his own, then he can do projects. He learns very well by reading, so I am not concerned. He knows more about world history than I do at this point (since he's read all 4 volumes - I just pre-read before we do history for the day, so I can discuss intelligently). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 My read alouds follow a chronological line. History is our read aloud and bedtime story until 7th grade. My kids have a firm grasp of history...better than I had when I graduated from high school, and I loved history, when they begin middle school. My kids never realize they are " doing history". School time is reading, language arts and math. Family time is history, science, poetry,Bible study, music appreciation etc...are done informally, but with goals and plans. HTH, Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 My read alouds follow a chronological line. History is our read aloud and bedtime story until 7th grade. My kids have a firm grasp of history...better than I had when I graduated from high school, and I loved history, when they begin middle school. My kids never realize they are " doing history". School time is reading, language arts and math. Family time is history, science, poetry,Bible study, music appreciation etc...are done informally, but with goals and plans. HTH, Faithe Can you give more detail about what you use for this? Do you use the SL history books for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 You could always use SOTW audio books. My kids always beg for one more chapter. It's nice to be able to do it while running errands or on a trip too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Thanks everyone for the great advice! These are some great ideas to think about. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Rather than doing nothing I would retrench into reading. Get a map. Read picture books and light read alouds and keep track of the local of the books. See if you can read a book for every state. Or read some of the Holling C. Holing books and track the story in crayon on a map. I find lapbooks a lot of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Eta the reason I wouldn't drop it altogether is because you want to build the habit of doing more. I think that is made harder when you totally drop subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I don't really get serious about history until 3rd grade. Before that I am focused on skills of the 3Rs. :iagree:This. We are doing an "Around-the-World" geography for this year (Pre-K & 1st), but if we don't get to all the countries we have planned, it's not the end of the world. But I understand the guilt. :D What helps me to let go is to think about my original goals for the course. If the goals were realistic to begin with, ;) and if we have achieved (or can achieve) those goals, we're good to drop the rest of the work (or work just a little longer). For example, for the Around-the-World Geography we're doing this year, I want my 1st grader to: Have a grasp of what maps, globes, and atlases are & how we use them. Be able to show on a globe the equator, the hemispheres (4), the poles (2), lines of latitude & longitude. Be able to name and locate on unlabeled maps the continents, oceans, major rivers, major mountain ranges, her own nation (USA), its capital (DC), her own state (NJ), her own town. Be able to quickly find on a labeled map the countries of Africa which we studied (Ghana, South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt). Be able to tell something about the cultures of these nations. Be able to quickly find on a labeled map the countries of Europe which we studied (Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom & Ireland, Scandanavia [five countries], Russia). Be able to tell something about the cultures of these nations/regions. Be able to quickly find on a labeled map the countries of Asia & Australia which we studied (Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, India, China, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Australia). Be able to tell something about the cultures of these nations. Be able to quickly find on a labeled map the countries of the Americas which we studied (Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Panama, Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Canada). Be able to tell something about the cultures of these nations/regions. Be able to sing the songs from the Geography Songs CD. We're more than halfway there; we'll start on Asia after Christmas. If it gets overwhelming to do 16 more countries by the end of May, what's the harm of dropping a few from each region? (Shrug). I think developing the child's awareness of/appreciation for other countries and cultures is more important than specific studies of X number of countries. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Thanks everyone for the wonderful feedback! I decided not to get rid of it completely. We are taking a more relaxed approach and I also decided to work on topics that I find interesting. So, we are learning about South American for the next couple of months. I just checked out books from the library, plus ones we all ready had on hand, and bought 10 day in Americas game, and a countries coloring book. I didn't make any formal lessons plans, just wrote in "study South America" for two weeks and then I picked 3 countries to study for three weeks after that. We are already enjoying this much better. We started learning about Asia and maybe we just weren't that into it, so maybe just changing the subject matter was the solution. Thanks again everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 :iagree: Library books on random history topics would be fine, but yeah, if you have a plan for history next year, go ahead and start it now if you can. If not, just hit the library! My son's favorite subject is history, and you know what we do? We read SOTW (one section per day, 3 days per week), and read some picture books related to the chapter. A couple times per week, my son draws a picture and writes one sentence about what he read. He enjoys that, and it gives him some extra writing practice that isn't copywork or dictation, yet is still developmentally appropriate for him also. We rarely do projects. I don't worry about that. When he's old enough to do projects on his own, then he can do projects. He learns very well by reading, so I am not concerned. He knows more about world history than I do at this point (since he's read all 4 volumes - I just pre-read before we do history for the day, so I can discuss intelligently). This is very similar to what we do. My kids really enjoy history and would complain if I dropped it. I happen to think it's pretty important as (for us) it's one of the backbones of our studies. My kids have such a great awareness of the world around them and they are starting to form their own opinions about events of history. (One example is my dd9 who is working through SOTW4. Yesterday we read about a ruler who made some really great decisions for his country. She made this comment, "Well, I know the next ruler probably messes everything up, because as soon as things are going well there's always a BUT...." The very next sentence talked of him dying and his son taking over and messing everything up!) It's really neat to see this develop in them. No, it's not the worst thing in the world, but I would certainly make a plan to work it back in. Really, history could be as simple as just reading a chapter out of SOTW a week. You don't have to do all the activities or even narrations. Just hearing the stories would be sufficient until you're ready to do a more rigorous study. You could even have them listen to the CD version if you don't have time to read. :001_smile: Heh, heh... sorry just saw your response above... I think we were typing at the same time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 All we do for history at the moment is read a chapter of SOTW each week and do the questions from the activity guide. If I can find a relevant DVD, we might watch that too. It's really sad, I adore history, but the boys just aren't that interested, and it's so difficult to fit everything in :sad:. Best wishes Cassy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Thanks everyone for the wonderful feedback! I decided not to get rid of it completely. We are taking a more relaxed approach and I also decided to work on topics that I find interesting. So, we are learning about South American for the next couple of months. I just checked out books from the library, plus ones we all ready had on hand, and bought 10 day in Americas game, and a countries coloring book. I didn't make any formal lessons plans, just wrote in "study South America" for two weeks and then I picked 3 countries to study for three weeks after that. We are already enjoying this much better. We started learning about Asia and maybe we just weren't that into it, so maybe just changing the subject matter was the solution. Thanks again everyone! This sounds like a great plan! Glad you were able to work it out. A great example of how helpful these forums are! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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