Now why does my first grader need history again?

[PaigeP]

I just can't seem to get myself to care if my first grader learns history! I get history-related books from the library every now and then for him and that's about it. I plan to purchase the SOTW audio this month and have him listen to that and hopefully this will help him memorize some good facts for later.

 

I guess I just figure that he's too young to get the CONCEPTS surrounding history (one culture enslaving another, taxation without representation, etc.) and so I just figure we'll study this later.

 

I'd like to hear from those of you who take history more seriously.

 

I see where many of you purchase curricula JUST for history and I realize that I'm apparently in a boat by myself on this. What are your thoughts on studying history so young?

[jillian]

I guess it's all about how you do history. If you introduce these time periods and the major people now it'll be easier later. We are reading through A Child's History of the World for first grade, albeit with a young first, because I feel it's important to know the world is bigger than herself. Do I think you need a curriculum? Absolutely not. However, I do feel it's important to do introduce the world to your child beyond themselves kwim? That's just my uneducated opinion since I've never done it with a first yet.

[LisaKinVA]

We don't start formal history until 2nd grade. We spend K/1st developing skills and framework for learning. We follow the VP schedule (Old Testament/Ancient Egypt; New Testament/Greece & Rome; Middle Ages; Explorers to 1815 and 1815 to present). This allows us to cover more modern history in a bit more depth. This is also the same format that K12 uses (although minus a lot of the Bible portions).

 

After that, we're doing do Ancients, Middle Ages/Explorers, Modern History, then we'll do Western Civilization, European History and US Government/US History and Econ.

 

This works for us best... we have also done some African/Middle East and Chinese history as well, but not usually tons and tons.

 

There are lots of ways to break it up, this is just one way.

[ksullivan87]

I feel the same way. We will be doing 1st grade next year and most people I know are starting SOTW with their 1st graders.

 

Maybe it is because I have a baby due in August or because I might tend to agree with the Beautiful Feet idea that it is hard to comprehend far away cultures. Whatever the reason I have a hard time getting geared up for it all as well but I have never been a history buff. :)

 

Right now I am planning on either reading through CHOW just for broad exposure or doing BF's early american history through literature but I won't be TOO worried if we don't get it done. Next year like PP suggested, I want to start VP history cycle in 2nd grade so are biding our time til then right now.

[Georgiana Daniels]

We do it because the kids enjoy it so much. Plus, when it comes time for the next go-around, they'll have some recollection upon which to build. Learning about other times and cultures has given them a broader perspective to draw on, too. For example, we've just finished studying the Spartans, and anytime one of them gets hurt they try to be very Spartan about it :)

[NatYoung17]

I started SOTW with my (young) 1st grader and we're now doing 2nd grade. SOTW is written so that kids in that age group understand it, it doesn't go into political detail or anything they would not understand yet, but history is my dd favorite subject and she loks forward to it every week. I don't have her memorize stuff, we just read a story while she colors a page from the activity book & then we talk about it a bit. Sometimes we read extra books from the library about a topic of interest, sometimes we don't.

I think it's important for kids to learn about the world, how things used to be compared to how they are now...especially here in the US, where everything is so centered on the US and very little on the rest of the world (meaning that there's no emphasis on learning other languages, learning about other cultures & their history, etc...)

At this age history is just stories about people and places from long ago and most kids LOVE to listen to stories :001_smile:

[Momling]

I don't think you *have to* do it if you don't want. I wanted to teach my first grader history and she wanted nothing to do with it. She's only interested now, half-way through second grade.

 

I'd focus instead on playing fun geography games and on just learning some stories from history: like... Greek mythology, stories from the Bible, Beowulf, King Arthur, stories from Shakespeare, maybe some biographies of famous people (kings, queens, saints...), that sort of thing... We also enjoyed the DK book "How children lived". Put up a timeline and every time you read something or hear about something that happened in the past, have your child write it on the timeline.

 

In my mind, the goal in early elementary age is not for your child to learn history (as you know it), but for her to learn that there are other times and places in the world where interesting things have happened. The details can come later.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I don't think a 1st grader needs *his*tory, per se, I just think they need lots & lots of great stories. If some of those stories are from past historicals periods, all the better. You can have great discussions about what things were like a long time ago without drilling them on history facts. You are just trying to stuff their minds with great stories and great language at this stage, IMO. If SOTW appeals to you or them at this stage, go for it. If not, wait, and they'll get more out of it later. I started SOTW Vol. I, afterschooling, when dd was in 2nd grade. We're now hsing full time and just finished SOTW2 (mid 4th grade). There is no harm in doing formal history later, or at a different pace.

[Slipper]

SOTW has a story-telling aspect to it that we find enjoyable. We enjoy reading the history text and talking about it. We do the coloring sheets and mapwork and some of the projects. We read a lot of related books.

 

I haven't concentrated on her learning facts about history yet. I want her to think of history as interesting (which can be a difficult thing to sell to a child). She can remember some of the facts and looks forward to the next chapter.

[pitterpatter]

The idea is to create pegs to hang future knowledge on. If your child remembers even one or two tidbits the next go-around, the material will be somewhat familiar and more friendly.

 

The trick is presenting the material in a child-friendly manner. I'm struggling with doing that with Ancients. I'm not a fan of Story of the World and Usborne's Encyclopedia... seems pretty intense for the age. DD is an accelerated learner, so I'm buying myself some time by studying world geography and cultures next year.

 

Right now, we are using this resource book to study some basic American history since I cannot fathom children not knowing a few important things about America even at a young age. Right now, we are finishing up our study of American symbols. DD is soaking it up and definitely remembers what's she learning. After we studied the bald eagle as an American symbol, she has picked up on it's usage EVERYWHERE. Stuff I don't even notice.

 

 

http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/subject/reading/nonfiction/nonfiction-literacy-building-booklets-activities

[Tanikit]

I think a young child needs to know about time - we teach them today, yesterday, tomorrow before first grade and history is just an expansion on this. SOTW starts with ancient history, but you could also get a first grader to hear stories from his grandparents about how they lived or you could tell him how you grew up differently to today. You could do a unit on dinosaurs or read stories for children written long ago - Beatrix Potter has an enormous amount of history in it (I am not even sure what she is referring to sometimes) You could go to an antique shop and talk about something they see there, find outdated money and talk about that. I do think a first grader needs some access to history, but whether it is a curriculum or just stories or incidental discussions doesn't really bother me. They just need to know the world didn't start the day they were born.

[Ellie]

I only have a high school education, so maybe my mind just isn't trained well enough. :D

 

But with my children, we just did stuff--field trips, good books I found in the library, which often led to other books on the same topic...or not, lol, just stuff. My primary goal was for my children to love history, any history, so that when they were older and we began doing a more focussed study, there would be lots of enjoyable, memorable experiences that would pop up in the middle of reading, and dds would be more likely to actually remember. And even if not that, there would be a little voice in their heads that said "We love history," and so they'd want to learn more.

[Haiku]

What are your thoughts on studying history so young?

 

It's fun! History at that age is just a bunch of really cool stories!

 

Tara

[shinyhappypeople]

Your first grader doesn't need history. It's fun if you have time, but it's not even remotely necessary.

[melmichigan]

My first grader tags along since we are doing TOG. If my library has the books for the week from the LG list then we read them during story time, otherwise he listens in on what he wants. The olders started with lapbooks as part of TOG in 2nd but DS doesn't have the handwriting skills yet to make it worthwhile for him. DS 1st grader is getting ready to move to the intermediate books from SL Readers 2, some of which fit our history period, but thats as far as I would go. History is just gravy at that age.

Edited February 10, 2012 by melmichigan

[kristinannie]

I don't think a first grader needs history and I definitely don't think he needs to memorize historical facts. That said, history/geography is one of my kids' favorite subjects. We are taking a trip around the world. We are spending 1-2 months on each continent. I have some core books and use library books as well. It is a lot of fun. I think something light and fun like that is good. Or you could get a book like 50 Famous People or CHOW or SOTW and just read it. You don't need to get crazy with time consuming activities if you don't want to. I think this is a time to have kids realize there is a whole world out there and to love learning. And you don't have to feel guilty at all if you just skip history altogether! That is what is great about homeschooling!

[ClassicalTwins]

I didn't think my 1st or 2nd graders were "getting anything" out of it. But there are times when they make connecitons when they watch Carmen Sandiego or hear of people in another book. So am I looking for indepth knowledge at 6, no, just to hear the words and store them someplace until another time.

[PaigeP]

I feel less weird in this.

[2_girls_mommy]

It is just fun. There are so many good books and stories written at a 1st grade level. I would hate to miss out on that with my kiddos. SOTW just helped to do it in an orderly fashion. There are plenty of other booklists and curriculums and books that you could use as a guideline. SOTW just happened to be the one that I chose because it had everything in one place for me: the booklists, mapwork, coloring pages and stories.

[WIS0320]

We're doing a one year world history overview which means we are moving at a pretty fast clip but that has actually worked out well for her attention span. Two weeks in Egypt was enough for her at 6. It is definitely all highlights and big ideas/events/people.

 

I chose this not because I am expecting much retention but because I thought it was a good way to have her get to learn some basic world geography, understand the scope of human history and just how long people have been knocking around on this world and to get her to realize that what most people need and want hasn't ever really changed all that much and they use what they've got on hand to support, shelter and feed themselves.

 

So far so good. I think when we start the 4 year history cycle next year she'll have a better idea in general of what happened when and the point of it all as she won't have to wait 4 years to get to the "end" of the story. :)

 

ETA: We tried using SOTW in parts but even the Ancients book was more detailed than I thought she needed to learn at this age. Gilgamesh isn't really a priority at this point!

Edited February 10, 2012 by drexel

[Bloggermom]

We do NOT do History in 1st grade. There is way too much focus on getting basic skills down that I am not too worried about "content". History can start in 2nd or 3rd grade.

[mommy5]

We did Ancient Egypt SCM Module1 for history this year...but honestly my 1st grader got way more out of reading the Bible daily (Children's Story Bible --- LOVE THIS) than anything about Ancient Egypt. I think he pulled bits of it away but he really retained the Bible lessons. I'm definately continuing where we left off in the Bible next year but ditching the history (we are really focusing on LA/Math/Handwriting) but ... I will do one unit of American History and maybe a unit of American Symbols as well as Geography all year. I think these things just seem more practical to me until the child is older and can understand more concepts...

[boscopup]

Your first grader doesn't need history. He might like it though. ;)

 

We started SOTW1 in first grade. My son absolutely loves that series. He just finished SOTW4 on his own for the second time earlier this week. We're still in SOTW2 for "school". :tongue_smilie:

 

I do not worry about long term retention. We are doing history for the enjoyment of history, learning some cool stories, learning about some major events, etc. SOTW1 includes myths and fables from various cultures, which has been really neat. I had never heard of Anansi the Spider, but the stories are great! :D We also get extra books from the library on history topics. Basically, we read, read, read, and do some mapwork. I don't test. I don't review (this time around). I just let my son read and enjoy history, forming some pegs of information that might spark something when he goes through the history cycle again next time.

 

Now DS2... I don't know how much history he'll do in 1st grade. I'll see when we get there. He's K next year. He'll probably tag along with his big brother, and we will be doing US History the next 2 years. Right now, he doesn't really understand history much at all, so I don't worry about teaching it to him. He does Bible history, and he's starting to pick up a few things here and there, but not nearly as much as DS1 did at this age, so if DS2 isn't ready for history in 1st grade, we'll just focus on other things. Not a big deal. We'll be doing Ancients again when he's in 2nd grade, and I imagine he'll probably need that time to be ready for Ancients.

[Alyeska]

I agree with all the others...history isn't really necessary at that age. We did a super light history in 1st. For 2nd we are MFW Adventures, which I consider light also. Really the only reason we did any history at all for these ages is for exposure. And for 3rd grade, we will be using Rod and Staff social studies combined with Beautiful Feet Geography Through Literature. 4th grade will be the year that ds really starts history.

 

The reason we are doing it this way with ds is because I went history heavy with dd, using 5 day SL cores with her at the bottom of the recommended age range.She loved it and did fine with most of it. But I can't imagine doing that with ds...not only would it be too much for him, but his comprehension is not nearly what dd's was at that age. He loves so much to play and do boy stuff, so I am taking it easier with him. Plus he struggles with reading. English is his second language.

 

Wow that ended up being long...:001_smile: Basically, if you don't want to do history/geography, you could just pick up some library books that are fun and simple to give some exposure. I'm thinking simple biographies, maybe some books that cover basic geographical land formations of various continents etc...that could even tie into some science stuff.

[FairProspects]

I guess I just figure that he's too young to get the CONCEPTS surrounding history (one culture enslaving another, taxation without representation, etc.) and so I just figure we'll study this later.

 

 

I think you might be surprised just how much he will understand. Just this morning ds 7 was having a discussion with me about Joseph's slavery in Egypt and he had some great insights because he knew a lot about the Egyptian culture from last year's Ancients study. Kids really can retain and understand complex historical concepts more easily than we might expect.

[happyhomemaker]

Dd10 STILL remembers stuff she learned about ancients in first grade. She loved history even then. She still wants to visit Egypt and see the pyramids because of her earlier history studies. I think she would be fine if we had skipped history altogether, but she would have missed out on learning things that, at the time, seemed wondrous to her. I think this early-instilled wonder contributes to her love of history now.

[momto2Cs]

I only have a high school education, so maybe my mind just isn't trained well enough. :D

 

But with my children, we just did stuff--field trips, good books I found in the library, which often led to other books on the same topic...or not, lol, just stuff. My primary goal was for my children to love history, any history, so that when they were older and we began doing a more focussed study, there would be lots of enjoyable, memorable experiences that would pop up in the middle of reading, and dds would be more likely to actually remember. And even if not that, there would be a little voice in their heads that said "We love history," and so they'd want to learn more.

 

:iagree: (And I went to college, though I am not sure how well trained my mind is either!)

[hsmom2011]

I think it really depends on the student. My oldest dd loved learning about American History in 1st grade. My youngest is doing 1st this year, and did not seem ready/have an interest yet. We are doing Evan-Moor Beginning Geography along with Children Just Like Me, Around the World in 80 Tales, and The Complete Book of Animals. She is just loving it, and we plan to begin our study of American History in grade 2. :)

[PhotoGal]

We're doing American history right now. I'm not expecting the kids to remember too much, but I'm hoping to build a foundation now so that when they hear things later they can place them in context. For example, when Columbus Day comes around they will know approximately how long ago and what events are being referred to. Or if they happen to see a Brainpop video or something they will know about when things are.

 

I do think the kids enjoy learning about history as well. :D

[Soror]

Well, we start SoTW in 1st this year. Ds has enjoyed it for the most part and I think it is a great program for history. But we are not continuing with it. I think it is too many details and not the best use of time. We will be moving towards geography and just general history reading on famous people and events as it strikes us and any fictional history books we want as well. I don't think we will start anything more formal until 3rd or after.

[AmyinMD]

I've never done history in 1st grade. I had great intentions to do more with my twins this year for 1st but life has been crazy with my younger son's therapy schedule. I'm concentrating most of my efforts this year on getting them reading. They are doing MFW 1 so they are getting some Biblical history and I also do occasional FIAR books with them which covers a bit of history. For 2nd grade they'll be doing Classical Conversations so I'm going to be adding some type of Ancient History to do at home next year but we'll probably keep it pretty light. The public school they would attend has 30 minutes of Social Studies every 4th day. I think just about anything we'd do at home would cover more than the PS.

[boscopup]

The public school they would attend has 30 minutes of Social Studies every 4th day. I think just about anything we'd do at home would cover more than the PS.

 

Yes, when my son was in 1st grade at a private school, they learned about what a neighborhood is, what community helpers were (policemen, fire fighters, EMTs)... No history whatsoever.

[Laura Corin]

I just see it as stories, interesting stories. I didn't expect them to remember the details at that age.

 

Laura