tntgoodwin Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 (I posted this in the k-8 forum, and someone suggested I cross-post it over here.) So, dw and I were discussing first grade for our dd, and we need to try to find a compromise solution for history curriculum. I was originally thinking of using SOTW along with Biblioplan, CHOL, or Easy Classical. I showed her, and she is not a fan. Too many books and too much reading and takes too long. It is difficult with having the younger two children to put the time into reading books and doing projects and whatnot. What she would prefer is either a video or computer based curriculum, or something like the Alpha Omega Life PACs, or similar. Some kind of worktext my daughter can read and answer questions about right on the page. I would at least like to continue the Trivium based order of learning, with a 4 year history cycle though. So she would be starting Ancient history in 1st grade, etc. Any ideas??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 LifePacs are boring. BORING. Read, fill in blanks, forget. Almost no application whatsoever. I used them myself when I was homeschooled one year, and I tried them again with The Sponge as we were gifted some. 4th grade science--read the pages, filled in the blanks correctly, completely forgot the info by the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 I agree lol, but that's what dw used when she was homeschooled I think, so that's what she is familiar/comfortable with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 We used History Odyssey Ancients Level 1 when DD was little. It's literature-based, so you can pick/choose the books from the list and how much reading to do. It mostly uses Evan-Moor's History Pockets for activities and those are lots of fun. I don't think it's as good as SOTW with the activity book, but it's pretty nice. You can download and try it for free (1st 10 lessons) from Pandia Press. One year, DS did Time4Learning's science and social studies. I think he was 5th grade then, but we needed something online and T4L worked just fine. You might check out the demo and see if it fits what you are looking for - but it's social studies, not history... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 Yeah, I think literature based is what she is trying to stay away from. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 (edited) I agree lol, but that's what dw used when she was homeschooled I think, so that's what she is familiar/comfortable with. Could you do the history teaching? Play it up with some tea or cocoa or whatever, either early a couple of mornings a week or before bed a couple of evenings? Or one session whenever your weekend is? ETA: educating this way is HARD. I cannot imagine doing it if I weren't convinced that it is a fabulous idea, and I have only the one tot & am not fretting about history at the moment -- we have stuff we're doing, but all our energy is going toward the Basics and toward Button's passions. Does your wife think TWTM is particularly a good idea? -- I can imagine she'd be off it for a bit with a new baby, but is she generally enthused? Edited February 27, 2012 by serendipitous journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Could you do the history teaching? Play it up with some tea or cocoa or whatever, either early a couple of mornings a week or before bed a couple of evenings? Or one session whenever your weekend is? I like that idea. History one time a week could be plenty for a first grader. Then she could read books throughout the week if she wanted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 Could you do the history teaching? Play it up with some tea or cocoa or whatever, either early a couple of mornings a week or before bed a couple of evenings? Or one session whenever your weekend is? ETA: educating this way is HARD. I cannot imagine doing it if I weren't convinced that it is a fabulous idea, and I have only the one tot & am not fretting about history at the moment -- we have stuff we're doing, but all our energy is going toward the Basics and toward Button's passions. Does your wife think TWTM is particularly a good idea? -- I can imagine she'd be off it for a bit with a new baby, but is she generally enthused? That may be a good idea, I will have to think about it... No, she isn't really convinced of TWTM being a great idea. She said kids don't need to learn all that stuff, that it would be boring. :-/ She would prefer to do LifePACS or Switched on Schoolhouse or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 That may be a good idea, I will have to think about it... No, she isn't really convinced of TWTM being a great idea. She said kids don't need to learn all that stuff, that it would be boring. :-/ She would prefer to do LifePACS or Switched on Schoolhouse or something like that. Well, if the roles were reversed and it was the wife saying her DH thought this... I'm sure you've tried to convince her, yes? I just don't see SoS or LifePACS being very good for a first grader at all. Can you convince her to give you a test run at WTM way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova147 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I like SOTW, but your wife is not off base. I did it for about 3 months and quit out of frustration. I had two littles then (now I have three) and we either never got to history because it would take to long, or we would do history and I would be so frustrated because I wan't getting other stuff done. So I get where she's coming from. Maybe you can do the planning and projects if you think your daughter should do history more than once a week. And your wife could do some reading with her the rest of the week. I found the planning as difficult to fit in as the projects - I would spend an hour every week trying to track down books and materials. I don't really have other ideas though, sorry! We are still struggling to get history into our curriculum on a regular basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 What about the SOTW audio cd's? Your DD could listen to a chapter a week and you could put together a book basket for her to pick from as part of her daily reading. I can't imagine putting a first grader in front of the computer or having them do a workbook independently, not at that developmental stage. Part of WTM is that the child is doing literature through history, so if you skip history you are skipping literature. It sounds like you and your wife have to really sit down and think about why you are homeschooling and what your goals will be (I'm saying this sincerely). If you aren't on the same page it can make for a very difficult road ahead. It isn't easy with littles running around, but it can be done depending on what kind of an education you wish your child to receive, first grade for us only takes about an hour a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 It sounds like you and your wife have to really sit down and think about why you are homeschooling and what your goals will be (I'm saying this sincerely). If you aren't on the same page it can make for a very difficult road ahead. It isn't easy with littles running around, but it can be done depending on what kind of an education you wish your child to receive, first grade for us only takes about an hour a day. :iagree::iagree::iagree: (I don't worry about history in first grade. *runs*) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 History at that age can be as simple as reading (aloud or silently) and narrating. My dd8 (2nd grade) loves to take "notes", makes charts, and draw pictures about what she is reading or hearing. But it doesn't have to take very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 Well, we decided to homeschool because the schools here are quite bad, and we don't want her to be behind when we get to wherever we are going next. I would love to homeschool through 12th grade, but it is just not something she (dw) is passionate about (learning /education that is). Once we move somewhere with decent schools she plans to stop homeschooling. I am passionate about education and learning, on the other hand, and I want my kids to have the best education I can reasonably provide, and I am convinced that a classical style education is probably the best way to go with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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