woolybear Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 If you put together your own plans (for middle school and up) what do you have the dc do beyond the reading? We tried doing SOTW with tests this year and it was really meh. Basically, ds would remember for the test and forget. He is not really a hands on kid. A few projects a year is plenty. Notebooking sounds good, but it always feels like pulling teeth. Discussion? Questions to answer? But where is that coming from if I am planning it all? Something else? Please give me your ideas to really cement the learning. I don't feel that just reading good books, doing a timeline and maps is enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 We add on cooking projects, art & crafts, and drama (acting out historical events.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) I created reading guides to go along with our two main books for history. We are using Renaissance & Reformation Time (Dorothy Mills) along with The Portable Renaissance Reader (which is for our primary sources). Each guide has a few vocabulary words, several questions which require a paragraph or more to answer & one additional longer assignment which varies from a document study (which is then turned into a writing assignment) to researching something further (very low key here) and writing about it to writing a letter from another person's perspective (some creativity here) about or on a historical event. We have done some map work and are finally starting our BOC. We watch any documentaries that look interesting and tie in with our theme. We also have discussions and when I'm really on top of my schedule (lol) we have Socratic discussions. Edited May 16, 2012 by Kfamily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 My kids (albeit younger than yours) did narrations with History Scribe the past two years. A few sentences, either written themselves or dictated to me, and a picture helped them remember the facts they learned. In some cases, my fourth grader got into how an event made her feel, what other options the people could have chosen, etc., moving from the "what happened" to the "why," and that sparked some good discussions. Also, we read a lot of picture books along with the spine (SOTW or other), and that helps too, so you might look for historic fiction. Perhaps he would enjoy drawing scenes of the stories he's reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TippyCanoe Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 (edited) If your child has a particular preference for certain materials or has a particular learning style, go with that. Build readings and a list of things to watch around topics that excite and interest your child. One poster on these boards has a son who did most of his American history through the history of theater; some do military history; etc. Find what makes it memorable for your individual child. You can tie it into mainstream political history through a timeline, relevant chapters in a general textbook, an overarching Teaching Company course, etc. For questions to stimulate research or as essay topics, if your child doesn't come up with one, I really like Bring History Alive! from the Center For History in the Schools at UCLA. :iagree: With the above in mind, I am planning on adding the following to K12's History Odyssey (we're actually downsizing the role of history in our homeschooling, and focusing more on just good literature, so I imagine there will be a LOT of rabbit trails next year!): A few really good books (historical fiction) Documentaries, which my kids love Timeline/Book of Centuries work. I'm going to see if I can turn this timeline project into a notebook project. Oral narrations (which I will turn into copywork) for dd9, written narrations for ds11. Both can be pretty brief, and they can illustrate them! Cooking, arts & crafts, movies... And I'm looking at the book mentioned in the quote above as well! Edited May 17, 2012 by momto2Cs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbean05 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We like to cook things that are from the same period/location of where what we are studying. We do a lot of Charlotte Mason type schooling for the liberal arts aspect of our school, so we do tons and tons of narrations in various styles, from coloring and giving a presentation to making a finger play. We use this game board to make it more fun--www.homeschoolassessment.com. We feel like this makes it a really well rounded curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 We use History Portfolio, plus a textbook (OUP), and then also: historical fiction novels primary sources web games and songs and activities horrible history books history documentaries on Netflix or youtube historical movies games (renaissance art game, Professor Noggin, geography puzzle) historical cooking historical music / dance "field trips" to see shows related to the period (So far just Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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