I made a mess of history- now what?

[plain jane]

I've posted before about being behind in history and the Hive offered me some good solutions to get caught up. I followed them for the most part and things were going great but we were hit with another big curve ball called live and now we've managed to get even further behind. :willy_nilly:

 

Basically, with my Logic stage (5th grader) and 2nd grader are still studying Greece. :glare: This is my second time in this time period with my 5th grader (first time we used SOTW and tons of library books). This time I'm using a mix of History Odyssey, K12 Human Odyssey, Oxford books, and getting ideas from TOG. We're mostly following TOG's schedule so we're on week 25. :glare: :svengo: :blink:

 

We're hoping to wrap up school for the summer in the next couple of weeks so I know there's no way we can cover Rome in 2 weeks (nor do I want to).

 

Thing is, I have 11 more weeks of TOG to cover. I could add it to next year and just start up in the Fall- that's a possibility but I'm worried that TOG Y2 is a very heavy year and we're only going to get further and further behind. I want to be finished a solid Logic stage rotation in time for high school level work- that's what I mean by "behind." :)

 

My other option is to work through the summer. My kiddos are not thrilled with the idea. I do already require 20 min of math work each day of summer AND we're going to do some science this year (not because we didn't finish this year, because we finished our science programs :hurray: but because we want to add in some extra studies & I have all the books already). I figure our science summer program will be about an hour per day (so 1-1/2 hours school each day of summer). The science will be fun as it's mostly hands-on and the kids want to do it vs. my wanting them to. I will not drop science to do history.

 

I thought that if I add history to our summer studies, I could perhaps cover Rome but through read alouds and discussions and not require much (if any) writing. It wouldn't be a heavy load as I have required during the school year although both will continue to do map/timeline work. I would simply cut out the written assignments.

 

Do you feel that this would be adequate coverage for a rising 6th grader? I know she learns and retains more when she writes short papers or page-length narrations about what she's read. I don't think she'll want to do this over the summer and I don't want to turn history into a chore. I'm concerned that if I do it as read alouds and just discussions that they'll only half tune in and we won't end up doing any kind of decent job studying this important time period.

 

Or, I could assign them the extra readings for the Rome time period (there are LOTS) over the summer and pick up with the regular work load in the Fall. They'll have to do the writing assignments in the Fall but the work will be less because they'll have already covered the literature aspect of it. I'm not sure if this would pan out to read all the historical fiction before having studied the history. I have books such as "City of the Golden House," "Famous Men of Rome," Coolidge's "Caesar's Gallic War," and others for my 5th grader. She does have a decent grasp from our last rotation. Would this option even work? My second grader has never studied Rome and will be reading "Detectives in Togas", "Orchard Book of Roman Myths", "Science in Ancient Rome." I'm not sure these books would mean anything to her. LOL

 

The other option is to tell them too bad, we're going to work through until it's done. I could plug away at it at half speed and at least try to cover 5-6 weeks over the months of July & August. My issue with this is the quality of work that I would get out of them.

 

I really don't want to scrimp on our studies of Rome. I'm really quite frustrated that we managed to get so far behind but I'm very thankful that we got science and all our other subjects done.

 

I would value some input as to what others would do in this situation.

[lewelma]

I thought that if I add history to our summer studies, I could perhaps cover Rome but through read alouds and discussions and not require much (if any) writing. ....Do you feel that this would be adequate coverage for a rising 6th grader?

 

Cut out ALL the writing, just enjoy the subject over the summer with read alouds. Your rising 6th grader will cope.

 

If it makes you feel better, we are about to finish the middle ages/early Renaissance and will only have 2 weeks to study all the famous people of the Renaissance. The science fair just took over this last term. It happens. My attitude is that skills are all important, and if there is a crunch time, content takes a back seat.

 

Ruth in NZ

[PeterPan]

Ok, can I just SPEW here for a minute with laughter and observe that you CAN'T mess up history because it's ALREADY messed up? LOL

 

(I'm a history hater teaching a history lover, so for me history is this never-ending, infinite mess.)

 

Now I just read your whole post, trying to understand and think up some sane suggestions for you. So I have a question: which is more important to you, that she LIKE history or that you stick to this 4 year rotation?

 

That's all I'm asking, because that totally decides it for you. Personally I think that's unreasonable to randomly at the end of the year tack on expectations for doing history all summer when you've never done that in the past. My dd is now bucking school work during the summer, but it has always been our routine, nothing new there. Doesn't sound like it has in your house. What you can do is work to the middle of June, take off to the beginning of August, and start back up where you were. They get the summer off, just the summer is a bit shorter than they thought. ;)

 

None of the books you listed on Rome btw were favs for my dd. You might keep looking.

 

The world will not fall apart if you get off this 4 year rotation thing. Might make you feel a bit saner if you just PLANNED on it. Life changes and things happen. If it really stresses you, don't buy all the units for ToG 2, kwim? Just be 3 instead of 4, and boom you're instantly caught up. :)

 

I'm not meaning to blow off your problems. I'm just saying if your goal is for them to enjoy what they're doing, it's ok to chill out a bit and do it imperfectly. Chopping a unit of TOG might be the sanest way to do that, as it sounds like you're a box-checker.

[mumto2]

I would do an overview with the spine books during the next two weeks. Independent reading over summer with a bit of discussion and move on.

[MomatHWTK]

:iagree: Cut some of the reading and other workload, share the information and move forward.

[Laura Corin]

Continue at a normal pace (not working as hard as possible) for the next two weeks and resume after summer. History is wonderful stuff, but I don't think it's necessary to get so stressed about it.

 

Calvin ended up getting through most of one cycle of history, with eighteen months taken off for history of China. Hobbes managed to get through SOTW 1 and 2 before he started school. I'm going to assign SOTW 3 and 4 for him to read over the summer (read-aloud or quiet reading - his choice) and not worry about it.

 

Laura

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[mazakaal]

I would just make it a fun study of Rome over the summer. You don't have to cover it exactly as TOG says.

 

Read The Story of the Romans or the SOTW chapters about Rome for an overview, let the older one read through Famous Men of Rome, read lots of fun books about Rome, watch videos about Rome. Make it as much fun as your summer science is going to be. If they want to act out the story of Hannibal, great. If they want to make swords and shields like Roman soldiers, fantastic. If they want to write a newspaper story about Cleopatra, super.

 

Just let the kids enjoy Roman history for the summer and then move on in September.

[Kelly1730]

I hate to drag things out. If it were me, I'd do the readings and discussions, possibly add some map work and call it good. Get some historical fiction and a couple of dvd's from the library. It's summer, I wouldn't want to make it drudgery for my kids or for me. Have fun with it and start fresh in the fall. That's if it were me:)

[swimmermom3]

I hate to drag things out. If it were me, I'd do the readings and discussions, possibly add some map work and call it good. Get some historical fiction and a couple of dvd's from the library. It's summer, I wouldn't want to make it drudgery for my kids or for me. Have fun with it and start fresh in the fall. That's if it were me:)

 

:iagree:They don't need a "serious study" of Rome for middle school. Read, discuss, watch the plethora of documentaries about ancient Rome and have fun. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much they retain through keeping things simple. And Mama, take a deep breath and relax. Your children will not be short-changed.:D

[TKDmom]

I think we're history twins. ;) We're in ancient Greece too, and I'm disappointed that we didn't get farther in our history studies. Too many things got in the way of school this year and history was always the thing that got dropped on bad days. I'm so ready to move on the Middle Ages...but instead of skipping Rome, I've decided to give up on the 4-year cycle. This (getting behind in history) happens every single year and I'm tired of stressing over it. If it takes me 5 or 6 years to get through a history cycle the world will not come to an end. And maybe we will all enjoy life a little more if I have one less thing to stress over. :001_smile:

Edited May 25, 2012 by bonniebeth4

[momto2Cs]

They don't need a "serious study" of Rome for middle school. Read, discuss, watch the plethora of documentaries about ancient Rome and have fun. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much they retain through keeping things simple. And Mama, take a deep breath and relax. Your children will not be short-changed.:D

 

:iagree:

[missmoe]

Have some fun with it. Get some audio books to listen to in the car. Make a Roman meal. Find a museum to visit. ect. Enjoy this time with your kids.

[swimmermom3]

Have some fun with it. Get some audio books to listen to in the car. Make a Roman meal. Find a museum to visit. ect. Enjoy this time with your kids.

 

There are many good project books out there. You might also like one of the mini lesson and projects from enrichment4you.

[Hedgehog]

Agreeing the with sentiments of the rest - and -

 

I see that you want to do it right, or at least, the very best you can. I know that you are a very diligent, conscientious mom. But the thought occurred to me that even if you did no formal history until 9th grade, they would still get one four year rotation of history, wouldn't they? And at a stage when they were really able to get their teeth into it. (Perhaps that's going too far the other way, but I hope you understand what I mean.) My take would be, as everyone (almost everyone?) else's seems to be, that history doesn't have to be done in a certain way.

 

You do seem to have a lot of spine type resources; that's not necessarily a bad thing, unless you are genuinely using them all in which case I admire you for managing to get through a heck of a lot of material! We could not do that here!

 

Personally, I think it would be better to give your kids a good summer holiday. It sounds like they were expecting it, and I would be inclined to say that you all deserve a break. Then when you start back at the schoolwork, you could either do a two-week stint of Rome, just to get the basics so that you are back on track with the four-year rotation, or, you could ditch the four-year rotation altogether and just spend as much time as you need, going into as much detail as you want. FWIW, if it was my family, we would do the second option, because I prefer history to be interest led. We do it chronologically, and I have a minimum that I want them to do, but they often do more according to how interested they are.

 

HTH some. x

[JennW in SoCal]

I've started to post 3 different times today -- I'd better just write what I was thinking even though I'm echoing much of what has already been said.

 

There is no such thing as being behind in history or messing up history. There is no reason for history to be covered in 4 tidy years. If your kids were enjoying Greece then how wonderful is that?!! If they'd also like to explore the Middle Ages next year, then go for it. I'm sure they are aware of Rome, but a middle schooler's ability to learn about and enjoy Medieval history is not dependent on an exhaustive study of Rome. Those kinds of connections can be made in high school, college or as an adult.

 

Which leads me to my stump speech on gaps. Gaps happen. Sometimes it is because we missed something as the homeschool planner/teacher, sometimes it is because the material didn't "stick" in spite of our brilliant plans and choices of curricula. Just keep plugging away with planned coursework, with a healthy dose of documentaries and museum trips, with read alouds and projects. Let your kids follow their interests in a subject -- all kinds of secondary knowledge will magically settle in their minds and come out to surprise you later on.

 

And enjoy your summer holiday. Growing brains need time to rest, to let the previous year's material settle, to let the imagination run free. If you have a book on Rome and they are interested, then don't make a fuss about it being school -- just smile to yourself that you have slipped in some school.

[swimmermom3]

I've started to post 3 different times today -- I'd better just write what I was thinking even though I'm echoing much of what has already been said.

 

There is no such thing as being behind in history or messing up history. There is no reason for history to be covered in 4 tidy years. If your kids were enjoying Greece then how wonderful is that?!! If they'd also like to explore the Middle Ages next year, then go for it. I'm sure they are aware of Rome, but a middle schooler's ability to learn about and enjoy Medieval history is not dependent on an exhaustive study of Rome. Those kinds of connections can be made in high school, college or as an adult.

 

Which leads me to my stump speech on gaps. Gaps happen. Sometimes it is because we missed something as the homeschool planner/teacher, sometimes it is because the material didn't "stick" in spite of our brilliant plans and choices of curricula. Just keep plugging away with planned coursework, with a healthy dose of documentaries and museum trips, with read alouds and projects. Let your kids follow their interests in a subject -- all kinds of secondary knowledge will magically settle in their minds and come out to surprise you later on.

 

And enjoy your summer holiday. Growing brains need time to rest, to let the previous year's material settle, to let the imagination run free. If you have a book on Rome and they are interested, then don't make a fuss about it being school -- just smile to yourself that you have slipped in some school.

 

See, this is why you have to stick around. You don't happen to have a link to your "gaps" post do you?:D It was very reassuring for the paranoid among us.

[Trish]

There's no such thing as being behind in history. There's only Introducing New Things and Going Into Greater Depth. I think the "behind" mindset is limiting. Just figure out what you want to do going forward. Maybe do some light things now or over the summer.

 

I didn't learn about Rome and Greece until I read up on it myself in highschool. It was quite fascinating and I didn't feel behind then or now.

[momto2Cs]

I've started to post 3 different times today -- I'd better just write what I was thinking even though I'm echoing much of what has already been said.

 

There is no such thing as being behind in history or messing up history. There is no reason for history to be covered in 4 tidy years. If your kids were enjoying Greece then how wonderful is that?!! If they'd also like to explore the Middle Ages next year, then go for it. I'm sure they are aware of Rome, but a middle schooler's ability to learn about and enjoy Medieval history is not dependent on an exhaustive study of Rome. Those kinds of connections can be made in high school, college or as an adult.

 

Which leads me to my stump speech on gaps. Gaps happen. Sometimes it is because we missed something as the homeschool planner/teacher, sometimes it is because the material didn't "stick" in spite of our brilliant plans and choices of curricula. Just keep plugging away with planned coursework, with a healthy dose of documentaries and museum trips, with read alouds and projects. Let your kids follow their interests in a subject -- all kinds of secondary knowledge will magically settle in their minds and come out to surprise you later on.

 

And enjoy your summer holiday. Growing brains need time to rest, to let the previous year's material settle, to let the imagination run free. If you have a book on Rome and they are interested, then don't make a fuss about it being school -- just smile to yourself that you have slipped in some school.

 

 

About Those Dreaded Gaps - hope you don't mind I linked this up. It is one of the BEST articles on homeschooling I have read!

 

And for what it is worth, I agree wholeheartedly. Don't worry too much about Rome. Whether you cover it now, or later, with an in-depth study or a single really good book, you can still move ahead. If your children have an interest in what they are learning, they will naturally absorb more.

 

I'll give you our background in history... we started out with fun units in kindergarten (with my oldest), then tried SOTW for first grade. We got through a fair bit of it, but ds wasn't overly fond of it. Then we skipped around, touching on this and that... world history bits and pieces, some American, and so forth. Now he's in sixth grade (!), and yes, I found myself worrying that I had royally screwed up with history. However, even with our scattershot approach, the amount he retains is amazing. We read good books, watch documentaries and movies, and he learns. We're "off track" if you compare it to any nice and tidy cycle, but we're be able to stop and smell the roses along the way.

 

For example, I worried that they hadn't really gotten a good picture of American history. So we watched the mini-series, America: The Story of US. That was simple, and worked for two kids who do well with visuals.

 

In the upcoming year, we are kind of going to approach history chronologically. I'll read once a week from Human Odyssey (K12) OR A Little History of the World (Gombrich). Just once a week. If they express enough interest, we'll add in some good literature, documentaries and/or movies. Maybe some hands-on. If they are not that interested, we just keep plugging along.

 

Relax. Bring in a good story (or two), watch a documentary, and enjoy your summer!

Edited May 26, 2012 by momto2Cs

[coffeefreak]

I would quit for the summer. I've been in your shoes and that's precisely what I've done. Why?

 

1. You WILL cover this again.

2. Your 2nd grader is not going to remember much of this year anyway, it was an introduction.

3. It sounds like you need a break. Take at least a month off!

4. My soon to be 7th grader is going to cover Rome for the first time next year, and the sky hasn't fallen, the Earth hasn't shattered. What is different is, she is excited and ready to study it.

 

In case you were wondering, I voted, "Rome?, Who needs to study Rome?"

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[Mommyfaithe]

How have you "messed up" history? So what if you don't finish Year 1 before summer?

 

I would wrap up Greece and take my summer break. When you start back to school full tilt, pick up where you left off. I wouldn't skimp and I wouldn't rush, especially if everyone is enjoying themselves.

 

TOG Year 2 is so full that many people get off the 4-year there anyway. You could even plan to take all of middle school to cover TOG 1 and 2, and start high school with year 3. IMHO, it is easier to save the Ancients for the end of high school rather than the beginning because the literature is so hard.

 

You sound like the box-checker type, but please don't stress out about this. It is really ok. If you are gung-ho determined to start Year 2 in the fall, I would get all the documentaries about Rome you can find to watch over the summer, some fun literature as an audio or read-aloud (the Henry Winterson books), and call it done. :grouphug:

 

I always use TOG Year 2 ( as a resource NOT a schedule:D) over 2 years...even in high school!! cramming history or literature is not conducive to learning. It took 6 years to go through SOTW 1-4 and it is taking us 2 years to get through Sonlight Core W...and that feels like breakneck speed.

 

FWIW, I also had a 2nd and 4th grader this year.....we only just finished Rome. They know a LOT about the Roman Empire. :D All is good!

 

I also have 1 dd starting High School. She will begin 9th grade with a course I call Early Western Civilization w/ World History & Geography. IOW TOG Year 2/ Units 1 & 2. Years 3 & 4 are easy to complete in a years time....not so much Year 2.

 

Faithe

[Jyniffrec]

I would do an overview with the spine books during the next two weeks. Independent reading over summer with a bit of discussion and move on.

 

 

:iagree: This is what we are doing for history this summer.