mothergooseof4 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I have another thread about how I haven't been able to get excited about our history this year. I have MFW Exp.-1850 sitting here and it is great. I have used and loved MFW for the last few years, but I really want to do my own thing this year and a lot of that is because I am being drawn to interest-led studies. Or perhaps, it is just that I like digging through stuff and scheduling it. Or, maybe it is because I have covered this era in the past, once with SL and once with HOD. While there were some books that I didn't care for in each, there were treasures that I also kept for our family library. As I go through MFW, I find myself desiring to replace this or that book with a book I loved in the past. So, I have been extremely tempted to set aside MFW this year for my 7th, 4th, and 3rd graders and find something that just gets history DONE so that I can use my time to pursue our interests. And, honestly, I have been doing literature based history curricula for eleven years. I want to read something else with the kids or perhaps I am just bored with history, tired, and lazy???? I have spent the last few days on the internet doing research and surrounded by stacks of books. I have searched for something that would just get history done and take me out of the picture. And, then, I finally remembered to ask God for His guidance. Then I heard an awesome speaker that reminded me about Providence in history and how illiterate many American citizens are about our true roots and how our government works. I know God's timing is perfect and that this lecture came to me at this time for a purpose. When I have gotten bored and lazy with history, He reminded me that my 7th grader in particular needs to hear the truth from me and not just handed some curricula that will get history covered. I remembered how I studied these things with my step-dd years ago and how much it opened my public school educated self to the Biblical roots of our country. WOW! But, the fact remains that I am tired of following someone's plan and I have a strong desire to just do our own thing. I remembered reading a quote from a reviewer on the TruthQuest site the other day that said something about giving our hs day to the Lord and how a scheduled curriculum isn't always the path for that(some years it is the perfect fit). Then last night, I remembered a lecture by Little Bear Wheeler that I heard about twelve years ago that convicted me about hsing my kids. He told the "real" story of Thanksgiving. We think of it as a nice time that the Indians and Pilgrims sit and have a cozy meal together. But, he went into all the hardships they had been through and that after all of that, they could come together to say, "Thank You, Lord." I googled him and found his History Devotions set. I think I want this to be our spine. So, I am brainstorming ideas. I think I am going to go through the lectures on the cds and the MFW guide and get a basic plan of what to study this year. Then, we will set off on an adventure. We are going to follow a basic schedule of what to cover, but our reading will come from my book shelves and I will scour the SL, HOD, and MFW recommendations for other literature. We will read the books that interest us, many will be history related and others will not. I have all of the MFW recommendations and I have books from years of using SL, HOD, and WP in the past. If a book bores us, we will find another. I think I will get some of the Time Travelers cds for hands on ideas to use along with this as time and interest allow. I have the MFW student sheets they have plenty of maps and other goodies to add or not. And, I already have a couple of books in my Amazon cart with recipes from our history. I will make a basic plan of topics and resources, but only schedule a couple of weeks at a time so that we can also follow our own thing when the desire arises. A field trip inspired a new interest? Then we will study that for a bit. A holiday comes about, we will stop and listen to Little Bear's lecture and perhaps do some of the Homeschool in the Woods unit study on holidays. Wow! I am really excited to see where the Lord leads us. I am sure my bank account is about to suffer though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy+2 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Love the idea of using Little Bear History Devotions as your spine. Very Cool!;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Pip Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 awesome:) sounds like you have found your answer! Here's to a fun year :cheers2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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