Planning my own history and I'm getting frustrated...

[Heather in VA]

I had decided to design my own history using the Complete Book of United States History as a spine and a bunch of other books added. I made a bunch of progress due to 2 weeks of no internet (thank you huge storm UGH) and I've now planned all the books I'm going to use and mapped out the specific details for the first 8 weeks. I look back and what I've done and I am just not inspired. It just seems so boring. Read this...do a map ... Read that... do a project... Read more... do a narration page.

 

I just don't know if this is going to be any good. It seems like a bunch of "for sale" programs are like that too. I'm worried that if I'm feeling blah about it now, I'm not going to be enthusiastic when it comes time to actually do it. And I know if I'm not enthusiastic it either gets done poorly or we bail all together.

 

I don't know what to do. I'm so tempted to stop this and buy some package... but then I'm back to the original problem that sent me in this direction to begin with... I don't know what I'd buy.

 

I'm not even sure why I'm posting except that I need to vent. I don't understand why I can like the books I chose but then as I schedule them just be so blah about the plan as a whole.

 

Heather

[Kfamily]

:grouphug: I've been where you are before too.

 

This may not be much help but...

 

Are the supplemental books you've added ones that you (or your dc) will find interesting?

 

You might go through those again and reduce any that are only mostly interesting to a independent reading list (from which the books are meant to be chosen from...so not all will be read...does that make sense) or an optional book basket type level. These would be books just meant for reading pleasure and not have any work tied with it. (Or maybe just a light and casual oral narration work tied to it.)

 

I recently (and finally figured out :lol:) that in order to challenge my younger dd I need to use a few very excellent and interesting books and really dig into those. Creating work that went deeper became very interesting for me too.

 

Map work has always been a source of frustation for me. I have trouble finding maps that work for the way I want to have dd use them. Having recently realized how I want to do a BOC, I've added this in as well. I'm hoping that a few well chosen books with interesting discussions and narrations that build her skills, some map work and a BOC should be enough for history. (I now turn a lot more attention to our literature.) I know that may not help much, but this is what help with my new inspiration.

 

Also, I had to let go of my relentless fixed idea in my head that history must always flow perfectly chronologically and must cover the entire time line of whatever period we are studying. (Lol...:001_smile: this is just me though...and I do realize that studying history that covers everything on its timeline is a perfectly legitimate approach too.) Once I let go of this, I was able to find books that I loved more (and books I thought dd would love more) but that did not cover everything in the time line of events.

 

I think I remember your dd being close to my younger dd's age. Will this be for a rising 4th grader or 3rd grader?

[scrapbabe]

I'm right there with you. I love history so want it to be perfect. I always get hung up because it's never what I want it to be. Wish I had the answer for you. Best of luck.

[Chelli]

Your problem is exactly why I stopped trying to plan things for my dd8. I am not good about making it interesting (which she needs). I am good about making it quick, to the point, and finished.

 

I returned to packaged curriculum this past year and I'm not looking back! :001_smile: We both had a much better year.

[Farrar]

I planned our history for this year, though I did a lot more winging it than the kind of planning you're talking about. We just kept reading books, kept doing projects and taking field trips and doing narrations. The only downfall has been that our pacing was... um... a bit slow. I really meant for us to be farther along than we are. Oops.

[Heather in VA]

:grouphug: I've been where you are before too.

 

This may not be much help but...

 

Are the supplemental books you've added ones that you (or your dc) will find interesting?

 

You might go through those again and reduce any that are only mostly interesting to a independent reading list (from which the books are meant to be chosen from...so not all will be read...does that make sense) or an optional book basket type level. These would be books just meant for reading pleasure and not have any work tied with it. (Or maybe just a light and casual oral narration work tied to it.)

 

I recently (and finally figured out :lol:) that in order to challenge my younger dd I need to use a few very excellent and interesting books and really dig into those. Creating work that went deeper became very interesting for me too.

 

Map work has always been a source of frustation for me. I have trouble finding maps that work for the way I want to have dd use them. Having recently realized how I want to do a BOC, I've added this in as well. I'm hoping that a few well chosen books with interesting discussions and narrations that build her skills, some map work and a BOC should be enough for history. (I now turn a lot more attention to our literature.) I know that may not help much, but this is what help with my new inspiration.

 

Also, I had to let go of my relentless fixed idea in my head that history must always flow perfectly chronologically and must cover the entire time line of whatever period we are studying. (Lol...:001_smile: this is just me though...and I do realize that studying history that covers everything on its timeline is a perfectly legitimate approach too.) Once I let go of this, I was able to find books that I loved more (and books I thought dd would love more) but that did not cover everything in the time line of events.

 

I think I remember your dd being close to my younger dd's age. Will this be for a rising 4th grader or 3rd grader?

 

I like the books I've chosen. I do wonder if I have too many. What I've done is chosen an activity book (I really love the ones by Nomad Press), a read-aloud (some history some not - and sometimes more than one for the longer units), one or more independent reader and then either excerpts from the activity book or another 'in-depth' type history book for support.

 

The Complete Book of US History is broken into units so that's how I set it up. So for example I scheduled the first unit to take 2 weeks. It covers the pre-colonial people of both North and South America. So there are the readings from CBOUSH, some excerpts and hands on from North American Indians for Kids, SightSeers Aztecs and Incas for history. Read Aloud - Middleworld, Readers - Native American Tales and Legends and Corn Grows Ripe. I have MapTrek for maps.

 

For the timeline I thought it might be nice not to schedule it but to have her find people, events etc in anything she sees or reads and just let her decide what should go in the book. I thought that might make it more interesting if she's in control of it. I've found in the past that it becomes very rote to say 'put this person in your timeline'.

 

You remember correctly about her age. She's a rising 4th grader who is an excellent reader but she's young (just turned 9) and is ADHD.

 

So you are saying to just read CBOUSH and have a pile of books?

 

Heather

[Heather in VA]

I planned our history for this year, though I did a lot more winging it than the kind of planning you're talking about. We just kept reading books, kept doing projects and taking field trips and doing narrations. The only downfall has been that our pacing was... um... a bit slow. I really meant for us to be farther along than we are. Oops.

 

This is my worry if i just wing it. And on the days I'm tired, if it's not planned out--- it's easy to skip. I need to find a happy medium.

 

Heather

[kadesmom]

I would love to see what you've come up with. We are using the complete book of us history this year as our spine 2nd grade.

[Embassy]

What is the reason you decided to plan your own instead of using a curriculum?

 

 

I put together our history plans. I've done it somewhat similar to what you have described. For grades K-4 we have read books together, watched DVDs, discussed, and done projects together. I have avoided things like map work, writing, and narration pages because for us that would make history less enjoyable and my kids would learn less. We go so much slower than most curriculum since we enjoy sinking deep into one area. For example, last year we spent almost the entire school year on ancient Greece. But with my own plans I'm not tied to a 4 year cycle.

 

I'd consider why you want to change to your own history plans and adjust those plans to make it fit your ideas of how you want to teach history.

[BFamily]

I have found The Artner Reader's Guide to American History to be very helpful for planning out a history curriculum. It divides US history into 8 units that can be completed anytime between 3rd and 8th grade. It's very loosely designed and leaves plenty of freedom for you to pick and choose what you like.

 

For Unit 2: The Colonial Period (1607-1775) it gives the following:

Dates to Remember (3 dates; there are ~3-5 dates for each unit)

People, Places and Topics to Read About (Pilgrims, Puritans, Squanto, etc.)

Important Documents to Research (Mayflower Compact)

Study Topics from Hirsch's What Your ____ Grader Needs to Know

Optional Activities (draw map of 13 colonies, describe differences between the colonies, etc.)

A Short Reading from Everything You Need to Know About American History Homework

Reading Lists (includes a Level 1 and Level 2 reading list, a Landmark books list, a read aloud list - usually has an Albert Marrin book, an Out-of Print List, a Level 1 and Level 2 historical fiction list, and poetry, songs, and prose to match the time period)

 

Other units may include: Inventions and Innovations to Know, Famous Phrases, and Special Autobiographies

 

The guide helped me make sure I covered the important topics with my children, while allowing me to focus on providing a quality, literature-based approach to those topics. It also gives plenty of time to dig into any topics of interest, since it was not put together as a curriculum you have to complete in a year. I spent about 8-10 weeks per unit for units 5-8. I would have gladly done units 1-4 had my boys not already finished studying those time periods when we started with it.

[Kfamily]

Well maybe more like have your spine, have a few read-alouds (but that you spend more time with) and then let the rest be more interest-driven. I like your approach for your timeline. I don't have CBOUSH, but I tried to look at it online. I couldn't tell for certain, but it looked like it has at least some map work and activities. Does your dd like hands-on projects and crafts or more written work? My dd likes all of it, but I can't seem to make room or time for lots of crafts. :lol: Does she like using an assignment sheet? I'm doing too many things at once and I'm afraid this is sounding jumbled. I wish I could be more helpful.

[BugsMama]

(I didn't read the whole thread so I am sorry if this is a repeat)

 

Have you looked at the build it yourself series? It has hands on projects, interesting history, and could spice it up for you.

 

Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself! (Build It Yourself series)

 

They have a whole series of books for American history, and we LOVE them.

[Heather in VA]

(I didn't read the whole thread so I am sorry if this is a repeat)

 

Have you looked at the build it yourself series? It has hands on projects, interesting history, and could spice it up for you.

 

Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself! (Build It Yourself series)

 

They have a whole series of books for American history, and we LOVE them.

 

Yes this is a great series. I have several of them scheduled. I just went through Explorers of the New World and had a tough time deciding which projects to do because I didn't want to skip any. These books are the reason I'm hesitant to completely fold this idea and buy a package. I really like them. Several times I've been tempted to just get a stack of these, work through them and call it a day.

 

Heather

[BugsMama]

Yes this is a great series. I have several of them scheduled. I just went through Explorers of the New World and had a tough time deciding which projects to do because I didn't want to skip any. These books are the reason I'm hesitant to completely fold this idea and buy a package. I really like them. Several times I've been tempted to just get a stack of these, work through them and call it a day.

 

Heather

 

Why don't you?- they have some serious "meat" to them, and more than enough to keep your kids busy!

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I tried to do it myself a few times but the weight of the responsibility to get it "just right" would have me planning in so much for a days worth of work trying to make sure to add in activities and map work plus reading and notebooking.

Now I buy a curriculum I like the most and tweak it. Much easier to add to it if I think an activity or book might fit in nicely during a lesson. No more worries or guilt.

[Mrs Twain]

I have found The Artner Reader's Guide to American History to be very helpful for planning out a history curriculum. It divides US history into 8 units that can be completed anytime between 3rd and 8th grade. It's very loosely designed and leaves plenty of freedom for you to pick and choose what you like.

 

For Unit 2: The Colonial Period (1607-1775) it gives the following:

Dates to Remember (3 dates; there are ~3-5 dates for each unit)

People, Places and Topics to Read About (Pilgrims, Puritans, Squanto, etc.)

Important Documents to Research (Mayflower Compact)

Study Topics from Hirsch's What Your ____ Grader Needs to Know

Optional Activities (draw map of 13 colonies, describe differences between the colonies, etc.)

A Short Reading from Everything You Need to Know About American History Homework

Reading Lists (includes a Level 1 and Level 2 reading list, a Landmark books list, a read aloud list - usually has an Albert Marrin book, an Out-of Print List, a Level 1 and Level 2 historical fiction list, and poetry, songs, and prose to match the time period)

 

Other units may include: Inventions and Innovations to Know, Famous Phrases, and Special Autobiographies

 

The guide helped me make sure I covered the important topics with my children, while allowing me to focus on providing a quality, literature-based approach to those topics. It also gives plenty of time to dig into any topics of interest, since it was not put together as a curriculum you have to complete in a year. I spent about 8-10 weeks per unit for units 5-8. I would have gladly done units 1-4 had my boys not already finished studying those time periods when we started with it.

 

BFamily,

WOW--Thank you for this. I think the Artner book is what I have been trying to find for a long time.

 

Heather in VA,

I have been planning my own history for the last several years because I can't find anything premade that I remotely like. I think you are on the right track with your plan.

 

The key is to read engaging, interesting, narrative-type of history books that the kids like.

 

Along with that, do activities to teach the kids facts and lists that will help them remember the basic outline or timeline of the historical period. If they have some of the facts, dates, and important events learned and memorized, then they have a framework for remembering what they are hearing or reading in the narrative books.

 

Along with reading good books, I do memory work and lapbooks for history. My kids (to my great surprise) actually enjoy memorizing things such as the Preamble to the Constitution. Though the lapbooks are sometimes not their favorite activity to do, in the end they have great pride in the finished project, reread them multiple times, and retain a ton of the info. A very basic timeline is also a useful project. IMO the more basic it is, the more effective it will be for young kids.

 

Other history activities I incorporate as part of other subjects. Examples are Map Trek as part of our weekly geography lesson and doing short reports from a history reading as part of our writing curriculum.

[MerryAtHope]

Here are some ways that I keep things fresh when I plan:

 

1, I hold all plans loosely. The books, projects, movies are things that can be changed just like with a regular curriculum--I am not tied to these plans.

 

2, To keep you from just dropping the subject for the day, plan a minimum amount of time you'll spend on the subject each day (with some flexibility if you tend to like to get into a project and spend the day on it and then not do that subject the next day). Or plan a weekly amount of time--think about your normal approach to history, whether it's daily or 3X a week, and then make that a minimum goal. That can form your "structure" and then within that you have all these great options you have laid out--you could read the wonderful books you picked out, or if your kids want to do a project, you can do that. If the topic doesn't inspire them, maybe you'll get a movie or go on a field trip or just move on to the next thing on your wonderful list you created.

 

I like to set up weekly goals too, as to how far we'll be. This helps me decide if I might want to drop something along the way or add something else in. But those plans are not "law" and are not a judge of whether we are accomplishing enough. I know that if we are following my goals for history each day or week, that we are reading great books and having good discussions and doing fun projects--it doesn't matter whether we did exactly what I wrote down ahead of time.

 

In this way you can use your plans as a guide along the way but you can also change things up if you want, and still be effective.

 

HTH some! Merry :-)

[Heather in VA]

Thanks everyone for all the input. I'm considering the idea of just using the activity book series as a base but I also starting looking into what I could purchase if I decide to use something already done.

 

I am looking at the Time Travelers. The activities look great and engaging and I could just give her a stack of books to read along side.

 

Thoughts on TT?

 

Heather

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Thanks everyone for all the input. I'm considering the idea of just using the activity book series as a base but I also starting looking into what I could purchase if I decide to use something already done.

 

I am looking at the Time Travelers. The activities look great and engaging and I could just give her a stack of books to read along side.

 

Thoughts on TT?

 

Heather

This is a great idea. I know several on here have done something similar and I have considered it too (still in my "might" box). I have used the Explorers one with a 6th grade boy before and even though he is allergic to all things craft he enjoyed working through the lessons. I thought the projects were excellent (not just crafty junk) and created a great portfolio of what was learned.

 

TT along with books to tie it all together will work and make a fun year.

[Lori D.]

Perhaps scheduling so thoroughly in advance is sucking out the joy??

 

When I've created my own history and science curriculum, especially for the elementary grades, I create it more as a list of resources from which to draw as we go through our year. I don't try and schedule every resource, but let the children's interests (or lack of interest) somewhat dictate how long we stay on a particular topic or historical event. So, if interest was flagging, we skipped the rest of the resources on my list and moved on to the next historical period, or chapter in the spine, etc.

 

Also, especially for elementary, I had a lot of variety on the list, so we were not doing the same thing every week (i.e., read from spine, do map work, do narration). I also had on the resource list ideas for "spicing it up":

- feature films set in the time

- documentaries

- ideas for field trips (museums, historical recreation events, visit historical sites,

- opportunities to schedule (with our homeschool group) to invite in a guest speaker with hands-on history items

- historical fiction works for readers and for read alouds

- coloring page or activity page

- make a food from that time period/culture

- listen to music from that time period/culture

- play a game from that time period/culture

- make a craft, or do a hands-on activity or project

 

I should have prefaced this with the fact that I am fine with a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of homeschooler with history and science -- if I've got my "mega resource" list, then I can relax, knowing we'll hit the important points, but still have freedom to "bunny trail".

 

I suggest thinking of your list as more of resource from which to draw each week, rather than as a set-in-stone schedule to give you some structure, but lots of flexibility and the fun of discovery. Just jot down the weekend before which things from your list you plan to cover that week to make sure you have your books and supplies on hand, and go enjoy your history explorations. That allows you to choose what books and activities based on what you see to be your family's level of interest and need.

 

Also, sometimes having a "mega list" of resources can make you feel like you "have" to do it all, or take 2 hours a day to do history. Help limit yourself by giving yourself some general guidelines. Plan on spending 2-3 hours a week on history (or whatever amount of time typically works for your family for doing History). When you hit the limit, you're done for the week (so you don't overdo); if you find you're getting to Wed. or Thurs. and you haven't done any history, either let that be okay for that week, or set aside some of your regular stuff on the Friday and spend 2 hours on History stuff -- read, watch a movie, do an activity....

 

As previous poster said, there is a good chance you will go slower than you planned... But I also think that, realistically, there is a LOT of material to cover for American History, even at the elementary ages, and I think there is a lot of wisdom to spending 2 years on it. (Which also allows you to incorporate a lot of geography, memorize states/capitals, learn presidents, and do some state history for your state.) If you absolutely MUST finish all US history in one year, then you'll probably need to schedule the time period into several big units, jot down just the few key events/people in that unit you want to cover, and if you can get to anything else, great, but realize a lot will have to go by the wayside... Example:

 

unit 1 (6 weeks) = Colonial America (Jamestown; Mayflower/Plymouth; Native Americans; early settlers/immigrants)

unit 2 (6 weeks) = Revolutionary War/Founding of US ...

 

BEST of luck in your American History adventures this year! Warmly, Lori D.

 

 

ETA: Oops! I am repeating what others said previously! I see MerryatHope very clearly and specifically laid out how to give yourself some structure, but how to be flexible within that -- and BFamily listed doing units to keep to an overall schedule.

Edited July 21, 2012 by Lori D.

[kirstenhill]

Perhaps scheduling so thoroughly in advance is sucking out the joy??

 

When I've created my own history and science curriculum, especially for the elementary grades, I create it more as a list of resources from which to draw as we go through our year. I don't try and schedule every resource, but let the children's interests (or lack of interest) somewhat dictate how long we stay on a particular topic or historical event. So, if interest was flagging, we skipped the rest of the resources on my list and moved on to the next historical period, or chapter in the spine, etc.

 

.....

 

unit 1 (6 weeks) = Colonial America (Jamestown; Mayflower/Plymouth; Native Americans; early settlers/immigrants)

unit 2 (6 weeks) = Revolutionary War/Founding of US ...

 

 

 

:iagree: This is exactly what we are doing this year. I took a calendar colored in a different color for each unit or time period (they aren't all the same length, as there were a couple things I wanted to spend more time on). Then I made up a spreadsheet with a few key texts to use, historical fiction for read aloud, historical fiction for independent reading, a "book basket" of non-fiction and picture books, and some activity books/lapbooking/notebooking resources for each unit.

 

I'm not planning each week out at all -- My plan is to ask DD to spend 20 minutes or so reading independently from fiction or the book basket, and I'll spend time each day reading to the kids outloud as well (some days I'll pick what we read and some days I'll just ask them to pick something from the book basket). Some longer books will be bedtime read alouds with just DD (we read 30-45 minutes every night before bed).

 

I'll assign maybe one or two written items per week (notebook page, lapbook piece etc) and then just provide the activity/craft books for them to peruse on their own. They love doing crafts though and will totally pick up an activity book and just start "doing something."

 

Then after the designated # of weeks we'll just move on (unless they are so into it they just beg to continue...if that happens I guess I will just cross that bridge when I get to it.).

 

You can download the spreadsheet I made of our plans from this post on my blog, if you want to see what I planned (and I know we have more on it than we would read...I just wanted lots of choices in case we couldn't find some of the books, some books didn't work out, etc):

 

I'm viewing this as a great intro to US History for two older ones...they'll both get it again anyway when they are older! :001_smile:

Edited July 21, 2012 by kirstenhill

[Heather in VA]

Perhaps scheduling so thoroughly in advance is sucking out the joy??

 

When I've created my own history and science curriculum, especially for the elementary grades, I create it more as a list of resources from which to draw as we go through our year. I don't try and schedule every resource, but let the children's interests (or lack of interest) somewhat dictate how long we stay on a particular topic or historical event. So, if interest was flagging, we skipped the rest of the resources on my list and moved on to the next historical period, or chapter in the spine, etc.

 

Also, especially for elementary, I had a lot of variety on the list, so we were not doing the same thing every week (i.e., read from spine, do map work, do narration). I also had on the resource list ideas for "spicing it up":

- feature films set in the time

- documentaries

- ideas for field trips (museums, historical recreation events, visit historical sites,

- opportunities to schedule (with our homeschool group) to invite in a guest speaker with hands-on history items

- historical fiction works for readers and for read alouds

- coloring page or activity page

- make a food from that time period/culture

- listen to music from that time period/culture

- play a game from that time period/culture

- make a craft, or do a hands-on activity or project

 

I should have prefaced this with the fact that I am fine with a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of homeschooler with history and science -- if I've got my "mega resource" list, then I can relax, knowing we'll hit the important points, but still have freedom to "bunny trail".

 

I suggest thinking of your list as more of resource from which to draw each week, rather than as a set-in-stone schedule to give you some structure, but lots of flexibility and the fun of discovery. Just jot down the weekend before which things from your list you plan to cover that week to make sure you have your books and supplies on hand, and go enjoy your history explorations. That allows you to choose what books and activities based on what you see to be your family's level of interest and need.

 

Also, sometimes having a "mega list" of resources can make you feel like you "have" to do it all, or take 2 hours a day to do history. Help limit yourself by giving yourself some general guidelines. Plan on spending 2-3 hours a week on history (or whatever amount of time typically works for your family for doing History). When you hit the limit, you're done for the week (so you don't overdo); if you find you're getting to Wed. or Thurs. and you haven't done any history, either let that be okay for that week, or set aside some of your regular stuff on the Friday and spend 2 hours on History stuff -- read, watch a movie, do an activity.........

.

 

While I would love to approach things this way, I know for me its a recipe for disaster. I have a senior and an 8th grader as well as the 4th grader I'm working on this history stuff for and I work part-time nights (getting home about 7am, sleeping for 2 hours and starting school). History for us is a secondary subject (we focus on core skills) so we tend to do it after other things. By then sometimes we are tired or her ADHD is kicking in or I put her off to do discussions with the older kids etc. If I don't plan things it will be really easy to just say 'we'll get to something tomorrow' and we'll wake up in May and will still be discovering America. I certainly wish I could be less structured. If I knew we'd get it done I'd be happy to just do whatever floats our boats, but I really fear that would lead to doing nothing.

 

Maybe I can have some structure but just not as much...

[Lori D.]

While I would love to approach things this way, I know for me its a recipe for disaster.

 

 

Totally understand. I DO hope that once you get into your school year you'll "feel the joy" again of History and your choice to DIY. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Heather in VA]

Thanks guys... I'm feeling better. I went to the library this weekend and got several of the 'Build-it-yourself' series and it made me much more peaceful about it. I'm just going to get a stack of them and work through the books, pick some projects and give her independent reading. It feels to me like a balance between super-planned and completely fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants.

 

Feeling much less stressed...

 

Thanks

Heather