HollyM25 Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 We started our new school year 2 weeks ago. My kids are K and 2 grade, I had planned on doing American History this year with them. I bought 2 Christian Liberty Press American History Books. We got them with our other curriculum and I have not had any desire to start reading to them. I figured we could read about the famous people in the books and do some notebooking on them. I don't know if its me being pregnant or the fact that I have to do more planning for history than with any other subjects. But I just cannot bring myself to do any history with my kids. So, is it horrible if I skipped history this year? We don't really have the money to buy new history books right now and our library stinks here. Or maybe someone can point me in the right direction to find an inexpensive, yet fun way to do history with younger kids. We are loving the rest of our curriculum, just need help with history or I might decide to skip it this year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 What about picking up a used copy of SOTW and getting a few library books here and ther? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelsi Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I really don't think it's a good idea to skip history. It doesn't need to be every day but at least once a week I think. We use BCP (Baltimore Curriculum Project) lessons which are free and follow the Core Knowledge Sequence and I just supplement it with whatever books we can find at the library on that topic. Sometimes I can find a good documentary on the topic for my 3rd grader or even a cartoon for my kindergartner. We loooove Liberty's Kids on netflix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Obviously K-2nd grade needs to be math, reading and writing focused. But I think a homeschool lacks something when there's not some extra learning about the world going on. On the other hand, it doesn't have to be history per se. Do something else. Or watch videos. Or make it interest led - have them check out a book about another country every week form the library or something. Feel free to keep it uber-simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 If you are really not for up, watch Liberty kids until you are feeling better. I would get STOW on CD and listen to it and then head to the library to explore more. I hope you feel better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I would give it some more time. You're only 2 weeks into your school year. I'd give it 2 more weeks and then reevaluate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Yep on the Liberty Kids! Also check out Guesthollow American History. You could ignore all the projects, History Pockets, etc., etc., and just follow the booklist getting a few from the library each week and enjoy reading those together. Go overboard and put her timeline up on her wall, copy the book covers and other things for the timeline and you've got history for K and 2. Maybe not as heavyweight as many would like, but you've assuaged your guilt, and I was amazed at all my 7yo learned from the reading in Guesthollow this last year. Make great bedtime story books for those ages, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 You can do something for History that doesn't require a lot of planning. Even if your library isn't great, do they have some biographies of famous Americans? Picture books on any history topics? See if they have Betsy Maestro's books on American history... seriously, if you just read them those or something similar, it's a great start!! Or, for $15, you can do a download of Elemental American history - short readings and pre-made notebook pages: http://elementalhistory.com/order.html Is there any reason you can't just read aloud to them from the books you already have? Which books from CLP did you order? If you just read to them for now, you can always add activities later if you're up for it, or download free coloring or activity pages, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Well...I don't think it will ruin them forever to not do history. And your K'er will get more out of it if you start next year, I'm assuming you want them combined for history. That being said, I agree with others that have mentioned SOTW. It would be so, so easy to just read that or have it on audio. Even without any projects, etc. it would at least be something and would not take any planning. Maybe you could cover ancients that way and bulk it up next year for Middle Ages when you have more energy. Maybe you could do geography/social studies this year instead? Use something like Children Just Like Me or Around the World in 80 Tales for a spine, color a map & flag page for each country, watch a related youtube video for the country. Easy peasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julzar Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 It will not ruin your kids to wait a year on history! Your idea about the famous people and notebooking sounds good. Others had mentioned starting SOTW and that was going to be my suggestion if you wanted to do more formal history. With the CD's it would really take the load off you. You could even stretch it out for 2 years if you wanted to. I adore history and find that I am better about getting the things I don't enjoy done so I can get to history. But that is just me. If it is a stress for you, let it go. Character training and then the 3 R's are most important right now. Pray... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindblomnest Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I don't think anything bad will happen if you skip history. From what I know about Story of the World, it reads just like a chapter book. You could just read a little each day, or get it on CD if your 2nd grader will listen to it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 We love history around here and even my K'er is excited about it. But I know I had very little history in elementary school (other than maybe Columbus and the Pilgrims) before about sixth grade. I still learned a ton of history from later courses and maybe even more from watching a ton of documentaries with my parents who were really into historical stuff. There are a lot of other age appropriate geography and "social studies" topics - learn a bit about each continent and the fifty states (my second grader learned to locate the 50 states last year), learn about "community helpers", learn about holidays and why they are celebrated, etc. Even really basic easy nonfiction books from the library can help with those topics, watching kids educational shows, websites, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Nothing bad will happen if you skip history (although asking that here seems like asking about skipping time outdoors on a CM board!). Focus on the basics and try to do a lot of reading aloud if you can manage. You'll make some great memories with your kids. And in a few weeks/months you might feel like reading the history books with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarahillmom Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Here is my suggestion. Do geography. Learn the continents and oceans. Then pick a country or state to learn a week. For countries you learn where it is, you tube selections on tradition music, google art from the area, make tradition food one night for dinner, and learn a couple of phrases from the language. If you do states, create a book, one state a week. First day find it on the map and color a map of it. You can also write the state capital. Then the next day you can do the state flag and learn about its meaning. They can color that while you tell them about the flag. Then you can learn about the state bird, bug, song, etc... whatever floats your boats. Eat something one day that is grown in that state. You can look at pictures on-line of what it looks like. You can see who is famous from that state past and present. You get the idea. You could also do a study of your state. Take lots of field trips and do the historical places in your state. Parks are a great place to start. That way they are doing social studies, they will get those all important map skills, and it is cheaper than cheap. The world will not collapse around them if they aren't doing history because if you look at the public schools neither are they. They are learning about the people and places around them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 If it weren't required by the state, I would probably skip history and just focus on geography. Unless there was interest from my big girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarahillmom Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 If it weren't required by the state, I would probably skip history and just focus on geography. Unless there was interest from my big girl. We are just required to do Social Studies. You could do geography and integrate it with historical events and people from the areas you are studying. Also learning about the government of the areas you are studying and art/music history. Also learning the cultures and the important holidays and the historical context of those holidays. That would qualify as history for those lower grade. Just a suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I can't imagine not doing history at all :001_huh: but I also don't think it needs to be carefully scheduled for such young children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I have a 1st grader and a 4yo. We are not doing formal history this year. We are doing a geography workbook (Evan Moor Beginning Geography) to get basic map/geography skills. But, then again, I don't plan on starting the 4-yr. history cycle until after we do a year of state history, then a year of American history, and then a year of world geography/cultures....so what do I know? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 We did not do formal history at all last year for my 1st grader. As a first year homeschooler I was really focused on getting a good grasp on the 3 Rs and everything else was just extra. That being said, we still managed to fit in quite a bit even though it was a bit all over the place chronologically. Before going to a museum exhibit to see replicas of the Chinese terracotta warriors we read several books and watched a documentary. At Thanksgiving I chose picture books about the Pilgrims and Native Americans. He participated in two different geography fairs with our homeschool group, each time learning about another country's history, culture and geography. Around Martin Luther King Jr. Day we read a little bit about him and that led us to also finding easy readers about Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges. We talked a little bit about civil rights, looked up more information about Ruby Bridges online (he was amazed to learn that she's still alive and isn't even very old!) and visited an exhibit at a museum. In addition whenever we always look up new places/countries that the kids read or hear about on our globe and keep around geography jigsaw puzzles (GeoPuzzles) that he likes to work on his own. So, no, I don't think that formal history at that age is a must as long as you're also taking advantage of all of the other opportunities that just naturally present themselves in everyday life for learning about such things. We'll be starting SOTW this year for 2nd grade, but I have no regrets about our approach last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 You could learn about your state and have lots of local field trips, and study a bit about elections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeplessnights Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I would not stress over history. Make sure you've got the basics down first (reading, writing, math, etc). Once you're in the groove with these, I would add in either picture books or short chapter books about famous people/events in American history as read alouds. Don't worry about sequence, special projects, or tie-ins. Depending on how your kids are reading, they could read simple biographies of these people like the Clyde Robert Bulla books or even the Magic Tree House ones. This will help your kids get the important American history people and events covered without causing undue stress. I'm sure in a year or two your house will be totally different and you won't have trouble fitting in history any more. For now, just some gentle exposure will fit the bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.