cholderby Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I happened across our local public school's "key concepts" for each year. Looks like they don't start history until fifth grade. Instead they have Social Studies. I feel confident that we are hitting all necessary concepts by doing SOTW. But it got me thinking...what is Social Studies? Why is it a separate, competing subject? Is there any value to studying these concepts in the abstract? I don't see it, but there must be great argument for studying these things outside of the context of history. Anyone know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 In planning my curriculum, I regard "social studies" as separate subjects. This is what I include for elementary: World History American History State History (History includes memory work such as lists, some dates, excerpts from speeches and documents) Geography, including map drawing Civics/Government Basic Economics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I don't think there's any *good* argument for doing "social studies." Here's what Wikipedia says about "social studies." In our home, we didn't do "social studies." We did history, current events, civics, etc. We also didn't do "language arts." We did reading/literature, spelling, grammar, composition, spelling/vocabulary, penmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 In our home, we didn't do "social studies." We did history, current events, civics, etc. We also didn't do "language arts." We did reading/literature, spelling, grammar, composition, spelling/vocabulary, penmanship. :iagree: Personally, I thought "social studies" units on things like community helpers were silly, so we didn't do them. I didn't need to do a lesson on sanitation workers; we watch them bring their trucks around every week to pick up the trash. The local police chief stops to wave at the children when he does his regular patrols. We visit the library and grocery store regularly and see people working there. And so on. I think a lot of the "social studies" sorts of things for younger grades are to teach them the things that they're not seeing naturally, because they're stuck in a school building all day instead of living life alongside their parents. I far prefer the WTM approach of starting history early in an age-appropriate way, and I do geography and culture along with whatever we're studying in history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFM Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 In our home, we didn't do "social studies." We did history, current events, civics, etc. We also didn't do "language arts." We did reading/literature, spelling, grammar, composition, spelling/vocabulary, penmanship. :iagree: Love this! Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 We do social studies here. We work on one culture at a time and talk about things like dialects, traditions, economy, food..for littles it's just comparing/contrasting different areas to where they live and what they do. For older kids it starts getting into world politics and how backgrounds shape our opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airforcefamily Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 We're using a second grade social studies work text right now and it's about different world cultures and geographic areas. We also have separate history, maps, and geography. I agree about those 'community helper' units. We never did anything like that when I was a kid and yet somehow I managed to understand what firefighters, pharmacists, nurses, and veterinarians are all about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 ...what is Social Studies? Why is it a separate, competing subject? Is there any value to studying these concepts in the abstract? I don't see it, but there must be great argument for studying these things outside of the context of history. Anyone know? An excerpt from my favorite social studies book... :D Social studies is the original big tent of elementary and middle school curriculum, embracing a huge array of discrete subjects, from archaeology to psychology. Taken together they paint a vivid picture of what we human beings have been up to for a very long time. Social studies touches on everything from why people invented communication systems and the size and shape of their houses, to how much they're willing to fork over for a head of cattle or a gallon of gas, and who can wear stiletto heals in public without inviting scorn. The subject is ourselves. In its fullest, most glorious incarnation, social studies is all about people: what we've done, where, why, and what were the consequences. And what are we doing now? How does our own current behavior mirror history? What impact can we have on our community? How can we influence the future? It encompasses everything people do to survive, thrive, and evolve as social beings. With such a broad sweep, it's not surprising that social studies programs typically include elements of a long list of disciplines, including the following: Archaeology: How people investigate life in the past. Anthropology: How people developed physically, socially, and culturally. Economics: How people use, value, amass, and exchange resources. Geography: How people and the earth's physical systems affect each other. History: The things that people did with such brilliance or brutality that they stand out over time.... Law: How people create rules to regulate behavior in society. Philosophy: How people think about truth and values. Politics: How people use power in society. Psychology: How people understand the mind and human behavior. Religion: How people express beliefs about God or the supernatural. Sociology: How humans form groups and behave in society. Unfortunately, contemporary curriculums and textbooks have stripped away much of that social fabric, leaving content that is so antiseptic and dehumanized, we may as well be studying another species. But what does putting the social back in content mean? Simply that instruction needs to refocus on faces, problems, context, and community. Faces of individuals, not just a list of celebrities. Students need to hear the stories of actual people, powerbrokers and commoners, women and children who lived in, participated in, and shaped the past and present. Problems, not simply events. Students need to learn to analyze events as manifestations of larger problems that people are facing. Events may be solutions to problems or evidence of our collective failure. Context, not just location and dates. Students need to recognize that human activities are shaped by the natural surroundings and social environments in which people are trying to survive and thrive. Continuity from the past to present. Students need to understand that we are grappling with some of the same problems that vexed the Mesopotamians, Romans, Chinese, Tuaregs, the Dogon, and the Bushmen of the Kalahari. Many students slouch reluctantly into their social studies classes, drop into their seats as if they've been shot and whine rhetorically, "What does this have to do with me? An entire year may pass without a single ray of light falling upon that question. But if you revive the social element in content by emphasizing faces, problems, context, and continuity, students soon discover that there are stunning parallels between their existence and the lives of people in other states, countries, or centuries. They're intrigued. Presented with decontextualized, fact-driven oratories, they quickly lose heart and revert to more rewarding activities, such as text-messaging cryptograms, having a rich fantasy life, or napping. --Laurel Schmidt, Social Studies that Sticks: How to Bring Content and Concepts to Life So, I do think there is great value in social studies. But the schools screw all that up, which is part of why I homeschool. :tongue_smilie: I tend to think of all the banal stuff they cover as social studies in the early grades as real life knowledge, which I teach in the course of real life. However, not all parents do, so some kids do benefit from the coverage of elementary level civics in schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrobynne Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 My kids' former private school (that follows the Core Knowledge Curriculum for K-8) made a big point of saying that they studied history in elementary school, not social studies. Part of that involved avoiding the standard learn about your community, then your state, then your nation, etc. Kindergartners learned about Ancient Egypt, my second grader studied cultures of the Far East, etc. So there are schools that pooh-pooh social studies too. At least calling it that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I happened across our local public school's "key concepts" for each year. Looks like they don't start history until fifth grade. Instead they have Social Studies. I feel confident that we are hitting all necessary concepts by doing SOTW. But it got me thinking...what is Social Studies? Why is it a separate, competing subject? Is there any value to studying these concepts in the abstract? You are lucky when I was at school we did social studies until our equivalent of 9th grade. History came in as an option at 10th grade level. The first topic was the second world war with very minimal background. I see no evidence that things have improved. I don't see it, but there must be great argument for studying these things outside of the context of history. Anyone know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholderby Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 An excerpt from my favorite social studies book... :D So, I do think there is great value in social studies. But the schools screw all that up, which is part of why I homeschool. :tongue_smilie: I tend to think of all the banal stuff they cover as social studies in the early grades as real life knowledge, which I teach in the course of real life. However, not all parents do, so some kids do benefit from the coverage of elementary level civics in schools. Yes! I remember we had a whole year dedicated to "needs and wants" in my PS education. The information is good, it is much more effective (and easier) to teach in real life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a27mom Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 In the public school I attended, and in the different state ps district we live in now, social studies was the umbrella term for a subject area that includes history. So it was/is not separate here anyway. I assume part of it is because ps does not have time to teach all the topics under social studies at once, so they call it social studies and then it appears that they are doing something, even though history, geography etc...might not be covered much at all one year. I had to laugh at the community workers thing. Our ps has this listed in their curric targets for K. Must be pretty easy to teach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I don't think there's any *good* argument for doing "social studies." Here's what Wikipedia says about "social studies." In our home, we didn't do "social studies." We did history, current events, civics, etc. We also didn't do "language arts." We did reading/literature, spelling, grammar, composition, spelling/vocabulary, penmanship. BRAVA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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