Help...struggling 5th grader - Crying during History

[sixtimemomma]

I need suggestions for a 5th grader that dreads history. Right now we are using a regular textbook from Houghton Mifflin that worked fine for 3 of my previous children.  She is literally in tears.

 

Wondering if anyone has some suggestions for a history curriculum that gets the job done, is not overwhelming and will help her learn something.

 

I would love to find something that allows her to be independent but if I can't find anything I may have to do a Unit Study. I also have a 3rd grader and a 1st grader. I don't have the time to take on another subject that requires hands on from me so if I have to go to a curriculum that needs mommy it will have to include everyone.

 

Any suggestions?

[Ellie]

Beautiful Feet Books might be an option. It is a study guide that uses good trade books--books you could find in the library or book store--instead of a textbook.

 

Or you could let her read historical fiction and narrate to you. Or you could read aloud to all of the dc from some good historical fiction.

 

KONOS is a good unit study that does history, geography, science, Bible, arts and crafts while studying godly character traits. I love KONOS. :-)

 

Or the Prairie Primer, which studies the Little House books.

[RootAnn]

What do you want her to cover this year? What kind of output are you looking for?

 

Is the reading level too high? Or is it just too boring?

 

There are quite a few interesting world history books -- or books on specific groups (Greeks, Romans, etc) that you could have her read on her own. I don't know of many US history ones at a 5th grade reading level that are *interesting*. However, The Complete Book of US History is a good secular spine for that level - and then you can throw some fiction & non-fiction books to flesh out topics that interest her. 

 

If you give more information on what information you want to cover & what you want her to do with it (write papers? summaries? outline it? narrations? fill-in-the-blank-workbook?), the Hive can be more helpful.

[umsami]

What about just buying a set of Liberty Kids DVDs, and letting her watch them.  The entire series was on Amazon for like $7 or so.

 

What about reading the historical American Girl doll books...and using that as a jumping off point.  You can also watch the DVDs/movies.

 

What about the whole "You wouldn't want to be a ...." series.

 

What about "A Child's History of the World."  You can buy the kit with discussion questions from CBD...or you can buy just the paperback book on Amazon for $14.00 or so.

 

It doesn't have to be a majorly formal program at this stage iMHO.  Doing any of the above, she'd learn something. :)

[Miss Marple]

What exactly are causing the tears?  Until you assess that, I don't think you'll be able to find something that works for you.  Is she bored with it?  Is it just so much reading that she loses interest, is she doing anything beyond reading a textbook?  What history are you studying?  Independent work is nice, but not always possible depending on the child.  Different children need different levels of involvement.  Do you pick out a couple of ideas from her reading to discuss with her?

 

Honestly, those grade school years are, IMO, the years to make subjects fun and interesting.  There will be plenty of years ahead to assign textbook readings.  Some history programs we really liked and were less reading and more interactive:  Mystery of History and Drive By History (dvd series).  If you are looking to "just get it done" without much involvement from you, I'd suggest the Drive By History series.  There is a discussion guide with each dvd so you can still assign some writing or additional reading.  We all enjoyed that series and usually watched it on our break for lunch.

[Lori D.]

Agreeing with Miss Marple about the importance of figuring out what's causing the tears, and switching to a method of learning that really allows *learning* to happen rather than emotional trauma. ;)

 

But also, what stands out to me is that you mention having youngers -- AND, they are all close enough in age that you have a perfect set-upfor doing history all *together*!

 

- 3x/week = read-aloud out all together from an engaging living book with lots of illustrations

- 1-2x/week = all together, do some sort of activity (looking something up from the reading on a map/globe, a matching sticker book / coloring page, watch a video on the time period, do a hands-on activity, etc.)

- 1x/week = have 5th grader do a short (3-5 sentence) written narration on what was learned, and call it good!

- optional = read-aloud a chapter from a matching historical fiction book

 

History in 30 minutes a day for *everyone*!

[Mommy22alyns]

I agree, it would help to know what your objectives are.  Lori is right though, your others are close enough in age where it would be easy to do history with them all together.  Mine are 3rd and 5th and combined for history.

[BatmansWife]

I'd cry to if I had to use a HM history textbook.  My first suggestion was going to be Beautiful Feet.  You could probably have her read the pages in the books for each lesson by herself and then just discuss the questions in the guide together.  Another suggestion, which I'm hoping to do next year for 5th, is Portraits of American Girlhood that uses the American Girl books. 

[BatmansWife]

Sorry...this was a repeat of what I just said above...having computer problems.   

[MerryAtHope]

I really like Mystery of History, and you could do the same thing with all 3 kids. Agree with the others, you need to assess what's causing the tears. That would help us suggest something different for her. (((Hugs))) to you both! Merry :-)

[2_girls_mommy]

I would go w/SOTW for all :)

[OneStepAtATime]

Story of the World for all, including the activity book, sounds like a great idea to me, too. 

 

 Or, if you wanted to cover ALL subjects but math with one set of materials, for all your kids with a onetime purchase for the entire year that includes all the material you will need, you might look at Trail Guides to Learning.  History based, but covers science, art, spelling, reading, writing, history, literature, etc.  Set up so you can use with multiple age levels simultaneously.  Prep time each weak is between 10 and 30 minutes total.  Easily modified for visual/spatial/tactile learners.  We are currently using this curriculum and love the structure.  There is an overarching theme for the year, broken down into 6 sub-units and each unit builds on the previous unit's knowledge base through all the disciplines (except math).  There is also review through fun games and other resources every Friday so Fridays are lighter if you need a day of less material to cover, but Fridays are great for solidifying the concepts already covered.  I deliberately structured our school year this year to have breaks so every 6 weeks (between each 6 week unit) we take a week off to pursue things of interest, take field trips, etc. The kids love knowing there is a break built in and stay a lot more on task because of it.  The structure makes sense to them and they have a checklist to keep track of what we are doing.  There is also a Yahoo support group of parents that are always exchanging ideas on fun things to do with the curriculum.  You might look at using this for everyone starting next year if you don't want to dump everything you already have in place.  Look on the website and read some reviews.  Also, check out Kris Bales' Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers blog.  It gives a great review.

[Chris in VA]

Another vote for SOTW.

 

What time periods have you done already? If you haven't done a lot of Ancient History, now is the perfect time, with the ages of kids you have.

I would definitely use the maps, activities, supplemental reading, and use the questions or narration to assess learning (skip the tests). 

 

 

[LAR]

Still another vote for Story of the World.  We use it for our 3rd and 5th graders.  We listen to the audio books in the car, and also read the chapters together in the am - History for Breakfast.   They enjoy the activity guide and tests (really!).