What do you *do* for history?

[DragonFaerie]

I have a boatload of American history resources, (a variety of books, videos, etc.) and DS is just fine with watching and reading his way through them.  But, he doesn't want to actually *do* anything (all input, no output).  I'm sorely tempted to just let him watch and read and be finished because the battles over getting him to work are starting to wear on me, but I can't help feeling like that's not enough.  We do grades and report cards (DS's request) but he's not willing to do anything for me to grade.  I've tried having him do summaries, outlines, just writing facts from his reading, answering questions/worksheets, and more stuff I can't think of now.  I'm at a loss.  So what sort of work do your DC do for history?  Is it okay to just let him absorb and not worry about showing anything?  He's 10 and in 5th grade if that helps.  TIA!!

[Embassy]

In the younger grades we did projects together, but now it is mostly reading and watching with some discussion.  We don't do summaries, outlines, or any written assignments with history.  We also enjoy listening to SOTW on audio.

[DragonFaerie]

In the younger grades we did projects together, but now it is mostly reading and watching with some discussion.  We don't do summaries, outlines, or any written assignments with history.  We also enjoy listening to SOTW on audio.

 

I'm so glad to read this!  School is really becoming a battle for us, and I would dearly love to have this subject where I don't have to fight with him about it.

[regentrude]

At that age, I required my kids to do one larger project per semester about one topic in history that interested them. They got to choose the topic and could either write a report, or give an oral presentation with pp slides (DS loved that), or make a poster. We did not do worksheets, questions, or summaries, and I did not make them write daily.

It was never a problem because they were excited about the topics they had chosen and wanted to share their new found knowledge with us.

[Chrysalis Academy]

In 5th grade, we mostly discussed the readings, although I did have dd outline or summarize a SOTW chapter once or twice a week, and she wrote about some of the books she read.  I spent the whole year worrying that it wasn't enough output.

 

Now in 6th grade I've upped the written output requirements.  She writes something in history pretty much every day.  I'm using history as the tool to teach her to take notes from texts and other kind of nonfiction books, and also to answer basic essay questions that require pulling together knowledge from more than one source.  She's also doing several short research papers over the course of the year on topics she'd like to learn more about.

 

I feel a lot better about the output she's doing now . . . but you know what? For 5th grade, what she did was fine.  This year, she needs and is ready for more - last year, it was fine. 

 

I think at some point in the middle school years a kid needs to be able to do written output in history.  Exactly where that point is will differ for different kids/different homeschools.  But IMO you are not at that point yet!  So I wouldn't stress if I were you (easier said than done, I know.)

[Embassy]

I'm so glad to read this!  School is really becoming a battle for us, and I would dearly love to have this subject where I don't have to fight with him about it.

 

I probably won't require any written output until high school - even then it will be a smaller portion of history time.  We are documentary-focused right now.  I had a teacher that made me outline my history book and I learned nothing about history although I did get pretty good at outlining.  It also took tons of time.  I would have learned so much more by watching documentaries.  

 

We just go slow and dig deep into the time period.  My kids are learning and enjoying history.  We don't neglect writing either - it just isn't part of our history time.

[Pen]

  Is it okay to just let him absorb and not worry about showing anything? 

 

Yes.

 

We've been reading Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. It has been a chance to hear some of what my son knows, and sometimes he knows a good bit more than I do from just absorbing a lot of history.  He comments on many things in 20th century of what Bellamy did not anticipate, such as WWI and II, and in that context I discovered he knew more about the relationship between the USSR and Germany during the wars than I did, how alliances started out one way, and then switched.  So you too may find that something that is not directly requiring output will come up eventually that will help you to learn that your son is learning.  In a way, I prefer that I see the learning is there in a way that emerges in actual conversation rather than having done projects to fulfill requirements, but where content may then be quickly forgotten about.

 

I too think writing output can be important at some point, and can be history based, but the writing is to learn to write well.   And projects may result in the project being more memorable that the content.   We had a thread going at one point about James W. Loewen's book on how to teach history that you might find (the thread or the book) interesting.

[DragonFaerie]

I probably won't require any written output until high school - even then it will be a smaller portion of history time.  We are documentary-focused right now.  I had a teacher that made me outline my history book and I learned nothing about history although I did get pretty good at outlining.  It also took tons of time.  I would have learned so much more by watching documentaries.  

 

We just go slow and dig deep into the time period.  My kids are learning and enjoying history.  We don't neglect writing either - it just isn't part of our history time.

 

I am using science to work on writing (in addition to WWW curriculum).  For science, he watches Planet Earth, takes notes, and then does some research to write a paragraph on the topic of his choosing for the week.  He will have to write summaries for some of the sections in some DK books for science, too, so I don't think writing is being neglected.  It's just history that's concerning me.

[DragonFaerie]

Would he be willing to videotape a speech (maybe 2 minutes) on a history topic? That's something you could grade without his necessarily having to do much physical writing. He could choose whether it's informative (maybe a news broadcast format?) or persuasive.

 

Maybe.  I might be able to get him to memorize something.  He asked me recently how much is a "score" as he was going around saying, "Four score and seven years ago."  LOL..  But how would I grade that?  100 if he does it perfectly and deduct if he forgets something?  That seems harsh.  I'm much better with grading written tests and worksheets.  I can never figure out how to grade subjective assignments.

[DragonFaerie]

I would share a rubric with him when introducing the assignment. For example, if he's reciting a memorized speech, you can grade him for posture, volume/tone, and clarity/enunciation, as well as accuracy and fluency. If he composes his own speech, you can also evaluate the content and organization, and how well he conveys a central idea.

 

I think I'd be better off letting him do the assignment without grading it.  He has some enunciation issues as well as fluency of speech difficulties.  However, he has absolutely no problem being loud enough :D and would probably happily act out every word.

[Pen]

If grades were his own idea, I'd let him decide what his goals are and then grade himself based on how well he feels he has met his own goals, and also giving himself credit for effort and improvement.

[DragonFaerie]

Ayiyiyi.... the kid is killing me.  I just asked him what HE would like to do for a grade in history, and he said he wants to write a paper like he does for science.  LOL... Problem solved, I guess.  He wants to do science one week and history the next, and each week he'll write a paper on a relevant topic for that week's subject.  Works for me!

[brill123]

I probably won't require any written output until high school - even then it will be a smaller portion of history time.  We are documentary-focused right now.  I had a teacher that made me outline my history book and I learned nothing about history although I did get pretty good at outlining.  It also took tons of time.  I would have learned so much more by watching documentaries.  

 

We just go slow and dig deep into the time period.  My kids are learning and enjoying history.  We don't neglect writing either - it just isn't part of our history time.

Hello Embassy,

 

Are you using Canadian History Documentaries?Any link to your Canadian History Documentaries and book?

 

Currently,I am using just Canada My Country for 4th and 5th Graders.

 

Thanks in advance for your co operation.

[Embassy]

Hello Embassy,

 

Are you using Canadian History Documentaries?Any link to your Canadian History Documentaries and book?

 

Currently,I am using just Canada My Country for 4th and 5th Graders.

 

Thanks in advance for your co operation.

 

We've watched Canada: A People's History series already, but we aren't doing any Canadian history right now.  We are spending time in the Middle Ages. The Canada: A People's History is quite good.  So far it is the only thing we have done for Canadian history.

[happypamama]

In the younger grades, we did a few projects that were particularly applicable to the subject, and I occasionally had the kids write a short summary and draw a picture. We also did maps -- my kids loved doing mapwork. If I needed more output for history, I might have them write a couple of sentences about a documentary or even a field trip. (Actually, I think I included DD's paragraph about a historic field trip in the writing section of her portfolio. I also include brochures from places we visit.) Not a lot of output compared to the time we actually spent reading and discussing. I did have DD do a project last spring -- a travel brochure on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, to work on the skills of using the computer, taking notes, and doing bibliographies. Since DD is in sixth grade this year, and I feel that she needs a bit more, she is working through History Odyssey and learning to do outlines, summaries, and timelines, plus there is mapwork. DS1, grade three, is doing mapwork and about once a week or so, he writes two things he has learned in the recent reading. I think this is very reasonable, and I really like that it jives well with our writing curriculum (WWE/WWS) by getting them focused on finding the important parts of what they've read. It is still not a ton of output, and I am okay with that.

[brill123]

We've watched Canada: A People's History series already, but we aren't doing any Canadian history right now.  We are spending time in the Middle Ages. The Canada: A People's History is quite good.  So far it is the only thing we have done for Canadian history.

Thanks for your reply.Is this the same link you have used:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27YTTx4mU28

 

http://www.cbclearning.ca/caph-series-eps-1-17-1.html

[Embassy]

Thanks for your reply.Is this the same link you have used:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27YTTx4mU28

 

http://www.cbclearning.ca/caph-series-eps-1-17-1.html

 

Yes, that is the one.  If you are in Canada your library should have them all.

[brill123]

Yes, that is the one.  If you are in Canada your library should have them all.

Ok .Thanks........

[2_girls_mommy]

I love his idea about alternating between the science and history writing.  Great idea.   We kind of do that this year too.

 

We do the outlines, summaries, and timelines like in WTM.  For age 10, 5th grade, we did it all every week, plus science work.  But this year our schedule is different and we can't.  So she does all of that work over 2 weeks.  She does read and timeline everything, but we can only get the extra reading and summary in every other week.  In the off weeks, while she does spend some time on the outline and continuing to read on the extra subject and in the KHE, she will have science reading and writing instead of the summary for history. 

 

I had to decide this is enough in history writing because our schedule this year is different..

[DragonFaerie]

I love his idea about alternating between the science and history writing.  Great idea.   We kind of do that this year too.

 

We do the outlines, summaries, and timelines like in WTM.  For age 10, 5th grade, we did it all every week, plus science work.  But this year our schedule is different and we can't.  So she does all of that work over 2 weeks.  She does read and timeline everything, but we can only get the extra reading and summary in every other week.  In the off weeks, while she does spend some time on the outline and continuing to read on the extra subject and in the KHE, she will have science reading and writing instead of the summary for history. 

 

I had to decide this is enough in history writing because our schedule this year is different..

 

I would love for DS to be able to do outlines, summaries, etc.  DD would be able to do that, but DS just cannot.  He is my math and science guy, marches to the beat of his own drummer.  He is not wired for that kind of work. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised today, though.  We watched an episode of America that tied in with the reading he's been doing, and all through the episode, he was telling me what was coming up.  So even though he's not writing anything so far, he's definitely learning.  Yay!

[My3girls]

Youngers read, narrate, do a timeline, and the occassional project.  Dd11 reads and does the study guide that goes along with OUP The World in Ancient Times which has various types of activities to include writing, drawing, vocabulary, timeline, etc...  Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

[SunshineMom]

My 5th grader has been using Luckymama's history listed here on her blog.  The Human Odyssey along with all the additional resources have been excellent (especially the historic fiction novels).  She reads independently, we discuss, and she writes a simple narration.  We plan on incorporating a timeline as well as some crafts.  She spends about 2-3hrs each week on history plus any documentaries we find.  DD is also taking Athena's mythology examine prep class so she is reading greek mythology and doing assignments to share online.  She is powering through all the Percy Jackson's books as well as getting into the Lord of the Rings (she loved the Hobbit).  We also have a subscription to Cobblestone magazine (history) for fun but educational reading.  Forgot to mention we are also using chapters from the Story of Science as well as the Story of Maths videos.

 

My 6th grader has some LD's  and has been reading SOTW Ancients along with all the linked encyclopedia (3) references and reading the historic fiction novels from Luckymama's.  She reads independently, we discuss and she writes a narration.  She does not have a long attention span for history documentaries nor has she really spent anytime reading Cobblestone but she has enjoyed hearing SOTW CD's.  She is not so much into the crafts unless they involve food:)

 

[brownie]

We love history but we don't produce a lot of output.  We just enjoy enjoying it mostly. We listen to story of the world 1 which admittedly is a bit simple for a 5th grader but still interesting.  We answer the questions and narrate orally.  We do the mapwork and make a timeline.  We do a lot of historical fiction reading.  Finally, I've had him write a bunch of ancients based papers for IEW.  That's it!  We're happy with it :)  No time for doing more and I have to tell you, I have an older child doing ancients in ps and he is learning the same stuff.  He does do some worksheets, the occasional summary paragraph and takes multiple choice tests.  He finds it lame.

[DragonFaerie]

Thanks, everybody.  I'm trying not to stress out too much over this.  He's not heading to college anytime soon.  For that matter, high school is still more than three years away, and we'll do history more formally then for sure.  I think as long as he's reading and understanding and learning, maybe output isn't so important. We're focusing on his writing in other areas, just not history. The fact that he wants to write a paragraph or two paper for history is a good thing.