Daughter hates history...help

[OneStepAtATime]

My son LOVES history and my daughter HATES history.  She is killing his love of history with her sad, miserable face every time we start a history lesson.  I have tried living books, we are currently doing Trail Guides to Learning, and I love the hands-on, tying everything together into a rich tapestry approach they take for history but my daughter CANNOT stand anything to do with historical novels or time lines or historical videos.  She wants a worksheet she fills out and then it is over, but she isn't really learning history that way and forgets the material right afterwards.

 

 I had thought switching to Trail Guides would help her see history as this amazing interweaving of events and lives and experiences over the course of time and she has found some things about the curriculum that she likes, but not related to the books we are reading or the history we are studying, only with regards to the science and art.   I think part of the issue is that her younger brother just GETS history and she really doesn't.  She sees his enthusiasm and how quickly he grasps the big picture of how it all ties together and she gets depressed that she doesn't feel the same way.  History just doesn't seem to make sense to her.  Any suggestions on how to get her excited about this topic?  Or should I just drop this subject for now, let my son run with his own interests, and start her on history again later?  Or tell her to suck it up and keep trudging through...

[mathmarm]

What age/grade are they in--why can't she have a workbook driven history curriculum?

What about biographies of famous men and women in the sciences and arts?

Perhaps she'd be more interested in the history of scientific development or art history?

 

Jealousy and bratty behavior alone aren't deserving of having your curriculum rethought, but if she really isn't taking to the subject, I don't see any immediate value in forcing her to "learn it" rather than just do the work...If she's not interested, engaged, cooperative, open to change, willing to meet you half-way, etc. then stop catering to her. Do what is fastest, easiest and most efficient and enjoyable for everyone else involved (since she's indifferent) and if that means doing it without her, then my vote is to do it without her.

[kristi26]

How old is she?  I would separate them.  Let him study as he likes.  What about doing something that is history but has a science or art twist? I don't know your religious affiliation, but something like the History of Science series from Beautiful Feet?  Here's a link: http://bfbooks.com/History-of-Science-Pack-with-The-New-Way-Things-Work

[Tess in the Burbs]

My kids are back to back grades and have always done history together.  He loves it, she doesn't.  

 

We use Sonlight.  She likes stories enough...but doesn't care for war.  So it was nice when Core E went quickly through the  20th century wars.  But it had enough for Ds.  We are studying Middle Ages now....it's still not her favorite subject but we have some crafts and the SOTW student pages and she's happy enough.  She made a viking boat yesterday and then tried to make chain mail. No complaints since she had something to do/color/make.  

 

I have let her skip a historical reader or two but then I have her reading other things.  I think it's ok she doesn't like the subject.  My dd loves science.  Could read about animals/birds/fish all day long.  Ds not so much.  I did split science this year and considered splitting history, but for now, she's hanging on with our Sonlight.  If I ever found something she would do on her own I would consider letting her split off.  For me, splitting science was easy....they both do it on their own for the most part.  But history would still require me but doing it twice....so for now they stay together.  Ds gets more books from library to read, she does more crafts related to the topic.  It's easy enough to adjust for both and still be on the same topic. 

[AimeeM]

How old?

My dd is 12. Despite spending hundreds of dollars on different curricula, dozens of hours trying to make her interested, she still dislikes history - even now, at a brick and mortar private school where they interweave history across the curricula and really make it come alive. She just doesn't like it... and that's OKAY. Not all children will enjoy everything, no matter how much we try to make them :)

It's okay to just take a "git 'er done" approach, if she's a bit older. If she's younger, just get some applicable, fun picture books. If she's a "girl's girl", try some about costumes and clothing from that time, daily life, etc.

[OneStepAtATime]

Daughter is 13 and son is 9.  Both are gifted range dyslexics in remediation for reading so neither is reading at grade level but can comprehend above grade level.  Daughter needs me to read the material to her if at grade level or above because she also has difficulty processing spoken words if spoken too fast, but makes amazing connections and never forgets anything once she comprehends it.  Also has tremendous strengths in 3D spatial relations and complex systems and 3D art.  Son has dysgraphia so writing is challenging, but functions extremely high in comprehension and has no issues with material being read to him off of CDs.  Son has always had a much stronger love of learning in general and started planning what careers he wanted to pursue, what type of wife he wanted as a life-time partner and which colleges might best meet his needs by 4 years old (and we never pushed education at that age).  His sister, bless her, once asked if she could just retire early and live in a hut on a beach and make art out of shells.  Matter and Anti-matter.

[Farrar]

I second considering doing biographies or looking at history through the lens of science if she might enjoy that.  Have you seen Joy Hakim's history of science series?  It's excellent for middle school.  Or you might consider doing art history instead for awhile if she would enjoy learning through that lens instead.

 

And, of course, some kids will never really like history.  It's fine to have introduced her and then let it go a bit and not have it be the focus.  If you do that, it seems natural that she and her brother should be separated.  He should have the opportunity to focus on it if he wants.

 

I wouldn't move to a worksheet based curriculum.  Whatever she studies, you want her to get something out of it and just filling out worksheets isn't usually going to do that and you say yourself she has no retention when she does that.  But a more rich sort of curriculum doesn't have to be fiction based.  If she doesn't enjoy historical fiction, I say drop it.  Pick a simple text and have her read and narrate or do something else simple to demonstrate understanding.  And then move on.

[kbutton]

Daughter is 13 and son is 9.  Both are gifted range dyslexics in remediation for reading so neither is reading at grade level but can comprehend above grade level.  Daughter needs me to read the material to her if at grade level or above because she also has difficulty processing spoken words if spoken too fast, but makes amazing connections and never forgets anything once she comprehends it.  Also has tremendous strengths in 3D spatial relations and complex systems and 3D art.  Son has dysgraphia so writing is challenging, but functions extremely high in comprehension and has no issues with material being read to him off of CDs.  Son has always had a much stronger love of learning in general and started planning what careers he wanted to pursue, what type of wife he wanted as a life-time partner and which colleges might best meet his needs by 4 years old (and we never pushed education at that age).  His sister, bless her, once asked if she could just retire early and live in a hut on a beach and make art out of shells.  Matter and Anti-matter.

 

I am not sure what your beliefs are, and this is a Christian curriculum, but we've had great success with America the Beautiful this year. It's geared toward 5-8th graders. My son swears he hates history, but he laps this up every day and does it independently (rarely does anything independently). It's meant to cover language arts, but we do only the historical novels, the text, the maps, the original source documents book, and the timeline (for handwriting practice--he's dysgraphic, and the timeline entries are short). My son is 9 and a good reader, but he needs something straightforward (2e Asperger's, not ready for a lot of thematic, big picture history that requires more abstract thought). ATB offers optional workbooks, and a few hands-on projects. The assignments are broken out day by day in the student text, so it's open and go. It's a nice blend of facts, biographies, some original source material, etc.

 

As far as religious content, other than the writing assignments, it's mostly stuff like "God made such and such; God loves this people group." I haven't seen "God will take his hand of blessing off our country if we don't put prayer back in schools" types of thoughts in the reading. They do highlight some missionaries. They do not gloss over mistakes or make them the focus--they offer a perspective somewhere in between.

 

Last year we used Great Pioneer Projects or something like that--can't find it right now. It's geared toward age 9 and up. We supplemented it with biographies. The book is interesting with lots of sidebars, notes about people and places, etc. The projects may be young for her, but the content is interesting. Some of the projects do demonstrate some understanding (I think they suggest making an ad to lure pioneers out west), and others are just fun crafts. I believe the same publisher offers other books that combine history with project stuff (I think one is about Ben Franklin and his inventions).

 

If you are able to obtain back issues of Crinkles magazine, those can be fun. They might be young for her, but the reading level might let her be independent. Each issue covers a country or US state based around "People, Places, Events, and Things." Each issue covers many topics such as geography, geology, history, art, music, agriculture, culture, biographies (long ago and contemporary, athletes, politicians, musicians), hobbies/traditional crafts, etc. There are many projects and graphic organizers in each issue. They would be easy to supplement with additional reading, music, art.

[mathmarm]

For what its worth, I know that I took history in Middle school, High school and I must have taken it in college, yet, for the life of me, I can't remember a thing about history. I never cared for it, though I did really well in it (I had a great GPA, so I must have done well in it).

 

I don't know what all those buzz-words mean to glean any real meaning from your explanation of your children's unique needs and issues. To me, History isn't that important. When I need historical facts, I look them up--and not always online either. I have a series of history books on my shelf from survey classes, I just don't care about the subject. I wouldn't break my head over trying to force a love of a subject in a child who just isn't inclined. You can't make anyone learn anything and you can't make anyone care about something...Sad, but true.

 

Let your son love history and let your daughter do what must be done.

[OneStepAtATime]

Ladies, thanks so much for the great suggestions.  Researching the various things mentioned here.  I told the kids that we would be separating for history and they were both so relieved.  I didn't realize how stressful it had become for them.  My son immediately grabbed SOTW and asked if we could start going into more depth on World War I and II, as well as our current curriculum.  My daughter looked very hopeful when I mentioned either art history or science history.  Your support and suggestions are greatly appreciated and my children and I thank you!!! :)

[OneStepAtATime]

Ladies, thanks so much for the great suggestions.  Researching the various things mentioned here.  I told the kids that we would be separating for history and they were both so relieved.  I didn't realize how stressful it had become for them.  My son immediately grabbed SOTW and asked if we could start going into more depth on World War I and II, as well as our current curriculum.  My daughter looked very hopeful when I mentioned either art history or science history.  Your support and suggestions are greatly appreciated and my children and I thank you!!! :)

[Pen]

I just saw this thread and also suggest separating them and having dd do art history or science history or both.   Also I suggest heavily using films as a means of getting history that does not require a lot of reading.   We have had lots of wonderful history of both sorts via DVDs.   Given her ability to make connections, she might appreciate the BBC Connections  series,   If you are more specific about dd's interests, I can let you know if anything we have seen might fit.    I also want to mention that Critical Thinking has a good work-booky World History Detective out, currently only available for ancient, so far as I know.

[Pen]

Also I think there is a book of letters by American women spanning from the Revolution-ish time to sometime toward recent.   Maybe would be of interest to her particularly as a girl?

 

BTW I know you said she does not like historical videos, but I was thinking she might if they are historical ART videos or historical SCIENCE videos.

[thundersweet]

I am not sure what your beliefs are, and this is a Christian curriculum, but we've had great success with America the Beautiful this year. It's geared toward 5-8th graders. My son swears he hates history, but he laps this up every day and does it independently (rarely does anything independently). It's meant to cover language arts, but we do only the historical novels, the text, the maps, the original source documents book, and the timeline (for handwriting practice--he's dysgraphic, and the timeline entries are short). My son is 9 and a good reader, but he needs something straightforward (2e Asperger's, not ready for a lot of thematic, big picture history that requires more abstract thought). ATB offers optional workbooks, and a few hands-on projects. The assignments are broken out day by day in the student text, so it's open and go. It's a nice blend of facts, biographies, some original source material, etc.

 

As far as religious content, other than the writing assignments, it's mostly stuff like "God made such and such; God loves this people group." I haven't seen "God will take his hand of blessing off our country if we don't put prayer back in schools" types of thoughts in the reading. They do highlight some missionaries. They do not gloss over mistakes or make them the focus--they offer a perspective somewhere in between.

 

Last year we used Great Pioneer Projects or something like that--can't find it right now. It's geared toward age 9 and up. We supplemented it with biographies. The book is interesting with lots of sidebars, notes about people and places, etc. The projects may be young for her, but the content is interesting. Some of the projects do demonstrate some understanding (I think they suggest making an ad to lure pioneers out west), and others are just fun crafts. I believe the same publisher offers other books that combine history with project stuff (I think one is about Ben Franklin and his inventions).

 

If you are able to obtain back issues of Crinkles magazine, those can be fun. They might be young for her, but the reading level might let her be independent. Each issue covers a country or US state based around "People, Places, Events, and Things." Each issue covers many topics such as geography, geology, history, art, music, agriculture, culture, biographies (long ago and contemporary, athletes, politicians, musicians), hobbies/traditional crafts, etc. There are many projects and graphic organizers in each issue. They would be easy to supplement with additional reading, music, art.

I was going to suggest Notgrass as well. My 7th grade daughter is a non history lover and she likes this so far. She reads the lesson on her own, does the map book, timeline, and workbook.

 

Sandy

[OneStepAtATime]

Also I think there is a book of letters by American women spanning from the Revolution-ish time to sometime toward recent.   Maybe would be of interest to her particularly as a girl?

 

BTW I know you said she does not like historical videos, but I was thinking she might if they are historical ART videos or historical SCIENCE videos.

I agree, she seemed to perk up at this idea.  I know she found the Faberge exhibit really interesting a few months back and watched a little video on the history of his creations and his ties to the upper crust of Russia at that time.  Looking for videos on that right now.  

 

To EVERYONE that has responded, I really appreciate your input.  Still digging through everything and coming up with a plan.  Although it does mean more work, seeing their enthusiasm ramp up so quickly when I mentioned separating them for History was encouraging.  Thank you for your supportive suggestions and thoughts.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

[Alicia64]

I second considering doing biographies.

 

I would read aloud, read aloud, read aloud. Historical fiction. I bet that will get her.

 

Let me know what period you're studying. I'd be happy to send you a list of books to catch her attention. My boys can tell you anything you want to know about living in Laura Ingalls' times because we read her books -- all eight of them -- twice.

 

There are famous homeschooled twin boys who got into Harvard and one said he was better at history than his roommate who was a history major -- yet the homeschooled twin had only read historical fiction. He'd never read a text book of any kind.

 

Alley

[OneStepAtATime]

I would read aloud, read aloud, read aloud. Historical fiction. I bet that will get her.

 

Let me know what period you're studying. I'd be happy to send you a list of books to catch her attention. My boys can tell you anything you want to know about living in Laura Ingalls' times because we read her books -- all eight of them -- twice.

 

There are famous homeschooled twin boys who got into Harvard and one said he was better at history than his roommate who was a history major -- yet the homeschooled twin had only read historical fiction. He'd never read a text book of any kind.

 

Alley

Thanks Alicia64. Any book suggestions would be great. Even if she isn't interested right now, she might be later, and my son would certainly appreciate suggestions.  He really LOVES history, especially Ancient History and World War 1 and World War II.  We tried Laura Ingalls Wilder with our kids, but neither had much interest.  She liked the first one, but after that lost interest completely.  My sister in law is a HUGE fan and gave her dolls, a covered wagon, she read to her, lent her the series on DVD, but the interest just wasn't there, sadly.  They even offered to take her with them on a family vacation to go see some of the areas of Ingals childhood, but she just didn't have any passion or interest for it.

 

Our curriculum is based on historical fiction and other history books, because I thought that approach would make the topic more enjoyable and help the kids see the big picture, not just a string of unrelated historical events like I learned in school.  It didn't work.  She just doesn't seem happy.  In fact, she is miserable at times even though there are parts of the curriculum she really enjoys.  Just not the historical fiction novels or the time lines, etc..  She likes fact books, though, to some extent and I think if we had some history based books showing teens finding their way out of extreme difficulties it might help some.  She likes survival stories and enjoys outdoor stuff some.  Her main interest is art, especially 3D art, like sculpting, jewelry, making just about anything out of recycled material, etc., plus hands-on science.

 

Telling her that I was looking for sources for art history and science history did get her more excited about the subject and she looked so relieved that I am hopeful we kind find something for her...She has two friends whose mother is Russian and she loves learning about that culture.   She also loved the Faberge exhibit which also ties in to Russia, so if anyone knows any good books or movies regarding Nicholas II or that time frame, I'd appreciate it.  Her other interest is Persia, since one of her teachers is from Persia (she does NOT consider herself Iranian).

[OneStepAtATime]

double post...again.  I hate my mouse. 

 

[OneStepAtATime]

By the way, the teacher that considers herself Persian was a teacher from years ago, when the kids were in a brick and mortar school.  We homeschool now.  Didn't want to confuse anyone.

[Milknhoney]

The child not liking history thing has been a struggle since the beginning for me. We are now in SOTW vol 4 and only just a few weeks ago I did what I should have done in the beginning, or at least last year. Maybe this will help. I sat down with the book and an outline of the chapters, went through and crossed out of everything that I thought seemed "irrelevant". It is so hard to really become engaged in the civil war between Paraguay and Uraguay, for example. So now instead of trying to get through two or three chapter sections a week, it will be about one. We can spend more time really focusing on the topics of interest instead of just hurrying through everything. It is a huge relief for both of us, really. The other change I made this year is instead of handing him a stack of books and telling him to read them, I let him go through the stack and pick out the ones he is interested in. That helps too.

 

Next year we are going to take a break from history altogether and do geography. The map activities are about the only thing he really enjoys about SOTW anyway, so he should like it. And we can learn the important things to know about all the countries we are skipping over in history this year.

[Pen]

On survival stories, if you think she is old enough possibly Schindler's List, or the book Schindler's Ark it was based on, though not particularly about teens, it was exciting enough that my ds wanted to see it more than once, (and then even went and started looking things up pertaining to history of that time too.)  Regarding a teenager, The Diary of Anne Frank also comes to mind, but of course, Anne does not actually survive.    I don't know specifics for her interests in Russia and Persia, (I'd ask the mother of the friends and the former teacher if you can),  but for her  personal art interest, Art 21 (I only saw the first disc of its series), might interest her, as might some more general things like How Art Made the World, which my son and I both found quite fascinating.   There are also of course things like Sister Wendy, Civilization, Art of the Western World, and so on.  

[OneStepAtATime]

Still trying to sort through all the wonderful suggestions.  Thanks so much for all the help.  Getting excited about changing things up and so are the kids.  My son is already having me read ahead with him on everything now that he doesn't have to wait for his sister.  As for the Persian teacher, I don't have access anymore, unfortunately.  I will talk with my friend from Russia though...she's not that hip on homeschooling but maybe this would open up doors that had sort of been closing...

[Chelli]

It sounds like your daughter would really enjoy a world geography course. World geography is actually a sneaky way to work in some history. For example, when we studied Russia earlier this year, I focused on the Romanov family, specifically Anastasia. We talked about why the revolt happened and why the people were upset with the royal family. We defined monarchy and communism, and I even did a demonstration to show how communism works. We also studied Faberge eggs and Tchaikovsky to go with Russia. 

 

This book about Anastasia was a HUGE hit.

[OneStepAtATime]

Making a list of everything suggested.  I do really appreciate all of you taking the time to give feedback.  There are so many great suggestions here!  Big hugs of thanks to everyone. :grouphug:

[OneStepAtATime]

I have ordered a few things, found some stuff used for next to nothing, including the Anastasia book, Chelli, and have found some stuff at the library.  Hope the ordered stuff gets here fairly soon.  You have all been a tremendous help.

 

I wondered if anyone had seen World War II in HD?  Someone recommended it to me for my 9 year old son but I didn't know if anyone had watched it?  Don't want something too graphic, but he is usually able to handle more adult concepts pretty easily.

[kristi26]

Thanks Alicia64. Any book suggestions would be great. Even if she isn't interested right now, she might be later, and my son would certainly appreciate suggestions.  He really LOVES history, especially Ancient History and World War 1 and World War II.  We tried Laura Ingalls Wilder with our kids, but neither had much interest.  She liked the first one, but after that lost interest completely.  My sister in law is a HUGE fan and gave her dolls, a covered wagon, she read to her, lent her the series on DVD, but the interest just wasn't there, sadly.  They even offered to take her with them on a family vacation to go see some of the areas of Ingals childhood, but she just didn't have any passion or interest for it.

 

Our curriculum is based on historical fiction and other history books, because I thought that approach would make the topic more enjoyable and help the kids see the big picture, not just a string of unrelated historical events like I learned in school.  It didn't work.  She just doesn't seem happy.  In fact, she is miserable at times even though there are parts of the curriculum she really enjoys.  Just not the historical fiction novels or the time lines, etc..  She likes fact books, though, to some extent and I think if we had some history based books showing teens finding their way out of extreme difficulties it might help some.  She likes survival stories and enjoys outdoor stuff some.  Her main interest is art, especially 3D art, like sculpting, jewelry, making just about anything out of recycled material, etc., plus hands-on science.

 

Telling her that I was looking for sources for art history and science history did get her more excited about the subject and she looked so relieved that I am hopeful we can find something for her...She has two friends whose mother is Russian and she loves learning about that culture.   She also loved the Faberge exhibit which also ties in to Russia, so if anyone knows any good books or movies regarding Nicholas II or that time frame, I'd appreciate it.  Her other interest is Persia, since one of her teachers is from Persia (she does NOT consider herself Iranian).

What about for art history, finding some art she's interested in and having her watch videos on that art, read about the artist, and try to make her OWN kind of that art at the same time?  For example, she could study Piet Mondrian.  She can study where he's from and what was going on in the world around him.  She can study why he created what he created.  She can learn what he used to make his art and then she work on her own.  

 

There are lots of videos and books and websites that she can use and you could even take her to the art museum at times to see the real-life exhibits.

[OneStepAtATime]

Thanks, Kristi26.  I know virtually nothing about art or art history and no one on either side of the family seems to know much either, but all the responses have helped and I am working to pull something like that together.  I will look up Piet Mondrian.  Thanks so much for the suggestion.

[Heathermomster]

Veritas Press has self-paced history courses that you could examine for free.  

[OneStepAtATime]

Veritas Press has self-paced history courses that you could examine for free.  

Didn't know that.  I will check it out right after school stuff this afternoon.  Thanks!

[nova mama]

History Pockets are a little work-sheety, with cutting, coloring, and pasting, if she's into that.  :)  My girls are.  Also, history is not my DD9's favorite subject, but sometimes she really enjoys the fiction books recommended at the end of each SOTW chapter.  I just put a few of them in her book bin (they are required to read something from the bin everyday).  There's no lesson or assignment attached, and I don't present it as "history."  But she often likes the stories so much that she doesn't mind sharing about them.  Glad you're getting so many great suggestions!

[OneStepAtATime]

_{Thanks everyone.  Also, for anyone studying World War 1, teacheroz.com has some great links.  Hope you are all doing well.  Have a great week!}

[Carol in Cal.]

Russia:

In Place of Katya (one of my three favorite books for about 5-6th grades EVER)

Rechenka's Eggs--it's a picture book but so beautiful she might like it.  And then you can make Ukrainian Easter Eggs (pysanky)

Stalin (by Marrin)

(And Hitler, same author, different perspective on the same events)

 

Survival:

In Place of Katya (again)

Calico Captive

Johnny Tremain

Treasure Island

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Having trouble locating In Place of Katya.  Can you give me an author, Carol in Cal?  Sorry to bug you.

[Carol in Cal.]

Rats, it is spelled Katia.  Sorry!

I think it's OOP, but can be found at libraries.

Here is a link to a used one, so you can see what it looks like:  http://www.amazon.com/Place-Katia-Mara-Kay/dp/B0007EFD0Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383717353&sr=1-1&keywords=in+place+of+katia

I read it as a kid and hunted it down for my DD.

(Incidentally, my other two favorite books for that age are "Number the Stars" (historical fiction about WWII) and "The Diamond In The Window" (modernish fiction about various Concord, Mass authors).

[OneStepAtATime]

Rats, it is spelled Katia.  Sorry!

I think it's OOP, but can be found at libraries.

Here is a link to a used one, so you can see what it looks like:  http://www.amazon.com/Place-Katia-Mara-Kay/dp/B0007EFD0Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383717353&sr=1-1&keywords=in+place+of+katia

I read it as a kid and hunted it down for my DD.

(Incidentally, my other two favorite books for that age are "Number the Stars" (historical fiction about WWII) and "The Diamond In The Window" (modernish fiction about various Concord, Mass authors).

Chuckle...no worries!  Thanks for the correction and the suggestions.  Really appreciate it.

[PeterPan]

Haven't read the whole thread, sorry, but I'll put in my two cents.  I think people try way too hard to make kids like history, and some don't.  I didn't, still don't, but it's mainly a problem of it being too big to wrap my head around.  I don't mind the VP cards, because they're very concrete, tidy, something I can wrap my brain around.  History is infinite in either direction, when you think about it, and sort of like a fractal with ever-increasing depth as you dig in.  That can be really frustrating for some kids.  

 

Have you looked at the Walch Powerbasics series?  I think their high school books would be fabulous for an academically advanced non-history lover in junior high.  The workbooks bring an element of creativity she might enjoy while still being something you can wrap your brain around.  

 

Or buckle down and use textbooks.  Seriously, some people like them.  ;)

[OneStepAtATime]

Haven't read the whole thread, sorry, but I'll put in my two cents.  I think people try way too hard to make kids like history, and some don't.  I didn't, still don't, but it's mainly a problem of it being too big to wrap my head around.  I don't mind the VP cards, because they're very concrete, tidy, something I can wrap my brain around.  History is infinite in either direction, when you think about it, and sort of like a fractal with ever-increasing depth as you dig in.  That can be really frustrating for some kids.  

 

Have you looked at the Walch Powerbasics series?  I think their high school books would be fabulous for an academically advanced non-history lover in junior high.  The workbooks bring an element of creativity she might enjoy while still being something you can wrap your brain around.  

 

Or buckle down and use textbooks.  Seriously, some people like them.   ;)

Actually, I hadn't ever heard of Walch Power Basics....I will look into it.  Thanks, OhElizabeth.