Need Advice and Help for History

[Abeilles]

My ds and dd are starting 6th grade this year (logic stage for us), we have been homeschooling for the last 5 years, and (gulp) have never once studied history formally for the entire year. I know, I know. . . hanging my head in shame for the very unclassical approach we have taken. We all love history, we talk about it constantly, we watch documentaries, movies, Liberty Kids, visit museums, parks, etc. They have been exposed to "living" history in a very natural and informal way, but nothing sequential nor systematic. Part of it has been my OCD, perfectionistic nature to get "just the right" curriculum, handouts, aligned books, timeline cutouts, etc etc. If number of hours studying programs and books counted, I believe I would have earned an advanced degree in History at this point. I have studied them all in depth, IN DEPTH - SOTW (have that one), SL, TOG, CC, VP, MP, MFW, HOD, BiblioPlan, History Revealed, Trisms, History Odyssey, etc. etc. etc. I liked portions of many of them and ended up doing none of them. So strike one for OCD/perfectionism. Number 2 - many years we were just holding on for dear life and getting the core grammar subjects done and by the end of the day and week I was just finished. Lots to the story, but I won't bore you with the details.

 

So here I am - with 2 children in 6th and 1 in 1st who know lots of random history facts and people but have not studied it in a comprehensive manner. I'm thinking of doing a quick 1 world history tour for 6th (something like they would get in ps), then 7th - American History (I know it's not the WTM model) and then 8th - State History and US Civics/Government. I am open to suggestions on this proposed sequence. I also need help for a get 'er done, open and go, fun (yes fun and stimulating) 1-2 year World History tour, that is visually stimulating (my kids are uber visual, not auditory nor strong readers), and age appropriate. What do you have?

[Starr]

I would do SOTW Vol I with the Activity Guide. It's fun history. They could do it together and your older one could do some extra reading and write about something each week. There's map work and other activities if you are interested. It would get you into history. I used it as well for Lit and writing. On weeks you are about to give in you could listen to audio book in the car. Next year decide if you want to separate them or not.

[kentuckymom]

We have mixed feelings about the curriculum, but, if you haven't yet, take a look at the Notgrass middle school programs. There's a one year world history program (From Adam to Us), a one year American History (America the Beautiful) and a one year Government and Civics (Uncle Sam and Me). If you like the format, it could fit your middle school plan well, you'd just have to add in your own state study in 8th grade. We're using From Adam to Us for 6th grade, our first year homeschooling. As an old earth creationist I wasn't a fan of the first two units, which are very focused on a literal interpretation of creation and the flood, but, starting with unit 3, we're so far enjoying the survey of world history. It jumps around the globe during different time periods, giving you an idea of things that were happening in different places at the same time. This would drive some people crazy, but my son really likes it. There's literature that goes along with the (huge, two volume) textbook. We're adding in even more literature, which you could easily do if you still have all the books from the other programs you've used.

[Bluegoat]

I don't think you have anything to worry about, I think grade 6 is a perfect time to start a good systematic study of history, and your kids have lots of background knowledge and interest.

 

I think your plan is fine, though I think I would probably do the world history and American/Civics at the same time, over the whole period.  But that is really just my preference. 

 

I would also tend to say I was going to do western or European focus rather than world, and then later add other areas in a more focused study.  I've come somewhat to the conclusion that it is very difficult to study world history in a way where there is enough detail for it to be meaningful.  If it's going to be more than just a bunch of facts, it needs to be connected - and my experience seeing history taught even at university is that it is easy for it to become a kind of list of facts or things that happened.  I also think this is why it can be so tricky to find a really good world history text - historians just aren't typically writing those because it is too broad.

 

So my approach would probably be to get together a good group of quality texts that, together, will provide a picture of the place and period - so texts on  early Middle Eastern history, or a book on medieval European history.  I think SOTW book 1 would be far too low level for grade 6, if anything I'd tend to look at adult books for something that would work.  The later ones might work though.  I'd also consider using biographies as the basis for some of it, they can be one of the best ways to get a sense of historical events and there are lots of good quality ones, or even some encyclopedia style books as overviews, rather like was suggested in the WTM first edition. Something like Young Oxford History. 

 

Really, there is no "perfect" program for something like history.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by Bluegoat

[mschickie]

I really like Mystery of History.   I found the writing to be a little bit more engaging than SotW (which we were using along side MoH).   As with SotW, MoH can be used across grades.  If you do the program I would look at the younger kid activities and those will probably appeal to both of your kids.  You do not need to do an activity every day.  Many folks look at MoH and find it overwhelming because she provides so many choices but it is really more of a buffet.

 

You can start off with any of the books but I would say that book 1 and 2 are better geared towards the younger elementary (shorter lessons).

 

I would not worry about covering everything in History at this point, you really get that in high school.  Right now especially for your youngest you just want to get them an overview and enjoy the story of History.

 

 

Oh and a great visual supplement for World History at those ages is Horrible Histories.  You can find some of the videos on YouTube or buy them off of Amazon.  They only have the first 3 seasons, the others are only available on the British dvd format.

[Clemsondana]

One thing that you might want to do is make or buy a timeline so that they can fit in all of the things they do know and see how they relate to each other.  I know that lots of people make them, or use timeline books.  We bought a poster that shows what's happening on each continent over time, so when we learn something new we can go to the poster and see where it fits in with what we alread know.  It might also help you to find your gaps so that you can decide whether you need to fill in or pick certain eras and work through them systematically. 

[Bluegoat]

One thing that you might want to do is make or buy a timeline so that they can fit in all of the things they do know and see how they relate to each other.  I know that lots of people make them, or use timeline books.  We bought a poster that shows what's happening on each continent over time, so when we learn something new we can go to the poster and see where it fits in with what we alread know.  It might also help you to find your gaps so that you can decide whether you need to fill in or pick certain eras and work through them systematically. 

 

Or a book of centuries could fulfill a similar function.

[HS Mom in NC]

If you do SOTW 1 with them both you can get the activity books to go with it. You might find the test booklet more useful for the older kid, but some younger kids find it useful too.

The youngest can:

listen to mom read aloud SOTW readings

do narrations while mom scribes and write copy work (as recommended in the activity guide)

do the geography as is

listen to mom read aloud a few of the simpler recommended fiction and non-fiction books listed

do a simple project with mom

use sticker or print out time line figures for a pre-made timeline or timeline book

do the coloring pages

 

the oldest can:

read the section of SOTW on his own

write his own outlines and summaries of the reading
research online more in depth something from some or all readings and present them in written, chart, diagram, or demonstration form

make his own map (watercolors, colored pencils) and add in much more detail, including: topographical features, travel routes, more cities, trade routes, etc.

read independently the more challenging fiction recommendations and find an age appropriate study guides to go with them

write reports on the more challenging non-fiction reading recommendations

do some of the projects on his own or more complicated ones with you or you can find more advanced projects online

make his own timeline and fill it in with important dates, events, people, and new ideas and technologies

Most of those things can go into a 3 ring binder.  Anything that won't go into a binder can be photographed and printed out and included in the binder.  That's how we do it if we aren't putting our completed projects into a lapbook like we did the first year. It looks really good and the kids sometimes flip back through them after they're completed.  It's nice to hand something to the relatives when they ask, "What have you been learning in school?"

[Garga]

I used SOTW with my 6th grader from 2nd - 5th. We're now using MOH for his 6-8th grader years. We're condensing 4 years of books into 3. It works out to doing history 4 times a week at first. Doing the math, we can taper down to 3 times a week in the 3rd year.

 

So...my suggestion is to condense 4 years into 3 and be done all of history by high school.

 

I wouldn't bother doing American history separately. It's woven into world history just fine. In fact, I think it's better that way because you really see context that way.

 

I would count Civics as a different class and do once a week in 7th grade. That's what we did for my oldest and will do for the youngest.

[My3girls]

For one year World, one year American, and one year state and Civics, I'd check out Notgrass.  I haven't used them, but I have a friend who has and she liked it.  There sequence fits yours exaclty.

 

If your open for something different, I could recommend OUP The World in Ancient Times, OUP THe Medieval World, and OUP Pages from History for a 3 year comprehensive History.  This would not include a civics or state study, though.  I haven't found value in a state study, because my girls have lived in three different states already.  I just cover state info with our geography.  As for Civics, we are doing some extra work on the constitution and government along side our history.