I'm still having trouble getting history and science in. Suggestions?

[pocjets]

I'm having trouble getting history and science done. We have 8 kids from 11 to almost 1. It's busy to say the least. By the time I've worked with everyone on the basics, it's 1-2 and I'm just beat. My kids do some work independently but it's still just a lot of work with kids so young. I have a 6th, 5th, 3rd, 1st, and K. Then we have a 3 year old, 22 month old, and 10 month old. My 6th grader is covered. She is doing Notgrass and Apologia by herself. It's the others I need help with. We done Veritas Press online but just wanted something different this year. I have mystory of history and another apologia science to do with them but like I said, I just have a hard time getting to it. I'm not really concerned with the K and 1st grader but feel like the 3rd and 5th grader should be doing something. Is it good enough to just pull history and science books and let them read? Any other ideas??

Thank you!!

[Meadowlark]

What about Mystery Science? It's free this year and would fit your 5th 3rd, 1st, and K perfectly, doing a mystery per week. You could easily beef it up for the 2 older ones with tons of library books. I like it because it's a video, somebody else talking whoo hoo! My kids are really engaged with it. I wouldn't say it's super heavy or intense, but it's getting done and it's fun which is what I'm looking for this year. Everyone (see ages below) gathers around the computer and then I adapt the activities so that the whole family can join in in some capacity. Better yet-I've asked my husband to take over the experiment part of it so now it's "science with dad" which apparently is a lot more exciting than me. The projects/activities so far have been really cute, streamlined, and are just getting done.

 

For history, I'm all about everyone studying the same period. I understand being exhausted by 1 or 2, that's totally me. I spend all morning on the basics, but the "one more thing after lunch" thing is working well around here. Don't be afraid to use videos, mom can only teach so much. Have you used the Apologia audiobooks? I think that's what I'd do if I had Apologia. HTH!

[freesia]

Only 4 here, but what I did with kids that age when I felt that way was to buy used ABeka science books and let them read and mostly just tell me what they learned. (I think I had them do the end of chapter review, too). They actually loved it and it was SO easy. If they haven't read Story of the World, you could have them read one of the volumes, too.

[Janeway]

Listen to Story of the World on disk. Put books from that time period in a basket or whatever you have for them to pull from. Give them paper to color or draw on during the story. Have a group discussion about the story afterward. Make it a group thing.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

I am finding that I have to make it a priority and not save it to the end of the day.  Also, you don't have to do it every day.  Block scheduling is also ok.  Maybe focus on history one semester and science another.  Another thought is to have them do reading time of history literature from a book basket, and then do a family project or discussion after dinner one evening.  Maybe Dad wants to join in.  I also find I can better do science experiments in the summer.  Magic School Bus kits work well too.  I also second Mystery Science or some online or video science resources.

 

[pocjets]

Only 4 here, but what I did with kids that age when I felt that way was to buy used ABeka science books and let them read and mostly just tell me what they learned. (I think I had them do the end of chapter review, too). They actually loved it and it was SO easy. If they haven't read Story of the World, you could have them read one of the volumes, too.

[pocjets]

Thank you!! I'm going to look into this.

[pocjets]

You all have given me great ideas!! Thank you so much. We've never used audiobooks before but I may have to look into them.

[Janeway]

Block scheduling helps too! I am not heavy..must do this on this day and that on that day. But I find if I know what I want to get done over the course of the year, one day might feel like a history day, another might feel like a science day. 

[calihil]

Fwiw, I have a good friend that has 4 grown sons who homeschooled them throughout all of their schooling. She told me she never did any formal science or history curriculum until high school. Up until then she just had them read all kinds of books and they'd do read alouds, nature study, but that was it. They were more than fine and are all very successful adults today. 3 of them are in the medical field.

 

If I were you, I would buy all of the SOTW cds and just continually play the in the car, at home, etc. Go to the library and get historical fiction or whatever they'd like to read. Maybe have the older ones do a written narration once a week on a topic of their choice.

[sweetpea3829]

We alternate science and history. We begin our history studies in October and go through March. Science is from April through September.

[Mommy to monkeys]

Only 4 here, but what I did with kids that age when I felt that way was to buy used ABeka science books and let them read and mostly just tell me what they learned. (I think I had them do the end of chapter review, too). They actually loved it and it was SO easy. If they haven't read Story of the World, you could have them read one of the volumes, too.

 

^Yes to the above. We've flopped out a total of 4 times trying to use Apologia science, but my kids have ALL liked the Abeka science books. The early books are slim but it's easy to pick up a few more books at the library on whatever they're reading about. Retention has been surprisingly good.  We've not done the tests, but from 4-6th I've made them take notes and/or do all the questions and reviews on paper.

 

SOTW is another hit here for all my kids. I'm reading a section a day to my middle ones (a section. Not a whole chapter), jot down their narrations and they copy them the next day. I give the map work on Friday and hold the AG recommended books from the library for them to read alone or for me to read to them. My 11 year old outlines a section a day and does a written narration of about a page or so. 

Edited September 15, 2016 by Mommy to monkeys

[Momto6inIN]

I really don't think history needs to have all the activities in the early grades. We just read Mystery of History and talked about it and ignored all the mapwork and extras, and it was great. Since you have that already, maybe try that? The Story of the World CDs just to listen to and discuss would be good too, I just thought since you already have MOH, that would be cheaper.

 

For science have you looked at the Science in the Beginning series by Jay Wile? The lessons are short and have a simple demonstration/experiment every day that holds the kids' attention but is still pretty easy and doable for you as the mom. You could even have the 5th grader run most of the experiments probably.

[lmrich]

There are a lot of free audiobooks on librivox!

[Elizabeth 2]

For science have you looked at the Science in the Beginning series by Jay Wile? The lessons are short and have a simple demonstration/experiment every day that holds the kids' attention but is still pretty easy and doable for you as the mom. You could even have the 5th grader run most of the experiments probably.

This is what we've been doing. I require my 3rd and 5th grader to work the experiment and read the lesson together. Then they draw or write what they learned in a composition notebook. I add library books on the topic to be read during school hours. Your sixth grader could even be included in these as Wile expected 1-6 to do it together. It would be very easy to block schedule the book like others have mentioned. We finished the Science in the beginning over the summer, and are focusing on history for this reason.

[jgrabuskie]

I agree with those who do not do formal history and science before the high school years. I believe that exposure is the way to go. DK books on different subjects, then have each child from 3rd on up do an oral about 3 things they read about in the book. If you do CDs then get DK or Nat Geo Kids books that correspond to the era. Even littles can look at a board book and point out things. Independent work, plus oral practice, and they learned about something.

You could do different history projects for art if desired or just 1 project per year.

I do history 3 times a week and science 2 times a week. However, it is mainly reading, a project sometimes, mapwork is by fingers pointing and finding things on a map. Geography is very important and a skill that is lost. DS usually has questions we look up either immediately or for next class. Very low key and usually 20-30 minutes total. For Example, this week we are building a pyramid. The darn glue takes forever to dry so I modified, each day we glue 1-2 layers and read something about pyramids. I didn't care for the SOTW explanation of pyramids bc it holds to the tomb belief, newer historians are leaning to the pyramids being built for other purposes than tombs. I taught DS a very important lesson on historical interpretation of ancient cultures in less than 10-20 minutes per day.

FYI, my DS hated the SOTW CDs. He zoned out every time and could not narrate 2 sentences about what was said. I know they are beloved and I never saw a negative review but I think my son is not alone. If at all possible, borrow a set and try them.

Also, if you just started your year, you might want to wait a little bit before trying to add history and science. I find that when I stagger my subjects in at the first of the year, stress on covering so much after a break is reduced. I am always amazed at the amount of work DS is doing at the end of the year vs. at the beginning in the same amount of time.

 

 

Edited September 15, 2016 by jgrabuskie

[J-rap]

For science at the younger ages, I went to Lakeshore Learning and bought some thin science workbooks that they thought were fun and could pretty much do on their own.  Like these:

 

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C928%2C128&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1473949793596

 

Or you can get ones that deal with just one topic, such as plant life or the solar system.

 

One year, we used the following book, and could use it with multiple ages (easy and fun):

 

https://www.amazon.com/Scientists-Aprentice-NOP-Hilary-Welliver/dp/1892427001

 

 

[...................]

Honestly my kids learned more science from Bill Nye and Magic School Bus and also BBC David Attenborough documentaries than anything else. One loves science and one loves nature but not other sciences now. They both learned all they needed to learn from these videos.

 

My son also watched a lot of physics ans unisverse documentaries with my husband and they would stop and discuss how creation does or doesn't play into the theories or science being presented. He loves all things science and is way ahead of his peers.

 

So that's my recommendation!

 

If you feel that's not enough for your oldest he can do apologia elementary all by himself. My dd did that last year at age 11 and she loved it. I just let her choose the projects she enjoyed.

[Mrs Twain]

I second Mystery Science. It is so easy and such a good program.

[RenaInTexas]

My 2nd and 4th 'ers do Mystery of History mostly independently. They listen to the lesson on the CDs, complete the listening guide (free on the yahoogroup site) -- they are questions reviewing the lesson,  and then watch a video from a youtube 'Mystery of History' playlist. We come together once a week to: review what was learned that week, do an activity from one of the 3-weekly lessons/take a quiz, update the timeline, and complete the mapping activity --- this is about 40 minutes.

 

Our science is teacher intensive because my boys love it, so we have no choice but to include it. However, if you don't mind tv, Wild Kratts is great at teaching about animals and some geology. We went on a hike in Yellowstone this summer and the boys could have been the tour guide. The guide asked them where they learned all that and they said 'Wild Kratts'. He told them to keep watching. Another idea is to make science into independent learning projects. So you pick the topic (mammals), they pick the subtopic (types of seals). They research it, and then do some type of report, model, or oral presentation over what they learned. For example, my (then) 1st'er did a venn diagram poster on the three types of seals. He got books from the library and watched youtube videos to complete the project. Since he was in 1st grade, I gave him a chart of what he needed to research (diet, habitat, etc...).

Edited September 20, 2016 by RenaInTexas

[Bluegoat]

I would consider ditching most of the activities, especially for history.  I don't think they are necessary.  I have my kids read a history text, and we do some related mapwork.  And some field trips.

 

But no workbooks or making baskets or whatever.

[weintz8]

Have you looked at Veritas Press Self paced history? It's done totally independently and my kids really like it. Pricey though for lots of kiddos...

[...................]

^^ I have. Friend who is using VP self paced and the kids absolutely love it and are asking for more all the time and she says it is very meaty- not fluff!