Rethinking SOTW 4

[knitgrl]

Mostly just looking for permission to deviate from TWTM....Dd is a highly sensitive child, especially for visual things. On the other hand, she has listened to the Hobbit and all of Lord of the Rings on audiobook and never batted an eyelash. So I thought I could get away with just reading SOTW 4 with her next year, and then focus on the "helpers." Instead having her write on the Crimean War, I would have her read about Florence Nightingale and have her narrate about that. It seemed like a good plan. Right now, we are reading SOTW 3. Last week, we read about Napoleon and she did the coloring sheet which portrayed him. I looked at it after she was done, and she had written "I hate him!!!!!!!" on the top. Today we read about how the factory system first affected the lives of working people in England, and she broke down in tears.

It made me think, perhaps I should just skip to a year of American history (which I was thinking of doing in 5th grade, the year after next.) Of course, my dh pointed out that genocide and slavery are not exactly happy subjects, either. It seems that it would be easier to skim over those subjects in American history and focus on the helpers, rather than trying to rework all of SOTW 4. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[HomeAgain]

Maybe take a year and do an American Girl based history.  Add in a few other books if needed, but looking at history from a different perspective and then coming back might be better for her.

[Milknhoney]

Rather than focusing on the curriculum, perhaps what your dd needs is an outlet for her compassionate nature? Volunteer somewhere? Giving her the opportunity to do something about the suffering/injustice that she sees is what I'm getting at. 

[Lori D.]

Permission granted! And for the remainder of this year, perhaps go ahead and drop SOTW 3 for now, and just focus on doing some fun hands-on history projects, or drop History entirely and focus on the Art and Music of the 1700s-1800s. And for next year: all kinds of things you can do instead of focusing on aspects of History that are freaking out your student:

• do Modern times but focus on scientists, explorers, inventions, inspiring people, exciting/positive events
• do a year of American History -- esp. colonial/Revolutionary/early U.S. (pre-Civil War -- and can save the slavery, Civil Rights, etc. for a little later)
• do a year of biographies of famous people throughout History
• do a year of World Cultures and Geography -- make foods, play games, listen to music, watch feature films on different cultures around the world... 
• do a unit of state history/culture -- landmarks, state flag/bird/etc, native peoples, famous people, visit sites of historical interest / historical museums...
• do a unit of civics -- elections, branches of government, etc.

 

[knitgrl]

...And this is why I posted my question -- because I knew you would come up with things I had never thought of. ? I had been thinking of using the Catholic Textbook Project - From Sea to Shining Sea. I haven't been able to look at a copy of it aside from the samples, but it covers US history in a year, and nearly everybody else takes two years to do it, so I am guessing it doesn't cover slavery or anything else in much detail. I figured I could fold in our state history (which NY requires at some point before high school) and US geography, but a year of famous American biographies sounds intriguing, too.....

Milknhoney's suggestion is also a good one. One of the local churches has a soup kitchen, and they are happy to have volunteers. Dd definitely has a heightened sense of compassion and justice, compared to the average kid.

I would not have thought of American Girls. I tried reading one of those a year or two ago, and she didn't care for them then, but her reading tastes have changed considerably, so it might be worth another try. They would be an easy means to track down crafty activities.

 

[Lori D.]

53 minutes ago, knitgrl said:

...And this is why I posted my question -- because I knew you would come up with things I had never thought of. ? I had been thinking of using the Catholic Textbook Project - From Sea to Shining Sea. I haven't been able to look at a copy of it aside from the samples, but it covers US history in a year, and nearly everybody else takes two years to do it, so I am guessing it doesn't cover slavery or anything else in much detail. I figured I could fold in our state history (which NY requires at some point before high school) and US geography, but a year of famous American biographies sounds intriguing, too.....

Milknhoney's suggestion is also a good one. One of the local churches has a soup kitchen, and they are happy to have volunteers. Dd definitely has a heightened sense of compassion and justice, compared to the average kid.

I would not have thought of American Girls. I tried reading one of those a year or two ago, and she didn't care for them then, but her reading tastes have changed considerably, so it might be worth another try. They would be an easy means to track down crafty activities.

 

Your US Geography idea -- yes! US states and presidents -- lots of good resources there. One we loved was the Beautiful Feet Geography Guide and map pack to go with the 4 Holling C. Holling books (Paddle to the Sea (U.S. NE states), Tree in the Trail (U.S. Midwest states), Minn of the Mississippi U.S. states along the Mississippi), and Seabird (world)). And there are tons of great resources for grades 2-5 for doing U.S. History! :) DD's also at a great age for exploring Native Americans.

Working at a community food bank or food pantry, getting together with some other homeschoolers and making Valentine cards and cookies and then going and visiting with nursing home elderly, organizing a drive to collect new, small stuffed toys for children in the hospital, volunteering to help make a meal at a local Ronald McDonald House... lots of ways of showing compassion even at this age. Blessings on her compassionate heart! :)

• "35 Service Projects for Kids"
• "12 Amazing Volunteer Ideas to Inspire Kids and Teens"

[knitgrl]

1 minute ago, Lori D. said:

Working at a community food bank or food pantry, getting together with some other homeschoolers and making Valentine cards and cookies and then going and visiting with nursing home elderly, organizing a drive to collect new, small stuffed toys for children in the hospital, volunteering to help make a meal at a local Ronald McDonald House... lots of ways of showing compassion even at this age. Blessings on her compassionate heart! ?

She loves to visit the assisted care facility! She doesn't know any of the folks there, but gives them all hugs just the same.

[ktgrok]

A year of geography would be a great way to give her time to mature a bit. World or US. Focus on map skills, etc. If she likes art, use one of the drawing the world type programs as well. 

Or you could go back to a time period she really liked, and focus more in depth on it for a while. 

Or so a unit study year. 

Or do a year focused on the Little House books, Prairie Primer, etc. There is also a book called "The World of Little House" that you could use. 

 

[BusyMom5]

This year we have done US geography 1st semester and Presidents 2nd semester.   We still worked in a lot of US history bc it' hard to explain things without a basic understanding of what else is going on.  My sensitive kiddo still hates several Presidents,  but she' in 8th grade and I just can' keep skipping the bad parts.  For a younger child in love the idea of AG books.  Maybe focus on the lives of everyday people rather than the famous people.  Technology and scientific understanding in medicine rather than wars.  

[RootAnn]

Yes, yes, yes!

My two oldest were both pretty sensitive when we got to SOTW4 - so we didn't do it. We did a year of US History (w/American Girls & music built in). Then, we started over. (We didn't get to modern US History, though. So, my kids were older before they got to modern world historical events like the atrocities of WW2. This showed up on standardized tests and their lack of knowledge of some common topics from the history of the 1920's on.)

[knitgrl]

3 hours ago, BusyMom5 said:

This year we have done US geography 1st semester and Presidents 2nd semester.   We still worked in a lot of US history bc it' hard to explain things without a basic understanding of what else is going on.  My sensitive kiddo still hates several Presidents,  but she' in 8th grade and I just can' keep skipping the bad parts.  For a younger child in love the idea of AG books.  Maybe focus on the lives of everyday people rather than the famous people.  Technology and scientific understanding in medicine rather than wars.  

TWTM is what inspired me to do homeschooling in the first place and as a history major, it is hard to let go of the beautiful plan of the 4 year cycle.  However, the bolded text above sounds like a good idea for this particular child. BTW, what did you use for your Presidents study?

Also, it is nice to know that dd is not the only kid who has such visceral reactions to historic figures. As tyrants go, I didn't think Napoleon was all that bad. <Shrugs.>

[ScoutTN]

3 hours ago, RootAnn said:

Yes, yes, yes!

My two oldest were both pretty sensitive when we got to SOTW4 - so we didn't do it. We did a year of US History (w/American Girls & music built in). Then, we started over. (We didn't get to modern US History, though. So, my kids were older before they got to modern world historical events like the atrocities of WW2. This showed up on standardized tests and their lack of knowledge of some common topics from the history of the 1920's on.)

This was us too, when Dd was 9-10 years old. We read lots of biographies and other fun picture books and focused on things other than wars. 

[Lori D.]

8 hours ago, knitgrl said:

...BTW, what did you use for your Presidents study?

Not BusyMom5, but when we were covering US Presidents in the elementary grade studies, we used "The Complete Book of Presidents & States" (here's the OLD original version -- only up through George Bush! -- so you can see what it looks like inside). We also really enjoyed Yo Millard Fillmore for memorizing the order of Presidents, and for some quick "fun facts" on each President. For a number of presidents, we went deeper with books from our library -- a lot of the "Our Presidents" series (Child's World publishers) was what we had available. The more recent "Who Was..." series looks nice for books on individual presidents AND first ladies. :)

[BusyMom5]

I use the current Natonal Geographic book for the Presidents, as well as the Who Was..... series.  We'e also touched on the White House, powers of branches of government, westward expansion, industrial revolution, ect.  

[....]

I've shamefully posted about this several times on here...but, my kids unanimously could not get through SOTW4 until about 7th grade.  I would take a break if you need to and follow some rabbit trails, or do a geography year, read some biographies, etc.      

[knitgrl]

Thanks to all of you! Your encouragement was what I needed to allow myself to totally drop the idea of a more formal history, and do US geography and Presidents. I may try to squeeze state history in as well. I had picked up Trail Guide to US Geography earlier this year, and I found something on Currclick that loosely ties in major historical events to the Presidents. I also have a state history text, so I can tie that into the Presidents, or vice versa. Where we live, there are even several presidential historic sites to visit that are not too far, so we can do field trips, too! I am feeling much more confident about going "off-script."