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SOLVED: HOW do you read a DK Encyclopedia with your kids?


Rockhopper
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THANK YOU! I have a solution that I think is workable.

 

I know that sounds like a dumb question, or a newbie one... I'm not a new homeschooler, so maybe it *is* dumb, lol!

Dd (8yo)  and I have picked back up WP's Animals and their World study, which was supposed to be our science this year but which we totally flopped at after a couple of days. And I'm afraid we're going to flop again. This child LOVES animals. And knows a great deal about them. And while some of the materials in this curriculum is old-hat to her, I know there's plenty left to learn. But the "spine" is the DK Animal Encyclopedia. The first week has about 6 pages scheduled per day. When a DK or Usborne encyclopedia has been scheduled in other curricula we've done over the years (like SL), it's usually supplemental to the spine and we look at some pictures and captions and move on - unless the kid wants to read all the words him/herself. 

Since it's the spine, I've been trying to read all the words. But even as interested as she is, her eyes are glazing after the first few chunks, and she's done well before the end of the assigned reading. And then there's still other readings, the fiction reading, the hands-on stuff...

If you've done this study -- or used an encyclopedia in this way -- or a similar study, *how* did you do it?

Or if you just have suggestions for me, I'll all ears! Thanks!

(I'm willing to greatly modify but not entirely ditch this -- I have a lot of $ invested in it and it has a lot of good stuff, I think. I like the journal pages and One Small Square books and so forth.)

Edited by Rockhopper
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I used as a spine of what to study. So you might read it all in small bits. Or you might just pick a few things go read about it aloud, but get most of the study from your other books like one small square books. So maybe just look at it like you always do, but a bit more, not necessarily reading it all if it's not working. 

 

I tried WTM science starting in first, and I hated the suggested animal encyclopedia back then. Instead we got most of our info from other library books.  

Edited by 2_girls_mommy
Holy cow, my phone made animal encyclopedia say anal encyclopedia.
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We read the different bits on the page and discuss them as we read. We might read all of page or spread, we might not. It depends on the child and their interest level in the topic. Sometimes we make a notebook page, sometimes we don't.

Honestly, as the years have gone by, I've steered away from curriculum that schedules encyclopedia readings. Especially if it schedules the reading and nothing else really sometimes. I love using the encyclopedias as a reference and to supplement what we are learning about but not as required reading like a textbook. Just a personal preference I suppose but if I find it boring, 9 times out of 10 my kids find it boring too and there are so many ways to introduce a topic without boring them to death.

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Is it 6 pages every day of the week, or 6 pages once or twice a week? 

If she's an okay reader, I'd suggest just handing the book off to her and letting her read over the section.  Maybe ask her to find one area she thinks is interesting, read it more carefully, and share with you some of what she learned: maybe 2 or 3 facts.  Then move on.  You can count it as done and keep all the stuff you are enjoying with the feeling that you're "doing the program" (which is a feeling I like myself, even if I achieve it by unorthodox methods). 

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Thank you!

Each of your responses helped me fill in my thought process on what wasn't working and what to do to make it work. It's not any huge radical change, but I just couldn't get to a solution on my own. :-} I'll look through the IG to figure out the focus areas/animals for each week, hit those from the other resources and then do a combo of looking at the encyclopedia briefly with her and letting her look for things that catch her eye.

Wow, weight lifted -- I'm pretty confident now that we can find a way forward.

 

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