southmetromom Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Dear Friends, We are finishing SOTW IV (or will, by the end of the year). My ds, 10, is a history fanatic. But he does not want to study the ancients again. He wants to go in-depth on American History. Meanwhile, dd, 7 has very little interest in history. (Perhaps big brother's shadow looms, I do not know). She is an animal lover and still in the "princess" phase of life. I started SOTW I with her this year and she was NOT engaged. So, I have just been doing some simple geography and corresponding story books along with ds's modern history. I do not know what to do for history. For dd shall I just try again with the ancients? Or do in-depth American history with both -- she is engaged by the Little House series of books, which we are reading right now. My ds is an AVID reader. I am slightly disorganized and do not have a reading list for him - so much opportunity wasted, I think. I do refer to TWTM and other lists (incl. the Activity Guide) and he reads what I give him. I wonder if I should go for some kind of "boxed curriculum" (not my style, usually) since I cannot seem to get on top of creating a good reading list for him. (Right now he is obsessed with baseball and reading shelves of books on that topic!) Any encouragement or suggestions would be welcome. TIA, Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 If they are both liking Little House right now, there is a unit study based on that series. They may like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktyler Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I highly recommend the History of US by Joy Hakim. Very readable with lots of primary resources. For your little one, I would suggest focusing on biographies. This has been much better for my little girl who is not an avid listener. She seems to connect better to a single person than to a narrative of events and places. US history is a great subject to do biographies from as there are loads of children's books. Melissa Minnesota Reading Program Junkie dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avila Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Winter Promise has some good stuff for American history. They have a two-year program for lower elementary, upper elementary and a combination program for both that might be worth looking at for you. Sonlight also has great also American history, and it is very thorough. It may be a little too much for your 7 yo though. They offer a two-year program of Core 3 and 4 or a one-year program of Core 3+4. I will be looking closely at both of these options when my two younger girls are 10 and 8. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 TruthQuest has an American history program. We've used it for the last two years and really enjoyed the variety of book choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 It sounds like you are doing fine. Sonlight and WP both have a lot of books that are at the library. So does the one at ourlosbanos.com. Sonlight even puts them in order for you in their catalog. Just use their lists when you go to the library. If your DS reads them then that is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Well since your ds wants to do american and your dd is interested in american, it sounds like you have your answer, lol. Nothing says you have to do ancients with a 7 yo! So yes, I'd have them both do american, and I wouldn't necessarily try too hard to combine them. You could do AAH with your older and just use snippets with your younger. You could do TOG. You could do Hakim with your older and WP with your younger. He's probably going to be interested in topics that aren't at all where she's at. When my dd was that age, she, also an avid Little House fan, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the Childhood of Famous Americans series! She STILL loves them. Buy them, all you can find or afford. There are 60-some new ones in print and the many more oop olders. If you let her read through those and then read a simple spine or did an age-appropriate program with her (WP), that would be plenty. And your boy could do something totally different, something more academic and focused on boy stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 We have been doing All American History. The TM has some great activity suggestions and reading lists. In fact, there are 3 reading lists for each unit. One for gr 1-4, one for 5-8 and one for 9-12. If you choose to get the workbook, there is some map work and some extra project suggestions (plus workbooky-type questons, etc.) My ds didn't become interested or engaged in history until he turned 8. It didn't matter what we tried. Now he enjoys SOTW Ancients, etc. My eldest still isn't interested or engaged in it, but she does it anyway! She did like SOTW, so we're going to do SWB's Ancient history book for gr 9, which will be after she finishes All American History II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila in OK Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Another vote for Truthquest. We've been using the American History for Young Students Vol. 1 this year (10 yo and 8yo), and the books she lists have been really great for those ages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southmetromom Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Really, what a wealth of information and such words of encouragement. Thank you all so much. You have given me some things to look at, and have helped me see the forest for the trees. Hugs, Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyrooch Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 TruthQuest has an American history program. We've used it for the last two years and really enjoyed the variety of book choices. I second this opinion. We are also using TruthQuest History for our American History. My son is 10 and my daughter is 7 and they have both done really well with it. We are also really enjoying it. We love the book selections and I love that it teaches the history in chronological order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southmetromom Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 I will certainly look into Truthquest. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Meanwhile, dd, 7 has very little interest in history. (Perhaps big brother's shadow looms, I do not know). She is an animal lover and still in the "princess" phase of life. If I was really stuck with this, and could not get child to bend, I'd do historical readalouds with animals in it (like Island of the Blue Dolphin) and study the middle ages with castles and princesses galore. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 If I was really stuck with this, and could not get child to bend, I'd do historical readalouds with animals in it (like Island of the Blue Dolphin) and study the middle ages with castles and princesses galore. HTH There are also series of historical fiction, such as the Princess Diaries and the Royal Diaries. These are primarily aimed at girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUV2EDU Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I highly recommend the History of US by Joy Hakim. Very readable with lots of primary resources. For your little one, I would suggest focusing on biographies. This has been much better for my little girl who is not an avid listener. She seems to connect better to a single person than to a narrative of events and places. US history is a great subject to do biographies from as there are loads of children's books. Melissa Minnesota Reading Program Junkie dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1) Here is a History of US volume 1 sample.http://www.google.com/books?id=Iwi4qRVL5IEC&dq=History+of+US+by+Joy+Hakim&printsec=frontcover&source=bn#PPP1,M1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 If I was really stuck with this, and could not get child to bend, I'd do historical readalouds with animals in it (like Island of the Blue Dolphin) and study the middle ages with castles and princesses galore. HTH DD found a "Good Times Travel Agency" book and spent all day reading it. Ever since, she has been reading more and more history books, including the encyclopedias. I don't think most young children are really interested in history until you hit on the right "thing" that draws them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southmetromom Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 I will investigate these. Thanks again, so much. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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