Need adviced re: history for a K'er and 2nd Grader

[geniva]

A little background. This was my first official year homeschooling. It was a rough one. I was due with baby #4 in April, and ended up delivering 9 weeks early as well as needing to be hospitalized for the last 6 weeks of the pregnancy. Needless to say, most of the subjects I had planned got pushed to the side. We kept up with Math, Phonics, Reading, etc., however, History and Science fell by the wayside.

 

My plan was WP Hideaways in History for my dd's 1st grade and ds's Pre-K, and WP American Story 1 for her 2nd grade and his K. We started HIH, and they loved the first few hideaways... then I'm not sure if it was as the pregnancy or we just got burned out on the program... maybe the SOTW readings were too much for them.

 

Now I have HIH up for sale, but now I am starting to second guess my decision. Would you try it again, maybe with the audio books, for DD (7) and DS (5)? We live in VA, and the kids are surrounded by American History, and excited to study it. However, I'm bummed that I spent so much money on the Winterpromise Hideaways.

 

Do the audio books for SOTW make it "more fun"? lol. Or, should I just scrap HIH at this point and start American History as I had planned.

 

Thanks!!

[RootAnn]

I don't know what to tell you. We are finishing up SOTW 1 with the activity book (maps/coloring pages & occasional activities) and as much appropriate related reading material as I could get at our tiny local library. My 7 & 5 yr olds (both girls) enjoyed history a *lot* this year. They beg to do it because they love listening to stories & coloring the pages.

 

Congrats for keeping up with some schooling with the new baby.

 

I have read many people say they regretted selling something & rebought it to retry it (sometimes selling it again later :tongue_smilie:). Good luck.

[Laura W.]

A little background. This was my first official year homeschooling. It was a rough one. I was due with baby #4 in April, and ended up delivering 9 weeks early as well as needing to be hospitalized for the last 6 weeks of the pregnancy. Needless to say, most of the subjects I had planned got pushed to the side. We kept up with Math, Phonics, Reading, etc., however, History and Science fell by the wayside.

 

:grouphug: You did really well with all you had going on! My first official year of homeschooling I had twins (also born 9 weeks early). Just keeping up with the basics was great.

 

My plan was WP Hideaways in History for my dd's 1st grade and ds's Pre-K, and WP American Story 1 for her 2nd grade and his K. We started HIH, and they loved the first few hideaways... then I'm not sure if it was as the pregnancy or we just got burned out on the program... maybe the SOTW readings were too much for them.

 

FWIW, American Story 1 is designed for 1st through 3rd graders. I've used WP (a 4th grader doing a program designed for 4th-6th graders). I would not, if at all possible, use a program that is designated for grades higher than what your child is in. Even with my then-4th grader in the recommended range, some of the books and activities were too difficult (and they would not have been if she had been a year or two older). In your situation, I would consider holding off until your two oldest are in 1st and 3rd to do American Story I.

 

Now I have HIH up for sale, but now I am starting to second guess my decision. Would you try it again, maybe with the audio books, for DD (7) and DS (5)? We live in VA, and the kids are surrounded by American History, and excited to study it. However, I'm bummed that I spent so much money on the Winterpromise Hideaways.

 

Do the audio books for SOTW make it "more fun"? lol. Or, should I just scrap HIH at this point and start American History as I had planned.

 

Thanks!!

 

I think you should try HIH again. First, your kids are at the perfect age for it, and it might go really well this time. Second, I know that feeling of being bummed because of $$ you didn't spend well. I usually try to tweak things to make those purchases work.

 

Here's one idea. If you and your dc are really excited about American history, just do those weeks in HIH that are American history (it looks like the second half of the program would have a lot along those lines). You may want to stretch it out, taking two weeks to cover each week of HIH assignments, and adding in other read-alouds, etc.

 

As far as the SOTW audiobooks, they're nice for the car, but I wouldn't consider them to add "fun" to our homeschool.

 

Hope this helps a little.

 

Blessings,

 

Laura

[SnowWhite]

HIH has been improved to add the "You Wouldn't Want To" history series through your library (it's just a schedule suggestion). I think if I were you I would just do some parts of HIH, adding in some You Wouldn't Want To books, and maybe start Amer Story 1 in January or something? Give your students a bit of time to mature. AS1 is WONDERFUL, you don't want to waste it before your kids are ready. Do you have the Cleopatra's Coin series already? I think HIH was pretty weak visually without those titles and is much stronger with the You Wouldn't Want To books.

 

Another way to spice up your program would be to start a new science program in the fall, while still saving Amer Story 1 for a while. I'm thinking the re-tooled World Around Me science looks fun, we LOVED Animals and Their Worlds (I just got my box of books back from loaning them out for a year... we're going to do that this year with the K student and let the 3rd grader come along to ride for whichever parts he wishes as a supplement), and Shoot & Sprout, Buzz & Bite intrigues me too.