Kim in SouthGa Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 My 8ds is very sensitive, has a short attention span, and generally would much rather be outside playing any kind of sport rather than doing school. He hates to read. My 13ds and 10dd will be using SOTW 4 and Kingfisher with lots of historical fiction. I'm worried about including my 8ds after reading the warnings, esp. from SWB herself! I just got MFW 1850 to Modern today, and I am not real enthused about it. I'm probably going to send it back. We won't use the science, art, or music. We did Trail Guide to US Geography last year, so we won't do much of the geography. It just seems like a lot of money for what we would actually use it for. At this point, I am thinking of just getting my 8ds the Abeka 3rd grade history book. What have you all used in the past that has worked for this age/rotation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I have to say I've been dragging my 8yo along for the ride, poor girl. I'm probably a bad mother, but I just can't do two levels of history... we're currently at WWII... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtmcm Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 There are so many things to discuss and learn besides war! I don't know why the history books focus on war and gloss over advances in communication, transportation, technology, medicine, etc.... How about doing BF History of Science with everyone for science (on top of history for the older ones)? It starts with Archimedes and covers a few middle ages scientists (ie: Newton) but most of the scientists are modern (Pasteur, Curie, Wright Bros, Einstein, etc...) so you'd be in about the same era. Or BF History of Music? Same idea.... your youngest will still be getting history - just from a different angle. How about using Adventures in My Father's World or Lessons from History alongside your core curriculum? http://lessonsfromhistory.com/ Lessons From History 1900's George W. Carver Henry Ford Marie Curie Wright Brothers Mayo Brothers Titanic World War I Immigration Family History Roaring 20's The Depression Mahatma Gandhi Athletes World War II Pablo Picasso Norman Rockwell Mao Tse-Tung Helen Keller Walt Disney Mother Theresa Korean War Jim Elliot Martin Luther King The Sixties Billy Graham Space Exploration Fall of Soviet Union Computers Desert Storm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna A. Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Did you not get the Adventures supplemental package that's intended to be used with 3rd graders during 1850-Modern? The Hazell's are well aware of the depth of material in that year, which is why they scheduled the separate, more age-appropriate books for younger kids. Also, at the beginning of the TM is a 2-page spread on how to do that year with younger kids. Here's a link to the separate book package: http://www.mfwbooks.com/1850mod.htm#supplement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in SouthGa Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 I got the student sheets for 2nd/3rd grade. We've tried American Pioneers and Patriots before with my oldest, and it was just too dry. The rest of it was just learning about the states and presidents and fiction...all still above what my son can read, and I'm not sure how much I will be able to read aloud to him (very active 2 year old here). I'm checking out Bigger Hearts for His Glory right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna A. Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 If your 8yo has a short attention span and hates to read, how is getting a separate, complete program with MORE books going to help? Plus with an active 2yo running around, are you going to be able to do a complete separate program with the 8yo? And if you send back 1850-Modern, what would you use for the older kids? Not challenging you... just trying to figure it out with you. I have a 13yo, a 10yo, and a 6yo with a short attention span here, so I do understand the juggling act. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzannah Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Well, wars did make up a good part of the 1850-present time frame. But if you have a truly sensitive child you might make a list of significant figures from the time period and have her read easy biographies of them (Booker T. Washington, Lincoln, Clara Barton, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, JFK, Edison, Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Wright Brothers, etc.) You could do the same with all the technological advances (history of flight, history of the automobile, history of the telephone, space exploration, movies.) Or...what about the Little House on the Prairie Unit Studies? Maybe a study of the 50 states? I appreciate that some have concerns with the violence of the modern era. But there's barbarity all through history. I think the 20th century tends to worry parents more because it is so fresh and so well-documented. If you do decide to have your dd study moderns with the others, you might preview chapters to determine whether or not they are suited to her. The American Girls books are written for girls about her age or slightly older, and while they are not always rosy (be cautious with Kirsten's story if dd is very sensitive) they are a nice girls' eye view of the time periods they cover. I also really like the PBS series "1940s House." Like the others in that series, it follows a modern family living in a different time period for 3-4 months. In this case it's a British family during WWII. They had a really great attitude about the whole experiment (unlike participants in some of the other shows) and it was a fascinating look a life on the homefront for the British which was in some ways similar to the American experience. Another one of that same PBS series that I enjoyed was "1900 House". It's been a long time since I saw it, but that and "1940s House" are the only two I ever recommend. The others were sort of ruined by poor sports. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna A. Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Suzannah, the 1850-Modern package does a study of both the presidents and the states and capitals (well, the 2nd half of a 2-year study), so Kim should already have what she needs for that. There's also a very extensive booklist in the back of the TM that would have tons of additional reading and video titles that would be age appropriate for a 3rd grader. There's a 2-page spread at the front of the TM explaining how to use the program with a 2nd or 3rd grader. She really has everything she needs in 1850-Modern to use it appropriately with her 8yo. But I can't tell if Kim's real concerns are making the program age-appropriate for the 8yo, or just not liking the MFW package as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzannah Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Ahh, well, that's sounds good then. I've never seen MFW, just used SOTW. Blessings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in SouthGa Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 My concern with MFW is mainly the cost for what portions we would be using. If I was going to implement the whole thing, it would be more than worth the cost. I haven't thoroughly looked through the TM, but from what I've read, it seems the 2nd/3rd graders mainly just study the states and presidents, with some good literature thrown in. The reason I bought it was to help me combine all the kids. I would be fine with the two older ones just using SOTW 4 with Kingfisher and some history related fiction and non-fiction from the public library or our home library. Maybe just studying the states and presidents is enough for this age? I don't know, we were at different rotations for my other two when they were that age. I know doing two whole programs would be too much. My thought was to just let the older two do SOTW independently, and use the history portion of Bigger Hearts. I'm going to look through MFW some more tonight, but I am leaning towards just having my 8ds sit in on some of the chapters of SOTW and fill in with library books and maybe an American history reader from somewhere. We studied the states and presidents a lot the last couple of years, and I just don't feel the need to do it again right now. Thanks for all the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 What have you all used in the past that has worked for this age/rotation? Well, our 4-year rotation turned into a 6-year rotation, so in 3rd/4th grades we were still only into the Middle Ages, from having followed so many bunny trails -- LOL! But a lot of people use 3rd grade to focus on US (particularly Colonial and Revolutionary) History, learning about presidents, memorizing states / capitals, etc. Or, what about focusing on your state: the state history; the state's geographical features; animals/plants specific to the state; famous people from the state, etc. My suggestion is that since you'll have 2 older students going through modern times, save yourself the work of juggling 2 time periods, and just focus on the positives of modern times with real books from the library on things like: - medical advances - technological/scientific inventions and breakthroughs - exploration/explorers of the past 150 years - biographies of inventors, explorers, scientists - sports, sporting events, and athletes - artists and musicians Below is a list of books and topic ideas to get you started. Most are US people/events BEST of luck, whatever you go with! Warmest regards, Lori D. General Books - American Adventures: True Stories from America's Past, 1770-1870 (Greenburg) - American Adventures: True Stories from America's Past, 1870-present (Greenburg) (both of these were fascinating -- little known heros, inventors, and interesting people and events) - The Complete Book of US History (you'd be able to use half of this book; it was some *really* interesting and different items included (not all focused on war, but lots of interesting people and positive events -- see the table of contents online at Amazon.com) - Usborne Book of Discovery -- 3 books in one: Explorers, Inventors, Scientists - History of Medicine (Tiner) -- people around the world who have made contributions - Exploring Planet Earth (Tiner) -- people around the world who have explored 1849 - The Gold Rush - Chang and the Paper Pony (Coerr) -- historical fiction - The Secret Valley (Bulla) -- historical fiction - By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman) -- fun historical fiction 1850s 1856 - Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie (CR) -- (Roop) Maine lighthouse - The Tree in the Trail (Holling) -- hist. fict. of the Santa Fe Trail - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Santa Fe Trail (Stein) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Underground Railroad (Stein) - The Drinking Gourd (Monjo) -- Underground Railroad - Escape North! Story of Harriet Tubman (Kulling) -- Underground Railroad - The Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman (Sterling) -- Underground Railroad - The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft (Moore) -- Underground Railroad - Abe Lincoln's Hat (Brenner) 1860s 1861 - Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express (Coerr) -- Pony Express 1861 - Bronco Charlie and the Pony Express (Brill) -- Pony Express 1861 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of Fort Sumter (Burney) 1863 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Gettysburg Address (Richards) 1865 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Surrender at Appomatox (Kent) 1865 - Willie McLean and the Civil War Surrender (Ransom) -- Civil War - Riding The Pony Express (Bulla) -- historical fiction - Behind Rebel Lines (Reit) -- true story; girl disguised as boy as spy in Civil War - Robert Smalls Sails to Freedom (Brown) -- Civil War, escaping slave - Lincoln: A Photobiography (Freedman) - Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln: Story of Gettysburg (Jeanne Fritz) - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of the Monitor and the Merrimac (Stein) - Civil War Sub: Mystery of the Hunley (Jerome) - USS Monitor: Iron Warship That Changed the World (Thompson) - Caddie Woodlawn (Brink) -- historical fiction; pioneer girl and her misadventures - - Shades of Gray -- historical fiction; post Civil War 1870s 1871 - Clouds of Terror (Welch) -- 1870s US prairie grasshopper plagues 1876 - Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of the Battle of Little Big Horn (Stein) 1876 - Alexander Graham Bell (Sherrow) -- invention of the telephone - Snowshoe Thompson (Levinson) -- pioneer mailman in the Sierra Nevadas - The Long Way to a New Land (Sandin) -- immigrants arrive in the US - The Long Way Westward (Sandin) -- immigrants go west - Wagon Train (Kramer) -- pioneer wagon train - Wagon Wheels (Brenner) -- pioneer wagon train - The Josefina Story Quilt (Coerr) -- pioneer wagon train - Daniel's Duck (Bulla) -- pioneer - The Golly Sisters Go West (Byars) -- silly story - The Golly Sisters Ride Again (Byars) -- silly story 1880s 1882- The Big Balloon Race (Coerr) 1885 - The Copper Lady (Ross) -- building of the Statue of Liberty 1888 - I Pledge Allegiance (Swanson) -- creation of the Pledge of Allegiance 1888 - Schoolchildren's Blizzard (Figley) -- blizzard / pioneer children 1888 - Snow Walker (Wetterer) -- record blizzard that shut down the Bronx - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Chisholm Trail (Santella) - Dinosaur Hunter (Alphin) -- early paleontologists - Prairie School (Avi) -- prairie pioneers - Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark (Hurwitz) - Helen Keller (Davidson) - Helen Keller's Teacher (Davidson) - Mr. Blue Jeans: A Story About Levi Strauss (Weidt) - Shoes for Everyone: Story About Jan Matzeliger (Mitchell) 1890s 1893 - The Great Wheel (Lawson) -- hist. fict.; first ferris wheel, Chicago World Fair 1896 - Rescue on the Outer Banks (Ransom) -- true life rescue crew 1898 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Spanish American War (Collins) - Sitting Bull (Penner) - Jumbo (Worth) -- famous PT Barnum circus elephant - The Great Houdini: World Famous Magician (Kulling) - Little Sure Shot: Annie Oakley (Spinner) - Mark T-W-A-I-N! A Story About Samuel Clemens (Collins) - George Washington Carver: Man's Slave Becomes God's Scientist (Collins) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Industrial Revolution (Collins) 1900s 1903 - Will and Orv (Schulz) -- first airplane flight 1903 - First Flight: The Wright Brothers (Jenner) 1903 - First Flight: Story of Tom Tate and the Wright Brothers (Shea) 1903 - The Wright Brothers (Reynolds) 1905 - Clara and the Bookwagon (Levinson) 1906 - If You Lived at the Time of the San Fransisco Earthquake (Levine) - All of a Kind Family (Taylor) -- hist. fict.; turn of the century New York Jewish family - Little Britches (Moody) -- hist. fict; city family turned Colorado ranchers - CLICK! Story of George Eastman (Mitchell) - Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race (Kulling) - We'll Race You Henry Ford (Mitchell) - Bully For You, Teddy Roosevelt (Fritz) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of Ellis Island (Stein) -- European immigrants - If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island (Levine) 1910s 1912 - Titanic: Lost and Found (Donnelly) -- sinking of the unsinkable Titanic 1914 - Sea of Ice: The Wreck of the Endurance (Kulling) 1917 - Hero Over Here (Kudlinski) -- worldwide influenza epidemic 1919 - Babe Ruth Saves Baseball (Murphy) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Panama Canal (Stein) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of Angel Island (Brimner) -- Asian immigrants - Say It With Music: Story About Irving Berlin (Streissgut) - Story of Thomas Alva Edison: Wizard of Menlo Park (Davidson) - Thomas Edison: The Great Inventor (Jenner) - Wizard of Sound: Story of Thomas Alva Edison - Zepplin: Age of the Airship (Donkin) 1920s 1920 - Man O'War: Best Racehorse Ever (McKerly) 1922 - Tut's Mummy: Lost and Found (Donnelly) 1925 - The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto (Standiford) 1927 - Night Flight: Charles Lindbergh's Incredible Adventure (Kramer) 1929 - Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog (Moore) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Roaring Twenties (Stein) - Flying Ace: Story of Amelia Earhart (Bull) - CLICK! Story of George Eastman (Mitchell) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 1930s 1931 - The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth (Patrick) 1937 - Vanished! The Mysterious Disappearance of Amelia Earhart (Kulling) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Great Depression (Stein) - Eleanor Everywhere: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt (Kulling) - A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt (De Young) -- hist. fict.; Depression - Dust for Dinner (Turner) -- Dust Bowl / Depresssion - Horse Named Seabiscuit (Duvowski) -- famous race horse - Gandhi: Peaceful Warrior (Bains) 1940s 1941 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the USS Arizona (Stein) 1944 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of D-Day (Stein) 1944 - D-Day Landings: Story of the Allied Invasion (Platt) 1944 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Battle of the Bulge (Stein) 1945 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Battle for Iwo Jima (Stein) - Hill of Fire (Lewis) -- formation of volcanic mountain in Mexico - The Little Riders (Shemin) -- hist. fict.; WW2, occupied Europe - The Winged Watchman (Van Stockum) -- hist. fict; WW2, Europe - Twenty and Ten (Bishop) -- hist. fict.; WW2, French children hide Jewish children - Number the Stars (Lowry) -- hist. fict; WW2, Danish girl helps Jewish friend - Story of Anne Frank (Martin) - Keeping the Promise: A Torah's Journey (Lehman-Wilzig) - Miracles on Maple Hill (Sorenson) -- historical fiction; post WW2 1950s 1953 - To the Top! Climbing the World's Highest Mountain (Kramer) 1955 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of Montgomery Bus Boycott (Stein) 1957 - Cracking the Wall: Struggles of Little Rock Nine (Lucas) -- Civil Rights - Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes (Coerr) -- post WW2 Japanese a-bomb victim - Jackie Robinson and the Story of All Black Baseball (O'Connor) - The Story of Muhammad Ali (Garrett) 1960s 1969 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of First Man on the Moon (Stein) - Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace (Jackson/Ford) - Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington (Ruffin) - Race Into Space (Arnold) - Moonwalk (Donnelly) 1970s 1975 - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Saigon Airlift (Kent) - Cornerstones of Freedom: Story of the Vietnam War Memorial (Kent) - A Wall of Names: Vietnam (Donnelly) 1980s-1990s 1996 - The Bravest Cat: The True Story of Scarlett (Driscoll) - Ice Mummy: Discovery of a 3,000 year old Man (Dubowski) - Civil War Sub: Mystery of the Hunley (Jerome) - USS Monitor: Iron Warship That Changed the World (Thompson) - Dinosaur Detectives (Martin) - Giant Squid: Mystery of the Deep (Dussling) - Finding the Titanic (Ballard) 2000-present - Lance Armstrong: The Race of His Life (Armstrong) - Tiger Woods (Gutelle) 20th CENTURY - General - Great Black Heroes: Five Brilliant Scientists (Jones/Garnet) - Great Black Heroes: Five Brave Explorers (Hudson/Garnet) - Great Black Heroes: Five Famous Writers (Jones/Garnet) - Great Black Heroes: Five Bold Freedom Fighters (Hudson/Garnet) - Great Black Heroes: Five Notable Inventors (Hudson/Garnet) - Baseball's Best (Gutelle) - Baseball's Greatest Hitters (Kramer) - Basketball's Greatest Players (Kramer) - Hoop Stars (Kramer) - Antarctic Adventure: Exploring the Frozen Continent (Martin) - True Life Treasure Hunts (Donnelly) - Great Women Atletes (Bailer) - Spies! (Pratt) - Disasters at Sea (Martin) - Mountain Climbing: Scaling the World's Highest Peaks (Martin) - Movie Magic: A Star is Born ( Cottringer) The "On My Own" Biographies series: - Alexander Graham Bell (Sherrow) - Aunt Clara Brown (Lowery) - Babe Didrikson Zaharias (Sutcliffe) - Benjamin Banneker (Wadsworth) - Booker T Washington (Amper) - Cesar Chavez (Wadsworth) - George Washington Carver (Carter) - Georgia O'Keefe - Helen Keller (Sutcliffe) - Jackie Robinson (Walker) - Jesse Owens (Sutcliffe) - Margaret Bourke-White (Welch) - Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter (Walker) - Mother Teresa (Ransom) - Pablo Picasso (Lowery) - Sojourner Truth (Swain) - Wilma Mankiller (Lowery) - Wilma Rudolph (Sherrow) - Laura Ingalls Wilder (Wadsworth) CarolRhoda biography series OR Creative Minds Biography series: - Mr. Blue Jeans: A Story About Levi Strauss (Weidt) -- 1829-1902 - Mark T-W-A-I-N! A Story About Samuel Clemens (Collins) -- 1835-1910 - Story of Thomas Alva Edison: Wizard of Menlo Park (Davidson) -- 1847-1931 - CLICK! Story of George Eastman (Mitchell) -- 1854-1932 - Bully For You, Teddy Roosevelt (Fritz) -- 1858-1919 - George Washington Carver: Man's Slave Becomes God's Scientist (Collins) -- 1864-1943 - Helen Keller's Teacher (Davidson) -- 1866-1936 - Helen Keller (Davidson) -- 1880-1968 - Say It With Music: Story About Irving Berlin (Streissgut) -- 1888-1989 - Shoes for Everyone: Story About Jan Matzeliger (Mitchell) -- invented a shoe lasting machine - Will and Orv (1903) - Pocketful of Goobers -- George Washington Carver's work at Tuskeegee College 1900s - We'll Race You Henry Ford -- invents model T/assembly line, early 1900s) - Frontier Surgeons: A Story About the Mayo Brothers -- founded Mayo Clinic; 1880s-1939 - Between Two Worlds: Story of Pearl S. Buck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in SouthGa Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 Lori, What a great list! Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I got the student sheets for 2nd/3rd grade. We've tried American Pioneers and Patriots before with my oldest, and it was just too dry. The rest of it was just learning about the states and presidents and fiction...all still above what my son can read, and I'm not sure how much I will be able to read aloud to him (very active 2 year old here). I'm checking out Bigger Hearts for His Glory right now... What about the US facts book and the US Geography book that is part of the 2nd/3rd grade supplement for 1850mod? I used 1850MOD a year ago with then 6th grader and sensitive 3rd grader who was more like a 2nd grader. She really enjoyed the reading comprehension workbooks that were about American history facts and fun. I had to help with the geography. but what we really loved that year with her was from the Bible time in 1850MOD. Here's the one example that stood out all this time later. While 6th grader was learning about WW II and then 1950's China and all of that, I sent my middle gal off with "book basket" to look at picture books of people in China. Because we had been praying together for people around the world (as scheduled in the 1850MOD manual with the THUMB prayer guide), my little just turned 9 year old dd came back saying "China is a beautiful place with beautiful people. I want to go there someday and let them know Jesus loves them." Yes, she learned states and capitals, and a few fun facts, and got time to work on 3R's. But she got a lot more out of it than I thought she would. She liked the literature pack. The book basket selections were really good for all levels. We liked the science in 1850MOD. The experiment book was a big hit for us especially to use extra links from Usborne. My 6th grade read the main book, and my 3rd grader was just introduced to the first paragraph with larger print. She told me at the end of the year Science was her favorite subject that year. When it came to the end of the year school display with our co-op, we took about 5 different experiments from our year. I liked that the 1850MOD manual made it clear when to let the younger kids not have to stay around while reading SOTW or other stuff. We were still able to include our 3rd grader in on the hands on stuff in the activity guide from SOTW. I thought she had a good year in the program. -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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