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Any students just not excited by 'old' people in history? :)
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Dd is 12 and not much interested in Louis Pasteur or Abe Lincoln. We’re using the books listen on SCM for 6th grade and she’s reading L.P and Abe but it’s just not holding her interest. As for Louis, it’s an independent read but she’s lost on all the words she doesn’t know nor know how to pronounce. Even if I were to read it to her I don’t think it would hold her interest. Anyone btdt? Have your students felt the same?
I’m looking for other options to make it palatable, one being doing a research project by using our library’s data base for homework or looking on YouTube. I thought I’d also check into Your Story Hour to see if there is something there. I can’t blame her as when I was her age I wasn’t interested historical people, although I am now :).
I’m thinking better to find something interesting even if it’s in the way of picture books and short bios of people than forcing a topic with a long book she doesn’t quite get nor feel any connection to. But I wonder if I’m lowering the bar too low? Isn’t it better to whet her appetite for historical folks with something she can be interested in, maybe even excited about, than to have her read a long book that she comes to dislike everytime she needs to read it?
My thought is that if the book is well beyond her reading level you should look for another living book that will suit where she is better. But I would make sure the selection is still a living book. Sometimes what resonates with one child or family just doesn’t click with another. It’s okay to try a different resource so long as it isn’t predigesting the information with snippets and factoids. The point of reading a living book, especially for history, is that she feels that she knows and befriends the characters so that they aren’t just names on a timeline to her. Just my two cents….
I would agree with the books in question are quite possibly beyond your daughters reading abilities. Here is a simple test:
Open the book in question to a random page in the middle if the book. Have her read one page. If she makes no mistakes, then it is probably too easy. One mistake is OK, 2 or more mistakes means its probably too hard.
If the books are too hard then definately find easier *living* books to help her get interested in the topics. If she just isn’t interested at all but the reading level is OK, then try alternate materials and then maybe you could branch out and do science experiments or visit historical sites to try to spark some interest. I can think of some fun experiments for Louis Pasteur. 😉 To avoid burning her out you may have to ease up on how much history you do while you try to find something that sparks her curiosity.
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