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History Question – Can it really be this simple?
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Okay, so first I want to say thank you to so many on here who have helped me over the past year with my history issues. I hated history in school, I love it now, but I hated it then. I would have rather chewed bark than sit through my boring history classes!
I think this is where my anxiety about the subject comes from. Since I dropped my school in a box curriculum last year, wanting to go more CM, I have wavered from this history program to that…too many book choices which overwhelm me or not enough which confine me. I realized when I dropped Mystery of History this year (it was going too fast and my children weren’t retaining anything), and started doing an ancient Mesopotamia lap book and giving the children lots to look at and read through from the library, they got excited about history – me too, and began to retain what they were learning!! A light bulb went off and I was thinking… Aha! Is this it? Is this what we’ve been missing?… Can it be done without following someone’s guide…just following a good spine to make sure nothing major is missed and adding in good living books as interest and time govern? Have I finally “gotten” it?Is there a seasoned CMer out there who can tell me if it really is this simple? Or am I setting myself up for failure? It seems like I always want a guide…someone who’s figured it out for me and can tell me what to do…but then it falls apart every time and I feel like I’ve quit yet again. I’ve just ordered A Picturesque Tale of Progress Beginnings vol 1 & 2. My plan is to use it as our spine and add in living books, lap books, etc. as we go. Is this do-able for a history curriculum…or does it seem haphazard…or is what I needed to be doing all along?
Your thought are so very much appreciated!
Heather
Sounds good to me! Yes, it is that simple; when you add in narrations, oral and written, plus activities as you mentioned and then any field trips to enhance it, it really is that simple.
The hard part is deciding which books to choose! I love my All Through the Ages and that is my “guide”, now; I just pick the books and we read them, plus I do use a spine, too; I highlight the ones that have been read, that way I see who we’ve covered and we just keep going. I do pick the scientists, musicians and artists to correlate with our time period, too.
History is alive and is one long, multi-layered, fascinating story!
Rachel
Rachel, Is All Through The Ages the booklist guide from Christine Miller? Also, what do you mean by Scientist study? Is that what you do for science…or is do you just read a living book about a scientist as an extra?
Thanks Rachel – once again!!
I am not too “seasoned”, but our experience has been great with the living books and narration for history. Don’t for get the importance of a timeline either on a wall or in a book. You can make your own very inexpensively. Part of their “narration” is in making the timeline figure or writing something memorable about what they learned. Then I find mine in their free-play time acting out a scene from a book we read for school. Then I really know that they “got it”.
Yes, don’t forget the timeline or Book of Centuries. That has been so important in recalling the time period in which someone lived, a war was fought, etc. We are fairly new to this (2 years or so) so I wouldn’t call myself “seasoned” but I have seen my kids (and myself) be able to recall the time period, almost to the year, using this approach.
My 2 older boys each have a Book of Centuries and I’m about to make one for myself. We should’ve started a family one 2 years ago, but I really didn’t know what I was doing so my oldest made one, then my 2nd oldest. But, I really need one, okay, want one, lol.
Oh, yes, I second their encouragement to set -up a BOC. It takes effort to develop the habit, but it’s worth it.
Yes, I am talking about Miller’s ATTA book. I wanted to use it alongside TQ, but I can’t afford to get each TQ, so ATTA has become my main source of books. We have enough commentary in this house of G-d’s Hand that I don’t need the TQ commentary. My dependance on the library for books ends up being the means by which I choose the books-if my library has it, we read it; if it doesn’t we don’t, for the exception of a few that I deem worthwhile to buy. I also like the Veritas catalog to see thier choices; most of which are available in ATTA.
I’ve also found that after having used it this past year, there are certain authors and Series’ that I come back to again and again, which makes it easier to choose, too.
For scientists, I do mean just adding in a short bio of those present and active in that time period. I can’t fit them all in, but I try to get in as many as possible and add them onto the BOC, too.
HTH,
Rachel
When you all refer to a “spine” do you mean a textbook like Story of the World that follows a timeline of sorts and discusses different people and happenings?
Heather, you sound just like me. I always think I need someone else’s guideline, but then I never like the way it is arranged. There is always something that just doesn’t work out right for me. But I have not figured out how to do it on my own just right either. So what spine do you use? So do you just pick a person or topic and cover it until you are satisfied? The problem is, there are so many good books and so many people to learn about! It is hard to get everything in you want to do.
I think this is where my anxiety about the subject comes from. Since I dropped my school in a box curriculum last year, wanting to go more CM, I have wavered from this history program to that…too many book choices which overwhelm me or not enough which confine me. I realized when I dropped Mystery of History this year (it was going too fast and my children weren’t retaining anything), and started doing an ancient Mesopotamia lap book and giving the children lots to look at and read through from the library, they got excited about history – me too, and began to retain what they were learning!! A light bulb went off and I was thinking… Aha! Is this it? Is this what we’ve been missing?… Can it be done without following someone’s guide…just following a good spine to make sure nothing major is missed and adding in good living books as interest and time govern? Have I finally “gotten” it?
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