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History/Geography help
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I am doing Genesis thru Deuteronomy & Ancient Egypt with my soon to be 9 year old at this time. We struggle to do it everyday as I tend to focus on the three R’s more and Science which I know she loves. And with 2 other younger children and one on the way I feel it hard to keep up with it. Has anyone done history/geography without a planned curriculum? Like maybe just having a book list to try and read through and maybe notebooking to go with? And does Bible HAVE to always be connected to the history/geography portion? We do a separate family bible study and I almost feel it is too much to do both. I wonder down the road in her teen years where this may be more beneficial? Trying to figure out how to simplify but make it meaningful and enjoyable so she will grasp some of it and make it not feel burdensome for me either. Need some ideas! 🙂
Thanks!
We do History separate from Bible, too, because we do a different Bible study.
This year I have switched to History 2x/week and Science 2x/week. I use a History spine during our family morning readings and then the children who are independent readers have assigned reading that complements what we’ve been studying during morning readings.
I create my own book lists, relying heavily on suggestions from this site.
I sort of had this problem when I first started out. So I started history readings as soon as our morning time was done. That way it was done and over with and I could go on to our other things. I didn’t have a separate bible study but if I did I think I would just use that and skip the other readings. Although I did like having the readings go along with the history timeline so we got an idea of what happened when in the bible. But do what works for you!
If it feels like it’s too much adding Bible in with your history then I would leave it out, especially as you’re already doing a separate Bible study. If you are wanting to do your own history study you certainly can, it’s just a bit harder to pick books from a book list, make up your own questions, assignments, activities, etc. Not impossible by any means but just a bit more difficult than using a curriculum that is Charlotte Mason-based and allows for lots of flexibility but gives you a structure to work within. I think with a 9 year old I would suggest focusing on the things she enjoys.
Check out TruthQuest. It is a list of books with a small commentary at the beginning of each time or event topic. You can pick and choose which topics and which books you want to use. We have used this for the past 2 years and love it. We used the SCM modules before that and enjoyed them but I find so much more freedom with TruthQuest. Bible is not included but we also do our own study so we don’t feel like we are missing that. Geography is also not included but you can choose to do a map on your own or a different curriculum. We have used Geography Matters the last couple of years. It is nice that SCM has all 3 together and planned for you. It is open and go and so easy to use. But, I’ve still found more freedom and enjoyment from TruthQuest.
If you are wanting to do your own history study you certainly can, it’s just a bit harder to pick books from a book list, make up your own questions, assignments, activities, etc.
If you are interested in assignments or activities for what you are reading (I generally am not – we read, discuss, listen to an audio book, etc., but we really don’t do a lot of activities), then Story of the World could be very good for you. We often use the book on CD as our spine, and they have an excellent activity guide that goes along with it. The activity guide also includes lists of books to supplement each chapter.
I was looking for something similar to what you are & ended up using Beautiful Feet early American history. We love it so far!
Over the years, I have adapted my own things based on SCM guides. I pre-read the spines and add in the books I have or want to use. I have started reading one-two chapters daily in the spine as part of our Morning Basket because I find that we manage to finish when we’ re supposed to that way. I still schedule history for various days and that is when we do the biographies and other additional readings. Sometimes we add small projects like using J0hn Green’s coloring books or acting out scenes. I also have the Yesterday Classics/Heritage History collections so tend to add some of those things into our assigned days (because we love history).
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