This year I thought I would try early modern history and epistles. The family book that is recommended is stories of the nations for world history. My boys are in 1st grade and 3rd grade. We just finished reading chapter 2 on the ottomans. I asked them to narrate back and they were lost. I tried putting a few key words on the white board to help and I have even tried reading a few sentences at a time. Is Stories of the Nations suppose to be for this age level? Should I hold off on this book until they are older?
We read it when my kids were similar ages, some of the chapters were a little long so I often “edited” on the fly skipping parts here and there.
There are a lot of great family books and 1-3rd grade books so if you want to set aside Stories of the Nations and Stories of the World there is still plenty of great reading and books for kids in that grade/age group.
Books are suggestions not mandates use what works for you 🙂 If you continue with SCM they will come back to the time period. In the early grades it is about laying a foundation of enjoying learning, not getting all the facts right now. There is plenty of time to learn 🙂
<p style=”text-align: left;”>I also find some of the chapters are a little more intriguing for younger kids, you do not have to read every chapter, you can select some that you think will be more engaging for your children.</p>
For narration I will sometimes go page by page, but if I ask too often trying to make sure they are really listening, it sort of “bugs” them. I know some families that go paragraph by paragraph but for my kids stopping to often starts to bother them. I mention that to encourage you to use the methods in ways that work for you, ever child and every homeschool is going to look and act differently:)
Some things that helped with narrations at that age was letting them color while I read. They seemed to remember things better when their hands were busy. I would also often do a little summary after each paragraph (or whenever I felt like a lot of info had been given) and I’d ask specific questions after the reading and then ask for a narration. Usually all the info was there in their minds, they just needed help to get it out. 🙂
“In the early grades it is about laying a foundation of enjoying learning, not getting all the facts right now. There is plenty of time to learn”…from the response above. I SO AGREE. Just hearing names/places puts them in a position to recognize it when they hear it again and are ready to assimilate more details. I have a 3rd grade daughter and she isn’t getting all the facts straight either…(goodness I’m learning things I didn’t know!) I also let her color as it keeps her busy body still in the chair as she listens and/or she looks at the globe for the location as I’m reading.
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