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When do you begin formal history?
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I am wondering when other families have begun the formal study of history for their young ones. My oldest is 6 and will begin first grade soon. My other boys are 3 and 1. I would eventually like to combine them in a histprical time period when the time comes, but not sure when to start “history”. My oldest says he would like to learn about American history, which is interesting considering we are in Europe right now. We have been here two years, and will move back to the states early next spring, and I think he has forgotten a lot about life in the states and wants to learn more about “home”. I am probably just going to do Which Way USA (which my oldest has asked for) for a fun intro to US geography for my two older boys to do together (the 3yo loves to tag along with brother). But I’m undecided about history. So, when do you start using a curriculum/ game plan for history? I was a history major in college so this is really driving me nuts to think about how I will “do” history, but am wondering if it’s best to just chill out for now, and read some American history books with my boys and just see what piques their interest. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! ~Nicole
Nicole, did you check the “Free Curriculum Guide” on this site? My son started history at 5 (almost 6) with his older brother. I included him in read-alouds that we were doing and supplemented with living books from our public library. History is a favorite subject around here!
My oldest is also 6 and we are starting with the history module 1 from the free curriculum guide on this site. I’m planning on taking it easy though and keep it light, and do a few fun projects. I love history as well. Module 1 is mostly Bible history- Genesis through Deuteronomy with a study of Ancient Egypt- so with using the SCM handbook, I don’t think it will be real heavy especially for the younger ones. but you could start with a later module if you want to do more American history. Or you could use another guide altogether. For us, history, even though I love it, won’t be the top priority this coming school year if/when life gets busy as I’ll be having another baby. Anyway, that’s our plan if it helps 🙂
My oldest will be 6 in September, and I also have 3 and 1 yo’s. I had been planning on doing ancient history next year, but decided I need/want to spend more time on Bible and less on history (although of course Bible is history as well!). My DS really enjoys american history as well. So my plan (as of last week) is to read through some Landmark biographies. We have been already reading some biographies (mostly Christian, but also some historical), so we’ll continue on with it. Each biography we’ll also add the person to our timeline, and maybe make a notebook page. We’ll probably spend 10-15 minutes day before his nap. I like the idea of BIG history stuff, but want to keep it small and easy for now, as we are in the process of adding to our family through adoption. My plan is to do american history for 1-2 grade, then perhaps a geography focus, and then world history using the FOundations Press curriculum.
We started SCM Module 1 last year when dd was 1st grade/6 years old. I think it would be totally fine to wait till 2nd or 3rd grade though. It’s just not that big of a deal. You could read some great stories about famous Americans this year with your geography study and then start in with a history rotation in a year or two.
I have just done short interesting stories about famous people with my 6yo. I plan to do US history lightly over the next 1-2 years, starting a more formal history program around 3rd grade. I do hope to read some of the D’Aulaire biography books this next year because I have them on my shelf and my young children are asking me to read them.
We did Module 5 this past year. DD was in 1st grade and we really liked it. Her younger brother tagged along here and there. I wanted to start with American history, I thought it would be a bit easier to grasp at her age and interest level, and we are planning on doing Module 6 this coming fall.
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