Don't Know much about History? Pre-K thru Early Elementary

How sad that song really is when you consider it. I love history and therefore, it will be my first subject to cover. I will save my least favorite for last.

What to do? Where to go?

Preschool :

Little ones do not have much to base their history on. After all, they have only been on this earth a mere couple of years. So, keep it simple.

Talking about their history is a great place to start. Show them photos of family and friends. Talk about when they were a baby and how your family came about. I have yet to meet a preschooler who doesn't love to hear (over and over again) what they were like as babies. They need tangible history lessons. I doubt many would even have a reference point to truly understand Egyptian Pharaohs and Spanish explorers. But do by all means introduce these things if they show some interest. Use dress-up and children's books. No need to bore them to death. This is a great age for imagination. Utilize this desire. Whatever you do-DO NOT over teach it! That will just suck the life out of it. We want to build an interest and desire to know more about history, not bury the desire before they enter "real" school. If they have older siblings, invite them sit in on readings and discussions, but do not require them to stay thru it.

Avoid packaged programs for now. It will only stress you out, and create bad undertones for future teaching.

When they start showing better writing skills, and listening skills that extend past -oh five seconds- then start (gently) introducing a more structured approach (this may take until they are 7!)

I would like to interject a story that perfectly illustrates this:

My youngest was about 5ish when I decided to include him in the regular routine of "school".

I carefully set up his work area with his supplies and chair. I made a paper with 2 lines each of the lower case "a" and "b". Four lines! They were dotted out as well, so this was a no brainer.

He was so excited. He plopped himself down, proudly picked up his pencil, listened to my directions and quickly set out to his task. I stepped away, confident that I had maybe 5 minutes or so to work with his sister. Pencil scratches and head down-he was really working at it. I smiled inside thinking, "Finally-my last student is ready to move along with school."

Five seconds into it, he sat up, drew a deep breath, blew it out loudly, set his pencil down, pushed his chair back and proudly announced, "Well I am done with school!"

A bit astonished, I went to see this work of art. How amazing of a kid did I have? He could get his work done in 5 seconds! And to not laugh at his serious comment of being finished! Two, yep two scribbled "a" letters graced the page, and he was no where to be seen! Priceless, simply priceless. He thought 2 letters constituted school and he was done.

Maybe I should of saved this for the Language Arts blog-but it beautifully illustrates the readiness of a child. Getting him to sit through a book without pictures at that point-impossible. He simply was not ready for any sort of structure. I had to rethink how to approach this and spent more time doing "fun" things (which I would like to point out is "fun" in his eyes but was actually play that taught!) until he was ready. Which really wasn't too many months later. I adjusted the learning experiences to his abilities to handle it. I still have to keep it less structured at this point--but experience has taught me that it will all work out in the end, he will graduate knowing how to read, write and do 'rithmetic. Remaining patient and not falling into that nasty trap of "what others are doing" will produce a well-rounded, educated young man in the very near future.

Know your kid. Use play to teach, your voice to tell stories and your arms to embrace. That is what a preschooler needs.

*history instruction: google book lists or purchase one of the many great books that are written for this very purpose, use costumes and lots of picture books. Use songs and crafts. Make those cardboard forts, castles and trains. Use field trips to places of historical happenings to teach. Use grannies, grampies and old Mr. Brown down the road, to talk about what life was like when they were kids. That is history! (uh, the big kids love this too-including ME!)


Kindergarten (and a few years beyond if necessary):

Most four/five/six year olds are still not ready to handle a big scheduled out program. Again, this goes back to writing/reading/listening skills. Some curriculum require a lot of writing or reading on the part of the child. If you have a non-reader, this can be a huge hindrance. Other programs are full of what Charlotte Mason called "Twaddle". That basically means that it is full of fillers, junk and unnecessary work that takes away from the meat of the lesson.

If you are graced with one of those particularly precocious children..then skip this part. Otherwise, all others should read on. If they have some ability to to write/draw and can sit through readings of non-illustrated books as well as the illustrated ones..then by all means start using a program. Tweak it to fit your child/family's needs. You are not a slave to it nor should you feel it necessary to do every little thing suggested by the author. Use it as a tool, not a yoke!

We started out in 1994 (officially) and there really wasn't the avalanche of materials that there is today. That said, with all the research I did, we found that we could afford (and then fell truly in love)with the Beautiful Feet Books curriculum. We didn't want to spend a lot, because after all, we were only going to do this homeschooling thing until we figured out a better plan. We originally did not start for religious convictions- all though we were concerned with the moral decline of the schools. That better plan led to homeschooling all the way through high school! GOD is awesome! He used a particularly not so swell school dilemma, and turned it into a way of life for our family!

I bought the Early American History guide for K-3. I felt that it really should be listed for grades 1-4 (depending on the child.) I loved that it used real books to teach history, and the timeline and notebook were right up our alley. Plus, it played right into what Charlotte Mason taught...and to think I didn't even know about her until years later...but thought the same way she did in this matter! I still have that puppy on my shelf, along with just about every other guide they sell. It is a must in our home.

Rea Berg(BF Books) lays out the entire year in a gentle and easy to follow manner. Starting with the Vikings, she progresses through to the Civil War. The program is not so overly crammed with information that the child will become bogged down with it. The time-line offers a nice way for visual and tactile learners to enhance their studies. You can also add to, or delete whenever you choose (ah the beauty of homeschooling!). You snuggle with the child(ren) and read the majority of the books together. For those with the skills, I let them read the books they could handle. I still have those notebooks my three oldest made, and get almost teary-eyed when I go through them now. My two oldest have graduated from high school so these little treasures are priceless to me!
I plan on using it in the fall of 09 with my youngest. I cannot say enough good about the program!

I have decided though, to go with Sonlight's Intro to the World: Cultures program for my youngest this year. I debated over whether to start with this or BF's Early American. I knew the boy was not ready for BF only because I want him to be able to do the notebook with all of its writing and such. SL's program is really geared more for pre-K to Kindergarten-but due to his needs, this should be a good match. I will let you know how it went in the spring. I have used SL for higher grades and greatly appreciate the fine job they did with the scheduling and layout. I am looking forward to giving the lower level a try this year.

I am a loyalist and stick with what I truly love and what works. I have not skipped around or tried too many programs. BF Books was a perfect fit-so I stuck with it. Since my youngest is not quite up to the first BF program, and SL has a seemingly good one for his age, I am giving it a try. I do not have personal experience with the other programs out there. I have heard a lot of good buzz about the classical approach using Susan Wise Bauer's program-The Story of the World. If you tend to be more classical...consider them. If you are into more unit study styles-find some friends who have used those types of programs and give it a whirl. I have heard a lot of good about Diana Waring's history programs too. In fact, I may use her Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries program to piggy back my 9th grader's Medieval study this fall (yep-using BF's Medieval program).

AVOID at all costs-teaching history by using textbooks! You know the type..the ones we were exposed to in PS! History is much more complex, and interesting than the typical textbook 2 paragraph quip on something. Oh, and you can avoid those crazy myths and legends that proliferate them...learn history through authors who love their topics, have researched and have accurately depicted the events. I cannot stress this enough!!!!!!!


I am going to break these history blogs into age sections. That way you can pinpoint your age group better and my hands can take a break from typing. WHEW~

Sheri