• Jan. 19, 2007 - History Woes
I'm on the search for a more interesting history approach. Sparked by "Lies My Teacher Told Me" concerning US history, I'm particularly interested in getting REAL information and learning how to approach the subject with my children. If you haven't read "Lies..", the author meticulously reviews 12 prominent history texts used in high school. He exposes all the misinformation they contain and reveals, more importantly, what information they seem to purposely omit.
I'm currently using Story of the World. While I like the projects and hands-on approach, the rest is pretty bland. We do, of course, incorporate other books from the library. However, just like the highschool textbooks, the library books seem to present the same faulty stories and the same hero-ized persons without conflict, without personal flaw, and without primary sources. I'm having trouble find REAL HISTORY and figuring how to present it. Perhaps it is because I learned history from bumble-mumble text books myself and any excitement of past ages was eventually drowned by tedium. And I don't have any experience of history in any other way.
Now in my 30's, I've come to a new appreciation for history. I know it is important for us to discover how we got here, and history itself should be a discovery, not a list of dates and wars.
I'd love to hear some suggestions. History is sitting on the back burning because I nearly loath teaching it. We'll pick it up when the boys ask, but otherwise, I feel I'm depriving them. |
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About Me
The Boys
The Inventor: 8 years old
He is my oldest and there are time I look at him and nearly cry because he is growing so fast. He knows the look and says, "I know, I know, you are thinking of putting a brick on my head again." He loves to invent things. His current project is to use old, unwanted toys to build a robot. It is on my list of things to research. He is my project learner.
The Cowboy: 6 years old
He is my middle child and loves everything to do with cowboys and farmers. He often tells me he is moving to Texas when he grows up. I promises that I can visit and will be able to ride a horse when I do. He loves doing worksheets to feel a since of accomplishment as well as projects.
The Cuddlebug: 5 years old
My youngest and last. This one is at opposite ends of the universe from one moment to the next, happy as a lark to mad as a hatter, cuddling one moment, flying around the yard the next. While he rarely sits through learning time, he apparently listens though because he can answer many questions I pose to DS8. He also has brought books to me just to show he can sound out the titles before he runs off.
The Learning
Math
We are using Saxon Math currently for all the boys. DS8 is in Saxon 3, DS6 is in Saxon 1, and DS5 sometimes does Saxon K and sometimes Saxon 1. We don't do everything in Saxon. Sometimes we cram 6 lessons in one day because the boy already knows it. Sometimes we don't do math out of the book at all. We also do math in unit projects. Just recently, DS8 made a detailed graph of monthly rainfall totals for our hometown and the three larger rainforests. We compared and contrasted and made conclusions.
Literature
We use real books. Currently I'm reading "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingles Wilder aloud. Roland is finishing up "Bunnicula" by Howe.
History
Currently I'm using Story of the World, but history is seeming quite bland. I'm looking for something to spice it up.
Science
We have been using mostly Mommy-made units for science with some Evan-Moore thrown in. However, I just purchased "Real Science 4 Kids" for Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. I'm really excited to see this new package. I'm just waiting for it to arrive.
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