Hello everyone, I have been reading along for a little while now and enjoying and learning from you all. I am homeschooling my 4 children 13,8,7 and 5 and this is our first full year. I took them out of public school in January. My trouble is with History/Geography For the younger 3. I currently use alpha omega 3rd grade for the 3rd grader and five in a row for the 1st grader and kindergartner. But I feel it is soo difficult to do different topics for them and I also feel like history and geography should be so much more fun and engaging for the 3rd Grader. I do feel as if I need a curriculum and do not feel comfortable writing it on my own. I would love one that incorporates reading of good books, activities and some writing - maybe ones I could make lapbooks with. I need to be able to customize it to the 3 levels. boy that was long winded. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
I have not used it but I have heard that Mystery of History is supposed to be good for using for different ages. I am using Exploring American History this year wiht my 5th grader, we are doing little projects on the side but the main book is reading stories about the Explorers themselves and other people of noriety. (sp) Do you have the teacher book with the life pak 3s? because they have some suggestions for making things more exciting, you could use the Life Paks as a basis to explore the world... If I recall though its just the Kansas and that one right? SO study on each state you read about with more interest. We did a report on each state, with a map and a few important things about each state that was mentioned when we did LPS. There are no doubt going to be lots of replies to this they have some great ideas here!
Hi. I don't have a curriculum to recommend but you might like to try this book: Geography Crafts for Kids. 50 cool projects & activities for exploring the world, by Joe Rhatigan & Heather Smith. ISBN 1-57990-196-4 Published by Lark Books N.Y 2002. The activities include making a mariner's astrolabe, water filter, solar oven, weather station, maps, time zone clocks ~ even a compass. I've borrowed one from the library, which is always a cheap alternative.
Mystery of History can be used for a variety of ages. At the end of each lesson there are different activities for all age groups. I think the website is www.themysteryofhistory.com You can get all the info there. We use it and like it.
DAWN!!!! HI GIRL!!!! WELCOME TO THE BOARD! You will love it here! I've been wondering how your hs was going - tried to IM you last night and you were gone already. (Guess I'll turn on my yahoo now. LOL) Oh, right. History and Geography. I agree, check out Mystery of History. History in chronological order, Biblical history included right alongside "secular" world history (Daniel and Aesop!). Activity guides and mapwork, suggestions for activities for kids on any level. We're going to start it soon too!! There's a yahoogroup for the first book if you're interested. The author, Linda Hobar, is on it too! I am so excited to see you here!
We are using Story of the World. I even include the preschoolers they color. I have the actitivty book to go with it. It has some quesions you can ask and activities for younger and older kids, list of books for extra reading. I have an apologia science book that can be done with different age groups. We do notebooking for science, it's like lapbooking without the folders. DD just prefers notebooking to lapbooking.
We're using Sonlight. You can usually combine topics with it (depending on the age differences and abilities). I'm using Core 3 (early Am. history) for my 9,7, and 5 year old.....tweaking it a bit as needed for the younger ones. Rhonda C.
We love the history of the world book. My oldest has already finished the first 3 books and I thought I would challenge him a little more this year and we are using Around the World in 180 days for him this year. He is in 9th grade and the AtW book takes a look at history/geography by breaking the sections into the continents. Each continent is broken up into a geography, culture, government, historical, and current event topics. The challenging part about this book is that it only gives you the student workbook and teacher workbook.. no text to derive the answers from. This requires the student to do a lot of research (inthe library or online) to find out the answers for him/her-self. I really like it for the highschool lvl because it is forcing him to really search and learn to use resources and to FIND reliable resources to get his information. The student then places all the gathered information into a three ring binder for that continent and you have a neat packet of info for each continent when you are done with it. The teacher's book also gives you suggested reading for books to check out at the library and it gives you the answers to the questions if your child comes across an answer that he or she just can't find.:angel: Side note.. the AtW book would be VERY easy to use across grade lvls as you could easily pick which questions you think are appropriate for each age group.
tapestry of grace includes lessons for all ages on the same topics. I am using a bit of the free sample at the moment - looks quite good. if you go to their site, you can download 3 weeks on egypt and some other sample stuff for free. It is christian, don't know if thats a plus or a minus to you.
Have you looked at this site? http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xp...ns/matrix.html ETA: I have used some of the K-2 stuff with my 3rd grader and he didn't feel I was "talking down" to him.
I'm another Mystery of History lover! You can use it with ALL your kids at once. I started in it when my youngest had just turned four. We are currently using "All Amaerican History" with all three of my kids (ages 7, 11, and 13) all together.
I've used, alone and combined, Story of the World, Mystery of History and All American History with my 3 children. The last 2 years I've been just doing my younger two, since my oldest was working on his own. This year we're doing mostly "All American History, Volume I". We're learning a lot, and I like it okay, but I don't know if I'll get the Volume II.
Deena, I'm going to go ahead and buy Vol. II, because I want to finish off U.S. History, and figure it will be more consistent than trying to do something different. I like it OK, but am afraid MOH has spoiled me!
Jackie, Is it out yet? One thing that bothers me is the flag thing---it seems they could have at least done the flags in color! To me it's almost pointless in putting those in the book when they're just in black and white! We have a pster thing up that has all the maps of the world, so we look at that. but still... I'll look at it and see whether or not to buy Vol. II. But you're right---consistency would be good, and finishing up what we started... Maybe I'll continue it with dd, but get something else for ds.
I know what you mean about the flags. We were glueing flags of Italy and France on the one page, and in B&W, they look exactly the same. I knew what colors the French flag was, but couldn't remember Italy for sure. So we looked it up. I THINK Volume II is done, or is due this fall. I know MOH III is due in January (last I heard!).
Yep, MOH III is due the first part of the year, and she's almost done writing MOH IV!! (I joined a yahoogroup for MOH I, and Linda Hobar is IN IT! How cool is that??!) I'm excited to be starting the series at a time where we most likely won't have to wait for any volumes to come out. We should be starting MOH I after the first of the year. I still have to pay the gal for the used one she's holding for me though! *blush*
I was in that group for a time, too! that's where I got the fiction book list I posted somewhere on here for Vol. I. You should check it out, Dalynn! It tells you what books go along with which lessons. Plus, being in Ohio, Linda always does a Vendor's Workshop at our conference.
I love Mystery of History also! I got it at the end of last year and started it a bit early. Now...I guess I am behind as my kids found themselves interested in explorers so I took a break and we are doing some of that. We will get back ot Mystery of History soon. Gotta love the flexibility of homeschooling! LOL. My kids love Mystery of History so much that even if I had to do it in the summer they would not mind. LOL...well...that is what they are saying now. LOL.
Ladies I am soo sorry I got swamped with the business of school and have not had much of a chance to check back! Thank you so much for the recommendations. I am going to check them all out and hopefully find something that will work for us!
I have to put in my little plug for My Father's World. This is our first year with it; but we are absolutely loving it. It combines history, Bible, reading, science and has recommendations for the other subjects. It is specifically designed for multi-age families. Although right now I currently use it for my third grader, much of it can be adapted to my preschoolers. We have a big time line in our kitchen that all the kids look at and discuss every day. They also love the maps. Some days I spend more time washing off finger prints and removing stickers, than actually "teaching"! But the little ones do seem to have a method to their madness. Best wishes in your curriculum search. www.mfwbooks.com
