History for K?

[emski4379]

Any suggestions on what to do in terms of History for the kindy level? I checked it SOTW, but it seems too advanced.

[WhaleinGaloshes]

I am a big fan of E.D. Hirsch and his history progression for grades K-6.

The sequence is now available for download for free (this is all subjects and grades, but nicely indexed:

http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/m...quence_Rev.pdf

You can find his suggestions for books and resources in Books to Build On: A Grade-by-Grade Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers

And the BCP has free lesson plans that match organized by month:

http://www.baltimorecp.org/lessons/lesson_titles.htm

and full texts of the drafts:

http://www.baltimorecp.org/lessons/draft_lessons.html

It's worth checking out IMO.

[LuxPerpetua]

We're Waldorf-inspired so we're not actually going to use this until around 3rd grade, bu the website says you can start as young as kindy:

http://www.themysteryofhistory.info/volumeI.shtml

[yllek]

This year we did FIAR vol 1 & 2 - not my favorite, but it did cover geography and some history. To supplement we are now doing the K12 Kindergarten History independently (IOW, not affiliated with any public charter or online school). The K12 K history closely follows the Core Knowledge topics for kindergarten:

Course Overview
The kindergarten History program teaches basics of world geography with the seven continents. Students will:
Explore the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the frozen expanses of Antarctica, and the grasslands and rain forests of Africa
Learn what it is like to climb the Andes and ride with the gauchos
Become familiar with the landmarks, people, and stories of many countries in Europe and Asia, as well as North America, including Canada and Mexico
Learn about American History through biographies of famous figures, from Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims to Thomas Jefferson and Sacagawea, from Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony to Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, from Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers to Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King, Jr.

So basically, some rudimentary map skills, seven continents, American history and famous figures. The program is a bit pricey, but ds has really been liking the presentation and activities. I supplement with a lot of picture books, children's atlases, educational videos, etc. It's been fun and easy.

WhaleinGaloshes, thanks for posting the BCP links! That will totally come in handy for me.

[lach]

It might be interesting to explore the geography and history of your town. Understanding long stretches of time can be hard for 5 and 6 year olds. Spending a year learning about your town could be a really great way to humanize a pretty large scale subject. I don't know where you live (well, you say NC but I don't know if you live in a city or in a tiny town), but very likely your town or county has a historical society and museum that you could visit and which can help you with suggestions.

You could learn a bit about the indigenous people who lived in your area, and about the early settlers. You could do a little oral history project about what life in your town was like during World War II, or maybe just what it was like to be a child in your town way back in the olden days of the mid century. I bet that if your child talked to people who grew up in the 1950's, he would find that a lot of things are the same, and a lot of things are different.

I've done some reading about how kids are taught so much global knowledge, that is completely remote to them, without learning any local knowledge. The result is not only that they don't know much about their local environments, but that it's harder for them to understand the global knowledge that they learn. I think this is valid: I know that when I was a kid we never learned anything in school about the history of our town. My plan for my own kids is to spend a year doing a study of local history and geography before jumping into SOTW.

[elizawill]

with my daughter, i used the free BCP lessons listed above & galloping the globe. they were great.

with my son, i did it a little different. we used:

my fist book of biographies by jean marzollo
the children's book of america by william j. bennett
the children's book of heroes by william j. bennett

and we also read books around seasons & holidays. for example, in sept. we read johnny appleseed and went to an orchard. in november, we read sqaunto's journey, sarah morton's day, samuel eaton's day, pilgrims of plimoth, thanksgiving by gail gibbons (which were all great imho). at christmas time, we did "christmas around the world" & made crafts from many countries to hang on our tree or decorate our house, and so forth.

hth.

[WhaleinGaloshes]

In case it might be useful...

I made this colored chart of the Core Knowledge history progression for myself so I could see it laid out. I uploaded it as a PDF to this site:

http://pdfcast.org/pdf/history-chart

you can download it from there and look at it in Adobe. It annoys me greatly that it's sideways, but in Adobe reader you can rotate it clockwise or print it on a sheet of legal-size paper (rotate is in the 'view' menu or Reader.)

SOTW doesn't appeal to me as much, because of it's particular viewpoint in part, but also because I feel starting with such a detailed discussion of the ancients and not getting to modern or American history until the first years have gone by isn't for me.

Hirsch separates American and World history, takes two passes through American history in the first 6 years, and emphasizes making sure kids are introduced to ideas, people and events that will inform their understanding and perspective on culture and the modern world and the future. I'm a fan.

[WhaleinGaloshes]

Originally Posted by elizawill

and we also read books around seasons & holidays. for example, in sept. we read johnny appleseed and went to an orchard. in november, we read sqaunto's journey, sarah morton's day, samuel eaton's day, pilgrims of plimoth, thanksgiving by gail gibbons (which were all great imho). at christmas time, we did "christmas around the world" & made crafts from many countries to hang on our tree or decorate our house, and so forth.

hth.

I got this book when my daughter was 4 and we've used it and had a lot of fun:

http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Birthday.../dp/1556522266

It's out of print and I paid less than $1 I think.

It has several 'special' days a month with a page or two and an activity and stories to go with them...they vary but most are famous people's birthdays, holidays celebrated around the world, anniversaries of historical events or inventions, etc. We mark the upcoming ones on the calendar.

[Holiztic]

Originally Posted by lach

It might be interesting to explore the geography and history of your town. Understanding long stretches of time can be hard for 5 and 6 year olds. Spending a year learning about your town could be a really great way to humanize a pretty large scale subject. I don't know where you live (well, you say NC but I don't know if you live in a city or in a tiny town), but very likely your town or county has a historical society and museum that you could visit and which can help you with suggestions.

You could learn a bit about the indigenous people who lived in your area, and about the early settlers. You could do a little oral history project about what life in your town was like during World War II, or maybe just what it was like to be a child in your town way back in the olden days of the mid century. I bet that if your child talked to people who grew up in the 1950's, he would find that a lot of things are the same, and a lot of things are different.

I've done some reading about how kids are taught so much global knowledge, that is completely remote to them, without learning any local knowledge. The result is not only that they don't know much about their local environments, but that it's harder for them to understand the global knowledge that they learn. I think this is valid: I know that when I was a kid we never learned anything in school about the history of our town. My plan for my own kids is to spend a year doing a study of local history and geography before jumping into SOTW.

So great!! I think we'll do the same thing, thanks for the idea!

[rubyhatespets]

Originally Posted by lach

It might be interesting to explore the geography and history of your town. Understanding long stretches of time can be hard for 5 and 6 year olds. Spending a year learning about your town could be a really great way to humanize a pretty large scale subject. I don't know where you live (well, you say NC but I don't know if you live in a city or in a tiny town), but very likely your town or county has a historical society and museum that you could visit and which can help you with suggestions.

You could learn a bit about the indigenous people who lived in your area, and about the early settlers. You could do a little oral history project about what life in your town was like during World War II, or maybe just what it was like to be a child in your town way back in the olden days of the mid century. I bet that if your child talked to people who grew up in the 1950's, he would find that a lot of things are the same, and a lot of things are different.

I've done some reading about how kids are taught so much global knowledge, that is completely remote to them, without learning any local knowledge. The result is not only that they don't know much about their local environments, but that it's harder for them to understand the global knowledge that they learn. I think this is valid: I know that when I was a kid we never learned anything in school about the history of our town. My plan for my own kids is to spend a year doing a study of local history and geography before jumping into SOTW.

I totally agree with this. I am a Brit so a little confused about what age kindergarten is, but a lot of the curricula that are linked to seem to have a lot of prescribed Things To Know for the early years. Looking at a local area and/or childhood and maybe talking about similarities and differences between past and present would be enough for me. I'd also give them access to difference historical sources - maybe look at some old magazines, photographs, architecture.

[elizawill]

Originally Posted by WhaleinGaloshes

I got this book when my daughter was 4 and we've used it and had a lot of fun:

http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Birthday.../dp/1556522266

It's out of print and I paid less than $1 I think.

It has several 'special' days a month with a page or two and an activity and stories to go with them...they vary but most are famous people's birthdays, holidays celebrated around the world, anniversaries of historical events or inventions, etc. We mark the upcoming ones on the calendar.

thank you! i just put it in my cart at amazon!

[crunchy_mama]

Originally Posted by elizawill

thank you! i just put it in my cart at amazon!

Me, too! I am currently considering History for my almost 6 y.o. so closely watching this discussion.

[CrazyCatLady]

Not sure how much History the average homeschooler teaches their kindergartner. But I have the K and 1st grade Learn at Home Books (and they're cheap plus include some worksheets and projects and such). Some history and social studies are covered in the books. With lots of library book and other suggestions to do even more if interested.

I just have the books laying around as a resource, so I'm not really sure if they would be enough History for the average homeschool family or not.

[karemore]

Thanks! This thread is a great resource for us too!

[WednesdayO]

The NC Standard Course of Study is a great starting point for Social Studies IMHO. That's one area of academics that I agree on within it. Here's the site. If it's too basic for you, you can always go to the main page and look at 1st grade etc. HTH!

[elizawill]

there's also a great NC website with lesson plans...

http://www.learnnc.org/lessons/

if your in NC, it has great field trip ideas! i use this site a lot for outings!

[nov05mama]

We are focusing more on maps and understanding I think. I originally wanted to use SOTW as well, but it's beyond where my DS is at the moment, and I am just not sure it's the right fit for us, even when he is old enough for it!
I am using Maps, Charts and Graphs Book A to start with:
http://www.christianbook.com/maps-ch...1326/pd/621321

[A Mom's Love]

We've been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series. We also learn about holidays as they come along.

[KathleenSLP]

For preK we did FIAR and for K (in the Fall) we will be covering prehistory.

[emski4379]

Originally Posted by nov05mama

We are focusing more on maps and understanding I think. I originally wanted to use SOTW as well, but it's beyond where my DS is at the moment, and I am just not sure it's the right fit for us, even when he is old enough for it!
I am using Maps, Charts and Graphs Book A to start with:
http://www.christianbook.com/maps-ch...1326/pd/621321

Gabby-it's Emma I already know what you decided, lol.