need world history/world religion books for a 5th grader

[huggerwocky]

5 years in public schools and not 1 lesson of world history :. Also, no discussion of world religions what-so-ever.

Do you know any books that are appropriate for a 5th grader? Preferable something structured...

I prefer to start with "earlier" times and work forward to the present, not something like France : 400 years in 1 volume, if you know what I mean . But I'm not set on that.

For world religion, something that explains the basic believes maybe with some stories.

Thanks

[Hera]

I just ordered these, used from amazon, because I was getting sick and tired of SOTW. My dd would only be in 2nd grade, but these are really middle school level books. Look at the different editions, one of them was searchable and had used options.

[LilyGrace]

I know you want something structured, but for a quick reference, I would encourage you to pick up the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, or the Usborne one.
We use Story Of The World here, and that can be adapted for 5th grade easily. There's 4 books, with activity guides to go along with them, and the activities can be fairly simply done or as elaborate as you want. We supplement heavily with library books, though, like the You Wouldn't Want To Be.... series, Horrible History, and myths and legends.

[NoHiddenFees]

I'd recommend A Little History of the World by Gombrich. There's an audio version too.

[huggerwocky]

thanks so far...any ideas to cover religion?

[NoHiddenFees]

Originally Posted by huggerwocky

thanks so far...any ideas to cover religion?

A few suggestions:

What I Believe (OOP, but I rather like this one)
One World, Many Religions by Mary Pope Osborne (written at a higher level than most of her books)
The Story of Religion by Maestro
Religions Explained (OOP)

I wouldn't recommend any one book on its own, but with any two of these you should be OK. Depending on availability, I'd choose What I Believe and The Story of Religion.

[UUMom]

Whichever books you decide to use, don't forget about historical fiction. There is some absolutely fantastic literature out there. Sometimes understanding a time period is fired and/or crystalized wihen a child /adult is lost in a fantastic and well told story. It takes it out of the realm of dry information and gives in an emotional and real face. Even films or other media can spark an interest. (Ghandi, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Roots, Cleopatra, Spartacus and better ones I can't recall this moment lol...etc etc etc). And while some might not apporve, Monty Python has helped us understand a lot of things.

I think it's really sad that they have done nothing in school. A little surprised, too that they havent done any of England or Rome or Greece. That's usually touched upon, at least. How do you teach US history without even passing references of other countries? I know when some of my kids were in school (not public), their fav yr was 3rd grade because they spent the whole yeat studying the diversity of Africa (which was incorporated into all subjects-- from language arts to music, to art, to science to history etc) . They started with ancient Egypt, and my kids remember with great zest thediscussion of removal of brain matter by the high priests in the mummification process.

I can understand a public school not wanting to religion, however. That could really be problematic. It seems children would naturally share their celebrations, but not all children celebrate something...and sometimes sharing is seen an evagelizing...

[UUMom]

A relaxed/ unschooling friend uses this site http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/ to get timeline items. It looks to me that there might be a Christian focus, but my friend is not religious at all, and uses some of this. She has a cool timeline in her dinnign room that everyone enjoys loooking at. I always check it out when I am there. You can probably tweak things, or add your own figures as well if these are not diverse enough.

Just a thought.

[spruce]

We use "Story of the World" for a jumping-off point. There are different books to take you through different periods of history, and they have recommended reading, projects to do, coloring pages, tests, review questions, etc.

It has a tiny Christian slant to it, but because it's also very open to outside reading and work, it's a great, simple place to start.

You can order their books, or their packages, from PeaceHill Press

And if Peace Hill doesn't have the books on CD (we like this for double the absorption), you can find them on GreatHall's site, because they are narratted by Jim Weiss.



Penelope (using SOTW for her advanced 7th grader *and* her 3yo and 1st grader!)

[spruce]

Oh, and the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia is a resource for SOTW, too.

love, p