Teaching History Chronologically edited by lmj mikejaqua@worldnet.att.net As the topic of "teaching history chronologically" came up on the loop, the opinions varied greatly as to when to teach what. Some mothers chose to start with Amercan history and feel strongly that world history belongs in the dialectic stage (ages 10-14). Other homeschoolers start world history at age 6 or 7, with the Old Testament and Egypt and move thorugh all of history chronologically. The quotes below will reflect the differences in opinion and style. All of the families quoted had more than one child and realized the necessity of teaching each child individually in order to keep the chronology going. While this worked for some, many felt a need to"conserve time" and teach their children together. Luckily, history lends itself to multi-level teaching, much more than, say mathematics or language arts. For multiteaching, many mothers carefully plan all of world history in 4-5 year cycles, hoping to cycle each child through 2 or perhaps even 3 times before they leave home. World History "One might argue whether to start with early civilizations, or perhaps the stone age, anthropology or the dinosaurs as well. We start with Old Testament to get God's perspective, we also did all the pre- historic subjects: Creation, geology, dinosaurs, etc. It is easily done in conjunction with the Genesis's creation chapters." "In my decision to teach world history, I read Christine Miller's article Teaching History Chronologically and I also read the Greenleaf catalog. I talked to the Detweiller's (of Veritas Press) at the Pennsylvania HomeSchool conference (CHAPS). As a result, I became convinced that [my grammar stage children] were ready to begin with Old Testament and Ancient Egypt using the Veritas Press materials." How? "Last year we read the Old Testament stories from an outstanding children's Bible called "Come, Ye Children" by Getrude Hoeksema. " "We use the "Book of Centuries" available from Rainbow Resource Center. Our history timeline is much like a scrap book. We've included pictures from coloring books, pages from science worksheets, summaries on historical events. It also helps them to see where these events fit in in the total scope of history. The Book of Centuries has the dates written across the tops of the pages. When the book is opened and layed flat there are ten years across the two pages. We also keep a list of important historical dates to memorize. Use "living books" to teach history and use the textbook only as an outline of history to follow." Why? When we start to evauate and interpret historical events (dialectic stage) we need to be able to look at events in history and see how they have effected or been effected by that other events. When children learn and understand their own history it helps them to appreciate the differences in other cultures [my paraphrase]. A very important part of history is that God made us and has revealed himself to us throughout history. This is why our family started studying History in the Old Testament in the Bible. We are working our way through ancient history at the same time." "The idea behind teaching history chronologically is to present history as a flowing, living subject. History is "His Story" (excuse the cliche!) starting with creation, progressing through the Israelites touching on the cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome; later, the the life of Christ, the early Church, reformation and so on up to the current time. Teaching history chronologically unfolds God's plan, the fall of His creation, the plan for salvation, and how it all is woven into the tapestries of so many cultures. -- History also teaches the dates, facts, and studies of these times and cultures. I know that my children are not going to see all these relationships and pick up on every cause and effect (that gets more into the dialectic stage) but they can gain a sense of the wholeness of this world's history." "History builds upon itself. It does not exist in a vaccuum. What has gone before, affects what happens later on. If you jump into the middle you have no frame of reference as to why/how things are happening. It is like math, sequential, although, unlike math, in can be studied out of order, however, you will miss things and things wont't make as much sense." "Another thing to consider is how much history does the teacher know? In my case, very little, so studying it chronologically will help me become a better history teacher. I can point out how events affect and build upon each other. If you already have a good understanding of how history flows together and you give your children a framework, it may not be so important to study/teach history chronologically because you can already point out these relationships." American History first? "We start in second grade with simple biographies of famous Americans. In third grade we read biographies and study the french missionaries who came into this country. Fourth grade begins the study of American history with the French and Indian War through the Revolutionary War. We finish up American history in fifth grade. World history will be taught chronologically beginning in sixth grade with the study of ancient civilizations. It is my opinion that the DIALECTIC stage is the best time to teach world history because so much thought must go into why and how historical events happened." "I lean toward the "familiar first, then the unfamiliar" approach to history. The Beautiful Feet series recommend this route as well. K-1st grade is a great time to do family histories, "my neighorhood" studies, etc. We did American history this year for 2nd grade." "This year, I had planned to use the Greenleaf studies, but felt that topics like Ancient Egypt were a little much for my 7 yo at this point. I don't think he is ready to understand about the pagan cultures and such this young. [We will study] the ancient cultures in 5th or 6th grade" Resources from article: Veritas Press: Veritas cards, timeline tapes and Teacher's manuals for world history. Designing your own Classical Curriculum" by Laura Bergquist, published by Ignatius Press "Beautiful Feet " history guides. Greenleaf History Guides and Famous Men Rainbow Resource Center -- lmj

Index Teaching History Chronologically How To Cover and Preserve your Books Extracurricular Activities How to cover books with clear contact paper: By Tess Doornink doornink@worldfront.com Here are the directions for covering your books. I hope they make sense and you have a fun time doing this project. You may want to practice on an old paperback. 1. Cut your paper to size. 3/4'' to 2" on each side of the book while laying open flat. This really varies for me as I try to fit as many books as I can on the contact paper. For normal sized books I usually can fit them side by side on the contact paper and cut up the middle. 2. Peel paper off plastic. (Place sticky side up. :o) ) 3. Place back cover on right hand side of plastic allowing for margins. Be careful not to get bubbles. If you make a mistake you still can gently pull off the plastic. 4. Make cuts 1-6. 5. Fold A, B, C on to inside of back cover. 6. Flip book over, placing front cover down on sticky plastic. 7. Make cuts 7-12. 8. Fold D, E, F on to inside of front cover. 9. Just pull off (or cut) Y and Z. 10 . E-mail me at if you have questions. Extra Curricular Activities and the Homeschool : Edited by lmj MikeJaqua@worldnet.att.net This Thread was opened by the following post: "Dare I open this can of worms? I have had a heavy heart lately as my 8YOB wants to be involved in sports. That is such a big time commitment for such a relatively unimportant part of our curriculum. I don't seem to be able to keep my home running smoothly when we're out and about much. " Some Responses: "The only way such decisions can be properly made is on our knees as a family before the One who knows our future as well as our present circumstances." "I have 8 children. We have done the insane: 3 games on Saturday [etc.] and decided "never again." Here is our solution, so far: We allow each of the children deemed "old enough" By careful design, we are never dealing with more than two team or activity schedules per semester. Since there here are only two parents (translated: two drivers), unless there is another family from our church or homeschooling support group with whom we can "carpool," the proposed activity might not be possible. "My husband always has been the soccer coach for our children AND we ended up combining children onto a single team so that he could do that. It enabled us to control a LOT of things. "Logistically, if I let my first be involved in all kinds of extra-curricular activities, I should let the younger ones as well--which could mean (in my and other families of 3 kids) three music lessons, three sports practices, three art classes, three youth group meetings, etc, etc. " "When our oldest was younger, we participated in more activities (co-op days, ballet, soccer, community ed classes) than we are able to do now. I rest in the fact that God Himself chose who would be born first, second, third, fourth, and fifth to our family. He knew the limitations of our resources of time and money by the time the fifth came along! And He certainly is just as concerned about the life of our fifth-born He is about the life of our first-born. " "We have made an attempt over the years to choose outside activities that would involve the entire family. Our children all took a home-school integrated-age-group gymnastics class for several years. class. " "We have determined that God is calling our entire family to music. I think that determining a family identity/purpose helps us to choose those activities which best fit our family's mission. When God called our family to music, we had to drop another activities in order to devote our time to this. I do the courier service and I do my grocery shopping while they are in lessons. When God leads us to participate in an activity, that activity is not burdensome and He allows us to efficiently redeem the time." "I know people love sports and kids tend to want to play too...but I don't see how we can do that, given our schedule. We do violin and orchestra and KONOS co-op. I could not handle practice 3-4 times per week plus games. How about lifelong sports: hiking, biking, golf, swimming, tennis? " "In summary, as families we need to: 1. Pray 2. Don't be afraid to ask teachers/leaders if they are willing to try age-integration. 3. Seek activities that involve the entire family. 4. Make sure your activities fit both your family's mission/purpose and your child's gifts. 5. Allow your older children to "coach" or "teach" younger ones when possible. Both will benefit and sibling relationships will be strengthened. 6. Think of life-long, rather than short-range benefits. 7. Co-ordinate activities to minimize the time you must be away from home. 8. Be involved in the activities we choose to allow our children to participate in. 9. Make use of every minute...including time on the road. 10. Be ready to serve others. Math Square Try to fill in the missing numbers. Use the numbers 1 through 9 to complete the equations. Each number is only used once. Each row is a math equation. Each column is a math equation. Remember that multiplication and division are performed before addition and subtraction. Solution This puzzle was created at www.puzzlemaker.com by Network Solution Developers, Inc.