My
oldest took U.S. History a few years ago when he was in the 7th grade. I
was concerned about how we would approach that subject since I have
never been particularly interested in History in any form. I think part of the reason for that is because it was taught in such a dry way (from a textbook) when I was in school. I
didn’t want that to be the case for my son as well. So, I prayed and
considered a few ways to go about it. What we ultimately
ended up doing worked very well and I would like to share it with you.
I purchased a book that gave very brief accounts of major events in U.S. History. And I used that book as a guide to know what to learn, and in what order. Then during our weekly library trips, I would let my son pick out any books he wanted that pertained to the following week’s History topic. For example, for the Industrial Revolution I let him pick out ANY book or books that looked interesting to him. Because it was his choice, he found very informative and entertaining books.
Sometimes he would get so into a topic that we would get more books the following week and extend the lesson. Those were also times that I would tell him to do a project on the topic. Again, I left it up to him. But I was available to offer suggestions if he was having a hard time coming up with something. Other times, he wasn’t very amused with that particular topic so we moved on quickly.
My son also kept a timeline so that he could refer back to what he learned later on. I used Donna Young’s approach for that. Like I said, I did purchase a U.S. History book, so the way we did it wasn’t completely free. But you can use a timeline online, like this one from Wikipedia. And then the subject wouldn’t have to cost you a dime. We did not cover every major event, time didn’t permit that. But my son did learn a lot about the history of our country that year. He sometimes discusses what he learned with others who also share an interest in U.S. History.
I purchased a book that gave very brief accounts of major events in U.S. History. And I used that book as a guide to know what to learn, and in what order. Then during our weekly library trips, I would let my son pick out any books he wanted that pertained to the following week’s History topic. For example, for the Industrial Revolution I let him pick out ANY book or books that looked interesting to him. Because it was his choice, he found very informative and entertaining books.
Sometimes he would get so into a topic that we would get more books the following week and extend the lesson. Those were also times that I would tell him to do a project on the topic. Again, I left it up to him. But I was available to offer suggestions if he was having a hard time coming up with something. Other times, he wasn’t very amused with that particular topic so we moved on quickly.
My son also kept a timeline so that he could refer back to what he learned later on. I used Donna Young’s approach for that. Like I said, I did purchase a U.S. History book, so the way we did it wasn’t completely free. But you can use a timeline online, like this one from Wikipedia. And then the subject wouldn’t have to cost you a dime. We did not cover every major event, time didn’t permit that. But my son did learn a lot about the history of our country that year. He sometimes discusses what he learned with others who also share an interest in U.S. History.
Serfronya Wallace
The six loves of Serfronya Wallace's life are God, her husband, and her 4 children - whom she homeschools. Serfronya enjoys sharing educational tips and writing about her family's homeschooling journey at Cookie's Domain.
The six loves of Serfronya Wallace's life are God, her husband, and her 4 children - whom she homeschools. Serfronya enjoys sharing educational tips and writing about her family's homeschooling journey at Cookie's Domain.
