Hmmmm....so remember how I raved about Beautiful Feet History? I still think it's great, but I will admit that I've gone back to Truthquest http://www.truthquesthistory.com/ for my 7th grader. For my 2nd grader, we're doing a combo of TQ/BF. She is doing early American history, which I really have a handle on and a lot of resources for, so it's comfortable for me to combine curriculums and do my own thing. My 10th grader is still doing straight BF, which I think it's great for high school.
My reason for the switch? Annamarie was BORED. It is really important to me that history be fun. I would really like my kids to just be reading books...stories of the past...because that is how history is really learned and it is FUN. So much more learning seems to be retained by simply reading a story, and discussing it. Memorizing facts and dates and taking tests just don't produce the same results. It's worth it to me to take the extra time, to search through the library and order books to read for history. It was really fun today to hear Annamarie's report after she read a book about Abraham Lincoln. When I asked her what she learned, I didn't realize that I would be in for such an earful! On and on and on she went, about all the facts she had learned. That's what I'm talking about! And the really cute part was that she sat her baby brother on her lap and read her history to him also. True joy...this is what homeschooling is all about!
How do I do geography? Easy! I have maps all over the house, and a globe, and a puzzle of the United States. Whenever a place is brought up during history, or any other time during the day, we find it on the map. I have two huge wall maps hung up, and it is amazing how often the kids are looking at them, and learning geography just from that. They actually find it interesting!
Anyway, short post today, but I thought I would share this info with everyone. I highly recommend taking a literature approach to history. It is very fun!
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