Guides by grade level?

[stm4him]

I'm trying to figure out how to fit the history, nature study, Christian Studies, and geography in alongside what we are already doing for those subjects and not sure how to do it. We are planning to start VP self-paced history this year and VP sells several of the Famous Men guides so one idea I was thinking about was we'd just add the MP guides as we got to them in VP history (as well as in Bible). Another possibility would be to pull them out in the evening to do independently based on grade level as MP suggests. And yet another idea I had was to work on them while they were waiting for me to call them to test their memory work, though that sometimes is just 5 or 10 minutes per day, four days a week. I was thinking of doing one book per quarter if we do it by grade level or do it topically based on what we are doing in Classical Conversations. But the problem with that is that we would be doing birds, insects, and trees all in one year that way. Any thoughts? How long do they take to do? I was thinking the States and Capitals book would be great for us to do this year but I don't know if that would work every year....

Shaina

[tanya]

Whew. This is a lot to try to do. I think your plan of doing the Famous Men alongside the VP cards is a good one and will really bring that history alive.

I wouldn't try to do all of that science in one year. Just choose one study to do. We only do science once a week in the grammar school, so we don't devote a lot of time to it. You could possibly get one of these courses completed each semester if you spend more time on science than we do. But I wouldn't rush through it. Take the time to enjoy it. Nature study is meant to be savoured!

We do geography in the place of American history in grades 3-5, and we devote 1 1/2 hrs./week to this. We spend 1 1/2 hrs. a week on geography, 1 1/2 hrs. on Famous Men, 1 1/2 hrs. on science, and 1 1/ hrs. on Christian Studies. So all of this fits into one time block per day. You just do a little bit of everything - one lesson a week - but you do it every year, so you really get a lot done without overwhelming yourself.

I hope this helps!

Tanya

[stm4him]

American History

Are the kids exposed to American history in grades 3-5 or only in K-2 (read alouds) and 6? I know the Artner guide covers 3-8. Should we be reading from that list starting in 3rd grade even though they don't officially do American History that year? That seems a lot to cover in 6th grade.

Shaina

[tanya]

Our students don't have American history for grades 3-5, but they do read some American history novels. In 6th, they do the Guerber history, and in 9th-10th, they have 2 years of high school history using the text: A Concise History of the American Republic.

You could take some of the books from the Artner guide to supplement your students' geography study. It's a good way to introduce them to the culture of America.

Regards,

Tanya