Social Studies?

[cam112198]

I am using Sonlight Core 1 for History for dd6. Do you have any suggestions for Social Studies that would not be teacher intensive? I know I don't need it, but I would kind of like a paper trail. I have thought about CLE or time4learning. Or maybe even Abeka. Any suggestions? And do any of you know how CLE compares to Abeka for Social Studies/History and Science?

[coffeefreak]

When you say, "Social Studies," what exactly do you mean? Do you mean Geography, or Community/Local issues, or something else all together? I think if you explain what you're looking for, people can help you better (including me).
Blessings!
Dorinda

[Ellie]

I am using Sonlight Core 1 for History for dd6. Do you have any suggestions for Social Studies that would not be teacher intensive? I know I don't need it, but I would kind of like a paper trail. I have thought about CLE or time4learning. Or maybe even Abeka. Any suggestions? And do any of you know how CLE compares to Abeka for Social Studies/History and Science?
I'm not understanding your question. Why would you do "social studies" in addition to history? History *is* "social studies." I can't imagine anyone giving you grief because you did "history" instead of "social studies."

[cam112198]

Sorry about that. :-) We will eventually send our children to school and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I was thinking of doing something along the lines of what they are doing in school. But I also want to continue with Sonlight Core 1 at a slower pace. Does that make sense? I just wanted to make sure I have everything covered.

[Ellie]

You'll have everything covered.

The only things that will really "count" if your dc go to school are their English and math skills. I wouldn't worry about anything else.

[OhElizabeth]

Well social studies and a paper trail are two separate things. What you might like to do is take some field trips and read about community helpers (fire station, police station, library, etc.). There's a really basic maps workbook series you can get from Rainbow Resource that has grade levels designated with letters. I think it's Maps, Graphs, and Charts or something. (We do one each year, just for good measure, but I forget the title, don't have it handy.)

As far as a paper trail, WTM would suggest you begin having your dc notebook about his history readings, which I think would be a good, age-appropriate, easy to implement suggestion. Beyond a paper trail, it actually has a point, building their narrative and hence writing skills slowly and gently. The social studies content the schools cover is not cummulative, so it doesn't matter if you've covered what they cover or not if/when he goes to school.

[coffeefreak]

Usually, you can find your school district's goals/scope and sequence for each year online. If not, you can call the school and obtain a copy. Once you have those, you can fill in what they cover Social Studies wise. I look because I'm curious, but I choose not to teach some of what they teach. For example, they teach a "tolerance" unit in one of the elementary grades. I don't feel I need to teach that because we teach that each person is valuable in God's eyes everyday!

As for record keeping. google Homeschool Tracker and Edutracker. Those are the two most popular programs. I use Homeschool Tracker, and it is extremely useful. Also, if you do a search on those two programs there are tons of threads debating the merits of each.

HTH!
Blessings!
Dorinda