Angela in Ohio, can you tell me how you did...

[OhElizabeth]

american history? I remember you saying you used Abeka4 and fleshed it out over two years with kits and things. Anything more to elaborate? I'm just trying to sort out my plans. My dd has been prolificly reading COFA's this year, even though we're supposedly studying the Middle Ages. (I say supposedly because between my morning sickness and our lack of enjoyment of the cards, it's been slow drudgery.)

I go back and forth in my mind about doing the exercises in the Abeka4, which I bought a while back btw on ebay, vs. just reading. I've considered TQ or SL3. I own Hakim. Nuts, I own just about every spine and thing you could imagine. (I don't care for history but she adores it, craves it, cries for it, so I plunk out for it.) I've gone in circles about how much structure to require vs. just letting her do things. Seems to me a 4th grader needs more structure and requirement to their time, not just the reading that I've let her do in the lower years. We've done the VP worksheets on and off, but honestly I can't make heads or tails of the VP cards for american history. I can't see connections and I don't really get what the events are, even after I read the summaries. Like I said, history is NOT my strong suit! Give me grammar or something clear any day!

So like everyone here, I'm whining that I want the perfect 4th grade american history curriculum, and I want it all done for me, no effort, plenty of worthwhile, engaging hands-on, etc. I KNOW that doesn't exist, but I keep dreaming. WP is too much paper-crafting for us. Tami's plan uses too many spines. I don't care for the TQ commentary. The VP cards don't connect it enough for me, even though I'll still have her learn them. SL doesn't have the type of writing assignments I want and I tend to fall asleep when reading aloud to her. I do think she'd like Boorstin though, and 4th grade might actually be a good time for it? SL doesn't bring in enough readers for her (though I could correlate the TQ guides and let her just read) and has no hands-on, which for her is more important than scheduling books. She's an avid history reader and would work through the TQ guides quite happily. I just want to do a little something more with her to make sure she nails the most important facts and doesn't just have this beautiful, but quickly forgotten, emotional experience with a bunch of historical fiction, kwim?

Well that was a bunch of rambling. What you did seems the most practical thing I've heard yet, so I was wanting to hear more. Or what you wish you had done instead. Or what you would have done in addition. (I also have a state study I wanted to do, one per week for two years, and really kick it up with cooking, etc.). Dd is at an age where she can read a list and do her assignments for herself, pursue projects, cook, etc. (She made the comfits in the Alice in Wonderland guide this week.), so I really have some flexibility to let her do fun without taxing me with the new little one, IF I get an adequate schedule written out. I've worked on it and have some charts correlating the abeka4 with some things. It does seem like a huge undertaking though, and I wonder if I'm doing it the most efficient way. Like if I spend a month on each chapter, which is about what it is to do abeka4 over two years, then do I really want a month on all those things? And I thought about Time Travelers, but I'm not sure she'll like TT, as it's really a lot of papercrafting. I just don't want our time to degrade into a free-for-all. I want some structure, planned activities, and things to get accomplished over the course of a week. I don't care if they get done in one marathon day or spread out over the week, but I want a clear sense of what we're going for, not just something vague that will fall apart when the baby is born in Sept. :)

Thanks for anything you want to share!

[cajun.classical]

We've done the VP worksheets on and off, but honestly I can't make heads or tails of the VP cards for american history. I can't see connections and I don't really get what the events are, even after I read the summaries.

I'm not Angela obviously, but that quote above really struck me. I'm currently using the American VP cards and think that they are better done than the ones for Ancients, which I find tend to skip around between cultures and need more filling out. On the other hand, I think that the AMerican History cards flow really well and almost don't need a spine. We read from Geurber as our spine and then when I read the back of the VP card, it says the same thing in a condensed form. Of course, history is my thing, but I'm really wondering why it's not flowing for you.

I suppose if I'd make a recommendation it would be to use Geurber's Story of the Thirteen Colonies for your spine. I've found it to be a very nice complement to VP this year.

[cajun.classical]

One more thing. I also used History Pockets and Writing Trails of AMerican History to flush out the course. It's been a really enjoyable History year(s)--we're on our 2nd year of American History.

[OhElizabeth]

Angelina, I appreciate your comments, as they're getting me thinking! I pulled out my Expl-1850 cards to see where I got stumped the first time. Now don't laugh, but I was fine until card 15, at which point things started to fall apart. Then there were 17, 18, and 20 that didn't make sense to me. But it's because I'm SO not a history person and have forgotten everything. Like I look at the Bunker Hill card and don't know why that's important or why we're talking about it. But you're right, if I got a detailed enough spine, it would pull that together for me.

Now I own Guerber, like Guerber. I read it to dd when she was very young and we went through american history the first time. Yes, it retrospect it was a bit much, haha, but I was a novice and didn't know. So although I own it, I've never been confident of when a good age would be to try it. One thing I particularly like about it is the inclusion of appropriate religious history and events. It also has some illustrations, a good thing for me.

Now I think you've hit upon something important that I hadn't even sorted out in my own mind. We've used the VP cards for several years now, and one reason they work for us is because they give us a weekly schedule/topic and give us flexibility within that. I think that's what has me reluctant to go with abeka4 doing a chapter a month, because I lose that weekly structure and could end up doing NOTHING on some weeks.

If I use the cards as my structure but am not making her write the worksheets, is it still of value to me to get the enhanced cd with tm? Back when I bought my stuff, the american history years weren't available on enhanced cd for the tm, only the songs. What all is included that might be of value to me?

So you've definitely hit on the structure I need. Whether it's using the VP cards or turning a monthly topic into weekly subtopics, you're exactly right that I need to maintain that weekly topic approach. That's the easiest way for me to be consistent. Now I need to look through Guerber and see if it might be right for us for next year.

I'm still open to your abeka4 comments, Angela! :)

[OhElizabeth]

bump, still looking for Angela...

[Heather in VA]

We've used the VP cards for several years now, and one reason they work for us is because they give us a weekly schedule/topic and give us flexibility within that.

You know this is what happens every time you want to switch your history focus. VP works for you. You might want to really think hard before messing with a good thing. It seems like you could add writing assignments etc if VP doesn't provide that. I think they use Writing Trails in American History. You could do that. But I do worry that if you do something else you'll be sitting here in November wondering why you left VP.

[OhElizabeth]

Heather, you are, as usual, right on with your assessment of me. :)
I'll have to check. I think I actually have Writing Trails and didn't care for it, but I'll go look.

Still hoping Angela will pop in and see this!!!