H is for History
"Those that don't know history are destined to repeat it."
~Edmund Burke
Studying history is important.
Without it, we would know nothing of our past, our heritage, or the great accomplishments and sacrifices of the generations that came before us. History provides the outline for our story. We all have a past. A past created for us by our ancestors. It's our responsibility to add onto that story to keep our story going.
History is one of my favorite subjects to teach the kids, probably because I did well in it during my school years. I had some amazing history teachers during my schooling. I will admit that I have forgotten some of it, but am thrilled to relearn it. I love learning new things even better.
Our approach to history is the classical approach. History for us is broken up into 4 year intervals. We started with Ancient times when the kids were in elementary school, we restarted while they were in junior high, and we will restart the cycle again next year. Over the past few years, the children have learned a full cycle of history once and will complete their second cycle this year. I love following the classical approach. With the beginning of a new cycle, we are able to add more age appropriate books and lessons. They already have a starting point to work with and only add on to their knowledge.
Our first cycle was rather flexible. I created my own lessons and didn't follow any set guidelines. The kids were really, really young during their first cycle. I remember the kids playing with their Playmobil Egypt set and their Fisher Price Knights and Castles set. We read fantastic story books about people and places. We made various crafts to help us learn about the different time periods.
For our second cycle, we discovered Classically Catholic Memory and Schola Rosa. Both of these programs are strong Catholic programs. They both focus on other subjects other than history. You can use either one as a whole curriculum. We when we used these programs, we added our own stuff. If you've been a round for awhile, you know I LOVE to plan lessons. We finished Classically Catholic Memory. Schola Rosa we only used 1 year. I like planning our own stuff, so it wasn't the best fit for our family.
Classically Catholic Memory is broken up into 4 cycles or years. Its geared for children in grades K 6th grade.
Alpha
Creation Through the Birth of Chirst
Beta
The Time of Christ Through the 1500's (Middle Ages)
Gamma
1500's through the 1800's (Early Modern Times)
Delta
1800's through the Modern Times (Later Modern Times)
We took 2 years to study the history from the Delta Year since my kids were a little older and wanted to dig deeper. We are working through our 2nd year right now.
Classically Catholic Memory is very thorough. It covers a variety of material. It provides the core outline for history and provides a base to start with. It does offer some information for parents to use. I take that information, research, and add a ton of my own stuff. We make history fun! I love how it has a focus on our Catholic faith. It brings the Church's history to life.
Next year, we will be using RC History. We used this program in the past for their recommendations on books, but next year we will be digging in and starting their first year of the logic stage.
RC History is broken up into four cycles/years.
Volume 1
Ancient History
Old Testament and Ancient Cultures Before Christ
Volume 2
Early Medieval
The Incarnation~The New Testament~Early Church~Early Medieval
Volume 3
High Medieval through Explores
High Medieval~Renaissance~Reformation~Early Exploration
Volume 4
American History
Columbus~ World War II
I've already started planning for this for next year. I've started ordering the recommended books and I'm already looking into ways to bring the history to life. We love hands-on learning!
Till Next Time.
Monique
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rather interesting. I didn't know that Roman Church had its own history program.
ReplyDeleteA Roman Catholic based history program allows our kids to learn more about their faith, important events and people that helped shape our church's history.
DeleteThe beauty of homeschooling is weaving in our faith.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is!
DeleteI really like the classical approach to learning history - we created a history timeline stretching all the way around the dining room wall that my kids have added to as we pass through the 4 year cycle of history study again and again. Great post!
ReplyDeleteA few years ago we had one going down our hallway. I was thinking of doing it again next year when we start over.
DeleteSounds like a wonderful program for your family.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoy it. It's important to find something that works for our families.
DeleteSometimes I think I need to be more regimented about our history. Then one of the girls finds something she is particularly interested in and that though is replaced by the joy of learning what brings delight and interest. Glad you have found what works for your family. - Lori
ReplyDeleteInterested in this post, especially if you post about RC History. Our first year homeschooling, we used Classical Catholic Memory in our co-op, but we were also doing Kolbe, so it quickly became overwhelming. Plus, my kids don't like to memorize. ;) I've considered RC History, but have never taken the plunge. I'd love to hear how you like it.
ReplyDelete