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Tag: reading with history

  • 5 Reasons to Keep a History Timeline

    5 Reasons to Keep a History Timeline

    With history’s constant expansion, it’s easy to understand why homeschooling the subject may feel a bit daunting. How can children begin to grasp how it all fits together? There are so many people, cultures, continents, and events!

    One answer is a history timeline.

    Timelines come in a variety of formats, but one thing is consistent. Whether it’s vertical or horizontal, there’s a dated line that helps students put information in chronological order. 

    Students can create history timelines for a variety of reasons:

    • to study a specific era or region
    • to see the events of a person’s life
    • to trace the development of a particular subject—like the evolution of art or progress of scientific discoveries
    • to compare the histories of multiple countries at the same time
    • to give context to a person’s life or an event

    Homeschool timelines are incredibly versatile. They can be kept in a binder, hung on a wall, or even written on adding machine tape, They come pre-printed (like BookShark’s Timeline Book), or students can make their own. Whatever format you choose, consider these five benefits to making one part of your homeschool history studies.

    1. Homeschool Timelines Help Kids Make Connections

    A timeline acts as a way to tie history together. As students add people, events, scientific discoveries, and inventions to their timelines, they discover how these smaller puzzle pieces fit together into the bigger picture of history.

    Teaching tip: Color code your timelines. For example, you can write people’s names in red, events in blue, etc. Or you can assign specific colors to countries and label anything to do with that area in the same color. Just keep a key for reference.

    2. Homeschool Timelines Provide a Way to Organize Learning

    Many parents enjoy a chronological approach to studying history, so using a timeline makes perfect sense. But there are also times when you may want to follow a rabbit trail—something your kids are interested in studying or a current event you want to take advantage of, like the Olympics or US Elections. 

    When you use a timeline like BookShark’s The Timeline Book, students can add to it even when they aren’t studying history sequentially. They will see how their current studies fit into the broader scope of history.

    Teaching tip: Have students memorize a few key dates. These can become pegs to hang their learning on. For example, while studying the American Revolution, knowing what happened in 1776 is essential.

    3. Homeschool Timelines are the Perfect Review

    With a timeline, students have the opportunity to look back over what they have learned and review it. And when you ask questions about their timelines, it can be an informal method of evaluation.

    Teaching tip: Have students show off their timelines. When they are sharing it with grandparents, aunt, uncles, etc, they will naturally be telling others about what they learned. You’ve covered narration and review at the same time!

    4. Homeschool Timelines Develop a Global Worldview

    Students can see what was going on in different parts of the world at the same time. For example, using a timeline when studying inventors and inventions shows students that ideas were often being worked on concurrently, but in different ways. 

    • Thanks to a timeline kids will realize that Christopher Columbus and Leonardo da Vinci were contemporaries. 
    • They will marvel that Socrates, Buddah, and Confucius all lived at around the same time period. 
    • And they may be surprised to learn that while Europe was mired in the Dark Ages, the Islamic Empire and China had a flowering of science and art.

    Teaching tip: When working on your timelines, look for overlap. Prompt them to consider, “How did people from around the world contribute to this event, idea, etc.? Does this event remind you of something else in history? While this is happening here, what’s happening elsewhere?”

    5. Homeschool Timelines Show Patterns in History

    Timelines help students discover patterns in history. You’ve probably heard a variation of George Santayana’s observation, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” By using a timeline, students see certain patterns emerge. Rising tensions, war, times of economic depression, times of prosperity—these tend to cycle in almost every developed nation around the world. 

    When students look back over their timelines, they can find specific types of events more easily and compare to current events. The 2020 pandemic is the perfect time to look back and see when a disease or illness has had a major impact on society.

    Teaching tip: Questions help your student develop critical thinking skills. Instead of simply adding a person or event to the timeline, ask them if they’ve noticed any patterns. Be specific, especially with younger students. For example, “Have you noticed any similarities about events before a war begins?”

    Why You’ll Want BookShark’s Timeline

    Timelines are such a valuable tool for homeschool history that every BookShark Reading with History curriculum package includes a Timeline Book as part of the required resources. Of course, if you use BookShark more than one year, you don’t need a fresh Timeline Book each year. You can continue placing figures in the same Timeline Book throughout your entire homeschool career. The spiral-bound notebook format is especially practical:

    • includes pre-printed dates from 5,000 B.C. to the present
    • constructed of quality, heavy-gauge paper that holds up over time
    • is in a standard 8 ½ x 11” size so it’s easy to store on the shefl or take with you on the go
    • includes plenty of space for figures, notes, and drawings

    Even if you’ve never used a timeline in the past, it’s never too late to start! And if you get behind in placing your scheduled figures, no worries! Just have a timeline book day when you review what you’ve learned and affix all the figures you’ve covered in the last few months. pics they are interested in and can relate to, ask questions that spark opinions and more questions, and get excited about what will happen next. Your kids will follow suit and you’ll be digging in and having valuable discussions with them before you know it. 

  • 10 YouTube Videos for Exploring Central America

    10 YouTube Videos for Exploring Central America

    This year in our homeschool we will be studying Central America. Although we have a great collection of books to read about the topic, I also wanted to find age appropriate videos that show us more about the different countries we’ll be visiting. As much as we adore a literature-based homeschool curriculum, we still love adding on the visual component with online streaming.

    I turned to YouTube and found many good picks that I know will enhance our learning. I often turn on YouTube during breakfast or lunch for a special treat. We’ll spread out a blanket and have a carpet picnic while learning more about the world around us. Here are some of the videos we’ll be using for our exploration of the continent of Central America.

    1. Mexico Vacation Travel Video Guide

    This 50 minute video by Expoza Travel is an in depth look at all there is to see and do in Mexico! You may add a few things to your vacation bucket list after you watch this enticing video!

    2. Belize Beach and Jungle Adventure

    We have always loved watching the Travel With Kids series of videos,and this 30 minute episode follows our favorite traveling family as they explore the beaches, jungle, and culture of Belize.

    3. 7 Facts About Guatemala

    While this short 3 minute video will require an adult to read to younger children, it was very informative—teaching us all sorts of wonderful snippets about the country. This would be a good one for filling out a note taking sheet as you watch.

    4. A Child’s Day in El Salvador

    This quick 2 minute video takes the viewer through a day in the life of a child living in El Salvador. I find my kids relate well to these types of narratives that help them imagine themselves living in the land we are studying.

    5. This is Honduras

    This 13 minute video follows a brother and sister pair of high school students as they volunteer in a Students Helping Honduras program. I loved that this combines the culture and people of Honduras with humanitarian service. 

    6. The Panama Canal

    This 5 minute video by How Stuff Works not only explains how the canal works but goes into a bit of the history of the canal, including its construction.

    7. Costa Rica Animal Rescue—Are We There Yet?

    This 7 minute video by National Geographic features two young kids who are learning about some of the animals which live in the rainforests of Costa Rica.

    8. Life in Central America by Patrick Ross

    This 7 minute video is set to music and, through a montage of videos, shows what life is like in both Honduras and Nicaragua.

    9. Top 10 Facts About Mexico

    This 11 minute video by Most Amazing Top 10 takes the viewer through some pretty interesting facts about Mexico. (Please note that fact #5 is all about crime and drug cartels and as such may not be appropriate for all children. Please preview.)

    10. Kids Sea Camp Utila Honduras

    Another 30 minute video by Travel with Kids focuses on the island of Utila just off the coast of Honduras. The film explores both above and below the water.

    We find that videos make a great jumping off point for diving into a new territory or a fun wrap up of a lesson we’ve just covered. If you like this post, you will probably also love these video lists for other continents:

    About the Author

    Joanne Rawson is the author of the blog Our Unschooling Journey. Known around the web as Mother of 3, Joanne began her blog when she first started homeschooling her three boys in 2012. She lives in Connecticut with her family and enjoys reading, crafting, and traveling… all of which usually ends up on her blog.

  • Using Project-based Assessment for Reading with History

    Using Project-based Assessment for Reading with History

    Are you trying to figure out how to assess your child’s learning with Bookshark’s Reading with History? When using this wonderful curriculum, you may feel a little unsure when you reach the end of a topic or when you try to document your child’s learning. But don’t despair. There are many creative ways you can document and assess your child’s learning. And the best part? No tests required. 

    Assessments of learning need not include tests and book reports, yet this is often the default for measuring history knowledge.

    When I was growing up, we generally followed the same schedule for each chapter in our history textbook: Read, take notes, answer end-of-chapter questions, end with a unit test. There was nothing of substance and it led many children, myself included, to dismiss history as boring and irrelevant. 

    Wrong! History is an incredibly interesting topic, serving as the map of how we got where we are today. It’s a blueprint to remind us not to repeat some aspects of our history as well.

    BookShark’s Reading with History offers the unique opportunity to get creative when assessing learning.

    While these changes may be totally unlike your view of traditional education, a curriculum free of textbooks and tests makes room for authentic project-based assessments instead. 

    My favorite way to choose projects is to chat with my child to see what she might like to do for the project. Here are five standbys for project-based assessments that we turn to often.

    1. Keepsake Book

    Reading with History is categorized by age range, with literature chosen to cover various topics within certain times in history. Children can read each book and then create their own keepsake history book by making an illustration or writing a piece that represents a memorable moment from that time in history. Continue adding pages with each new topic covered. Let them create and decorate a cover, a title page, and voila! 

    2. Digital Presentation

    Since children typically enjoy using computers, a digital presentation is a wonderful way to present what they learned. Children can include images, text, and even music within this program to create a presentation that displays memorable moments from history. 

    3. Dioramas

    Dioramas are 3-dimensional models, created in miniature, or in large-scale, as you would see in a museum. Children can use shoeboxes and decorate them to represent a scene from a moment in history. For older children, you might want to also include a written component where they describe in more detail what the diorama represents and why it is important. 

    4. BookShark Lap Books

    Lap Book Kits are amazing for compiling the important information covered in the curriculum. I love the simplicity of the papercrafts because it makes learning the focus, which can sometimes get lost in the details of more complicated projects. 

    5. How Might It Have Been Different? 

    Imagine if one important component of the time period were missing. How might the world look today?

    • If, for example, the Egyptians never learned to embalm the dead, how might things be different in that area?
    • If the Europeans had never made it to the Indies, how might America look today?

    Have older children explore this based on what they are learning in history and have them write an informative piece to cover this. 

    How to Create a Rubric to Evaluate the Project

    One of the keys to success with project-based projects is getting your children involved in the evaluation process, for example with a rubric. A rubric is a tool that shows your child what is expected for the project and the corresponding grade for each level of fulfillment. 

    A clear rubric that you both agree on ahead of time eliminates the arbitrary feeling of subjective grading. Again, it is a great idea to get children involved in this as well, even letting older children make the entire rubric themselves prior to starting the project. 

    What do you expect to see in the final project? Note, this will look unique based on the project that is chosen. Give points value for this.

    • A narrowed topic
    • A certain number of examples to support the topic
    • A bibliography (for older children) 
    • A certain number of reliable sources
    • Will you count appearance as part of the grade? If so, give points value for this. 
    • Was the project completed on time? If you follow a more structured schedule this might be included on your rubric. Give points value for this. 

    Making history fun and relevant is important for helping children make connections and build a solid foundation of knowledge that they can carry forward in their education. Project-based assessments give children the opportunity to get their hands busy and their creative ideas flowing. 

    About the Author

    Resa Brandenburg is a former teacher who is now passionate about unschooling her daughter. She lives with her husband in an old farmhouse by the river in Kentucky. Her favorite thing to do is spend the afternoon with her family, including her grown sons and two grandchildren. Her hobbies include traveling, reading, and quilting.