This year I bought grade level appropriate social studies workbooks for my children. They are toted (by the publisher) for teaching 'core skills'. I am... disappointed. No. DISGUSTED. Disgusted by the surface-level concepts and the general waste of paper and my money. There is almost nothing in the 2nd grade book that my about-to-start 2nd grader doesn't already know, and know DEEPER than the info presented here. Ds's 4th grade book is also slight on content, with some disturbing omissions. Last year I did U.S. history and world geography with my kids. This year, I had wanted to make sure I didn't miss something vital. But as with most things, I discovered what WE covered was much better, deeper, more interesting than what 'they' say we should cover. Do you guys do 'Social Studies'? Maybe it's just the book, but I'm now convinced this particular subject is more fluff than substance. I'm wondering if it wouldn't work better to stick with histories, geography, and maybe a slight discussion on civics (elementary age)? Or do you have a fantastic Social Studies book you swear by?
I have, in the past, done history with all three. But now, because of high school, Phillip will be on his own. In the past, we have used Mystery of History, Vol. 1,2, and 3(which Phillip will be starting this year, as he was very young when we did it before), All-American History, Vol. 1 and 2, Around the World in 180 Days (Geography). We have read several of the Genevieve Foster books as read-alouds, and even the later STOW books as read-alouds. Rachael has done Notgrass World and American on her own (high school), and we are currently reading through Notgrass Government as a read-aloud. Faythe will be doing Streams of Civilization this year on her own. BTW, stop worrying! You WON'T miss anything that matters!
Thanks Jackie! LOL- I know you are right. But raised in ps myself, I find myself thinking they MUST have a magic formula. Kwim? SOME reason to teach the subjects they teach in the order they teach them. After I pulled my kids, I failed to find that magic formula in Reading. I didn't find it in their math. It certainly isn't in the poor excuse for 'health' topics they teach. Not in science, either, which I accidently discovered when we had our teacher review. Thought there might be something in Social studies :lol: You are all free to laugh at me. My own belief that ps contains something magical is dying a hard, slow, gasping breath. LOL- like the unicorn that you realize is just a dirty goat with a stick super-glued to it's head. But maybe the fetlocks are still real.. :roll:
I just about died laughing at this! It's hard to get rid of the public school mentality. This is going to be our second year, and I still found myself overloading my lesson plans with unnecessary assignments, as if an excess of busy work ensures learning. I have to keep reminding myself, if public school was so amazing, DS would still be attending one.
Love it! :lol: ... and I agree, I also haven't found a social studies curriculum I'm happy with. I'm sticking to history, geography, and literature. The important concepts are covered in a round about way and at a much deeper level.
I'm pretty sure that social studies is included as a time killer in PS. If you have a good history and geography thing going on, social studies will cover themselves
With my younger one I'm doing the Scholastic Maps book. Short, sweet, and to the point. We will finish in the first semester. My 4th and 7th graders are getting WWII at coop and I will do some supplementing together with them at home, but I don't see the need for a whole additional curriculum. Edie
Social studies is the blanket term that covers anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology. Not all topics are hit on every grade level. So if in the elementary class you are doing History and Geography as your cores you probably hit a few of the others a long the way. The other interesting thing to think of is teachers who are "certified" to teach Social Studies 7-12 can teach a class in any of those topics even if they know nothing about it.
We are using Raising Refounders this year and love it! It is in-depth enough without being overwhelming. Plenty of information and and activities, too.
Not just in "social studies". My dh is was (is) certified in Technology; he has taught computers in middle/high school for about 20 years. About three years ago, the district decided he was no longer qualified to teach what he had been teaching. Why? Because if they labeled those classes "business" instead of "technology", they could get more money from the State, and he wasn't business certified. And they decided this during the MIDDLE of the year, so they paid for a full-time sub who was retired in business to sit in the class while he taught it :roll:. Then, he had to go back to school (at mostly OUR expense!) to get a Business certification. Now he's "qualified" to teach all kinds of business classes, never mind that he knows absolutely NOTHING about them! He starts today (middle school), with kids arriving on Wednesday. And guess what. They've already been told that they are not to start teaching until after Labor Day. Instead, the next eight days are to be spent "going over procedures". In other words, every teacher in every class is to discuss lunch room procedures, fire drill procedures, assembly procedures, etc., WALKING THE CLASS THROUGH THEM for the next eight days, because the kids were so totally off the wall last year. Carl is planning on keeping short 15 minute lessons on hand, too, because he says he can't possibly see doing this the WHOLE TIME.
When I first started hs'ing, I tried to teach Social Studies, too. It covered mostly holidays, community helpers, and fluffy stuff like that. Now what kid needs to be taught this stuff? in one section, it talked about how our voting system is used to choose our leaders. Well, since my kids have been going into a voting booth with me since I could wedge a stroller in there, they already knew about that. I decided I didn't need a book to teach what was usual dinner-table conversation at our house. ooohh, does that mean I unschooled?! Yay me!
What balony Jackie's husband has to put up with! But I can totally see it now that we're with the Charter high school. School started on the 15th but we don't even have all her books yet! We've just spent the last week doing more in the two subjects we have so when the rest come we'll be 'ahead'. Kinda weird! Doesn't "first day of school" mean anything?
Only for hs'ers and Kindergarten kids! And I'm not so sure about the K's anymore, since they're so use to preschool. It means a lot to the moms who are rejoicing to get rid of their kids again!
I have been thinking the same of my sons social studies and science curriculum. I am pretty disappointed with them. I was thinking that instead of doing them every other day, I might just do them every day, (DS really likes them...probably because they are so easy!) and then do the grade 2 science and social studies curriculum in the second half of our year. I would proceed to do this until he got to something more challenging. The thing is, some of it IS good material, if only to get him asking deeper questions. The majority, though, is fluff.
Hi Meghan, Social Studies was my favorite subject (still is) when my kids were in the grammar stage. We used Susan W. Bauer's Story of the World as a spine, and read a lot from the D'aulaire books -which we checked out from the public library. We also checked out Genevieve Foster books and added living books. For geography we just filled in the maps as we studied. Lately, we have been using www.shepherdsoftware.com that one of the Spot posters mentioned. It's been great for brush up with my highschooler. I understand your feelings and the difficulty of letting go of certain ideas about teaching (and learning). Don't worry, should you choose to delineate a bit from a workbook type curriculum, your child will learn. It still amazes me.
