I finally found it! The history curriculum that doesn’t cost anything. That is quick to do. That is suited to all my students and we can do this together. And is of great literary quality. Win, win 😀
I found Milestones Academy a couple of months ago and am so grateful 🙂 After having a read on this site and spending a bit of time planning out our history path, looking at the resources I already have, this is how we now do history:
- Read a section from M.B. Synge’s The Awakening of Europe. We do this right before lunch. It takes about 5 minutes for me to read this aloud to my girls, and answer any questions they may have. This is available free online at the Baldwin Project.
- Then my older two notebook about our reading. Most of the time I choose a section from our reading for them to copy. Sometimes I will dictate, sometimes they write their own words. This is just a short summary of the chapter read, or important dates and names, maybe even a quote. Some days my youngest will draw about our reading. But I don’t require anything of her at this age, other than she listen to the reading.
- Read aloud from historical fiction that lines up with the current time period. I only read if we have time left before lunch. As we have this history time slot four days each week, it doesn’t matter if we don’t get to it every day.
All this takes about half an hour, three or four times a week. I love the literary style used in this history spine. Having girls who are not as interested in the details of fightings and wars like their male friends are, means that Synge’s books are much loved 🙂 I am so pleased to have found a history spine that I don’t have to edit as I read, and that my girls always beg for me to read more of.
If we are particularly interested in an event or want to learn more, we can always add in hands on activities or visit history events that are around our area.
Be sure to check out the Family History Rotation Page for more information.
